[Commlist] New book: The Web Series Experiment

*The Web Series Experiment (Routledge) *

**

Edited By Steinar Ellingsen 
<https://www.routledge.com/search?author=Steinar%20Ellingsen>, Mark 
David Ryan 
<https://www.routledge.com/search?author=Mark%20David%20Ryan>, Sue 
Turnbull <https://www.routledge.com/search?author=Sue%20Turnbull>

*Abstract *

Offering a comprehensive analysis of web series as an experimental media 
form, this book traces their emergence in the late 1990s in the United 
States to their global influence across platforms such as YouTube, 
Facebook and TikTok.

Produced independently and outside traditional media channels, web 
series have transformed screen content by enabling creators to explore 
unconventional ideas, access new audiences directly, and carve pathways 
into the industry. This book explores how this medium has reshaped 
screen production practices and empowered diverse voices in the 
industry. Key features include the utilisation of the “total value” 
framework in assessing the cultural value of the format and comparative 
analyses of international policy responses to web series in Australia 
and Canada. This book investigates the diversity of web series creators 
and the content produced, as well as the varied ways in which web series 
engage with audiences, the unique production practices employed by 
creators, and the role of web festivals in this evolving landscape. 
Concluding with interviews from Australian web series creators, it 
suggests a re-evaluation of the web series format, highlighting its 
significant impact on individual careers and community building in 
screen industries.

This book is designed for an academic audience, including students, 
educators, and researchers in media, film, and screen production, as 
well as screen industry professionals and policy-makers interested in 
innovative content formats. Those researching online engagement, 
audience studies, and digital media will find valuable insights, as will 
educators in media and screen studies. By critically examining the 
development and contributions of web series, this book provides 
essential perspectives on their growing significance in the global media 
landscape.

TABLE OF CONTENTS



1 Web series are dead: Long live web series

STEINAR ELLINGSEN, MARK DAVID RYAN, AND SUE TURNBULL



2 Beyond the digital frontier: The journey and evolution of web series 
in Australia

STEINAR ELLINGSEN AND WHITNEY MONAGHAN



3 How to value a web series: From Bleak to Deadloch

MARION MCCUTCHEON AND SUE TURNBULL



4 Why support web series, anyway? A comparative analysis of web series 
policy rationales in Canada and Australia

EMILIA KING AND MARK DAVID RYAN



5 The distinctive landscape of small-screen production: Reimagining 
paradigms of creation and reception

OTESSA MARIE GHADAR



6 Women and web series, 2012–2019

NICOLA EVANS, MARION MCCUTCHEON, JOËL BASSAGET, EMILIA KING, AND STEINAR 
ELLINGSEN



7 Watching web series: Audiences and engagement

MEREDITH BURKHOLDER



8 The web festival circuit

LEANDRO DA SILVA AND OTESSA MARIE GHADAR



9 Revaluing web series: The role of web series in creative careers

NICOLA EVANS, STEINAR ELLINGSEN, AND MEREDITH BURKHOLDER



The book is available here: 
https://www.routledge.com/The-Web-Series-Experiment/Ellingsen-Ryan-Turnbull/p/book/9781041012405



Editor Bios

Steinar Ellingsen is the coordinator of the Bachelor of Journalism and

Broadcast Media at Edith Cowan University. He is a chief investigator on the

ARC Linkage project, Valuing Web Series: Economic, Industrial, Cultural and

Social Value (LP180100626). Dr Ellingsen is an internationally recognised

expert on web series whose practice-based PhD thesis included the 
creation of

a multi-award-winning web series, The Inland Sea: An Australian Odyssey. He

is a co-founder and former Director of Melbourne WebFest and has given

keynotes and seminars on web series around the globe. Dr Ellingsen has 
previously

held positions as Senior Lecturer at the University of Wollongong and

La Trobe University, where he also served as Head of Department of

Communication and Media from 2016 to 2018.



Mark David Ryan is a Professor in Screen and Media Studies and a Chief

Investigator for the Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC), Queensland

University of Technology, Australia. He is the Academic Lead for 
Research and

Research Training for the School of Creative Arts, Creative Industries,

Education and Social Justice, QUT. He has written extensively about screen

industries, Australian film and television, and genre cinema. Mark David 
Ryan

regularly advises government screen agencies on policy formulation, shaping

both international and domestic film and television production. Between 2020

and 2023, he was commissioned by Screen Queensland, the Gold Coast City

Council, and the Sunshine Coast Council to lead studies to inform policies

supporting the development of the film and television industry. Mark David

Ryan has published numerous refereed journal articles and scholarly 
essays and

is a co-editor of the books Australian Genre Film (2021), Australian 
Screen in

the 2000s (2017), and the Directory of World Cinema: Australia and New

Zealand (2015). He was the President of the Screen Studies Association of

Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand (SSAAANZ) between 2015 and 2018.



Sue Turnbull is Honorary Professor of Communication and Media at the

University of Wollongong. Her publications include Media Audiences

(Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), Media and Communications in Australia with

co-editor Bridget Griffen-Foley (Routledge, 2024), and Migrants, Television

and Australian Stories (Routledge, 2025), co-written with Kate Darian Smith,

Sukhmani Khorana, and Kyle Harvey. Sue has been involved in eight Australian

Research Council projects and was Chief Investigator on the ARC Linkage

project, Valuing Web Series (LP180100626).
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