Times change. When the movies came about people said that it was a trend that will die soon. When the TV came out, even more people said that it won't catch on. And here we are again, at the dawn of IPTV, finding the first professionally-made, web-only, live action series: Sanctuary. Co-created by one of Sci-Fi Channel's Stargate SG-1 producers, Stage3Media's Damian Kindler was very kind to answer some of our questions about the promising project, which recently even hit a Guinness record as the most expensive web-only production ever ($4.5 million CDN). You can view behind-the-scenes and previews here and the first full 17-minute webisode here (includes a cameo of Stargate: Atlantis' own David Hewlett), while you can support the project by buying the HD DRM-free version of the webisodes at the official site. Read more in our interview inside!
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2006-09-30
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Nice, still have to see it though, their *web*site isn't really one and insists on installing a flash plugin to do anything (yes, even on XP where I do have v8 or so installed). It would be so wonderful if they used web standards instead of proprietary stuff... I'd even propose helping them 
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2007-03-30
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I went to the official website to watch an official version of the episode, but nothing was there but a 5 month old trailer... (and a website that reminds me of Myst 1)
Update: it looks like rather than host a free low quality version on their website, they make people hunt for them on other video sites. The wikipedia entry says the first four episodes will be on Youtube. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctuary_%28web_series%29 )
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Usually when a TV show is on Youtube it is 24 hours away from the lawyers taking it down. So having a sketchy video on Youtube and no recognition of this on the official website is why I went on the adventure to find out WTF was going on.
Edited 2007-06-06 02:38 UTC
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The webisodes are located here:
http://www.sanctuaryforall.com/pages/Store.php
They cost $2.25 each or you can pay for a bundle deal.
You have to register on their site first.
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2005-09-28
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Maybe the Indie scene will be the first to go there. Undoubtedly the big studios will follow suit, but in the beginning, Indie movies can find a good point of entry. There is a neat site that sells indie movies btw: http://www.bside.com/
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2005-07-06
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Is it just me or is releasing 8 episodes that are only 15 minutes each and each spread 2 weeks apart and cost over $2 per episode (OK, less if you buy the lot in one go) quite a bizarre and costly way to sell a programme?
Yes, I realise it cost a lot to make, but getting drip-fed high-priced short episodes across the space of over 3 months is a sure way to encourage disinterest in your offering. Basically, they're offering the equivalent of a 2-hour sci-fi movie for up to $16 (not far away from the cost of a DVD) as a download-only option that you'll have to wait 14 weeks to see completely (and hand-join the parts [e.g. avimerge] to avoid any gaps :-) ). Doesn't sound too great when you put it that way - maybe they will offer the whole thing as one big download later on at a cheaper price once all 8 episodes are out there?
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This will eventually have to work like every other future media distribution: persistent tracking of what properties a user has bought, and then 24/7 delivery of any mediums they want the property in. So any episode of this that you buy would be remembered by the website which gives you assorted download file formats, including streaming. And if you end up buying every episode, you're naturally also given access to a full length version of them.
If a show was popular enough, it could pay its way with micropayments per-watch or advertisements.
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It's $22.5 for the HD download in two bundles. And if you add-in the cost of a couple blank DVDs and a DVD case, and maybe a couple DVD labels and ink, then it is even more.
I find it far too expensive for two hours of download-then-burn-yourself video, especially bearing in mind that the intro and credits are probably included 8 times over, so there might be a lot less than 2 hours of real content in the end.
If there were 16 episodes at the same price it would feel like a whole season for a cartoon like Dexter's Lab, or Dragon Ball or whatever, and it would be a lot more palatable.
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I tried it and it is an interesting show. But as others have pointed out it gets expensive very quickly. I prefer to watch things on my TV rather than my PC. So, you have to re-encode it from QT to a format supported by your DVD player. On my PC that takes a longggg time.... After that experence I don't think I will be buying anymore. But, it is an interesting idea, and the show itself appears interesting.
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Purchased the non HD bundle today after seeing this on OSNEWS. Went to the website and it is interesting. I paid and saw that it was in my library waiting for download and when I get home and login nothing is in my library and I can't download anything. I have sent notes to the shop, info, and support ids without success. All hardware and software on both a windows machine and mac machine are current and meet the requirements of the website.
Anyone else have this experience?
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Maybe it set a cookie on the other machine you used to purchase the episodes?
I'm guessing they don't want people to create an account, pay for the webisodes and then go over to their friends, log in and download them.
Could be a safety measure to prevent you from sharing? Just my guess.
Try logging into your account from the machine you used to buy them from and see if they show up.
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