What Is My Damn Channel?
My Damn Channel empowers comedians, actors, filmmakers, musicians and brands to co-produce, monetize and distribute original video content on www.MyDamnChannel.com and in syndication across all digital platforms. The company has launched some of the most successful original comedy series on the web, including Wainy Days, Horrible People, You Suck at Photoshop and videos by Harry Shearer.
Recently named one of TIME Magazine's Best 50 Websites of 2011, My Damn Channel has received worldwide media recognition and has won numerous accolades from the Webby Awards (including Best Comedy Series) and the Streamy Awards. Since launching in 2007, My Damn Channel has produced thousands of original videos by major stars and emerging artists. As the channel's ability to reach a diverse global audience has grown, so has the demand for quality content and entertainment. My Damn Channel also creates premium, branded content and targeted distribution campaigns for partners such as Subway, IKEA, IFC, Adult Swim, PUMA, Trident, Southern Comfort and Fiat. My Damn Channel operates a Blog Network, a Vlog Network, a Talent Network and a music channel run by Don Was.
Wanna sizzle?...http://bit.ly/nMKQ95
Rob Barnett, Founder/CEO
My Damn Channel is the brainchild of its Founder/CEO, Rob Barnett. My Damn Channel is an entertainment studio and distributor of premium original programming by established and emerging talent from film, TV, and the Internet. Since 2007, Rob and his team have built My Damn Channel into a successful brand and business where top talent, loyal fans, and major advertisers come together to create the TV network of the future. Rob has produced radio, television, film, and new media with hundreds of diverse communicators including President Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, The Rolling Stones, Bono, Jimmy Kimmel, Adam Carolla, Johnny Rotten and more.
He was the President of Programming for CBS Radio from 2004-2006, where he oversaw content development for more than 179 stations, and launched new formats in 30 markets. Rob was a production and a programming executive at MTV and VH1 for more than 11 years, where he produced news, specials, and series for both outlets and oversaw all network programming. At VH1, he was VP of Program Planning during the network’s surge in the late 90s with iconic hit shows including "Behind the Music." Rob worked as an independent producer for projects including "Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues," a multi-part, PBS film series; "Staffers," a reality TV series on politics; and "Inside the Bubble," a documentary feature film on the 2004 presidential campaign.
In the earlier part of his career, Rob worked at rock radio stations in Boston, Dallas, and Los Angeles. He was on-air talent in all three markets, and the Program Director in Boston and Dallas. In 1981, Rob convinced Mick Jagger & The Rolling Stones to play a secret, club gig as an exclusive promotion for his radio station, WAAF. Rob is passionately dedicated to giving My Damn Channel artists the freedom, financing and respect they deserve to do their best work – which in turn gives My Damn Channel viewers consistently original programming that doesn’t suck! Follow Rob on Twitter at
twitter.com/DamnRob
Warren Chao, Co-Founder/Chief Operating Officer
Warren Chao manages the company's business operations and key strategic partnerships with online and traditional media companies. He also oversees all technology, finance and legal. Warren served as Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Planning for Gemstar-TV Guide International (NASDAQ: GMST), where he launched and managed new initiatives across the company’s various business units as part of a cross-platform strategy that combined the audience reach of TV Guide Magazine, the TV Guide Channel and tvguide.com. Warren was also part of Gemstar-TV Guide’s corporate mergers and acquisitions team responsible for acquiring new companies and technologies.
Previously, Warren worked as a venture capitalist at DynaFund Ventures, in Los Angeles, and as an attorney at Intel Capital in Silicon Valley. He began his career as a corporate and licensing attorney at the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto, California. The firm now represents My Damn Channel. Warren holds a JD/MBA from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Harvard University. Warren has auditioned for Jeopardy at least three times and has not made the cut…yet.
Matt Kaplan, Chief Revenue Officer
Matt is based in our NY office and leads a national team of sales people who connect great brands to great content. Matt’s team delivers award winning branded entertainment campaigns as well as digital media campaigns against a critical mass of young adult, entertainment enthusiasts. My Damn Channel has sales offices in NY, LA, Chicago, Detroit, Dallas, Atlanta and Boston. Matt is a 12 year veteran of digital media beginning his career at Egreetings during the first internet boom in San Francisco. He’s managed multiple aspects of digital media businesses including sales & marketing, operations, content and business development.
Matt’s worked for big brands including Maxim, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping and Parents. As a sales leader, Matt has delivered integrated marketing campaigns for a diverse group of brands including Harley-Davidson, Dr Pepper, Pepsi, Jeep, Nissan, Cover Girl, Activision and the Center for Disease Control. Matt completed his masters degree in international management at UC San Diego.
Dork Alahydoian, Vice President of Business Development
Dork is the business development executive and lawyer who strikes the deals we make with strategic partners and talent. He’s a lawyer with 14 years of business development, strategy and product management experience at digital media companies including Fandango (Comcast) and Kodak Gallery. He’s launched and managed partnerships and products across online, mobile and emerging media platforms as a senior manager for large companies and start-ups. Dork started his career as an attorney at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto, CA after receiving a JD/MBA from U.C. Berkeley.
Dork is a multi-year, fantasy football champion.
Jesse Cowell, Director of Content
Jesse brings My Damn Channel 18 years of filmmaking and writing experience to head our team that selects, develops, produces and curates our original video content. He serves as Producer or Executive Producer on many of our biggest hit series. Before joining our team in 2010, Jesse created, directed and produced an action-comedy series with groundbreaking special effects, "Status Kill." He is the director of "Shades of Gray," an award-winning feature released online in 12-parts in 2004, and he created the highly-acclaimed, Webby award-winning, "Drawn by Pain" (a 12-part, mixed-media series).
Jesse's work in the online universe has been featured on nearly every major site across the web reaching millions of fans. A 22-page, best practice, case study on Jesse appeared in Norman Hollyn’s expert textbook, The Lean Forward Moment. Jesse attained his masters from USC’s film school. He’s a passionate storyteller, a great advocate and collaborator on every project and functions best with iced coffee and Lenny’s sandwiches at regular intervals.
Maria Alana Diokno, Director of Social Media
Maria is responsible for My Damn Channel’s social media strategy. Managing Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and the house blog, she develops specific voice and context for My Damn Channel’s original content on each outlet, and is always looking for new ways to engage My Damn Channel’s audience.
Prior to joining the company in 2007, Maria was most well-known for appearing in an infomercial about makeup for women of color, pretending once to talk to Erica Kane on “All My Children” and receiving several close-ups while sitting in the audience of the short-lived talk show, “Carnie.” Providing that you don’t mind over-zealous tweets about baseball, reality television and cranky rants about the decline of proper grammar and syntax (for which she blames her education from Columbia University and The Writers Studio), she encourages you to follow her on Twitter at
twitter.com/mariaalana.
Molly Templeton, Director of Talent & Audience Development
Molly is signing, managing, developing and discovering individual video creators as well as building audience engagement across the My Damn Channel network. She manages all of our My Damn Channel programming on YouTube and works closely with all of our top talent to help their videos break through. Prior to joining the company in 2011, Molly was the host of long-running daily web show, Rocketboom, where she also wrote, produced and programmed content.
A video blogger herself under the username, 'mememolly', she has worked in web video since 2006, gaining over 50 million views and a nomination for Best Commentary in the 2007 YouTube Awards. Molly grew up in England, before moving to Ottawa, Vancouver and finally New York City, where she has found herself at home with people equally fascinated with internet culture and community. In her spare time, she likes to bake, play the ukulele and drink fancy beer. Follow her on Twitter at:
twitter.com/mememolly