It was clear that the most pressing question David Jenkinson, C21 Media’s Editor-in-chief and managing director, had for forum attendees was, “is there money to be made in developing video content for the Web?” The attendees were each pressed to give their perspective on this and share the business models they’ve setup to protect their content and profit from it.

Fremantle’s Andrew Piller introduced us to Fremantle’s new web series Freak, which is being funded by Proctor and Gamble (Tampax) and Red Bull. The show will air as 7.5 – 8.5-minute episodes twice a week and, like many scripted teen-targeted dramas, the show will follow the struggles of a teenage girl struggling to find her identity.

Although he wouldn’t confirm the exact production budget Piller said Fremant- le wouldn’t be doing the show if it weren’t bringing in revenue and that the produc- tion budget was somewhere just under $500,000, and this is for a show shot all in HD with what Piller said was a very seasoned production team. Piller’s belief is that everyone in the business of producing video for the Web is waiting for a web-based show that is a game changer and proves there is good money to be made in producing high quality, professional shows for the Web and that a brands message can be successfully promoted by sponsoring such an effort. I might argue this had already been proven but the model is still not as well established and because user-generated amateur content that costs nothing to make is often the mostly likely to go viral and reach millions, it’s tough to justify spending huge amounts of money for online productions unless viewership levels can be guaranteed.

A few attendees were also concerned by the extent to which sponsorships for video content online may influence the creative integrity of a show. Piller emphasized that sponsors have no influence over the story of Freak. He also stressed that although they are attempting to build a community around the show they are not letting the community write the show’s plot. It’s not a “choose your own adventure.” Fremantle and the Freak writing staff maintain themselves as the sole authors. As a side note: I have to think, however, that creating a show where the plot is dependent on the voting or input of the audience is a really cool idea that would leverage the enthusiasm and interactivity of the communities web based shows ought to create.

On the topic of producing video content that is made with an awareness of the more interactive nature of the Web-based platform, Kelly Sweeney, head of original productions at Bebo, which produced KateModern, a remake of the popular U.S.-originated lonleygirl15 web series, stated as a part of a taped presentation, that Web-based programming is not passive, as it is on TV, and needs to encourage its viewers to get involved.

One of the primary concerns is the ease with with which people’s content can still be ripped off online. Ashley Mackenzie, CEO of MyVideoRights.com,  reminded us how easy it is for websites to embed other people’s video content in their site and place ads around this video and make money off other people’s work while the original creator or owner of that video content makes nothing. Mackenzie’s company recently landed an advertising deal with YouTube.com reported to be worth millions of pounds which allows them to sell advertising around its YouTube video content.

Blinkbox CEO, Micahel Comish, outlined one of the most impressive, comprehensive video monetization business models of the day when he shared with attendees the multiple ways Blinkbox.com works with advertisers to wring value out of their video content — brand sponsorships, video pre-roll advertising, display advertising, paid streaming, affiliate programs, syndication and mobile (see image in slideshow above).

Interestingly, Comish mentioned during his talk that as someone who prefers to watch video on his nice big flat screen he is no longer the core demographic for his company, and that Blinkbox is used by a younger content viewer who feels more comfortable multitasking. I asked Comish whether he thought it was inevitable that in the near future all viewing devices — primary television, computer, phone — will exist as video or content on demand. Comish said that the broadcast structure will remain because a) it’s still more profitable and b) people will always want to watch certain things live (like sports) and have the shared experience of knowing they are watching a show at the same time as the rest of the world (reaffirming what Werdelin had mentioned during his address to attendees about the importance of simultaneous viewing).

So can you make money by producing for the Web? Yes. But there are still significant hurdles with getting your content viewed by a sufficient number of people, protecting your content against piracy and finding brands with sufficient capital and faith that funding your production will be worthwhile.

While, multiple speakers spoke of a “game changing event,” wherein a model would be created that would show companies just how beneficial funding web-based productions can be for promoting their brand, the people really making money right now are those who find funding for a project ahead of time and work with the sponsors to find ways to create buzz around the project, and then extend that buzz to the brand sponsoring the production.

With so much content online, and it being so easy to produce “professional looking” video content these days, the large video distribution platforms (Hulu, YouTube, Vimeo, Joost, Dailymotion, Bebo) hold significant power. Yes, anyone can produce something on the Web and put the video on their website, but the resounding opinion was that you need to negotiate a deal with an established video distributor to secure the interest of a corporate sponsor by ensuring that their will be a minimum number of eyeballs reaching your content.

Its no surprise that the onus remains on the producers. Producers like Specer Duru who through some amazing effort and perseverance produced the popular fan film The Hunt for Gollum for less than £3,000. In his case, because it was a fan film, they got permission to make it from the Tolkien Estate so long as it was a not-for-profit venture, but it was clear the online distributor of this content (in this case, Dailymotion) stood to get much more out of the production, in the form of increased traffic to their site, than Duru would, or could, so, as always there is a struggle for content makers having to work hard to protect their work and avoid exploitation.

But when you’re young and hungry, as Duru is, it seems he was happy to make a deal that would get his work out there and create a name for himself, despite the fact he got next to nothing in return financially.

That’s the summary from C21 Media’s Social Media Forum. Let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Read past entries by Reess Kennedy