March 13, 2014 – During the past five years of funding Canadian dramatic web series, a body of knowledge has been developed and curated by the Independent Production Fund. The Guide to Web Series Best Practices offers state of the art know-how from producers who have successfully manoeuvred and survived the process and from metadata accumulated by the IPF.

The web series producer must be a creature of many skills. Creative content is only the beginning. Who knew that producers had to be marketers? Or understand analytics? Or schedule programming? Or be social media activists? Or evaluate hundreds of potential platforms? Or raise money? Or cater meals? These are some of the topics and insider advice shared by the IPF authors based on their hands-on experiences. The Guide provides a snapshot of tips and techniques that are relevant to today’s web series producers. As this new form of story-telling continues to evolve, nothing is definitive, but the resources are here to help in the process of creating this digital content.

The Guide to Web Series Best Practices is the latest addition to the tools that the IPF provides to web series creators. Since 2010, the IPF has funded 54 web drama series, including the 2013 International Digital Emmy® award-winning Guidestones. These can be accessed through the IPF’s web series dashboard – WIP (wipwebseries.ca). Two hundred applications have been received this year which are presently undergoing on extensive evaluation process. Approximately 15 new projects will be selected and announced in June, 2014.

The Independent Production Fund was established in 1991 and operates on an endowment of $34 M plus recoupment from its successful project investments. It has invested $57M in the production of Canadian drama in the past 22 years, in both English and French. An independent Board of Director representing all sectors of the industry makes all final funding decisions.