The stories that tend to get the most coverage in the web series world are success stories — shows signing deals, partnering with big companies or finding new outlets for distribution. Independent creators working in this space are classic underdogs, attempting to overcome obscurity and low budgets with sheer talent and determination, and it’s exciting to see them break through. What we don’t talk about, however, are the folks who don’t succeed at breaking through to the next level.
Last month, Jonathan Nail, the writer, creator and star of the independently producedSolo, announced that he and his team would not be producing anymore episodes of the sci-fi comedy series. The blog post announcing the decision is a heartfelt thank-you letter to everyone who was involved in the show’s production, but it doesn’t go into detail about the reasons behind Nail’s decision. However, those reasons, as Nail explained during a phone interview, aren’t hard to guess: Like many who bet their time and money on creating an original series, Nail was dissatisfied with producing his own content and receiving minimal reward, and as a result he has decided to move on.
Nail was inspired to create Solo in early 2009, after seeing the success of The Guild and then discovering some of the other content being produced independently at that time. “I didn’t think it was going to be my Sling Blade,” he said (referring to the 1996 film that made Billy Bob Thornton a star), “but the concept hit me pretty strongly, and I realized I either had to put up or shut up.”
After several months of preproduction, three episodes of Solo were shot in the fall of 2009, then released in July 2010. After a second round of production, the remaining six episodes were released beginning on April 15. The total price tag, according to Nail? Approximately $20,000.
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