When Hayden Black quit a lucrative but unfulfilling career in television, a move online had not crossed his mind. Yet two years on he is being touted as one of internet comedy's brightest stars.
Black's shows, Goodnight Burbank and Abigail's X-Rated Teen Diary, are making waves among web TV viewers. Burbank, a spoof news show, launched 18 months ago and paved the way for his latest project, a video diary in which Black plays a 13-year-old with a fictional condition called Bloomberger Syndrome that makes her look like a middle-aged man. The site has scored 1.5m hits since it began in October and was named as one of the best podcasts of 2007 by iTunes.
Salford-born Black, who is now based in Los Angeles, started his career writing for MTV and CNN, before moving into scripting and producing programme trailers. The work paid well, but he grew disillusioned with the long hours and quit to dedicate more time to his own writing.
He realised the potential of the internet while he was on an improvisation course. "A classmate had access to a green screen studio, where we could shoot webisodes," he says. "When I mentioned this to a friend who worked at Time Warner he got very excited. Online video streaming was just opening up. He showed me research they'd done on potential audiences and a light went on in my head."
Black, 34, took a script he had written for a 30-minute TV show and cut it to five minutes. Within days it was shot and online as Goodnight Burbank, in which he plays a news anchor.
"I quickly realised that at some point we could monetise this and possibly make a living from it," he says. "Money isn't pouring into the internet yet. But building a big audience now will help when advertisers arrive."
Although Black began with a television mindset - expecting viewers to tune in, watch a show and then leave - he soon saw them as participants who needed persuading to return. Abigail's tells the funny but poignant story of a girl growing up as an ugly duckling. The one-minute episodes also take a swipe at celebrity culture and score best with girls aged between 12 and 24. Last week Rich Fulcher of The Mighty Boosh joined the cast as Abigail's slimy uncle who is out-creeped by his new-look niece.
"Reviews describe it as 'feel-good' and 'bittersweet'," says Black. "To me that speaks volumes about where this could go. It's me in a silly dress, a hat and a beard, going on for a minute and affecting people - making them laugh and moving them to tears."
When Black came up with the idea for Abigail's - which is owned and made by his production company Evil Global - he spent seven months developing the character and looking at ways to make it as interactive as possible.
Video responses, in which viewers pretend to have their own versions of Bloomberger's Syndrome, are posted on the site's main feed. There is also a social network for fans who want to be part of Abigail's world.
"The great thing about the internet is instant feedback," says Black. "Audiences are younger and more willing to get involved. I get emails all the time - and 95% of them are to Abi, in character. They say things like 'you are beautiful on the inside'. It's almost as if they're saying it to themselves."
Abigail's is broadcast from her own website and the show is also distributed on 10 other sites, including YouTube. Web TV stations are reporting huge increases in traffic, while television figures are falling. Younger age groups, in particular, are deserting mainstream stations and watching online. In the US the situation is exacerbated by the screenwriters' strike, which has interrupted an entire season's filming.
Black, however, sees his future as multi-platform. He is finalising deals to distribute Abigail's via two US mobile phone networks, and there is a possibility of taking it on to TV. Should that happen, the internet and social network sites would remain key.
