Posted in
David Wain,
Elizabeth Banks,
Filmmakers,
Hollywood,
Just for Laughs,
Matt Warren,
Michael Ian Black,
My Damn Channel,
Paul Rudd,
Wainy Days with tags
Wet Hot American Summer,
David Wain,
live shows,
Just For Laughs,
Bradley Cooper,
Amy Poehler,
The State,
celebrities,
film,
Matt Warren,
My Damn Channel on 7/22/2011 9:17:47 AM by Matt Warren
People forget how much the world has changed in the last decade. Blogs, social networking, web video. All of these post-Y2K innovations have radically altered the way we interact with the world—particularly the world of entertainment. You may not remember, but back before there was such a thing as forward-thinking online
content providers, there were literally only two ways to entertain oneself: by 1) burning the effigy of a rival tribal leader, or 2) firing up the ol' top-loading VCR to watch a battered VHS copy of David Wain's cult summer camp spoof
Wet Hot American Summer.
Yes, long before Wainy Days was even a twinkle in the director's eye, Wet Hot showcased Wain's unique brand of unpredictable, absurdist humor, and featured a cast that now seems like a murderers’ row of the most important comedic performers of the early 21st century.
(Leslie Knope [L], and Johnny Limitless [R])
Some, like Paul Rudd and Elizabeth Banks, have turned up on Wainy Days; while others, like A.D. Miles, have gone on to create their very own (excellent) series like Horrible People.
To celebrate the film’s 10th anniversary, David Wain & Co. have mounted a nation-wide tour, featuring screenings, Q&A's, and live shows. To wit, here's David Wain and Wet Hot co-star Jo Lo Truglio revisiting some alternate titles for the film. And if you're jonesing for even more of Wain live, don't forget to check out the Wainy Days live show at this year's Just For Laughs. And remember: if you wanna smear mud on your ass, smear mud on your ass, just be honest about it.
Posted in
Daily Grace,
Hollywood,
Matt Warren,
My Damn Channel,
YouTube with tags
Harry Potter,
Daily Grace,
Grace Helbig,
My Damn Channel,
Matt Warren,
Daniel Radcliffe,
Emma Watson,
Movies,
Celebrities,
Hollywood,
Film,
Cosplay on 7/15/2011 9:53:33 AM by Matt Warren
A young George Costanza?
Maybe you've seen the ads on billboards, in bus shelters, or projected onto the insides of your eyelids. Maybe you've seen Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, or the Other One making the rounds on the talk show circuit. Or maybe you need only to consult your very own "Mug Life" abdomen tattoo to be reminded that today--yes, today!--marks the release of the final Harry Potter movie,
Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, Part Two: Stagnetti's Revenge.
Yes, after a decade's worth of yeoman-like service at the multiplex, it's finally come time for this iteration of Harry Potter to power down, be put out to stud, and other such mixed metaphors. It's a bittersweet day for fans, but hopefully the release of the final film in the franchise will at least provide the answers to some longstanding mysteries, like "What's the deal with the smoke monster?", "Whatever happened to that Russian Paulie and Christopher let escape into the pine barrens?" and "So did A and X meet at this place last year, or what?"
Okay, so maybe I don't know anything about the Harry Potter franchise. But our very own
Daily Grace does...
And today, she
bids a tearful adieu to the Boy Who Lived. But if you want to avoid the waterworks, you can check in on Ms. Helbig in happier times, watching Part 1 of
Deathly Hallows, or over on her
Tumblr, wherein she ups her Hogwarts cosplay game considerably.
Posted in
DAMN, NEWS,
Events,
Matt Warren,
My Damn Channel,
New Media,
Rob Barnett,
Warren Chao with tags
My Damn Channel,
Twitter,
Tumblr,
Facebooks,
National Pen Day,
Rob Barnett,
Warren Chao,
MattheW,
prize giveaway,
contest on 6/10/2011 10:00:00 AM by Matt Warren
Hot on the heels of last week's National Donut Day, today marks yet another charmingly inane "holiday" celebrating yet another piece of contemporary bric-a-brac. I'm talking, or course, about National Ball Point Pen Day! So fire up your out-of-office reply function, put on your party shirt, and cut out of work early. You don't want to be late for the parade, and besides, those Bic-themed cocktails down at the National Ball Point Pen Day barbeque aren't gonna drink themselves. Just be safe out there. You know how drivers are on BPP Day.
And in the spirit of the season, we're giving away some free My Damn Channel promotional pens over on our Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook. Nothing to scoff at, especially since it's been well-established that pen > sword = mightier. Click the links for a chance to win. What's that you say? How DARE you insinuate that this is all just a cheap ploy to unload the huge surplus of pens we ordered to give away at our 4th birthday party on Monday. Who cares that there are boxes full of My Damn Channel pens piled floor-to-ceiling in our offices, creating a fire hazard that will likely kill us all. That's no reason to read anything duplicitous into this whole free pen giveaway thing. You guys are acting crazy.
So happy holidays. Don't forget to send your mom a card.
Huge thanks to everyone who made last night's 4th Birthday Party a whole lotta love!
We're honored to be a part of this creative community.
Huge thanks to everyone who takes a minute to watch - share - and like - the work of the artists we love and respect.
To our artists, fans, staff, advertisers, partners, investors, families and friends (who'd we leave out?)...we love you for helping us all get this far. We're committed to making more goodness for "4 MORE YEARS" and beyond.
Respect & Love,
Rob
My Damn Channel is 3 years old today.
Punk was still a baby when this photo was taken. Nixon is looming in the background. He's pointing the finger!
The pic is taken during a time called "college radio" before consultants sucked freedom out of the souls of rock radio madmen and mystical women who turned us onto music completely capable of changing and defining our lives.
I first met Harry Shearer that year. I chased rock dreams through radio, television and film - and called Harry in late 2006, with the idea to start a then-unnamed business which became My Damn Channel. I called Don Was. I called David Wain.
We launched My Damn Channel exactly 3 years ago, on July 31, 2007.
We give artists we love, trust and respect all the tools they need to skip over stone walls of multi-national media empires and create video delivered directly to you.
We've never been stupid enough to think www.MyDamnChannel.com would be the most visited online destination in the world. But we built a home base big and bad enough for every creator to have their own channel and we built a massive distribution network to move video onto every digital platform where we can make a solid business deal to support the work. The good shit ain't free.
We built a business driven by advertising, licensing and the certainty that we can bring you talent and content in special events later this year - worthy of a buck or two from you to support the art. Crazy, right?
Artists like Illeana Douglas prove that companies like IKEA can connect in a whole new way with millions of people watching millions of videos every hour. Illeana birthed a baby called "Easy to Assemble," which Ad Age dubbed "the most-watched sponsored web show."
We survived the world's worst economy and found our way to success because YOU watch and share our videos. THANK YOU.
We have artists that trust us to respect their art. THANK YOU.
We have sponsors and business partners who believe that we can deliver the good shit and guarantee millions of eyes on it all. THANK YOU.
We have backers who put their faith and coin into a vision for a new show business as powerful today as television was in the 50's. YOU GET IT! THANK YOU!
We have a man named Warren Chao, our Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, who knew how to stop us from avoiding most of the mistakes baby companies make to screw it all up. Warren: I've never known a single human being as smart, dedicated and effective inside a company as you. THANK YOU.
Biggest thanks to our families for not killing us when the hill seemed to high to climb!
RESPECT and THANKS to every one of you who have spent a day inside our small, evolving staff of rebels and business partners.
(Keep an eye out for your party invite!)
We start year four today. Documented in "the world's longest press release" here - with all our new channels for your immediate inspection.
One more major announcement is coming out in days to prove that you'll still have My Damn Channel to kick around for years to come.
F Nixon.
Posted in
Easy to Assemble,
Sparhusen with tags
Easy To Assemble,
IKEA,
Illeana Douglas,
Justine Bateman,
Sweden,
Eric Lange,
Ed Begley Jr.,
David Henrie,
Sung Kang,
Wallace Langham,
Rob Mailhouse,
Tim Meadows,
Mia Riverton,
Michael Irpino,
Sean Durrie,
Todd Spahr,
Ogy Durham,
Dominik Rausch,
Warren Chao,
Ad Age,
Wilson Cleveland on 1/20/2010 3:13:10 AM by Rob Barnett
Tag - you're ALL it. Everyone listed above is Flying High. Advertising Age just called Easy To Assemble "the most-watched sponsored web series."
Illeana Douglas had a vision about how to make the best possible films directly for the web - for fans - for actors - and for one very visionary sponsor: IKEA.
There's proof that Illeana was right. Everyone keeps coming back for more.
Today marks the premiere of the Easy To Assemble mini-series event: "Flying Solo."
Brad O'Farrell gave our almost official mascot the Labor Day treatment. Njoy. He's linked to one of our happiest videos of all-time.
New unemployment stats are the worst in 26 years. If you're like any of the dreamchasers at My Damn Channel, it's a fair bet you're no stranger to losing a gig in TV, radio, music, or the arts & little sciences.
"Go Your Own Way" may be a lame, overplayed, 70's sing-along...but it's also fine solution for what to do after getting tossed out of a gig.
We're raising a glass to everyone with the brains and the backbone to embrace a new way to get your work seen by an audience large enough to actually make you money.
One last-ever reference to Fleetwood Mac...
We got some sad news over the weekend, that one of our best co-cons at My Damn Channel is moving on. Vivian Kyinn provides much of the mystical glue that holds this house together. She wrote and co-produced a film called White Wall which got her to Cannes and now she's decided to get after her movie-making passions full-time. BIG THANKS & BIG LOVE to one of the better humans we know.
Warren Chao posted the replacement gig based in our LA office this weekend. Economic insanity created hundreds of candidates in hours. If you're read "The Night Feed" and know the best human for this gig - email: Jobs@MyDamnChannel.com
Two years ago, on 7/31/07, we declared independence from everything old. We launched our new show business battleship on a mission to deliver the best original video series to your fingertips n’ eyeballs. We set sail for a new world free from the ridiculous, red-tape creating ways of radio, TV, & film.
In two years, we’ve built a new studio to produce the entertainment – a network to showcase the goods – and a syndication business to help it all fly far and fast.
We knew if we avoided idiotic start-up mistakes, we’d have a shot at building a creative and financial win. The past two years have been about building our brand, signing talent, co-creating hit series, finding a mass audience, and finally making real revenues from multiple streams.
Our advertisers keep fueling this fun because they know that we’re one of the new companies who can deliver three essential must-haves for new media messaging to make sense for brands:
1) highest-quality, star-driven entertainment
2) customized distribution to any digital platform
3) guaranteed traffic
As we start our next trip 'round the sun thanks go to our ARTISTS. The musicians, comedians, filmmakers, actors and revolutionaries who believed in us when we were schmucks with a PowerPoint now have a safe haven to produce and distribute video directly to fans. Most of our first famous friends are all still here. And thanks go to the newest members of the My Damn Channel line-up for signing on to put us to work on their behalf. We’re getting ready to announce a handful of mind-blowing deals with more stars from da movies and da teleevision.
Special thanks to every one of you who watch and share My Damn Channel videos. The minute we start screwing up, you stop watching, and it’s game over. Thanks for teaching us how to serve at your pleasure.
If you’ve worked inside our small, determined crew, please accept a personal thank you for putting in the brains, sweat and passion to prove this all works. Warren and I are forever mindful of what you’ve brought to this picnic.
Warren Chao is the Co-Founder & COO of My Damn Channel turning ideas into action. I’ve never seen anyone combine so many skills to make up the super-human-management sensation that Warren embodies. The man is awesomely inspiring and the essential ingredient inside this thing.
We share our My Damn Channel birthday with Mark Cuban, J.K. Rowling, and a visionary named Marc Averitt. Marc is our Board Director, and the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Okapi Venture Capital. We pay tribute to the man who first believed in our vision. And we mark our two-year milestone honoring every investor who helped put technology to work for our content creators, our audiences, distribution partners, and advertisers.
We’re about to make an announcement about new investment, new revenue deals, new series from our current stars and a few jaw-droppers if tonight’s midnight emails are to be believed.
Our next new pilot may be live within hours of this post…
Thanks for being here.
Rob Barnett
Rob@MyDamnChannel.com
Packed in four more speed dates yesterday meeting financial and strategic partners to grow the My Damn Channel monsta. All of them - matchmade by Warren Chao, our Chief Operating Officer - the smart one we call "H-POD" (Honest Promise / Over-Deliver). He's a lawyer - a former venture capitalist - a biz dev exec. He's the man who finds and manages the money that makes our media machine run. In his spare time, he put together all our tech, ad sales, legal, and administrative. He runs our LA office. I'm ceoing headquarters in NY - getting to do all the fun stuff -with our talent - & building the world many venture capitalists fear: CONTENT.
A few brave backers are finally warming to the fact that it's becoming as much about WHAT you watch - as HOW you watch it. Full respect is due every sili-co-con in the valley who built the pipes and pathways that bring all the tech starring back at you through this screen...but we've figured out a way to produce high-quality videos at low-cost. Advertisers are coming on board to pay the freight. Our artists get rare, transparent deals that start with total creative freedom, segue to fully-funded video channels, and end with a rocking share of the revenue. Back to the dating game.