Byte Sized Television: Create Your Own TV Series for the Internet Paperback – February 1, 2011

I wanted to love this book, but it became a love hate thing. First, and glaringly, it is not 260 pages. Not even close---under 200 actual pages which makes for a thin book. They paginate to 218 but over 20 of those pages are for one appendix or another. One was on additional reading, and I looked at those books---not impressive.

First, what I thought I was getting was a somewhat technical book on how to make an internet TV show happen. What you get is 199 pages written quite nicely by a writer about writing, mostly. That part was really, really disappointing. Not because it was poorly written--->because it was about WRITING. If the book was billed as WRITING for video, then fine. But it is about CREATING a TV SERIES for the INTERNET. I just thought there would be more about the internet and about how to do a series on the internet---technical stuff.

He says to upload it onto U-tube. Then he does say, unless you want to do some interactive things and then you might need a website. I just thought he could have expanded on all of that, or maybe could have had a co-writer who knew about such things, because I personally think the advent of internet TV is about programs you make that stand alone on the internet and have audience interaction---something like Bravo. If you think you are getting that, you aren't.

It is a 2011 version and so I assume his links to sites on the web are current and he does give some good ones. He has ideas on how to get casting--->like going to a college or to a theatre group. I thought that was helpful---I probably would have put an ad in the paper and these are MUCH BETTER ideas. I give him credit for that.

He points out what anyone who has ever used a video camera knows which is that the sound is pitiful. He spends way too much time telling the reader when that might be OK (here's where I got frustrated) when he could have spent that time telling me a basic thing---how do I fix it. Then he talks about how you need a boom and another person. This just isn't so. I am shooting one person and I know I need an external mic (not on my camera), but I don't begin to know what is available currently. My guy is shirtless and I don't happen to have another person (the boom guy) but I think there must be a way to mic him. He said if he talked about this it would make the book too long---let's face it, Ross, you could have gone on at least another 60 pages, since it is billed as a 260 page book. And SOUND is an extremely important topic. I almost wish they would have put what you are NOT getting because he does say repeatedly that if he had added this or that the book would have been too long. The book is in big type, BTW.

I looked at the Appendix on sound (he recommends another book by the same publisher who is Michael Wiese). I looked at that book on Amazon and, at best, it looked like he had only a few pages devoted to placing a mic on a person. Disappointing and somewhat self serving.

Take a look at the table of contents to see if this is the book you think it is. Almost half of it is about writing and another quarter is a very broad discussion about things you may (or may not) have picked up elsewhere. Feed your crew, be nice to your crew, be patient, don't burn a hole in the rug where you are shooting, clean up after a shoot. I mean, it's a nice review and well written, but I thought the book was going to have a whole lot more meat about how to technically make this whole thing happen. Now I sort of realize I already know how to make it happen.

I know how to create a website and if you know that and you also know how to write for film/tv, this book isn't going to take you too much further. As he says, just put your video up on U-tube. That's the technical pitch.

I don't know how to star this because I think if you are new to everything, it's a great book. A great first blush with creating your own show.

Every time my kid comes home from school, he's got another Youtube video to show me, some video a few film students made and posted. And while a few are howlingly funny, just as many cry out for an editor, for direction, for "Byte Sized Television" by Ross Brown. Writing with the verve of a longtime comedy writer and the knowledge of an insider, Brown has put together the best "how to" on how to join the future of TV. It takes more than talent and a camcorder. It takes hard work, organization, script savvy, and a sense of what will, and more importantly, what will not work. My favorite section of "Byte-Sized Television" is "Fatally Flawed Series Concepts." Save yourself time and trouble. Brown has 20 years in the business. Listen to him.

This book is an excellent resource for anyone interested in learning the nuts and bolts of creating a television series for the internet. From concept through marketing, Ross Brown delivers an easy to read guide filled with examples, resources, and interviews with content creators to make this process accessible and easy to grasp. A must read for anybody interested in television production, writing, or creating their own series from the ground up.

... without reading this book first. I have worked both with and for Ross Brown, and he knows TV. From concept to posting and everything in between, it's like hiring him to run your show (and a lot cheaper!).

Great book. Besides learning about web video series alone, I learned more about storytelling and creating characters for video in this book than most I have read. If you plan to do anything with online video, it is an excellent read.

I have had a career writing and producing television series for the broadcast and cable networks. Recently, I wrote and produced my first pilot for an internet series and quite frankly I wish I had Ross Brown's, Byte-Sized Television before I started.

Brown's book is perfectly structured into fourteen chapters that take the reader seamlessly through everything there is to know -- from the kinds of ideas that work best for the internet to essential storytelling tips; even practical advice for shooting -- all designed to make a successful online webisode series. The book is more than timely as the interest and popularity of Webisodes is about to explode. Someone is going to make the first true internet hit (and with it forever change the world of television) and this book is going to be key in making that happen.

For us teachers out there, the author ingeniously includes a section after each chapter with "teaching tips" designed to encourage film and TV departments across the country to add this new essential form of TV writing/producing/directing to their curriculum.

Quite frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if Byte Sized Television becomes the industry go-to book for making TV series for the internet.