The Web is Hollywoods New Farm System

No matter where you look just about everything has a “farm system” to find their future talent. Professional sports have the minor leagues and college sports, business has internships and white-collar jobs have apprenticeships. A few years ago the entertainment industry basically has college programs and film festivals as their new talent pool, however that all has been changing over the past few years all thanks to the web.

Think about it. Just about everyone at one point or another had the thought that they had a great idea for TV of film. Only thing is they didn’t have the money or resources to go to film school or make the project on their own. Those people could have given us fresh ideas to where we wouldn’t have to deal with constant remakes and reboots.

Of course, these days everyone has the ability to create and share their ideas with millions of people around the world. This is all thanks to smart phones, cheap computers and sites like YouTube. Everything from vlogs to web series are being uploaded everyday by everyday people without the help of film school or any formal training. These people are gaining more exposure and views with a simple video then most professionally done web series or extras some networks create.

The more you look at the people who are embracing the web, the more you will see that even Hollywood stars seeing the potential it offers. People like Joss Whedon and Lisa Kudrow have taken the web by storm and used it as turning points for their careers. One of the reasons behind this is that they are free of network influence and censors. However, those are house hold names and really don’t have to worry about being discovered.

Just recently the web held its version of the Emmy’s with the Streamy’s. The best of the unknown went face-to-face with Hollywood Elite and the underdogs win. A girl vloging from her room weekly is a more recognizable face on the web than people like Felicia Day. Guys like Rhett and Link who make silly videos can go to having a show on the Independent Film Channel. So why is it that networks and studios are looking to the web for their next big thing instead of film schools and film festivals?