On The Comedy-Rich Web, An Elite Group Of Dramas Break Through, These Are Their Stories

You can't swing a cat these days without hitting a comedy series on Vimeo, Daily Motion, or YouTube. But if you’re looking for drama, you'll mostly still find it on the boob tube.

In 2009, 50% of adults watched comedy online compared to 31% in 2007, according to a 2010 Pew Research report. Even mainstream stars are taking their act to the smaller screen, like former Friend Lisa Kudrow’s Web Therapy, the winner of this year’s Webby Award for Best Comedy: Long Form or Series. “For whatever reason, someone has put out to the web world that comedy is what works online,” Tina Cesa Ward, executive producer, writer and director of the widely-acclaimed web drama Anyone But Me, tells Fast Company. The show launched its third season’s finale June 21. “But what they fail to realize is that what works is great storytelling no matter what the genre.”

Dina Kaplan, a co-founder of blip.tv, says she thinks it may take one to two years for drama to really make a splash online. She offered her perspective on four keys to making online drama click: 1) Economics, 2) Niche programming, 3) Audience building, and 4) Enough time to produce multiple seasons.