As web series grow in popularity, more and more film and TV students are finding their first jobs in the world of Internet TV.

So the Prime Time TV Club decided to hear first hand how someone only a few years out of film school jump started his career by creating a hit web series.

Dan Williams studied screenwriting and spent several years working as an assistant at a talent agency and as an assistant to a writer/producer.  He decided it was time to strike out on his own and adapted a full-length pilot he’d written in school into a series of webisodes – each episode only a few minutes in length.  “It was a great exercise in forcing myself to be as economical as possible in the storytelling,” said Williams.

He partnered with friends, called in as many favors and freebies as he could, and got the pilot shot.  Based on its quality, he and his partners were able to raise money to shoot more episodes.  Then, with these in hand, he shopped the series and found a backer in BET network, who has ordered 10 more episodes (Season 2) and has the option to make it into a full-length series.

“It was really exciting to see something I’d dreamed up become an actual series.”

The most exciting part of the evening was seeing the invisible bubble above the Chapman students head that read, “Wow, this guy’s only a few years older than I am.  If he can create his own series, maybe I can, too.”