Smosh, Michael Buckley and Ze Frank ink development deals
Sunday, October 12th, 2008
Music by Evan
There is no guarantee of success if you are an internet celebrity transitioning to Hollywood. We may have seen wild successes, but the uncertainty of abandoning the web in hopes of being big in Hollywood can end in a no win situation.
Today DECA, a digital entertainment company, announced that it’s investing in the YouTube sensation Smosh to make original content for the web. The deal will make them an exclusive business partner in marketing and distribution. Anthony Padilla said, “We are extremely excited about joining the DECA family. We love making videos and the feedback from our fans has been amazing. With DECA’s help we look forward to bringing Smosh to even bigger audiences.” How DECA plans to find bigger audiences for the most-subscribed YouTubers ever will be interesting to see.
DECA was founded in 2007 by experienced entertainment and Internet executives who previously held senior roles at Sony Pictures, ABC, and Yahoo! Music. DECA uniquely identifies, funds, markets and distributes web shows. Based in Santa Monica, California, the company is backed by Mayfield, General Catalyst, and Atomico.
In other development news, popular YouTube comedian and celebrity commentator Michael Buckley recently signed a deal with HBO Labs to create online video shows. Joshua Cohen of TilzyTV says Michael is “just mean enough, just funny enough, and with the right dose of you-go-girl” to make it big.
In addition, a web pilot called The Remnants which stars web celeb Ze Frank (with other stars like Justine Bateman and Ernie Hudson) is currently being considered by NBC. It has been described as “a quirky and comedic story of a group of friends who search for answers and survival, upon realizing they are some of society’s last living inhabitants in post-something Los Angeles.”
As we fall deeper into an economic recession, the studios will likely consolidate their spending and turn to the web as a cheaper way to produce and reach audiences who use content to engage end-users.
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@pop17 Found url to preview of The Remnants … but no full episode. http://www.vimeo.com/1916417
@Chad Nuttall that’s the pilot. Am I missing anything?
@pop17
It’s a clip from the middle of the pilot. I was hoping for the whole pilot episode.
C
I can tell you truly love what your doing. That is what makes your show fun to watch.
@C I’m sorry, but that is all I have seen. If you would like to know more you can see: http://johnaugust.com/archives/2008/the-remnants
@tonyEnn, I really love it. I like the whole process. Everything is fun- editing, writing, shooting, acting and talking to everyone in the comments.
@sarah
Thanks! I’ll drop a comment over there.
C
You got it!!
Very cool! Yea, there’s definetly a huge transition happening, which we may not see the for the next few years, but there’s definetly activity happening all around. Great post.
What do you think will happen? More Dane Cooks or will our views online go down?
Smosh guys are so funny, they make me laugh and the ninja too XD.
And thanx 4 share ur pics, pretty as always. Good work amiga.
guys, your background music is always way too lout. it’s so distracting and this is not the first time i noticed.
Hi Oliver,
I put that music in there. I really liked the track, but I don’t want to distract from what I’m saying. Thanks for the note. I’ll change the volume for the next video.
S
Another comedy site that’s quite funny is John Semper’s CRYPT OF CREEPORIA, a satirical springboard from the Vampira/Elvira style of horror with a terrific comedy performance by Kommerina DeYoung amid neatly done digital effects by Semper.
What software did they use to do the animation? The woman is real, but the background is animated.
I like her clips.
Do you think her show would be signed by a TV studio like HBO or NBC?
hi
I love that Smosh and the gang got deals outside of YouTube. This is great news for me especially, since I am developing a little show soon.
Sarah, the show is great as usual! It was nice seeing you today. Can’t wait to see you and Julia Roy rocking it on the set.
Have a good night!
Dennis
Dennis, you are so awesome. I can’t wait to see your new show. I like watching you lifecast and seeing you on FF and twitter. I am sure that your show will be a hit! Make sure you let me know when it launches. Thanks for hanging out in my chat room today.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dane_cook What’s the most interesting thing about Dane?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dane_cook Dane Cook came from the web
saw you had a post a while back with a weird world record in most tshirts worn at once.
he just got beaten: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKd1Ao4LiP8
//johan
ahahahaha! Nice one. Now that guy is serious.
great post! Who else has deals?
what about Fred?
Fred is working with major advertisers who want to reach his audience.
hahahaha!
What? this guy speak like a squirrel!!
The video of the T shirts is cool :)
Totally! That is why people like him. He speaks like a little animal and people like cute things. I did a video like him too once. I’ll post it. brb
I liked Fred for a little bit. I used to chat with him here and there on Justin.tv. I still talk to his relatives Jon and Katie every once in a while. I can only handle so much of this character however, and I feel like it’s going a little stale. Not as funny as it used to be. Feels forced. Maybe it’s just me.
Anyway, I hope to see more talented people get noticed!
Fred will die soon. That will be hilarious.
Love your show and I am looking forward to the live show today. I think that you are trying to be like youtube news. Or you are heading in that direction.
Hollywood coming to the video blogger; does Party Crasher come to mind?
cool story.
Party Crashers is a little bit of a stretch I think.
When Fred dies I’ll be sad and others will be happy. It’s the lolz- evil and happy at the same time.
Oh and for those of you who ask, when I comment as “Sarah” and there is no blue box around my comment, it’s still me. It’s like that when I comment and I’m not signed in. It’s blue when I am signed in. :)
It would be great to see Ze Frank in a show, episode after episode - I think he’s the funniest!!!! I only hope the show will be free for streaming also outside the US, say, especially in Switzerland! (yes, that’s where I live.)
I am seaching for some idea to write in my blog… somehow come to your blog. best of luck. Eugene