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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3 Years Ago: Launch Mode

Good things come in 3's.

3 years ago, a small band of true believers were readying the launch of My Damn Channel: 7/31/07.

Here are the inaugural videos from the first 3 artists we signed.

David Wain came in with the world's fastest pitch for Wainy Days: (paraphrasing) "I want to make out with the hottest women in the world and every date goes horribly wrong."

His first episode (a 3-parter) co-stars Elizabeth Banks as Shelly:


David Wain as David Wain, Elizabeth Banks as Shelly.



Harry Shearer was the first hero we signed. He sat in prosthetic makeup for over 4 hours to become Dick Cheney, singing sexy for Scooter Libby:


Harry Shearer as Dick Cheney.


We wanted music to marry comedy in our company from Day One. We turned to another brother and one of the best musicians and producers on the planet, Don Was.

Don's "Wasmopolitan Cavalcade of Recorded Music" is an earful of the best music you can't get anywhere else.

His first My Damn Channel production starred one of the smartest singer/songwriters we know, Jill Sobule:


Don Was, Rob Barnett, Jill Sobule, Warren Chao at the My Damn Channel west coast launch party, 2007.


Here's a rare, bonus video from the archives. Day one back on 7/31/07 also starred Big Fat Brain, the geniuses behind You Suck at Photoshop, and the web designers of all things DAMN. One of our only spoof vids looked 20 years into the FUTURE and poked our pals at Funny or Die, who had launched a few months earlier:



Matt Bledsoe, Troy Hitch

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AGENCY of RECORD

Halloween marked the season 2 finale of YOU SUCK AT PHOTOSHOP.

Over 400,000 views so far - close to 1000 comments webwide debating the appearance of Dane Cook, whether Donnie is Dane, if both are dead, what David Cross has to do with the whole thing, and if YSAP is really gone (again?).

Feels like months since 10/31: we elected OBAMA - the economy turned the clocks back to 1933 - and Jetsons' flying cars still seem another thousand years away.

Fear not: the creators of YSAP open up a new chapter in the wonderful "WORLD of WEBNDER"

Adobe presents a BIG FAT BRAIN film

starring Troy Hitch & Matt Bledsoe

produced by Amy Austin

AGENCY OF RECORD is here

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LAST NIGHT AT THE WEBBYS

Big Fat Brains Matt & Troy prepare to spoon on the red carpet.



David Wain waxes philosophic with Josh Cohen from Tilzy.TV


I suck at Webby photography. Grace Helbig, Jon Stern, David Wain, Troy Hitch, Matt Bledsoe.


Big Fat Brain Matt Bledsoe & David Wain.


David's Wainy Days wins Best Comedy Series.



"The cat" wins 3 awards for You Suck at Photoshop.


Troy Hitch, Matt Bledsoe, Rob Barnett, Jon Stern for My Damn Channel at the Webby Awards.

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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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TIME MAGAZINE

Matt Bledsoe & Troy Hitch

We’re launching our newest MY DAMN CHANNEL series today from the men who brought you “You Suck at Photoshop” (YSAP). Big Fat Brain is: Matt (Bledsoe) & Troy (Hitch) - one vowel away from South Park and please add Amy Austin to your consciousness - since every male lobe needs a brilliant woman behind them...or something like that.

YSAP is nominated twice by the WEBBY AWARDS for Best Comedy Series and for Best How-To Series. 7 WEBBY nods in all, for our artists & our site.

From Genesis to Revelation & from “YSAP” to “Sn4tchbuck3r’s Second Chance”

Here’s the first exclusive interview with Big Fat Brain by TIME magazine’s Josh Quittner

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CO-CONS

We coined the phrase CO-CON at the start of our idea to launch this brand. In our quest for mass distribution, artistic freedom & more coin - we're always looking for legit co-conspirators to bring heat. Big Fat Brain's Matt Bledsoe & Troy Hitch were two of the first co-cons at My Damn Channel. We stumbled onto their homesite by chance when Holly Cara Price - the first CO-CON - handed me a list of about 40 urls. There'd be no THIS without BFB. There'd be no "You Suck at Photoshop" either. In a world filled with wannabes - Big Fat Brain is everything you want.

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The Little in the Middle by Guest Blogger Matt Bledsoe

Hi. I’m Matt. My partner Troy and I produce the Big Fat Brain channel on My Damn Channel. Today Rob’s letting me guest-blog, or glog, today. Which is exciting for me, but shows very poor judgment on Rob’s part. The latest episode of our series Itty Bitty Liddy premieres today, and I thought I’d take the opportunity to plug the series, because it’s something Troy and I are very proud of. Not because it’s a pioneering entry into the emerging Film-Noir-Political-Humor-Green-Screen-Action-Figure genre, as well as a scathing indictment of the sick underground chess match playing out this election year. But because there are some really funny butt jokes in every episode. To us, the G-Man is a uniquely flawed anti-hero, caught in the dark vortex between the bumbling moral arrogance of the right and self-involved amoral arrogance of the left. Liddy is just a little pawn in the middle. But then... (pause for dramatic emphasis)... aren’t we all? Anyway, we think you’ll really enjoy Itty Bitty Liddy. Unless you’re a candidate for the Presidency. In which case, you better watch your butt. ‘Cause Liddy’s coming. And there’s no end he won’t go to to keep this country safe.

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WHAT'S UNDER THAT HAT?

Matt & Troy at Big Fat Brain preach a pretty good rule for My Damn Channel: Show Beats Tell. The best way to experience our web experience is to watch it – not to listen to us yak about it. Their rule makes blogging a helluva lot easier and more concise. But it’s Thursday – and every Thursday – Don Was presents brand new music he produces and films exclusively for My Damn Channel. Don calls our channel: The Wasmopolitan Cavalcade of Recorded Music. We set out on a simple mission together: To rewrite all the broken old rules of the music business. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly get the hell out of the way – and give artists respect, freedom, mass distribution and cash. If you go to Don’s site this afternoon – or spend more time there tonight – or this weekend – you’ll have a rare chance to discover new music made from the heart – with ZERO corporate interference. Today, Don debuts more music from his recent trip to his native soil – with sound and vision emanating from Detroit, Michigan. You can also checkout all the new music from Don’s roadtrip to Nashville. These digital albums come with LINER NOTES too. Last point: All our music is FREE to download – thanks to the hearts & wallets of our friends at Lincoln and from our friends at ASCAP.

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LIFE ON THE PIG (11.17.07 – 4:11 am)

This is NOT the title of a blog about my kids. If you’re a music fan – read on for a peek inside old MTV and for new pathways to free music. Here endeth the commercial. My wife and I took our twins in for another doctor visit yesterday. They seemed to have grown visibly - in just one day or so. The thought seemed improbable - but it was true. Dylan’s up to 9 pounds and Jessie’s up to 7/13. You hardly ever get to experience rapid change if you’re in the grown-up game. We’re conditioned to desire, to answer hunger, and to chase after what we want. But if you’re looking for significant, life-altering changes, then you’re usually looking at the kind of wait time that takes years. Instant, important growth is a rare reality inside the vicissitudes* of life on the PIG (Planet Instant Gratification). Expectations about life and work getting better in an instant are false realities made more intense in the post-MTV age of immediate online communication. In the 80s + 90s, we were attacked at MTV for fueling a quick-cut culture that turned art and music into crass pop product. Most juries would enter a guilty verdict on that one. Bill Flanagan is a great writer and a soulful music fan. He was one of a few trusted co-cons during our VH1 days together in the late 90s. Bill is still at MTV. If you ever watched his VH1 shows like "Storytellers" or "Legends" or "Crossroads" on CMT, then you know that Bill Flanagan is dedicated to keeping the "M" in Music Teleeevision. Bill once shared a theory about “music then” vs. “music now” - and it’s never gotten out of my fat head: Those of us who first met Rock as an original art form grew up believing that the music we heard had the distinct possibility of defining who we were. Our jukebox heroes delivered idealized visions of how we could live life if we had the balls or the guts. Ladies Rock too, fellas. Our Real Rock heroes were missionaries who showed us how to embrace freedom without fear. True Rock n' Roll hearts beat in opposition to rules that demand conformity and retreat. There aren’t many of these twisted, crazy aortas left out there. Unfortunately, many of the hearts you find in the music game are a little dyslexic. Professor Flanagan said that the music culture we found in the late 90s sent out a simple and sad message to a new generation of listeners. New sounds were being served up and received as product. Quick hits popped up out of nowhere from artists who seemed to be a lot more driven by cash and fame than by the possibility of spiritual transformations with an audience. The wheels have been falling off the music business wagon since the day Shawn Fanning put up his radical roadblock. At 19, Mr. Fanning introduced a revolutionary, anti-corporate, pro-democratic assault on crash commercialism by launching Napster. That tale has been written to death – but simply stated: he killed the music business. Shawn, if you’re out there – or someone is who knows how to get to him – here’s an open invitation to envisioning your own “My Damn Channel.” The old business has been hanging on, hoping that somehow the digital genie would dissipate. Bad move. New distribution pipes opened up everywhere taking away one of the last reasons inspired musicians needed major record companies. Little Steven tried to tell me in 2000 that the new digital pipeline recreated the old ‘single’ mentality and shoved the ‘album’ idea to the back of the bus. I didn’t want to believe him, but he was right. He always is. Good music still exists, but you rarely find it on commercial radio, or on corporate cable television. The monopolies that controlled these distribution pipes have little to no interest in taking risks by playing songs or artists that are not yet proven to be able to generate gobs of cash. The cumulative effect of decades spent denying all this shit at the top has done a great job of igniting soulful flames at the bottom of the corporate food chain. You know the places: it’s the basements, garages, and laptops where the good shit is happening. Little Steven knew this when he created the world called: UNDERGROUND GARAGE. He continues to take ‘the word’ to every distribution outlet he can find: radio, satellite, television, web, Wicked Cool Records, record stores (remember them!), and even now: to Rock & Roll High Schools. Steven: I know you’re a little busy at the moment – but it’s likely high time we did a little more co-conspiring. More than 5 people are starting to hear your call. We had over 160,000 unique visitors to My Damn Channel yesterday. We've only been LIVE for 109 days and our insanely fast success is largely due to the amazing work of Brothers Harry Shearer, David Wain, Troy Hitch, Matt Bledsoe, Andy Milonakis, and Don Was. I first met Don Was about 8 years ago. He entered the mystical land of mass consciousness as a founding member of the band Was (Not Was). Their hits like "Walk the Dinosaur" ruled the earth + MTV back in the day. In Modern Times, this soulful saint has served many of the most important artists in music as one of the most trusted producers in the world. Don Was helped birth albums for Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Bonnie Raitt, Iggy Pop, The B-52's, Brian Wilson, The Black Crowes, Willie Nelson, Barenaked Ladies, and scores more. Don found our old web site: - and he emailed to reconnect just in time to be a charter member of the My Damn Channel launch team. Our baby business has never wanted to be “another comedy web site” and we’re certainly not trying to lay claim to the YouTube throne. But we signed Don Was to give My Damn Channel a shot at creating an entirely new model for music distribution. The result is something Don calls “The Wasmopolitan Cavalcade of Recorded Music.” Our idea is pretty simple. Don produces new music every week with some of the most talented musicians from every genre – every sound is valid. He normally takes artists into an LA studio – the old Charlie Chaplin studio – later the home of A&M Records – and now Henson Recording Studios. In one single session, Don produces an A-side and a B-side. He also documents the work by creating music videos shot in black & white and captured LIVE as the real music is being made. Try to find music videos on television where the guitar player is playing the real take that went down or the singer is filmed doing the recorded vocal live and you’ll end up with a sore thumb. We don’t have any cheerleaders or beach balls in our music videos (Hey Don – maybe we’re missin' something?), but we’re hell-bent on presenting the real deal - without artifice. Don has a crazy business model we think just might be crazy enough to start a little revolution. He’s offering every new recording to fans as FREE MP3 downloads. The artists are paid through generous grants from our sponsors including LINCOLN/MERCURY. It’s just like it was back in the earliest days of broadcasting - except Don has much better HAIR! He’s even experimenting with a new LIVE performance show called the “Wasmopolitan Dance Party.” He’s creating “Radio Was: The Party Shuffle Show,” a weekly radio show available free at My Damn Channel. If you want to discover new and old music the old fashioned way – this is the most eclectic, authentic thing you can find. Next time you find yourself jonesing for another dose of instant gratification ask yourself: "Well.......how did I get here?" My beautiful wife reminds me of what's real. Our family: Julia and Jessie and Dylan - and our extended clan - is mixed with blood, marriages, and a like-minded circle of soulful rebels all searching for that beautiful reward. There are never enough minutes and seconds for soul time in Life on the PIG (Planet Instant Gratification) – but my kids are sleeping right now and I’m going to take my snoot out of the virtual troth to listen to some good music with a sincere invitation for you to do the same.

* Vicissitudes: 1 a: the quality or state of being changeable : mutability b: natural change or mutation visible in nature or in human affairs 2 a: a favorable or unfavorable event or situation that occurs by chance : a fluctuation of state or condition <the vicissitudes of daily life> b: a difficulty or hardship attendant on a way of life, a career, or a course of action and usually beyond one's control c: alternating change : succession

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