Tubefilter News

Fox’s digital content studio 15Gigs has inked a multi-series online distribution deal with web comedy network My Damn Channel that kicks off with The Iceman Chronicles premiering today. Technically, Iceman had already rolled out YouTube and picked up some strong early reviews.

15Gigs, which came together last summer, has been Fox Television Studios’ (FTVS) measured experiment with short-form original web content. Instead of building out a destination site of its own, it took the strategy of developing series and matching them with appropriate established distribution channels. For the most part this has meant using the 15Gigs YouTube channel as their home base, a key part of their digital playbook.

Teaming up with four year-old My Damn Channel is the next play in that book, aligning themselves with a proven brand that has racked up a string of awards for its selective comedy series like You Suck at Photoshop, Wainy Days, Pilot Season and the more recent addition of Easy to Assemble.

“We’ve been huge fans of My Damn Channel and we couldn’t be more excited to get this partnership going, said Rachel Webber, Director of Digital Strategy and Development at Fox Television Studios about the deal. “It’s an honor to be standing beside the likes of Easy to Assemble, You Suck at Photoshop and Wainy Days, and we’re very happy to be bringing the talent we work with—especially Drama 3/4, creators of Iceman Chronicles—into this mix.”

My Damn Channel’s CEO Rob Barnett also revealed that new series are part of this deal too, writing in a blog post today: “Fox has chosen us as one of their premium distribution partners for original Web series they’ve produced and we plan to start developing and producing original, new series together as well.”

The first 2 episodes of Iceman are now up on My Damn Channel’s site, with new episodes released every Thursday.

I’ve been to a ton of panels on the Future of Web Series Production, but most of them take place at conferences like Digital Hollywood, which are dedicated to new media. On Sunday, October 11th, independent film organization Film Independent (FIND) got into the act at the FIND Filmmaker Forum with a panel entitled “Going Online: New Stories for New Media.”

In the midst of a weekend filled with sessions covering the art and business of indie film, the panel gave the producers, writers and directors in attendance a look into the possibilities the smallest screen has to offer. The session was specifically focused on creating content for the web, as opposed to using the web as a means of distribution for feature films. Producer Ami Armstrong (Mr. Nice) moderated, and panelists included Jonathan Stern (Producer, Centrifugal Films), David Worthen (Sr. Vice President, Fox Digital Studio), Scott Sanders (Director, Black Dynamite) and Mike Farah (Producer, Funny or Die).

Armstrong kicked off the session with the question, “Who’s actually watching all these videos online?” The general consensus was that while so far the young male demo has dominated, there is an emerging female audience for web content. Panelists cited breakout shows In the Motherhood, an MSN online original that was picked up for broadcast television by ABC, and Lisa Kudrow’s Web Therapy.

Stern, producer of Wainy Days, Children’s Hospital and Hot Sluts, says that he is starting to put together a few shows created by women over 30. “It’s almost easier to get a female-driven show going right now,” says Stern, “because the sponsors are looking for it. The Axe’s of the world already have a foothold in that space.”

YouTube is as good a place as any to test a comedy concept, particularly a potentially controversial single-person vlog rant. Shelby’s Rant is the latest from filmmaker-comedian Matt Koval. To kick it off, a sassy vlogger Shelby (Makinna Ridgway) vents her pent-up frustrations with 1980’s “classic” nostalgia movies. Specifically, she’s hones in on The Goonies for being terribly overrated though admitting she has never seen it. (Say wha?) The whole rant in fact is based on a MadAtoms blog post written by Becky Bain.

The pilot (above) for the series was produced by MadAtoms and USR Content for Fox Digital Studios. Originally aligned with now defunct Fox Atomic, MadAtoms.com is a comedy and culture site that has been the launch pad for a number of web series projects including S.W.I.P.E. and the upcoming Josh Gad comedy, Rent Control.

Fox Television Studio’s new digital arm 15 Gigs released the trailer (above) to its steamy looking stripclub dramedy Tease today, giving us just a little hint of what they are up to with the stealthy new web television division.

The original series comes from creators Micah Goldman, Michael Wormser and Peter Marc Jacobson (who created CBS’s The Nanny). In what seems to be a more realistic take on the new-girl-turns-dancer story than say Atom’s Hot Sluts, this series shows all that juicy dressing room chatter that we never quite get to hear. Marie (Days of Our Lives’ Lisa Jay) is the new to the game but is a fast study from the pros, played by Devin Kelley, Sarah Scherger, Samantha Cope and Crystle Lightning.

Daily Show correspondent Josh Gad is set to star in a new web series from MadAtoms.com called Rent Control, which is being produced by USR Content for a possible negative pickup by Fox. Gad created the series along with his fellow Lost Nomad comedy troupe members Tyler Moore, Ida Darvish and Tyler Clancey who are also said to be in the series.

Filming began today on the series, which has Gad playing an underachieving slacker who’s uncle sets him up with a gig as building manager at a decrepit apartment building. (Sounds a bit like the setup of The Super Man.) The quirky supporting characters include a “lecherous gay porn star” who’s using his apartment as a porn set, and “a married couple on the verge of a murder-suicide.” Interesting.

Fox Television Studios (FtvS) recently announced the first project to come out of its top-secret “think-tank:” a new comedy web series called The Skinny: Fat-Free News starring comedians Natasha Leggero (MTV’s The 70s House) and Nadine Rajabi (National Lampoon Radio). The Skinny is a satirical “news” show reporting straight from the front lines of pop [...]