I recently went to a meeting about creating a webisode series that was held by the Australian Writers Guild.  They had special guests informing the audience on how to start a web series and get funding. The panel was made up of the following people:

Mike Cowap, Investment Manager for Screen Australia (Interactive and Multiplatform)
Warwick Holt and Mat Blackwell (Bruce)
Trudy Hellier and Maria Theodorakis (Little Acorns)
Michael Shanks and Nicholas Issell (The Wizards of Aus)

They talked about what type of funding is available for web content, the players who are commissioning these platforms and what kind of structure these episodes form.  The writers also talked about there own experience on how they received funding.  They also talked and the future of their shows and the interest they have had from media networks.  It seems like comedy is usually the genre choice for the successful webisodes.  The powers that provide funding usually favour pitches that already have a large following on platforms like YouTube or Facebook.  Media companies  like an idea or story if it already has an audience for it.  It was a good learning process hearing the writers talk about their experiences.  One aspect I admired about some of the writers was that they invested their own time and money to get their stories produced.  It is a tough decision to make whether to invest your own money into a project, especially if you haven’t got much money.  Overall it was an informative event that left me feeling inspired.

A screenshot from ‘The Wizards of Aus’.