Ruby Skye P.I.

Ruby Skye PI, the award-winning web series for tweens and teens, hit a milestone on the weekend capturing over 1.5 million video views for the first eight of its nine Season 2 episodes. 
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Ruby Skye, P.I., the little web series that could, picked up another prize at the Interactive Rockies, held during the Banff World Media Festival.

Jill Golick and the team were awarded in the Best Online Program – Children & Youth category.

The tween-oriented web series has been the recipient of numerous awards, including a Youth Media Alliance Award (Best Original Interactive Content), eight LA Webfest awards, two Telly Awards, and an IndieFest award (Best Shorts Award of Excellence: Web series).

Interactive Rockies were also given to Lisa Kudrow for her online series “Web Therapy” (Award of Excellence in Digital Media) and to The Guild’s Felicia Day (nextMEDIA Outstanding Online Performance Award) .

In How to Build an Audience for Your Web Series: Market, Motivate and Mobilize, I touch briefly on the importance of crafting an email pitch.

Email “pitches” can be used to build links back to your website or to secure editorial coverage from important blogs. This type of message should be short and include a strong hook (or angle) while providing “what’s in it for them” information that can help convince the writer (or webmaster) to feature your show. The pitch should be personal and written with warmth and conviction.

In real life, pitching requires a lot of persistence. You have to be evangelical in your approach, knowing that the first nine “no’s” could lead to a tenth person who says “yes”.

My friend, colleague (and client) Jill Golick writes about her experiences pitching her tween web series, Ruby Skye, P.I.  The response rate, as Jill notes, is “…dismally, depressingly low.” But great things can happen to those who persevere. And for Jill, working the pitch has resulted in a Wired Magazine Geek Dad feature along with articles and giveaways in several other parenting blogs.

Jill has some great tips for other web series producers, including tailoring the pitch to the interest of the blogger. Because she’s writing about kid content, Jill goes the extra step to figure out if the blogger has kids and whether they are the right age to enjoy the series. A sure-fire strategy that goes right to the heart of a mommy or daddy blogger.

Read Jill’s post here. Then drop by the Ruby Skye, P.I. YouTube channel where you can watch all thirteen episodes from Season 1.

NXNEi has lined-up creative Web series producers Jill Golick (Ruby Skye, P.I.), Rob Mills (Ruffus the Dog and My Kitteh!) and Michael Schaus (Moderation Town) for a session dedicated to Web series financing.

The three panelists will discuss some of the options to open to producers, including crowd sourcing, merchandising, subscriptions, grants and sponsorships.

NXNEi takes place June 16-19, 2011 at the Hyatt Regency Toronto. Passes are now on sale for $349 (regular) / $125 (student).

Tween Web series, Ruby Skye, P.I., was a big winner at the LA Webfest over the weekend scooping-up multiple awards for its creators in the “Interactive Narrative Comedy” category.

The series was the recipient of eight awards in total, including:

• Outstanding Interactive Narrative Comedy: Jill Golick (Creator); Kerry Young, Steven Golick, Karen Walton, Jill Golick (Producers)
• Outstanding Lead Actress – Interactive Narrative Comedy: Madison Cheeatow
• Outstanding Supporting Actress – Interactive Narrative Comedy: Nawa Nicole Simon
• Outstanding Writing – Interactive Narrative Comedy: Julie Strassman-Cohn, Jill Golick
• Outstanding Directing – Interactive Narrative Comedy: Kelly Harms
• Outstanding Cinematography – Interactive Narrative Comedy: Alex Dacev
• Outstanding Editing – Interactive Narrative Comedy: Jennifer Essex-Chew, Ben Manthorpe, Mike Reisacher, Tiffany Beaudoin
• Outstanding Score – Interactive Narrative Comedy: Studio Cat, Composer

Ruby Skye, P.I. is created by TV writer, Jill Golick, and produced by Kerry Young, Steven Golick and Karen Walton. The 12-part Web series was financed through the Independent Production Fund’s Web Series program. The first installment of the series, “The Spam Scam”, can be viewed online at rubyskyepi.com.

LA Webfest is the world’s first festival dedicated to original shows created for the Web. Over 50 Web series from around the world were screened over the three days of the event, which is held annually in Los Angeles, CA.