-By Mike Shields

Web content producers are hoping there’s room among the angry landlord babies and lazy Sundays for some serious drama.

To date, comedy has been the dominant art form in the short history of online video, spawning YouTube stars and comedy-centric sites ranging from Funnyordie to Comedy.com to Crackle to the defunct Dotcomedy. But more recently, established Hollywood talents and a handful of user-producers are working to launch more dramatic fare.

“There’s always been a lot of tech shows and a lot of comedy on the Web,” said Dina Kaplan, COO of Blip.tv, a video hub that has seen a rise in serialized shows such as the dark western Heathens and graphic novel-inspired Drawnbypain. “What’s interesting is that in 2008, there’s been a surprising number of dramas that have been building an audience. I’m talking scripted storylines, plot twists, high production values. These are ambitious projects.”

Among the more ambitious projects is Foreign Body, a 10-week, 50-episode, adult-targeted soap produced by Michael Eisner’s Vuguru (Prom Queen) that serves as a prequel to a Robin Cook medical thriller arriving at bookstores Aug. 5. Yet shows like Body face numerous obstacles, including the lack of established viewing patterns or creative formulas, along with a risk-averse attitude among some advertisers, who theses have plentiful options for placing video ads on the Web.

“Quite frankly, it’s a challenge,” said Vuguru creative director Steve Cohen. He said the series has generated close to a million views to date for its 40+ episodes to date. But it’s exhibited inconsistent viewership on YouTube, for example. “We’re trying to create a viewing habit. Whether it’s ten seconds or two minutes, it has to be compelling enough…that’s asking a lot of the audience.”

Just how to schedule original video series, which are typically archived for viewing on demand “is something we think about all the time,” said Miles Beckett co-founder and CEO of EQAL, the firm behind the pioneering hit lonelygirl15 and KateModern. He said that for an upcoming series the company is planning (lonelygirl15 will soon come to an end), he’s seeking ways to make it easier for users to catch up on series, and may opt for shorter seasons in the future.

Generally, comedy doesn’t ask that much of users; typically, it’s all about a quick buildup to a punch line. But “it’s really hard to be dramatic in six words,” said Jake Zim, COO of Safran Digital Group, which just inked a deal to produce comic shorts on Xbox Live. “There are basic requirements for the other genres that don’t always lend themselves to short form.”

Yet Diane Robina, president of the horror-themed FEARnet, believes that the wisdom regarding users’ tendency to content “snack” is overblown. “I don’t believe in short attention spans,” she said. “People want good characters and good storylines. When we deliver that our fans want more.” Robina cited Gossip Girl, the hour-long CW drama that has seen many young fans watching exclusively online, as evidence that Web users are more patient than is commonly believed.

Another challenge for Web drama producers: getting advertisers to sign on before a show has built an audience. “The biggest challenge is sponsorships,” said Barry Jossen, general manager, Stage 9, a subsidiary of Disney-ABC Television Group which is close to distributing the sci fi series Tremors.” He’s said in the currently climate, it’s a lot easier for buyers to run online video ads in shows like Lost and Grey’s Anatomy that an online series no one’s ever seen, particularly when “the conventional wisdom in new media comedy is what works.”

But unlike with comedy, most say to produce a high-quality drama, pre-roll ads aren’t enough; advertisers are needed to underwrite costs. Or as Jeff Berman, MySpace president of sales and marketing put it “It’s certainly easier on an Internet budget to do comedy.”
Ziv Navoth, senior vp, marketing, business development, Bebo, said “unless it’s you and a camera doing 50 episodes…. you need a large investment including ads and product integration.” Bebo, which has been aggressive on the drama front, launching the lonelygirl15 descendant KateModern as well as Sophia’s Diary (albeit in the U.K.), has inked integrated sponsorship deals with Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, and the telecommunications firm Orange. He estimated that video series can run $3,000 a minute, necessitating that “media companies need to put some skin in the game” if they want dramas to work.

Jordan Bitterman, senior vp, media at Digitas said his team has been seeing more high quality pitches from producers looking to land integrated ad deals, which he is in favor of, as there is “a valuable place in these shows for brands to exist.” He’s confident that original drama will succeed on the Web, especially as long form heavy sites like Hulu help users become more comfortable doing more than snacking. “These shows may be another trigger point along the way toward convergence.”

Indeed, despite the barriers, Berman said that MySpace is developing a pair of drama series.
Also on the horizon, NBC Universal is set to premiere Gemini Division, a futuristic cop series starring Rosario Dawson. The production firm 60Frames has signed on Tom Fontana, former producer of acclaimed TV dramas like Homicide and Oz, to create a graphic novel influenced crime drama, which CEO Brent Weinstein likened to The Sopranos.

However, though bigger budgets and more high-caliber talent should help move online video drama forward, Weinstein cautioned that for these type of shows, marketing and distribution were of paramount importance. “The days of viral distribution are ending,” he observed. “This is much more like traditional programming where you need to work hard to let people know it exists.”