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Happy Wainy-tine's Day!


Guys, for real, I was totally going to get you all flowers for Valentine's Day, but I waited until the last minute, and now my florist is trying to FRICKIN' GOUGE ME...


Luckily I came up with something much better.

The Wainy Days Seasons 1-4 DVD is out!

You heard right...it's a DVD! An actual, physical memento that you can hold and cherish and lose when you move to a new place, and then download illegally from a torrent site even though file sharing is Un-American! (No joking though, don't do it. It makes David angry. You won't like David when he's angry.)

And this isn't just some ho-hum, hodge-podge compilation of webisodes you can watch for free online. Don't believe me? Then check out this sneak peek of the EXTREMELY NSFW "Makeout MegaMix," just one of the many extras:


It's an exciting time to be David Wain, or just a fan of David Wain. His new movie, Wanderlust (starring Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston) opens Friday. "Wainy Days Seasons 1-4" is available TODAY. Oh and can't get enough DW? Check out all the hardcore Season Five action right here.

See? You ARE loved! Now if only we could reach this guy:




It's WAINing again - Wainy Days shoots Season 5


Ken Marino, Jon Stern, Rob Barnett, David Wain

WAINY DAYS first launched on day 1 of My Damn Channel: 7/31/07. David and I knew each other a lil bit from the salad daze at MTV. He saw the future when he and the Michaels created STELLA shorts...back when it took a year and half to buffer a 3-minute clip.

I promised David he could do the original series he wanted without the typical network interruptus, "notes" and meddling. We'd deliver cash, massive promotion and distribution to reach his fans and make WAINY DAYS the premiere series of our (almost) TV network of the future.

David pitched a show where his character would make out with the hottest women in Hollywood and have every date go horribly wrong. I said 'yes.' We locked the right price for the first season of 10 episodes. And I asked David to promise to cast this show as well as he casted his latest feature film back then, THE TEN.

32 official episodes, 4 years, and 4 seasons later, you've watched and shared WAINY DAYS to make it the longest-running, most-popular comedy series in the new world.

This week, we're filming an all-new season 5 with another killer cast including David & Ken Marino, who co-wrote the new episodes and Exec Produces with David & our beloved series producer, Jon Stern. This year's cast also features Steven Weber, Zandy Hartig, Jorma Taccone, Erinn Hayes, Lizzy Caplan, n' more.

We have a brand new sponsor: FIAT !

We'll post more updates and pics and announce a premiere date sooner than you think.

While I have you for this too-happy-too-long post: please n'joy the trailer for David's brand new feature film: WANDERLUST - opening FEB 24 2012 !


Yes. We Can Confirm That Jonah Hill Is Skinny


(Image via)

Jonah Hill is skinny.

Perhaps you've heard? He's in a new movie called Moneyball and he's been making the promotional rounds and we're here to tell you that the rumors are true: he's super-slimmed down.

You see, it just so happens that your humble My Damn Channel blogger went to a professional baseball game last week and saw him in person when he threw out the first pitch:


(Image via @Athletics)


It is a very different look from his Wainy Days role:


But just like we told our mom when she asked, "Is that the same guy from your Wainy Days show? Is he a good friend of yours or something? Should you go down to the field and say 'hi' to him?" We'll tell you the truth:

"Yes it's the same guy."

"No, we're not good friends."

"NO, MOM, WE'RE NOT GOING DOWN TO THE FIELD TO SAY 'HI.'"

But that last part was mostly just because security wouldn't let us.



How To Be An Intern


(Intern Josh, wondering forlornly how he ended up here)



EDITOR'S NOTE: It's Josh's last day as an intern for My Damn Channel! I asked him to write up a post telling you what it was like for him this summer!


Coming into My Damn Channel as an intern I thought all I was gonna learn was how to file papers and fill out reports. Boy was I wrong! Friday will be my last day and I still haven't correctly filled out a single report. My boss is always saying that it drives him crazy how long it's taking me to get the hang of the office duties, but I can tell he's just joking. How I treasure that agonized look he gets trying so hard to hold back laughter.

What I learned though was way more valuable than any college education. I would say it was worth about $230,000, a couple hundred more than four years' tuition at Wesleyan. What I learned was the value of making the effort to gain the respect of your peers.

Before I ever set foot into that office, I had my work cut out for me. My future co-workers had already started gossiping that I only got the internship because of my family connections. After failing for three years to strike any gold, my great-great-grandfather started My Damn Channel during the California Gold Rush as a burlesque show designed to entertain entrepreneurs who had given up on trying to find gold and started companies catered to the needs of the gold miners. Grandpa Schmulie Meisel. I can't believe that was such a popular name back then — Grandpa.

My first day at work the guy sharing my cubicle got mad at me for unplugging his computer. "What do you need a blender for?!" he irrationally snarled. "How else are you gonna make computer smoothies silly? By hand?!" I chucked his computer into my oversized blender. He must've thought I was awfully spoiled, not making my computer smoothies by hand. I really had an uphill battle ahead of me if I wanted to gain anyone's respect.

A couple of days in I got the courage to pitch a show idea to the head of development. It was a parody of "Friends" called "Friends." He looked at me like I was an idiot. "You just handed me a bunch of "Friends" scripts. I think I know now why the printer's out of ink. Look, why don't you hold off for a bit before you make any more pitches." Apparently my scripts had gone right over his head. And "Friends" was a pretty accessible show. The guy I shared my cubicle was a rube, our head of development was dense as a neutron star, and my boss was an incorrigible prankster. My situation was less than ideal to say the least.

Halfway through the summer things had only gotten worse. I was miserable. My only friend was the janitor, and he was a Roomba! I'd cry myself to sleep every night, and when I wasn't feeling that sad I would get my butler to cry me to sleep. My job was a major disappointment. It wasn't at all like that show "The Office." We had TWO guys named Dwight, and the prettiest girl wasn't dating the most handsome guy (me), but instead this guy Jim who's so inexperienced with women that when I asked him to share some girlie stories he just laughed.

All I could do was trudge along until my five weeks were up, filing away papers wherever I could cram them (I may not get the job done pretty, but I'm damn fast). And just when I had given up on ever gaining a single ounce of respect from any My Damn Channel employee, a stroke of luck bolted me right in the face.

I'll always remember it like it was yesterday, even though it was only yesterday today. Jim's girlfriend (I think her name was Xamela) told him he needed to go somewhere to sign some forms. She couldn't give him a ride because she was busy. He asked if anyone else could take him, and I shot out of my chair like I was sitting on a lit match (which for the one of the first times I wasn't). Jim didn't see me at first; his eyes scanned the room for someone to drive him but everyone pretended to be hard at work because they were too lazy to take him. Finally he saw me and said "Fine let's go Josh." And fine it was. Everyone looked up at Jim and smiled at him. Their smiles seemed to say, "I'm really happy for you that you get to go on a fun/crazy/cool ride with Josh." But the smiles had a little menace behind them that signified jealousy.

When I got back my boss laughed with mirth, patted me on the back, and said, "Good job sonny." All I ever wanted was for my boss to think of me as a son, but life isn't easy. I had to put in my time to get what I wanted — let's just say I don't think I could've earned the luxury of being treated by my boss like his own flesh and blood if I hadn't given Jim that ride. And now, in these last couple of months before my summer ends and I have to go back to hitting the books trying to eventually earn my GED, I can look back at my time at My Damn Channel atop my pool float, computer smoothie in hand, and know that that one lesson I learned was well worth all my trifles. Plus it helped that I was making more than the rest of the office combined.


Thanks, Josh, er, Sonny! We will miss you! We know it will be tough going back to Stanford to get a world-class education, but it's better you than us!

We fully intend to continue stalking following you and your writing as @artsypriest and as a writer for The Stanford Chaparral.

PS: If any of you, dear readers, for some strange, maddening reason, would like to be an intern for My Damn Channel, please send an email to info@MyDamnChannel.com, and be sure to include links to your blog, Twitter and Tumblr accounts, or any other writing samples you might have! In the immortal words of the Jersey Shore kids in Italy, "Arrivederci, summer!"



Don Was is a Super Producer Who Brings Us Superstars




Did you guys see Don Was on American Idol last season as Jimmy Iovine's right-hand man? Don is a super producer who works with superstars like Bonnie Raitt, Elton John and The Rolling Stones, and now he's bringing us an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the recording session for a "Personal Revolution," a song from the legendary Ziggy Marley's latest album, Wild and Free.

We have nothing else to say but that you should STOP DOING WHATEVER ELSE YOU'RE DOING AND WATCH THIS VIDEO RIGHT NOW.

Thanks. Now you can go about the rest of your day feeling good about yourself since you've already treated yourself to something awesome. 







Congrats to Smiley Guy Studios!


Congratulations to Smiley Guy Studios!  They've won a development deal with us after winning a pitch competition at Just For Laughs in Montreal.

Read all about Smiley Guy Studios and the other outstanding participants  here!  



Just For Laughs

Posted in Wainy Days with tags Wainy Days, Just For Laughs, David Wain, Rob Barnett on 6/29/2011 12:28:01 PM by Dubs



Join us at Just For Laughs in Montreal to see Wainy Days LIVE and pitch our Founder/CEO, Rob Barnett, for a development deal - he's guaranteed to select one out of all the pitches he receives during the course of the festival. We like your odds.

Check out the Just For Laughs schedule here, and click here for live Wainy Days info.


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


INTERN OF THE DECADE

Posted in My Damn Channel with tags My Damn Channel, interns, jobs, new media, fun on 12/29/2009 6:56:05 AM by Rob Barnett



Starting Monday, we wake from vaca, check our inbox, and see if you want to be INTERN OF THE DECADE.
 
Wanna be David Wain's wingman on a date?
Wanna help constantly uncurl and re-curl Grace's hair?
Wanna review hundreds of mildly amusing pitches for the next great web series?
If you live in New York and can somehow afford to be an intern, let us know. 

Here's the shazizzle: We're seeking new interns in the NY office to bathe in the warm waters of content development, site programming, marketing, promotion, social networking and operations.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Reviewing content submissions and pitches
  • Assist with video archiving
  • Assist with site programming
  • Prep videos for syndication
  • Assist with marketing and promotions
  • Social networking outreach
  • General office assistance
  • Opportunities to conceive and produce short-form video and graphic content

ABOUT YOU:

  • Exceptional communication skills
  • Highly motivated
  • Detail oriented
  • Quick learner
  • Ability to prioritize multiple projects and tasks
  • Ability to manage deadlines in a fast-paced environment
  • Sense of humor (or more than a sense)
  • Social Networking Nutjob
  • Entertainment Junkie
  • Knowledge of Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, HTML desirable

BENEFITS

  • Learn multiple disciplines inside a leading new media company
  • Dramatically increase your contacts in all areas of entertainment and new media
  • Possibility for future employment (no...really)

INTERESTED?

Send the world's most convincing cover letter, plus resume, and specific availability (3 days per week minimum) to: info@MyDamnChannel.com


INTERN ! ?

Posted in My Damn Channel with tags My Damn Channel, interns, New Media, Employment on 8/23/2009 6:32:51 AM by Rob Barnett



My Damn Channel is looking for a few good interns and internettes.
 
Fall & Winter Enrollment is open now.

 

Wanna be David Wain's wingman on a date?
Wanna help constantly uncurl and re-curl Grace's hair?
Wanna review hundreds of mildly amusing pitches for the next great web series?

If you live in New York and can somehow afford to be an intern, let us know now.

 

If you include this coupon code in your cover letter,
we’ll know you're a suck-up:  SAVE10GYMCLUB

Here's the formal listing:

 

ABOUT US:

My Damn Channel is an entertainment studio and new media platform created to empower artists to co-produce, distribute, and monetize original, episodic video content.

Our programming is created by filmmakers, actors, comedians and musicians for the My Damn Channel site (www.MyDamnChannel.com); for syndication on the most heavily-trafficked online communities and social networks; and for all digital platforms.

DESCRIPTION:

My Damn Channel is seeking interns to work in the NY office on content development, site programming, marketing, promotion, social networking and operations.

This is an excellent opportunity to work inside one of the leading companies creating and distributing original new media entertainment.
(who wrote THAT?)

GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Screening content submissions and pitches
  • Assist with video archiving
  • Assist with site programming
  • Prep videos for syndication
  • Assist with marketing and promotions
  • Social networking outreach
  • General office assistance
  • Opportunities to conceive and produce short-form video and graphic content

ABOUT YOU:

  • Exceptional communication skills
  • Highly motivated
  • Detail oriented
  • Quick learner
  • Ability to prioritize multiple projects and tasks
  • Ability to manage deadlines in a fast-paced environment
  • Sense of humor (or more than a sense)
  • Social Networking Fanatic
  • Entertainment Junkie
  • Knowledge of Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, HTML desirable

BENEFITS

  • The opportunity to learn multiple disciplines inside a leading new media company
  • Dramatically increase your contacts inside all areas of entertainment and new media
  • Possibility for future employment

INTERESTED?

Send the world's best cover letter stating WHY YOU & WHAT you can do,
plus your resume, and specific availability to:  Info@MyDamnChannel.com

 


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About

My Damn Channel is about to take a stab at saying what we think this is all about. We launched here on 7/31/07. My Damn Channel is an entertainment studio and distributor of premium, original programming. We're dedicated to artists we love, trust and respect. We give artists what they need to deliver original video channels directly to you. We work with the best talent creating original work that aims high. We survive and thrive if you watch and interact with our videos. Please support the brands and business partners who feed our artists. We'll tell you what the hell is going on here and hope you register and attack this blog often. Shutting up now. E-mail direct anytime: info@MyDamnChannel.com

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