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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Pretty Girls Everywhere!

Pretty girls are everywhere around here!

We already know you're in love with Daily Grace. We've heard you obsess about Elizabeth Banks and Rashida Jones. But we want you to know two more: Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci, known together as Garfunkel and Oates.

We'll tell you more about them this Friday, when they star in a new Wainy Days BONUS music video, but for now just start with this song, "This Party Took A Turn For The Douche."

We knew for sure we had a crush on them when we heard the lyric "I ain't in love with you, cousin! I ain't George Michael Bluth! This party just took a turn... for the douche." Anyone who can reference Jim Croce and Arrested Development in the same song deserves undying respect, yo.

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New Premiere Tomorrow!

We're premiering a new series tomorrow and this little guy is the star!

We put his picture up on our Facebook page this morning and as of this writing 29 people have "liked" him and nine different ladies have written some iteration of "AWWWWW. SCHMOOPY. I WANNA HUG HIM AND SQUEEZE HIM AND CALL HIM GEORGE! HE'S SO CUUUUUUUTE!" in the comments!

This series is going to go over super-well.  We can feel it.

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'Chuting!

Now at this point, you may be thinking "WHAT ON EARTH IS CHUTING?!?!"  Webster's dictionary defines chuting as "the act of utilizing a chute (as by passing ore down it)."  But Webster's dictionary is an idiot.

In the 21st century, chuting, invented by Grace Helbig in a recent Daily Grace, is an alternative to planking (pictured above), which is for babies.  Here's two chuters inverted chuting at the American Museum of Natural History.

If you want to see what normal chuting looks like, you could hold your computer upside-down, or keep it rightside-up but look at it while inverted chuting yourself, or build a time machine and travel to 1897 to partake in George M. Stratton's perceptual adaptation experiment, in which participants wore goggles that inverted their vision vertically until their brain eventually inverted the image back to normal, at which point when the subject would remove their googles, their vision would be permanently upside-down.

Or you could check out this photo of a very athletic Darlene Contreras chuting on a soccer ball.

Or Taylor O'Brien 'chuting hoops.

And if you can't get enough of planking variants, check out this brief article from My Damn Chanel Blog Network member The Slacktory.

TGIF, HAGS, and happy 'chutin'!

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Wish I Knew How to Quidditch You

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.

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Go Sukashi! Season Finale

Go Sukashi!...I feel like we just met. But all is well that ends well and we should all be feeling pretty good about the last episode of season 2. This season has taken us on a ride through film parody, internet lore, and the origins of Sukashi himself. Episode 8 doesn't disappoint, so dry your eyes and shut your sweet mouth and we just might have a bonus episode for you next week. Sukashi!

Click for Episode 8!

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Hall Pass Pass

The new Farrelley Bros. comedy Hall Pass was the #1 movie in the country last week, and much of the credit can be placed on the broad, heartland-handsome shoulders of co-star Jason Sudeikis.  Not surprising, as the man’s talents are legion: one-time Blue Man Group wannabe, dater of Hollywood starlets, George Wendt’s nephew, etc.  And don’t sleep on SNL, where he portrays a wide variety of characters ranging from the pathetic to the nettlesome, including one-half of both Jon Bovi, the world’s worst Bon Jovi tribute band, and the titular “Two A-Holes.”

But by far, Sudeikis’s most daunting role to date has been as none other than our very own David Wain, wherein attacks the role of My Damn Channel’s favorite lovelorn man-child with the kind of method intensity not seen since Ben Kingsley cinched up his cloth diaper to play mankind’s other great savior, Mahatma Ghandi.  Maybe this Believer article was the key to his research.  Then again, maybe there’s a little David Wain in all of us (gross).

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Rob Barnett and Mark Malkoff on The Adam Carolla Show!

Blogworld is the gift that keeps on giving!

While they were all in Las Vegas to do the closing keynote for Blogworld, founder/CEO Rob Barnett and Mark Malkoff made guest appearances on Adam Carolla's podcast.

Rob and Adam are old friends so naturally they talk about:

• *How they're both probably in higher demand for keynotes than Screech and Carrot Top
• *How they're probably not as in high demand as George Clooney and Brad Pitt
• *How Rob hired Adam to replace Howard Stern
• *How Penn Jillette is ridiculously tall
• *How My Damn Channel and The Adam Carolla Show are going to work together!!!

And, to that last point, we feel like this:



Mark Malkoff's segment begins around 40 minutes in, and Adam promptly calls him "Mark Mackoff."  It's okay, though, they blame it on the bad handwriting of one of Adam's staff.  And then they talk about:

• *How Mark has a Guinness World Record in something
• *How Mark learned you can flush an entire roll of toilet paper down an airplane toilet in 4 seconds
• *How Adam HATES IT WHEN PEOPLE CAN'T EVEN MAKE A SIMPLE QUESADILLA
• *How Mark spent 5 Days In The Bathroom

So listen to the show now! 

Or go to Adam's website to hear it!   

You can even download it directly into iTunes!

Phew.  That was a lot.  Here, have a Rob Barnett and Adam Carolla chaser:

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The King And I: The Irreplaceable Howard Stern

Like millions of us, my stepmom is a lifelong Howard Stern fan. She just sent this photo taken off of Howard TV, airing our in-studio interview from earlier this week. I had the honor of being Howard Stern's guest on his Tuesday, 420 show (scroll to 840a).

Response is coming into My Damn Channel via email, phones, video views, comments, new subscribers, tweets, wall postings, and even a live spotting this afternoon in a clothing store (to complete the surreality). The influx of intense energy all flows back to a man undeniably uniquely qualified to hold the heavyweight title: "King of All Media."

Howard endures as one of the most talented and honest souls alive. He embodies the freedom of speech with every breath. For all who've been fired, laid off, downsized, pink slipped, discharged, axed, or job eliminated...it's hard to imagine speaking truth to power on a live microphone the way Howard has done it for decades.

I first followed Howard Stern on a carrier current, college radio station, 64 WTBU at Boston University. (There's a great scene depicting TBU in "Private Parts.")

If you've ever chased a radio dream, then your college years are likely the last time and place you ever experienced the fear and thrill of exercising your freedom of speech over a live mic.

Primordial FM rock radio stations were created in the late 1960's. Early heroes like Harry Shearer and Steven Clean were blowing minds at places like KPPC in Pasadena, California (which eventually became the world famous KROQ).

The combined forces of original radio talents and pre-corporate rock music created stations throughout the 70s powerful enough to infect audiences with a sense of community, purpose, passion, sex and fun that began to hit the wall around 1980.

I was sitting on the front steps of my apartment on Beacon Street in Boston with Steven Clean and my best friend, Mike Isabella the night Ronald Reagan was elected President. I was 20. I was about to drop out of college and take a full-time job as a rock radio jock at WAAF out in Worcester, Mass. One year later, I had the only radio thrill that came closest to being on Howard's show this week. Lightning struck and we convinced the Rolling Stones to do a private show for our station's fans in 1981 to start up the "Tattoo You" tour.

But, back to Mr. Clean. I'd been Steven's intern for a time at WCOZ in Boston. At that point in his career, Clean had been fired by many of the best radio stations in the country. He was a real life inspiration for the Dr. Johnny Fever character in "WKRP in Cincinnati." Steven was incredibly talented, brilliant, a true music expert and fan...and he was rebellious enough to drive the most patient souls to the edge of their sanity.

Considering the nation's new President, Steven held a joint firmly in my face and said, "See this? This is OVER!"
By the time of Reagan's second term, most radio station managers had a "Just Say No" policy for disc jockeys expressing free thoughts on mic, or taking free reign over any music playlist.

A small number of former radio station program directors shaved their beards, cut their hair, bought expensive suits, and armed themselves with halliburton briefcases filled with blow and bullshit designed to convince every fearful radio exec that they had the only secrets to ratings success, fortune and fame.

Conformity soon became the norm. Tighter playlists made stations sound the same from city-to-city. The job of disc jockey was transforming free thinkers into people paid to read positioning slogans, timechecks and weather forecasts.

In the midst of all this unholy homogenization, Howard Stern began to build a radio show free from the constraints put on most of his competitors. His talent grew on the radio and expanded with every carefully planned new project he launched.

Superfans know that Howard pays homage to legends who came before him like Lenny Bruce and George Carlin. I can't think of another entertainer who has more succesfully won battles with corporate brass than Howard. One of the many surprises about the real man to outsiders is how he maintains his position with grace and wisdom.

No one knows what the next chapter will be for the Stern show in 2011. Assume Howard can see the possible moves on the chess board more clearly than most. As a fan, I'll be following as I have since the beginning. As a business owner, My Damn Channel stands ready to serve The King anytime he calls. 

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Help for Haiti

Our hearts are with all of the victims in Haiti.

Many lives have been lost, and many more are in desperate need of help - babies and small children have lost their parents, and many orphans are without shelter.  By visiting Haiti-Relief.com, you can donate as little as $5 to help rebuild those orphanages.

In the mean time, the Save the Children foundation has been setting up Child Friendly Spaces (shelters and camps) to give the children a place to play and sleep until other remedies surface.

By texting the word "SAVE" to 20222, a $10 donation to Save the Children will be added to your phone bill.

Also by texting the word "HAITI" to 90999, a $10 donation to the Red Cross will be added to your phone bill.

Other Links for Helping with Haiti Relief:

1. Real Hope for Haiti

2. Heartline Ministries

3. Love-A-Child

4. Partners in Health

5. Children of the Promise Orphanage

Also, George Clooney (among other film stars who have yet to be named) is teaming up with MTV for a telethon event to raise money for the victims.

The event is set to air this Friday, January 22 on all MTV networks (this includes VH1, Comedy Central, and CMT) along with ABC, HBO, NBC, and CNN.

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