MyDamnChannel.com, a site that will play a variety of original video content from established comedians, filmmakers and musicians, launched yesterday on its own site and YouTube.
“We saw the opportunity to bring professional content made by established artists to the web and build a business around it,” said the company’s chief operating officer Warren Chao.
The company is aligning with the artists to produce original programs that will run in weekly installments, like a TV season. Each episode will run from three to five minutes.
Among the first shows to be presented is a political comedy starring Harry Shearer, who plays Vice President Dick Cheney in the first episode. David Wain, a comedian who directs films, has produced a romantic comedy set in Brooklyn. Don Was, a music producer, created two channels, a music documentary series in which he will interview musicians and a channel that will play new music from artists he knows.
There are just a few channels running now, but Chao said many more will be introduced, with the possibility for branded channels that are advertiser related, “as long as the content is entertaining.”
A variety of advertising options will be presented, from pre-rolls and post-rolls to sponsorship deals and product placement opportunities.
The content will be syndicated on YouTube and other web portals, which will be valuable to advertisers, “because we can guarantee millions of impressions,” Chao said.
He distinguished My Damn Channel from YouTube. “We’ll create a dozen episodic shows that will run every week, like an MTV experience on the web.” The episodic nature of the programming is also valuable to advertisers, “because they know the audience will be tuning in every week.”
Chao said the company will sell advertising and work with a few partners, including Middleshift, a consulting firm and some ad networks.
Netflix Series “The Leopard” Spots Classic Italian Novel, Remakes It As A Sumptuous Period Drama
"The Leopard," a new Netflix series, takes the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and transforms it into a sumptuous period piece showing the struggles of the aristocracy in 19th-century Sicily, during tumultuous social upheavals as their way of life is crumbling around them.
Tom Shankland, who directs four of the eight episodes, had the courage to attempt his own version of what is one of the most popular films in Italian history. The 1963 movie "The Leopard," directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
One Italian critic said that it would be the equivalent of a director in the United States taking "Gone with the Wind" and turning it into a series, but Shankland wasn't the least bit intimidated.
He said that he didn't think of anything other than his own passion for the project, which grew out of his love of the book. His father was a university professor of Italian literature in England, and as a child, he loved the book and traveling to Sicily with his family.
The book tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, a tall, handsome, wealthy aristocrat who owns palaces and land across Sicily.
His comfortable world is shaken with the invasion of Sicily in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was to overthrow the Bourbon king in Naples and bring about the Unification of Italy.
The prince's family leads an opulent life in their magnificent palaces with servants and peasants kowtowing to their every need. They spend their time at opulent banquets and lavish balls with their fellow aristocrats.
Shankland has made the series into a visual feast with tables heaped with food, elaborate gardens and sensuous costumes.... Read More