Taking a Cue From "House of Cards," Machinima Releases Its Next "Mortal Kombat" Series All at Once on YouTube

If you're a gamer or a big YouTube video-viewer, you might have heard of "Mortal Kombat: Legacy," an online video series that aims to add modern story sensibilities to the classic fighting game.

The first season of the series was doled out in nine discrete episodes between April and July 2011. For the second season, the show's online distributor, Machinima, is today publishing the show in one go, a la Netflix, which has reported that that strategy is paying off for its original series like "House of Cards" and "Orange Is the New Black."

Machinima CEO Allen DeBevoise said Machinima's target audience of 18-to-35-year-old men would enjoy "18 or 19 of the Top 20" shows that online viewers binge on, like "Breaking Bad," "Dexter" and "Game of Thrones."

"There's some outliers, like 'Downton Abbey,'" he said.

As online video studios wrestle with how to keep growing ad revenue on YouTube, Machinima has been looking for a "mega-round" of new investment to bolster a growing focus on original shows like "Mortal Kombat: Legacy." Just last week, however, the video network laid off 10 percent of its staff "in connection with" that growth plan.

Each of the "Mortal Kombat: Legacy" episodes is about 10 minutes long, but director Kevin Tancharoen said he'd like to see them get past the TV-drama-esque 45-minute mark in future seasons. The series started when Tancharoen, the director of films like "Fame" and "Glee 3D," released an eight-minute fan film, "Mortal Kombat: Rebirth," on YouTube:

Machinima and Warner Bros., which owns the rights to Mortal Kombat, took notice, and the first season of their resulting collaboration has racked up more than 60 million views on YouTube. While that first season was tied in with WB Interactive's game-series reboot of Mortal Kombat, the new season is about "keeping the Mortal Kombat name out there and keeping fans engaged," Tancharoen said.

"Mortal Kombat: Legacy" director Kevin Tancharoen, right, with Peter Kafka at D: Dive Into Media 2012.

To that end, Tancharoen is working on a movie based on the series, to be released theatrically in 2015 by Warner Bros., without Machinima's involvement. He said the stories of the ongoing "Legacy" series and the eventual movie will be kept separate, so that theatergoers don't have to watch dozens of YouTube videos before they buy their popcorn.

DeBevoise said Machinima does not pay Tancharoen directly. Rather, the online video company has a licensing deal with Warner Bros., which in turn pays Tancharoen. This is different from Machinima's other relationships with creatives under its brand - a partnership with Ridley Scott's production company RSA, for example, will grant ownership of the resulting short films to those directors as official partners to the video network.

Here's the trailer for the new series and the first episode. You can find the rest at the "Mortal Kombat: Legacy" YouTube channel:

Get Ready For TechCrunch TV's Tour Of The New Hollywood, Starting Next Week

Over the last several years, we've seen a new group of digital media companies emerge in Los Angeles, driven by the growth of YouTube as a platform for distribution of video content. What started out as a cottage industry built around YouTube is becoming a pretty massive business, with L.A. at the center of it all.

Companies like Machinima, Maker Studios, and Fullscreen were founded with the idea of helping creators to expand their audiences by improving their production value, collaborating with other YouTubers, and adopting a series of best practices.

That said, not all YouTube networks are created equal: While some focus on providing creators with tools for high-quality production, others have developed technical tools to help them succeed. Some are focused on specific verticals, like gaming or food, while others are built around aggregating channels with massive audiences and growing them through collaborations.

TechCrunch TV spent several days in L.A. meeting with a number of digital media companies, including Machinima, Fullscreen, Tastemade, ZEFR, Big Frame, Maker Studios, and Funny or Die. During those visits we met with executives and creators, toured production facilities, and got to know the people building this whole new ecosystem of video content. We also visited YouTube Space L.A., a huge facility filled with equipment for shooting, editing, and other post-production activities that is free and open to YouTube creators.

On Mondays and Wednesdays over the next four weeks, we'll be rolling out a series of videos showing off all the best from our meetings at those companies, giving you a better feel for what each has to offer and what creators can expect when they sign up for a multichannel network.