My Damn Channel Director of Production: Melissa Schneider

Meet Melissa! Melissa Schneider is our new Director of Production, joining the My Damn Channel family with the experience, energy and cred we need to help produce over 30 new original series in the months ahead. She's also the lead producer for our new 2012 mega show with YouTube...My Damn Channel: Live

Melissa expands our management team in the NY office where Jesse Cowell (Director of Content) and Molly Templeton (Director of Talent & Audience Development) work with Rob Barnett (Founder/CEO) to oversee more killer original comedy and music than legally allowed on the Interweb.

"Melissa brings awesome experience, talent and spirit to our team as we prep to make 2012 the year My Damn Channel delivers more new original programming than ever before," said Rob Barnett. He added, "She's developed and produced over 30 original digital series and branded entertainment campaigns and over 30 independent music videos, commercials, and short films. She worked for David Chase for god's sake!"

Melissa graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and went on to work for The Public Theater / NY Shakespeare Festival during George C. Wolfe’s tenure. She left the theater to work in (wait for it) The Sopranos...in the writers' office for creator David Chase, and writers: Terence Winter (creator, "Boardwalk Empire"), Robin Green & Mitchell Burgess (creators, "Blue Bloods") and Matthew Weiner (creator, "Mad Men").

Melissa went digital...producing online content for Macy’s, XBOX, Vuguru, Nickelodeon, Swanson, Verizon FiOS, CJP Digital, and Summit Entertainment to name a few. She was the Director of Production at Digital Broadcasting Group (DBG) in New York City, where developed and produced digital series and branded entertainment campaigns.

More announcements on our new series, stars and launch info for My Damn Channel: Live hits this space soon.

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What's Mark Malkoff Up To?

Mark Malkoff, Camryn Manheim and Camryn Manheim's Emmy

Where's Mark Malkoff been?

Was he so exhausted from taking people on Free Cab Rides all over New York City that he's gone into hiding? Was his last vlog chronicling his adventures arm-wrestling children just too Over The Top?

Fear not. Mark is hard at work in Los Angeles putting together his next project for you: "Celebrity Sleepovers."

Make sure you visit the My Damn Channel Facebook Page where we will post photos of Mark and some of the celebs who have let him into their home.

Like Lisa Loeb:

And Ed Begley, Jr.:

... where we see the arm-wrestling thing is starting to become a recurring theme.

We'll let you know when the video is going to premiere. Until then, we hope more celebrities arm wrestle with Mark because Dan Harmon and I agree that these Over The Top jokes are never going to get old:

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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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Looking for Grace or Molly? Well, I'm Maria.

(Stuff You're Looking For On This Blog)

You guys search for a lot of info about Daily Grace and Mememolly. And that's cool.

But I'm not Grace or Molly. Sorry. My name is Maria.

(Sorry. Not blonde.)

I am My Damn Channel's "Social Media Voice," which means I write My Damn Channel's Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook and House Blog, among other things. Yes, it's my fault that the photoshop is bad and the jokes aren't funny and no one comments. So, if you haven't figured it out by now, I'm pretty good at my job.

What other kinds of things would you like to see here? What other things would you like to know? Tell me. Let's TweetTumblFaceBlogSquare together. Leave some comments. Talk to me on Tumblr and Twitter and Facebook and stuff. I posted a picture of myself with a light switch, for God's sake. If that doesn't scream "you can talk to me" I don't know what does.

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How To Deal With An Inbox Fail

Did you survive the great YouTube inbox subscription notification blackout of 2011? We saw so many of you running through the streets wailing, ripping your clothes off and screaming, "Is there a new Daily Grace episode or isn't there?! WE DON'T KNOOOOOOOOOOOW!"

So, yeah, it was pretty terrible. Here is what you should have done:

1. Check our Facebook Page. We told you about the new Grace video AND we referenced a Celine Dion song! Does it get better than that?

2. Check our Twitter feed. We told you TWICE yesterday that there was a new Daily Grace video AND we figured out a way to relate International Talk Like a Pirate Day to Buffy! Does it get better than that?

3. Check our Tumblr. We let you know there was a new Daily Grace episode AND we reblogged this guy's epic Grace gifs. Does it get any better than that?

So the next time you need some subscription notification verification, just ask us. But nicely. Please. You guys freak us out sometime when you yell.

Oh, right... or you can just go here...

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How To Be A Vlogger: Lesson Two

(Image via)

So. You've made your first vlog and told everyone that you didn't know what you were doing.

Sweet. What's next?

Well, one tactic that especially adventurous vloggers like to do is to treat the videoblogging experience like Twitter.

Like BAD Twitter.

Like the Twitter that you're afraid of finding in your timeline so you never even log on. Like the Twitter that you used to write when you didn't know what Twitter was and you thought that Facebook was just a fad and why can't we all just go back to MySpace already?!

Like this:

And-- just like last week-- this seems to work best when you don't have anything interesting or informative to share with the audience! People love being bored to death! It's crazy how that works! Those YouTube subscriptions should just start rolling in!

If you try out any of our vlogging tips, let us know how it goes-- especially if any of them work out for you, because, frankly, that's something we can only imagine. Seriously.

Come back next week when we'll discuss how to deal with the haters...

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We Like The Sklar Brothers

(The Sklar Brothers at My Damn Channel HQ!)

We like The Sklar Brothers.

They're funny. Their podcast is reliably funny. They did a web series with us called Back On Topps, which got us as close to Yankees GM Brian Cashman as we're probably ever going to get:

And this week they put out a new album, "Hendersons & Daughters."

In fact, it's already Number One on the iTunes Comedy chart:

(You guys knocked Daniel Tosh out of the top spot! Thank goodness.)

So check it out. Buy the album. Tell them we said "Thanks for being so nice that one time you came by the office." And always make sure that you shout out loud whenever and wherever you possibly can, "HENDERSON!!!"

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Waste Time With Us In Even More Places!

We have a foursquare page!

We debuted it in stealth mode a couple of weeks ago, but we figured it would be a good time to tell everyone about its existence today since Mark Malkoff would be checking in all over New York City.

So you should follow us on foursquare. We're making lists of places you should go, curated carefully by our staff. We're giving you tips on what to do to ensure maximum fun time. And since our staff are the ones making these lists, you might even run into one of us having a drink somewhere, or just laughing really hard at with our friends.

We'll also use the page to tell you when we're doing fun things and carrying around free My Damn Channel swag to give away to our friends.

So follow us, friend us and hang out with us. Unless that restraining order is still in effect (you know who you are).

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How To Be A Vlogger: Lesson One

So you want to know how to be a vlogger.

Daily Grace is pretty good at vlogging so you think we might know a thing or two about it, right?

Fine. We're going to tell you all of our secrets. But only one at a time.

Lesson One: Let everyone know this is your very first vlog and you're not sure what to say.

Like so:

As you can see in this "My First Vlog Supercut" (courtesy our sister blog, Slacktory), telling everyone it's your first time (what?) will make you seem humble and adorable. No one likes the rookie who hits a grand slam in his first at-bat! Well, everyone pretends they like him, but inside everyone is actually seething with jealousy. So, self-deprecation is totally the way to go! Also, you now have a built-in excuse for doing a terrible job. Also, I made a baseball analogy! Whoa.

Make sure you come back next Friday for Lesson Two...

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5 Ways To Make Yourself More Popular

WAKE UP and be more popular! Don't be like James Franco.

So you're back in school and you're bored already? Here are 5 Ways To Make Yourself More Popular.

1. Find someone to haze. It's still early in the school year, right? Your professor is probably still learning names. If you're in a class where your instructor calls attendance, just start hazing people. "Steve Guttenberg?" "More like, Steve Not-So-Gutten-To-Be-Back-In-School! YOU'VE BEEN HAZED."

2. Talk about how much you love Justin Bieber. His voice still hasn't broken so girls still see him as an asexual non-threatening type of fantasy crush, right? Also he's just, like, sooooooo CUUUUUUUTE.

3. Tell them how much you love animals. Cats, especially. Who doesn't love a pussy...CAT. Pussycat. Jeez.

4. Show your new roomies that you know how to cook. You should probably start with the Faghetti'wich: fries and spaghetti on a sandwich...so, you know, all your basic college food groups. Later, when the local sandwich shop starts selling it you can get them to name it after you.

5. Make a video for your new classmates telling them how much you love them. And how pretty you think they all are. And how you would totally have babies with them if they would let you. Because that's not creepy at all.

Good luck! Let us know if any of these things actually work to increase your popularity because then we will need to transfer to your school immediately.

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