A little over a week ago, I had a conversation with Brendan Bradley of Squatters and it turned into a sort of evaluation of the Web Industry, from someone who 
was involved in the thick of it. It sparked an idea to create an ongoing conversation with Web Industry natives to gather their thoughts on where the Web is going and how they’ve managed to navigate it thus far. We’re calling it Web on Web.
Today our conversation is with Michael Field, who created, wrote, directed, produced, and starred in The Puzzle Maker’s Son. The series follows a man named David Harding (played by Michael) as he attempts to uncover clues to his father, the puzzle maker’s, death. It’s 10 episodes of unadulterated mystery, and it’s definitely worth checking out. Because of Michael’s ability to wear so many hats, we knew that if anyone had any insight into what it takes to get a Web series off the ground, it would be him:
Clicker: When did The Puzzle Maker’s Son launch and what has been the overall audience reaction so far?
Michael Field: It premiered in April 2010 and ran for several weeks after that. Reaction has been good and I’ve met a lot of great people. Everyone seems to appreciate what we were trying to do with the series and the mystery element came off well. I’m constantly asked about season two and what’s going to happen, and that’s a nice feeling of connection.
C: And how do you measure your audience, exactly?
MF: My intention for the series was to get name recognition. I hoped to meet many people doing what I was doing. I measured my audience by replies and connections and they’ve been great. Being a rookie to new media, I wasn’t well versed on hits, tracking, and views and I’m still learning as I go. Koldcast.tv partnered with me on the series and they’ve been great with promotion. I also used Blip.tv and each episode was showcased on their front page which, obviously, helped with views, too.
C: What inspired you to start a Web series in the first place? Have you gotten what you wanted out of the experience?
MF: I started filmmaking over 15 years ago and I made several shorts (One Up, The Hero) and one feature (Save the Forest). I did the usual film festival route and although a few of my works were screened at these various festivals and reaction was good, 
it never really pushed my career forward. I don’t live in Los Angeles. I know everyone’s rule is that you need to be out there and that may be true, but the choice I made was to start a family. So the way I was going to further my career was to do so online.
For too many years, I worked outside of the digital community and that needed to change. The series was also instrumental in helping with my recent membership into the WGA East. Their initiative into new media is an exciting venture and The Puzzle Maker’s Son has helped me get involved with that. Hopefully, all of this will help me to continue to create content. Whether it’s branded entertainment or another personal web series, I’m ready to go.
C: What helped you get this one off the ground? Is there anything you tried that you wouldn’t do again?
MF: Everyone’s biggest hurdle is money and that was one here. But the next biggest hurdle is people. We’re in the no-budget to low-budget business right now and paying cast and crew is a luxury we cannot afford as much as I would love that to not be the case. Getting people to believe in your vision and go to battle with you on any project is a tough sell. Fortunately, I’ve got some great people who believed in the project.
I attacked the project in steps: pre-production, production, post-production and then promotion. Typical for any filmmaker. Those steps helped me stay focused on specific aspects of the series and prevented me from looking ahead and realizing “What the heck am I doing?” Promotion is not my strong suit. Like any writer, being introverted at times is what makes us write. I needed to create a presence online. I needed to up my profile. Twitter, facebook, blog, I did all of that. I created a facebook page for the series. I wrote blogs about my progress in production. I blindly followed filmmakers on Twitter. I just put myself out there. I created a press release and sent it out, which helped with an article on Tubefilter.com and that’s when things picked up.
I don’t have any regrets. I never do with anything. Of course, I wish I knew more about the whole process of promotion and fund-raising, but if I waited to obtain that information I would never get the production off the ground. I’d use my lack of knowledge as an excuse to not shoot the series and that would be far worse. Sometimes you have to go for it and make it up as you go along just like Dr. Jones.
C: Where do you see this industry going in the next five years? Do you see it getting tougher or easier for creators like you?
MF: Honestly, it’s probably moving towards a more controlled environment where the Internet bigwigs (Google/Verizon, Yahoo, etc) will control paid content. The loss of net neutrality is a scary truth, but not as much as the idea of everyone shifting from the Internet to app-based devices like Smart Phones, iPads and future tablets. 
Now you have a product that requires a service provider who controls exclusively what’s available on your device.
Why wouldn’t they pick and choose what they produce? Enter your new media studios and the model they’ll follow is that of the film industry, a proven one. I don’t think this is a bad thing. Just how the world works, I suppose. It might not even happen that way. That’s how unknown this industry is right now. I just hope I’m around and still working in the industry, whichever way it goes.
As for whether it’ll be easier or tougher for creators, I think that’s solely based on talent. The talent of storytelling and the talent of networking play a big part in all content creators’ lives. Luck helps, too. Of course, this may just be the ramblings of a content creator with a story brewing in my brain, Inception style, and I need an outlet for it or this idea will destroy me. I do remember a snowy fortress in my dreams the other night.
C: Haha, so where do you go next? Any big plans?
MF: Right now. I’m writing. I took a break from the web series and promoting to write a feature length script. It was an idea lodged in my head for some time and it was either get it out on paper or have it haunt me for the next several months. I completed the second draft, so now I’m refocusing on season two of The Puzzle Maker’s Son. 
I’ve started to map and outline where I want the story to go and my intention is to wrap up the entire series after three seasons.
With my recent inclusion into the WGA, I’d like to start looking for paying work for my writing. (Yeah, I know. Don’t we all!) For most of my career, I’ve written solely for me and what my limitations were as a filmmaker, both in my experience and limited finances. With my recent feature script as an example, I’m trying to work on stories that need more than my resources. I’m thinking bigger and more ambitious and perhaps that will land me somewhere where I get the chance to create great content with other writers and filmmakers.
This business is truly about collaboration and I love it when a large group works towards a common goal. The invigorating sense of creating and telling stories outweighs any emotion in the known universe…well, maybe not when my daughters smile at me and laugh. That’s just as perfect as perfect gets.
