YouTube and My Damn Channel: Breaking News

Today, Google made a major announcement setting the stage for new programming on YouTube. We're honored that My Damn Channel is working to create a new YouTube original channel as part of this initiative.

We launched www.MyDamnChannel.com back in 2007 - dedicated to giving the most talented people in entertainment a studio and distribution platform where they can co-create, produce and showcase the best original video programming. We've made thousands of videos and many of the most watched and awarded comedy series like “Wainy Days,” “You Suck at Photoshop,” “Horrible People,” “Daily Grace” and political satire from the great Harry Shearer. We've been supported by major advertisers who partner with us to reach engaged, loyal fans online with media campaigns and branded entertainment that break through the noise.

In addition to running our own site, we've always syndicated to other outlets and YouTube has been a powerful partner since we launched our first channel there in 2007.

In February, 2012, we’re expanding our YouTube relationship to give you MY DAMN CHANNEL LIVE: a hosted, 30-minute, weekly comedy show featuring world premieres of our original videos and series. We'll bring you stars you love and new talent too.

MY DAMN CHANNEL LIVE will also invade your screens daily with 10-minute, interactive blasts from our host. You'll see our new live show on a dedicated channel on My Damn Channel, on a new channel on YouTube, and in syndication.

We'll keep you plugged in on the birth of our new baby with fresh updates about all the artists we’re signing and the new series we’re producing from now 'til launch. I want to give HUGE thanks to everyone who's supported My Damn Channel. A few short years ago, Warren Chao and I were two crazy fools with a power point presentation and a dream. The fact that one of the most revolutionary companies in the world just tapped us for their new adventure blows us away and we're counting on all of you to be watching.

Rob Barnett
Founder/CEO, www.MyDamnChannel.com

Sizzle Reel: 2007-2011 HERE

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April Fools' Day Fools

It's April 1st today, aka April Fools' Day, aka the most frustrating day of the year.  It's the only day of the year when the average U.S. citizen gets to experience all the perks of being a paranoid schizophrenic: not trusting anyone, disbelieving your own eyes, thinking everyone is out to get you, etc.  It's a total nightmare.

But we assume that you, the loyal Night Feed reader, is, on average, WAY too smart to fall for any of that type of shenanigoats.  So instead of insulting your intelligence, we just thought we'd point you toward this great prank from our pals over at Stella, and remind you that David Wain's Wanderlust will be in theaters later this year.

And while we're at it, why not check in with the goings-on over at Back on Topps, Horrible People, and Status Kill?  Hopefully they'll make you feel a little bit better about your own foolishness.  Zots and Crambles!

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Howard Stern Interviews My Damn Channel's Rob Barnett - 420

I just left Howard Stern's studio after an hour-long, on-air interview with the King.

About 2 weeks ago, Collette McLafferty set up an interview on Dr. Blogstein's Radio Happy Hour on Blog Talk Radio. Their interview was supposed to be about My Damn Channel, but they opened with a question about my old life in a thankless job at CBS Radio working to try to figure out how to replace the irreplaceable Howard Stern.

Howard 100 News ran with the story on Sirius on April Fool's Day. Gary Dell'Abate connected to invite me to come in to meet Howard this morning, 420, to tell the untold, true story.

I'd gotten advice from some of my best friends - and from some of Howard's friends about how to handle the situation. Much of it obvious. Tell the truth. Don't weasal. And the hardest advice - don't be long-winded.

Somehow, the minute I walked in LIVE - the mass nerves disappeared and Howard was totally amazing for over an hour.

We talked about the impossible situation he created by quitting radio in 2004 for satellite. I told him that the only person that came out perfectly smelling like a rose...was Howard.

We talked about Jon Stewart, Matt & Trey from South Park, Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David, Chris Rock, David Lee Roth, Adam Carolla, Jimmy Kimmel, Free FM, Harry Shearer, You Suck at Photoshop, and My Damn Channel. He couldn't have been cooler.

Today's show will loop all day on Sirius.

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Make a Streamy Awards Promo

The 2010 Streamy Awards honor excellence in original web television and those who create it.

The annual ceremony will be live online from LA on Sunday, April 11. The official red carpet live stream starts at 4p pst.

It's a HOT NIGHT for NERDS.
 
We're feeling guilty about getting too many nominations (14). Time to put the spotlight on ALL good humans making the best in original video online. Magnanimus, huh?

We're asking all talented humans to make short promos for the Streamy Awards - to inspire more people to seek out the best original video on the web.

Two requests only. Keep your film in the :30-2:00 zone and include a graphic that says:

Watch the Streamy Awards LIVE
Sunday, April 11 at 5:30p PST
www.Streamys.org

We need your videos ASAP - NO later than Thursday, April 1 (yes - that day).

We'll feature many/most on My Damn Channel for 11 days leading up to the Streamys, 4/11.

If we ROFLOL, and experience deep, emotional sensations, you'll be all over the My Damn Channel home page and on our other syndication partners.

Get tech specs and learn how to send us your videos by emailing DAN here.

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The Streamy Awards HEART My Damn Channel

Shock, awe and appreciation to all who voted for the STREAMY AWARDS nominations.  An insane 14 nominations for My Damn Channel series and stars.

The Streamy Awards honor excellence in original web television programming and those who create it. The annual ceremony and its live online broadcast on April 11, 2010 bring together top talent, decision-makers and influencers shaping the online entertainment industry. 

Respect & Praise to the My Damn Channel Family of Nominees:

Wainy Days

    Best Comedy Web Series

    David Wain for Best Actor

    Best Writing for a Comedy Web Series

Easy to Assemble

    Best Comedic Web Series

    Best Branded Entertainment Web Series

    Best Ensemble Cast

    Illeana Douglas for Best Actress

    Justine Bateman for Best Actress           

    Best Product Integration in a Web Series

Sparhusen

    Best Original Music in a Web Series

Back On Topps

    Best Ensemble Cast

    Best Branded Entertainment Web Series

    Best Writing for a Comedy Web Series

    Chris Hardwick for Best Guest Star

        

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MY DAMN CHANNEL FLAUNTS "NEW FALL SEASON"

 

Those 3 tired words are decades old but Hollywood hopes they help you fall in love with new shows.

We put quotes around our "new fall season" - knowing we can't fool you into love - but hoping it feels just a little funnier that way.

In two years, we’ve birthed 25 channels of music and comedy…working with artists we love. We think you’ve taught us how to get talent and new series worthy of your evil eye.

Help us buy another bag of chips for lunch! Share the full press release. Share these links to our New Series:

 

Spärhusen

Easy To Assemble: Co-Worker of The Year

Knight Shift

RAMP (Radio And Music Pros)

Harry Shearer: Greed and Fear

Don Was: The Wasmopolitan Cavalcade of Recorded Music (Season 3)

Stella Live in Boston

Unwigged & Unplugged: An Evening with Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer

Animation Block (Season 2)

Grace Crashers Presented by Southern Comfort

 

New Stars:

 

Illeana Douglas

Keanu Reeves

Ask A Ninja 

Sir Paul McCartney

Rob Mailhouse

Sir Sean Connery

Todd Spahr

Sir Richard Branson

Wallace Langham

Ryan Hunter

Taige Jensen

Sir Ben Kingsley

Jeff Goldblum

Stephen Hawking

Brad O’Farrell

Justine Bateman

Tom Arnold

Sir Elton John

Kevin Carter

Keith Berman

Steve Resnik

Prince William

The Queen

Ed Begley Jr.

Craig Bierko

Kevin Pollak

Sidney Poitier

Jane Lynch

Cheri Oteri

Ricki Lake

Tim Meadows

Dave Ahdoot

Daryl Sabara

Eric Lange

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NYU PANEL MONDAY NIGHT

THE BUSINESS of ONLINE VIDEO
Monday - April 27 - 6p

Our pal Jamison Tilsner from Tilzy.tv invited My Damn Channel to wax philosophic on a panel discussion about the voodoo that we do.

Come press the flesh, throw fastballs, curveballs, or tomatoes. Fellow warriors up for the challenge include:

Paul Kontonis of For Your Imagination
Aimee Carlson of DailyMotion
Eric Mortensen of Blip.tv

Address & more.....here.

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WAINY DAYS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

MY DAMN CHANNEL LAUNCHES SEASON FOUR OF “WAINY DAYS,”

2009 webby award official honoree and 2008 WEBBY AWARD WINNER OF “BEST COMEDY SERIES”  

 

DAVID WAIN TO STAGE FIRST-EVER LIVE PERFORMANCE OF “WAINY DAYS” AND SNEAK PEEK OF UPCOMING EPISODE AT 92YTRIBECA ON THURSDAY, MAY 7^TH

 

NEW YORK, April 23, 2009 - My Damn Channel (www.MyDamnChannel.com), the entertainment studio and new media platform, today announced that one of its most popular original web series, “Wainy Days” (www.MyDamnChannel.com/WainyDays), is returning for a fourth season on Thursday, May 7^th.  

“Wainy Days” is the brainchild of its creator, writer and director, David Wain (writer and director of last year’s hit film “Role Models” starring Seann William Scott, Paul Rudd, Jane Lynch, Elizabeth Banks and Christopher Mintz-Plasse).  The comedy series, developed and produced exclusively for My Damn Channel, follows the romantic misadventures of Wain and has featured past celebrity guest appearances by Paul Rudd, Jonah Hill, Elizabeth Banks, Lee Majors, A.D. Miles, Rob Corddry, Jason Sudeikis, Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, Ed Helms, Joe Lo Truglio, Janeane Garofalo and Alicia Witt.  A recap from David Wain of the past 3 seasons of “Wainy Days” and a tease of the new episodes can be viewed at www.MyDamnChannel.com/WainyDays. 

In the new season of “Wainy Days,” the cast of name co-stars from film and television includes Amanda Peet, Lake Bell, Rosemarie DeWitt (Rachel Getting Married, Mad Men), Michelle Federer (Wicked), and Frederick Weller (In Plain Sight).  In the first episode of the season, David meets a sexy woman, Jill (played by Amanda Peet), who appreciates him for all that he isn’t.    

On May 7, 2009 at 9:00PM, at 92YTribeca (located at 200 Hudson Street in New York) My Damn Channel will be presenting “Wainy Days LIVE,” a Wainy-themed comedy/variety evening.  The event will hosted by David Wain and will feature live musical performances from past and upcoming episodes.  Michelle Federer, Amy Miles and Ben Shenkman will be on-hand to help Wain with this feat as well as the recurring cast of the series (Zandy Hartig, A.D. Miles and Matt Ballard).  There will also be a showing of the premiere episode as well as a sneak peek of an upcoming episode.  (Tickets are $15 advance/$18 door and can be purchased at: http://www.92ytribeca.com/ or by calling 212,415.5500.

Wainy Days has been viewed over 9 millions times on My Damn Channel and throughout its syndication network, was just named an official honoree for "Best Comedy Series" for the 2009 Webby Awards, was the winner of the 2008 Webby Awards' "Best Comedy Series" as well as the 2009 Streamy Awards' "Best Guest Appearance" for Paul Rudd, and has been called "an unmissable Web series by the Associated Press. Wainy Days is produced by Jonathan Stern.

"I love that the world keeps wanting to follow my pathetic (albeit fictional) quest to meet women,” says Wain.  “As long as the audience demands it, I will continue to hire actresses to make out with me and put it on the web."

“If My Damn Channel is a new world version of an old NBC, then David Wain would definitely be our ‘Seinfeld,’” says Rob Barnett, Founder/CEO. “David continues to earn all the accolades that ‘Wainy Days’ has won by topping himself every season. His series turns sexual angst into uniquely twisted comedy.”

About David Wain
David Wain is a director, writer, actor, producer and comedian. He co-wrote and directed the recent major motion picture "Role Models" starring  Seann William Scott, Paul Rudd, Jane Lynch, Elizabeth Banks and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, now on DVD. As a founding member of the comedy troupe, "The State," he co-starred in an MTV series in the 1990's (coming to DVD in July). Wain's web hit, live show and Comedy Central series, "Stella," is an ongoing collaboration with his longtime collaborators Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter. Wain also co-wrote and directed comic cult classic features "Wet Hot American Summer" and "The Ten." For additional information on David Wain, visit www.davidwain.com.

About My Damn Channel
My Damn Channel is an entertainment studio and new media platform created to empower comedians, musicians and filmmakers to co-produce, distribute and monetize original, episodic video. Artists create content for the My Damn Channel website and for syndication on the most heavily-trafficked online communities and social networks. The network has aired some of the most successful professionally-produced comedy series on the web, including You Suck at Photoshop, Wainy Days, Horrible People, and videos by Harry Shearer.  My Damn Channel has been selected for 4 official honoree awards and nominated for one 2009 Webby Award, won 7 accolades from the 2008 Webby Awards, garnered worldwide media coverage, secured major national advertisers, earned 50,000 subscribers on YouTube, racked up a bazillion views on My Damn Channel and in syndication and blah, blah, blah…Are you still reading?  Stop now and start exploring: www.MyDamnChannel.com. 

 

About 92YTribeca:

92YTribeca is the 92nd Street Y’s new downtown arts and culture venue in New York City . Opened in October 2008, 92YTribeca presents music, comedy, film, theater, talks, classes, Jewish community and holiday programs, and family events; the venue also houses an art gallery, lounge, bar, and cafe. Among the talented performers who have graced its stage are Zach Galifianakis, Will Arnett, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Adam Yauch, Dustin Hoffman, Janeane Garofalo, Chairlift, Charlie Louvin, Q-Tip and Questlove.  Time Out New York named it the Best New Comedy Venue in 2008, and New York Magazine ranked it as “Highbrow and Brilliant” in their Approval Matrix.  For more information, visit www.92YTribeca.org.  

TO REQUEST REVIEW COPIES, INTERVIEWS WITH DAVID WAIN, TICKETS TO THE MAY 7^TH 92YTRIBECA EVENT, INTERVIEWS WITH THE CEO OF MY DAMN CHANNEL, PHOTOS OR VIDEO CLIPS FROM THE SERIES OR FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

 

Marnie Black

(917) 828-7308

marnieblack@yahoo.com

 

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"PILOT SEASON" IS COMING

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

MY DAMN CHANNEL SET TO PREMIERE “PILOT SEASON,”
ANOTHER TOTALLY FAKE DOCUMENTARY ABOUT HOLLYWOOD

30-Episode Series stars David Cross, Andy Dick,
Isla Fisher, Sam Seder and Sarah Silverman

Launching Monday, April 20, 2009

 

  

NEW YORK, April 2, 2009 - My Damn Channel (www.MyDamnChannel.com), the award-winning entertainment studio and new media platform, today announced the premiere of “Pilot Season,” a 30-episode mockumentary created by Sam Seder and Charles Fisher.  Seder stars in the series along with an extraordinary cast including Sarah Silverman, Isla Fisher, David Cross and Andy Dick.  In this series, a documentary crew follows the lives of several desperate actors, agents and studio execs during Hollywood’s annual, intensely competitive television industry feeding frenzy known as Pilot Season. 

A sneak peek of the series can be viewed at http://www.mydamnchannel.com/pilotseason.  The first two episodes will premiere Monday, April 20, 2009. New episodes will premiere every Monday.

 

“Pilot Season” first aired on the now defunct Trio cable channel in 2004 to critical acclaim and was called “one of fall’s best series” by the Los Angeles Times. 

 

“Pilot Season is a perfect fit for MyDamnChannel.com.  We created ‘Pilot Season’ by letting really talented comedians do what they do best, with no interference from suits (or those who wear them), and that’s MyDamnChannel’s modus operandi,” said Sam Seder.  “I’m proud of ‘Pilot Season’ not just because it’s funny and features an amazing cast, but also because we had a chance to make a mini-series as a sequel to a movie four people had seen...It speaks to the wonderful phenomenon of failing upwards -- a hallmark of Hollywood, which ‘Pilot Season’ explores in detail.”

 

“The response to the sneak peek on our site has been giddy,” said My Damn Channel Founder/CEO Rob Barnett.  “Fans are blown away by the A-list cast. Sam and Charlie created an infectious series that’s about to damage productivity for millions of Americans every Monday.”

 

About My Damn Channel

My Damn Channel is an entertainment studio and new media platform created to empower comedians, musicians and filmmakers to co-produce, distribute and monetize original, episodic video. Artists create content for the My Damn Channel website and for syndication on the most heavily-trafficked online communities and social networks. The network has aired some of the most successful professionally-produced comedy series on the web, including You Suck at Photoshop, Wainy Days, Horrible People, and videos by Harry Shearer.  My Damn Channel has won 7 accolades from the 2008 Webby Awards, garnered worldwide media coverage, secured major national advertisers, earned 50,000 subscribers on You Tube, racked up a bazillion views on My Damn Channel and in syndication and blah, blah, blah…Are you still reading?  Stop now and start exploring: www.MyDamnChannel.com. 

About The Creators

Sam Seder is a writer, director and comedian whose credits include the feature length comedies “Who’s the Caboose?,” which spawned “Pilot Season” and “A Bad Situationist,” shot in the summer of 2001 and made controversial when it’s subject matter too closely mirrored the attacks of 9-11.  Seder’s directing credits also include Comedy Central’s “I’m with Busey” and Studios USA’s “Beat Cops,” which he also co-wrote and co-starred in. Seder’s writing and acting credits include over a dozen broadcast Network Pilots.

Seder has hosted various political talk shows on the Air America Radio network, appeared on CNN, MSNBC and CNBC as a pundit and co-authored Fubar: “America's Right Wing Nightmare” with Stephen Sherrill. Currently, Seder co-hosts “BreakRoomLive” with Marc Maron everyday at 3pm ET. Sam spends most of his time Twittering about having to plead with his 3 year old to wipe her butt.

 

Charles Fisher is the co-writer and executive producer of the television series “Pilot Season” and “Beat Cops”, as well as the feature film “Who’s the Caboose?” Charles holds two law degrees—a J.D. and an LL.M. in media and entertainment law—and is a member of the state bars of both California and Massachusetts.  He also earned a master’s degree with honors from the University of Michigan graduate film program. 

 

TO REQUEST REVIEW COPIES, INTERVIEWS WITH THE CAST OR CREATOR OF PILOT SEASON, INTERVIEWS WITH THE CEO OF MY DAMN CHANNEL, PHOTOS FROM THE SERIES, VIDEO CLIPS OR FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

 

Marnie Black

(917) 828-7308

marnieblack@yahoo.com

 

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TIME MAGAZINE on NEWSSTANDS

TIME 100 Most Influential People in the World

Technoculture

Fun with Photoshop

Thursday, May. 01, 2008 By JOSH QUITTNER



Troy Hitch, left, and Matt Bledsoe have just been revealed as the co-creators of the hit Web series You Suck at Photoshop.


Five hundred Gazillion Web video channels and nothing good on? Google this: You Suck at Photoshop. Narrated by the fictional Donnie Hoyle--an angry, sarcastic, cuckolded Photoshop expert--it was launched in late December and ended 10 episodes later, in April, when Donnie mysteriously disappeared. Not that you ever saw him. In the videos, the camera remains centered on a computer desktop and follows Donnie's cursor as he conducts mock tutorials on how to use the photo-altering application. Sound obscure? Maybe not. With the explosion of blogging and do-it-yourself publishing, Photoshop has become one of the Web generation's indispensable tools. Accordingly, the Donnie series has been viewed nearly 8 million times and is up for two 2008 Webby Awards: Best Comedy and Best How-To Video.

How a goof became a phenomenon is a Web-age love story almost as sweet as Donnie is bitter. Many fans believed the video series had to have been made by a professional comedian; Dane Cook was a favorite suspect. But it turns out to be the work of Troy Hitch, 37, and Matt Bledsoe, 39, both of Covington, Ky.--two former ad-agency guys who met while recording a radio commercial in nearby Cincinnati, Ohio. They buddied up, started writing funny bits and launched a new-media-centric creative agency called Big Fat Institute in 2005.

That's where Rob Barnett discovered them. A show-biz guy who had worked at MTV and VH1 before spending two years at the helm of CBS Radio, Barnett had decided to become a Web-video impresario. He found Big Fat Institute while looking for someone to design his website. You Suck at Photoshop "was hysterical," Barnett recalled recently. "I was instantly engaged and e-mailed them: 'WHO are you?' In 38 seconds, I get a response: 'Who are YOU?' We started flirting." The e-mail led to phone calls and an invitation to visit Barnett in New Jersey. "A few days later, they jumped on a plane to Newark, and we fell in love," he says. Barnett signed the guys to build his video-entertainment website, MyDamnChannel.com and then produce comedy videos for it. You Suck at Photoshop was their first baby.

Hitch and Bledsoe had long nurtured an idea for a character they thought of as the Angry Photoshop Guy. Explains Bledsoe: "We had both been in the agency business so long that after a while we'd seen every kind of person in the advertising world." One of those stereotypes, he says, was the "insane designer, basically. He has horrible social skills and horrible things going on in his life, and the only thing he has going for him is he can out-Photoshop the guy in the cube next to him." It took 2 1/2 hours to complete Episode 1. "The vast majority is improvised by Troy," says Bledsoe. "I hate him for that." Hitch adds, "It was meant to be a one-off thing." But within a few weeks, the blogosphere discovered it, and the series began racking up page views.

In my favorite episode, Donnie shows viewers how to seamlessly remove the wedding band from a picture of his cheating wife's finger. "We actually really put the ring up for sale on eBay, and within four hours, 30,000 people had come by to look or bid on it," Hitch tells me. "The ring was bid up to $760." But eBay shut down the auction after discovering the performance art--a violation of the terms of service, apparently.

The team emerged from anonymity in April to launch a sequel, Snatchbuckler's Second Chance. It's filmed in a fictional, virtual world called Peopleburg.com Snatchbuckler, Donnie's erstwhile partner in the online game World of Warcraft, has gone there to shake off his Internet addiction. The video debuted on MyDamnChannel.com in late April, and it looks pretty cool. But I miss Donnie and wish I could Photoshop him back into my life.

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