The D’Amelio family likes to keep busy, and if a new report is to be believed, the TikTok-famous clan is preparing for a move into talent management. Per the Wall Street Journal, the D’Amelios are teaming up with music industry upstart Firebird to launch a venture that is tentatively titled DamGood Mgmt.
The WSJ report, which cites “people familiar with the matter,” describes the D’Amelios’ venture as a wide-ranging management firm that will keep tabs on the family’s growing portfolio of online and offline ventures. DamGood would work with creators who make ambitions in the music industry, which includes both Dixie and Charli. The older D’Amelio sibling has released singles since 2020, and her younger sister made her musical debut with the 2022 track “If You Ask Me To”.
DamGood would be one part of Firebird’s overall mission. The well-funded startup wants to help artists...
The WSJ report, which cites “people familiar with the matter,” describes the D’Amelios’ venture as a wide-ranging management firm that will keep tabs on the family’s growing portfolio of online and offline ventures. DamGood would work with creators who make ambitions in the music industry, which includes both Dixie and Charli. The older D’Amelio sibling has released singles since 2020, and her younger sister made her musical debut with the 2022 track “If You Ask Me To”.
DamGood would be one part of Firebird’s overall mission. The well-funded startup wants to help artists...
- 6/9/2023
- by Sam Gutelle
- Tubefilter.com
The D’Amelio family is making a big bet on merchandise, retail, and consumer products. The clan that spawned TikTok stars Charli D’Amelio and Dixie D’Amelio has announced D’Amelio Brands, a venture that is backed by 6 million in fresh financing.
As its name implies, D’Amelio Brands has been established to support Charli, Dixie, and their parents as they ideate, build, and sell new product lines. The two sisters, who rank second and eleventh on the list of most-followed TikTokers, will play an active role in the development, design, and promotion of those items.
According to Bloomberg, the first products that will be released by D’Amelio Brands will be a women’s footwear line and a skincare line, both of which are expected to arrive “by the end of the year.” Future releases could venture into categories like food and consumer packaged goods.
D’Amelio Brands will...
As its name implies, D’Amelio Brands has been established to support Charli, Dixie, and their parents as they ideate, build, and sell new product lines. The two sisters, who rank second and eleventh on the list of most-followed TikTokers, will play an active role in the development, design, and promotion of those items.
According to Bloomberg, the first products that will be released by D’Amelio Brands will be a women’s footwear line and a skincare line, both of which are expected to arrive “by the end of the year.” Future releases could venture into categories like food and consumer packaged goods.
D’Amelio Brands will...
- 9/6/2022
- by Sam Gutelle
- Tubefilter.com
The D’Amelio family is getting some more hands-on representation.
Greg Goodfried, a digital media veteran who was one of the creators of the groundbreaking lonelygirl15 webseries, has departed his role as co-head of UTA’s digital talent division to work full-time with the D’Amelio family.
Goodfried will depart UTA in a month to become president of D’Amelio Family Enterprises, The Los Angeles Times reports, noting that the split is amicable and the family will continue to be represented by UTA.
The D’Amelios -- including parents Marc and Heidi, and sisters Dixie and Charli -- count a combined 150 million followers on TikTok, with Charli being the platform’s most followed creator by a longshot with 93 million fans. The family is looking to spin their online fame into a full-fledged media empire complete with books, podcasts, and a reality show that is currently in the works. The Los...
Greg Goodfried, a digital media veteran who was one of the creators of the groundbreaking lonelygirl15 webseries, has departed his role as co-head of UTA’s digital talent division to work full-time with the D’Amelio family.
Goodfried will depart UTA in a month to become president of D’Amelio Family Enterprises, The Los Angeles Times reports, noting that the split is amicable and the family will continue to be represented by UTA.
The D’Amelios -- including parents Marc and Heidi, and sisters Dixie and Charli -- count a combined 150 million followers on TikTok, with Charli being the platform’s most followed creator by a longshot with 93 million fans. The family is looking to spin their online fame into a full-fledged media empire complete with books, podcasts, and a reality show that is currently in the works. The Los...
- 10/15/2020
- by Geoff Weiss
- Tubefilter.com
UTA has hired Eman Redwan to join the agency’s Digital Talent division, where she will rep talent across emerging platforms. She joins from CAA, where she focused on strategic brand partnerships and helped oversee the Beauty & Lifestyle vertical.
She joins a division that reps digital media stars across beauty, fashion, Diy, fitness, home, kids’ content, parenting and comedy categories. That client list includes Shane Dawson, Shay Mitchell, Emma Chamberlain, Rhett and Link, Josh Peck, Blippi, Karina Garcia and Wengie.
Redwan began her career at CBS Radio as an account executive at CBS Radio before moving to talent management at theAudience.
“As our industry continues to evolve at lightning speed, it’s essential for us to have the best players on the field,” UTA head of Digital Talent Greg Goodfried said in a release announcing the hire. “We are thrilled to have Eman join our team, as she not only...
She joins a division that reps digital media stars across beauty, fashion, Diy, fitness, home, kids’ content, parenting and comedy categories. That client list includes Shane Dawson, Shay Mitchell, Emma Chamberlain, Rhett and Link, Josh Peck, Blippi, Karina Garcia and Wengie.
Redwan began her career at CBS Radio as an account executive at CBS Radio before moving to talent management at theAudience.
“As our industry continues to evolve at lightning speed, it’s essential for us to have the best players on the field,” UTA head of Digital Talent Greg Goodfried said in a release announcing the hire. “We are thrilled to have Eman join our team, as she not only...
- 1/28/2019
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
YouTube's original viral star, Lonelygirl15, returned to the Internet on Thursday after a nearly eight year absence. The reincarnation comes 10 years to the day after Lonelygirl15's first video, which gained her channel hundred and thousands of followers, making it one of YouTube's earliest viral sensations. The vlogs, which followed the life of a 16-year-old girl named Bree, were ordinary in nature. Bree would discuss her home life, complaining about homework and being home-schooled. She'd gush about her friend Daniel, and goof off in front of the camera. But Lonelygirl15's popularity soon took off. Her Myspace page was flooded with follower requests.
- 6/18/2016
- by Dave Quinn, @NineDaves
- PEOPLE.com
When it launched on June 16, 2006, Lonelygirl15 broke the digital mold. What seemed like a run-of-the-mill vlog created by a teenage everygirl named Bree turned out to be an intricately orchestrated fictional series -- with groundbreaking interactive features and sci-fi plot twists -- that was light years ahead of the curve in terms of showcasing YouTube’s potential as a platform for scripted content.
And now, on this -- the very day 10 years ago that Bree uploaded her first vlog -- some of the minds behind the series are readying a reprisal of sorts. Lonelygirl co-creator Miles Beckett and Jenni Powell, who was a die-hard fan before being hired as a production assistant on the show, tell Tubefilter that they are teaming to create new content within the Lonelygirl universe.
“There hasn’t been new Lonelygirl content since 2008,” says Beckett, who created the series alongside Greg Goodfried, who is currently an agent at UTA, and Mesh Flinders, an associate creative director at communications company Havas. “But there’s always been interest -- the channel still gets hundreds of thousands of views, it's constantly being referenced by other YouTubers, and we’ve had a lot of fans asking for more.”
Visit Tubefilter for more great stories.
And now, on this -- the very day 10 years ago that Bree uploaded her first vlog -- some of the minds behind the series are readying a reprisal of sorts. Lonelygirl co-creator Miles Beckett and Jenni Powell, who was a die-hard fan before being hired as a production assistant on the show, tell Tubefilter that they are teaming to create new content within the Lonelygirl universe.
“There hasn’t been new Lonelygirl content since 2008,” says Beckett, who created the series alongside Greg Goodfried, who is currently an agent at UTA, and Mesh Flinders, an associate creative director at communications company Havas. “But there’s always been interest -- the channel still gets hundreds of thousands of views, it's constantly being referenced by other YouTubers, and we’ve had a lot of fans asking for more.”
Visit Tubefilter for more great stories.
- 6/16/2016
- by Geoff Weiss
- Tubefilter.com
United Talent Agency (UTA) is continuing its charge into the online entertainment space by hiring one of the industry's most forward-thinking professionals. Greg Goodfried, best known as one of the creative forces behind influential web series Lonelygirl15, has joined the top talent agency's digital media division. Goodfried was one of four creators behind Lonelygirl15, which ran from 2006-08 and stands as one of the most popular web series of YouTube's early days. After the series' end, Goodfried co-founded Eqal, which helps celebrities build their brands online. Goodfried will carry his experience at Eqal over to UTA, where he will help the agency's traditional media clients find a foothold online. UTA has shown an interest in web talent; last year, it begin representing several YouTube stars, including iJustine and Shane Dawson. “Greg’s creativity and thought leadership in building digital businesses around big ideas, brands and influencers will be major assets in servicing our clients,...
- 1/29/2014
- by Sam Gutelle
- Tubefilter.com
In his new Digital Media Agent post at UTA, online media veteran Greg Goodfried will focus on growing the agency’s digital practice and creating new digital revenue streams for UTA clients. Prior to joining UTA the veteran digital media exec, who co-created the LonelyGirl15 viral phenomenon, also co-founded digital branding firm Eqal which produced Kraft Foods’ “Real Women of Philadelphia” campaign, “Walk with Walgreens,” and LaurenConrad.com. Eqal was sold to Everyday Health in 2012. Goodfried joins a digital media team at UTA that reps content creators and digital production companies, provides strategic advising to consumer and corporate clients, and has worked with the likes of AwesomenessTV, iJustine, Shane Dawson, Dolby, and the Consumer Electronics Association. UTA’s digital wing also co-founded the Viterbi Start-Up Garage fostering digital start ups with Kleiner Perkins and USC.
- 1/28/2014
- by JEN YAMATO
- Deadline TV
UTA has hired digital entrepreneur Greg Goodfried as an agent in its digital media division, bolstering a roster of agents that advised AwesomenessTV and represents clients such as Foursquare. Goodfried co-created LonelyGirl15, an early web series, and then co-founded Eqal, which built social networks and websites for reality TV stars like Lauren Conrad and Jwoww of the “Jersey Shore.” “Greg’s creativity and thought leadership in building digital businesses around big ideas, brands and influencers will be major assets in servicing our clients,” UTA’s head of digital media Brent Weinstein said in a statement. “He is a pioneer of the modern digital media.
- 1/28/2014
- by Lucas Shaw
- The Wrap
Robert Weiss has been named Eqal’s Chief Operating Officer by company co-founders Miles Beckett and Greg Goodfried. The move comes eight months after Weiss, previously CEO of media incubator Parkwood Media Ventures, joined the digital media company as Chief Content Officer. The multi-platform Eqal network, which includes sites by Jennifer Lopez, Lauren Conrad and The Hunger Games’ Elizabeth Banks, reaches more than 60 million consumers and generates billions of content impressions every month. Weiss will oversee Eqal Media Studios as well as the company’s business operations including media branding and social media strategy.
- 5/24/2012
- by DOMINIC PATTEN
- Deadline TV
u look haute, the Original YouTube Channel from lonleygirl15 creator Eqal, launched with a bang, garnering over 275K video views and more than 35K subscribers in the first day. The channel, dedicated fashion and beauty, is part of YouTube's $100 million original content initiative. u look haute features tips, interviews, stories, and reviews shared by celebrities, experts, and everyday women. The channel's programs will include YouTube stars Elle & Blaire Fowler as well as actress, musician (and Disney favorite), Chelsea Kane. The programming slate promises "the best of traditional and online talent, programming and structure with YouTube breakouts, TV stars, designers, reality competition and more," according to Eqal's Co-Founders Miles Beckett and Greg Goodfried. Since its lonelygirl15 days, the team over at Eqal has been building influencer networks around celebrities and brands, making it the perfect match for YouTube’s latest initiative catering to today’s connected viewers with the help of...
- 4/5/2012
- by Drew Baldwin
- Tubefilter.com
Comic book legend Stan Lee, co-creator of Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and Iron Man, and former president and chairman of Marvel Comics, has partnered with Vuguru for a YouTube Original Channel. YouTube released its first wave of original channels as a part of its $100 million content initiative under the direction of Robert Kyncl, who left Netflix to to join Google as VP of TV and Film Entertainment. Lee's new channel, Stan Lee's World of Heroes, is produced by Michael Eisner's digital studio Vuguru and Pow! Entertainment, a media and entertainment company founded by Lee. The new channel is slated to launch in 2012 and will feature exclusive programming around amazing characters and extraordinary individuals. Pow! is also working with Eqal on a new branded consumer website TheRealStanLee.com to ramp up community engagement. "As a lifelong fan, it makes it that much more exciting to be in business with Stan Lee,...
- 11/17/2011
- by Drew Baldwin
- Tubefilter.com
We've been getting some exclusive insight from the producers behind the first wave of original programming coming from the YouTube Original Channels announcement. Eqal, the creator of YouTube sensation lonelygirl15, is launching u look haute, a channel dedicated to all things related to beauty, style and fashion for teenagers and young adults, as part of YouTube’s $100 million original content initiative. "We have taken everything we’ve learned about integrating the community into the content and created u look haute to be an interactive space for everyone who follows beauty, style and trends," Greg Goodfried, Eqal Founder and President, told Tubefilter. (Goodfried was one the esteemed panelsits in our last Tubefilter Meetup on Social Video). Since their days as content kings during the lonelygirl days, the team over at Eqal has been building influencer networks around celebrities and brands, making it the perfect match for YouTube's latest initiative catering to...
- 10/29/2011
- by Drew Baldwin
- Tubefilter.com
This past Thursday over 250 of online video's top creators, producers, talent, executives, agents, distributors, and technologists packed into theStream.tv's Hollywood Studios for Tubefilter's Social Media Week La panel, Social Video On Steroids. This time around we pulled together a panel of social media experts with a focus on online video: Greg Goodfried, Founder and President of Eqal, which now builds influencer networks around celebrities and brands since its hit lonelygirl15 took YouTube by storm and and defined "viral series"; Garret Law, Co-Founder and COO of Attention Span Media, an audience development agency that created Dorm Life, the most watched series on Hulu, and supported Simon Fuller's If I Can Dream and Cjp' Digital's Leap Year; and Amber Buhl, Director of Sales at Klout, whose social influence metric is now included on the resumes of prospective job applicants. Our panelists highlighted best practices in social video marketing, discussing the...
- 9/29/2011
- by Drew Baldwin
- Tubefilter.com
Almost four years after Bree’s death on Lonelygirl15, the creators of one of the most engaging and popular original web series endemic to the YouTube generation are no longer producing video. Eqal co-founders Miles Beckett (CEO) and Greg Goodfried (President) have long since abandoned serialized dramas in favor of building online communities around already established household brand names and entertainment properties. They devoted a portion of the $5 million in Series A funding the company raised back in 2008 to accomplish those community-building efforts (the other part of the cash was used to develop a technology platform and finance some of Eqal's last web serials). Now, Eqal is raising more cash to build more online communities even better. Based on recent SEC filings, Techcrunch reports the media company is looking to raise $3.5 million (of which, it’s raised $649,994 so far). I caught up with Beckett over e-mail to try to get...
- 5/24/2011
- by Joshua Cohen
- Tubefilter.com
LG15: This Show is Yours is coming back next month as Eqal announced the winner of its fan contest to continue the original lonelygirl15 storyline in a blog post by Eqal's Miles Beckett and Greg Goodfried naming LG15: Outbreak the season 2 premiering January 11. The trailer for the "8-week interactive thrill ride" is above. But it looks like the fun may have already started as a reversed clip of the same trailer has some hidden messages in it. [LG15.com] Sports and cute girls have mixed well for ages, so why stop now? Sportz Nutz returned for its second season this week starring two attractive and knowledgeable post-college sports buffs Susannah Collins and Sam Raddock breaking down the college football bowl matchups from the Army-Navy tailgate. Who knew nitrous oxide was still popular? [YouTube] Safety Geeks Svi wrapped up their first season releasing their 13-minute finale Ep. 11 "A Strange Sucking Sound" on...
- 12/30/2009
- by Marc Hustvedt
- Tubefilter.com
Fall Web TV Week is finally here! It kicks off tonight with the October edition of the Tubefilter Hollywood Web Television Meetup in Los Angeles at 7:00 Pm. The night gets under way with a special sold-out "Going Live!" panel all about live streaming web series streamed Live at 7:20 on Stickam and right here on Tubefilter. Going Live! Panel: Hailey Bright, Co-Host, Coin-Op TV Live Drew Baldwin, Producer, The Streamy Awards (and Tubefilter co-founder) Brian Gramo, Founder, theStream.tv Tyler Crowley, Exec. Producer, Mahalo Daily, This Week in Startups, Kevin Pollack's Chat Show Bismarck Lepe, Founder, Ooyala Moderator: Marc Hustvedt, Editor-in-Chief, Tubefilter News Spotted on the Meetup RSVP list... Private High Musical's Taryn Southern..The Guild's Felicia Day, Jeff Lewis, Sandeep Parikh, Sean Becker and Kim Evey...The Bannen Way creators Mark Gantt and Jesse Warren....Blip.tv founders Mike Hudack and Dina Kaplan...lonelygirl15's Jessica Rose and Yousef Abu-Taleb.
- 10/19/2009
- by Tubefilter News
- Tubefilter.com
Anthony Zuiker created CSI, generating more than $6 billion. But with his new cross-platform experiment, his killer instinct is really kicking in.
A Man crouches on a 3-foot-by-3-foot glass-top table in a dank basement near the Los Angeles River, just outside of downtown L.A. The man is a contortionist. He's wearing a skintight, hooded latex body condom, bone white, zipped up the back to the top of his head, with holes for his eyes and a zipper over his mouth.
He nonchalantly folds a leg behind his neck and scratches his head with his toes. Next to him is a gallon jar of snails, and on a table, a pile of salt has been cut into lines in the shape of a maze. With a razor blade, the contortionist scrapes the glass clean between the lines, then deposits a snail in the center.
Snails disintegrate in salt, of course,...
A Man crouches on a 3-foot-by-3-foot glass-top table in a dank basement near the Los Angeles River, just outside of downtown L.A. The man is a contortionist. He's wearing a skintight, hooded latex body condom, bone white, zipped up the back to the top of his head, with holes for his eyes and a zipper over his mouth.
He nonchalantly folds a leg behind his neck and scratches his head with his toes. Next to him is a gallon jar of snails, and on a table, a pile of salt has been cut into lines in the shape of a maze. With a razor blade, the contortionist scrapes the glass clean between the lines, then deposits a snail in the center.
Snails disintegrate in salt, of course,...
- 9/8/2009
- by Tom Foster
- Fast Company
Amidst all the press releases and emails about the various panels and interview ops available at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, a new project from Anthony Zuiker caught our attention -- the first "digi-novel" experience, entitled Level 26: Dark Origins.
Zuiker, creator of the "CSI" franchise, is the author of Level 26: Dark Origins, a crime novel due in stores on September 8th. The "digi" part consists of a blog, rich social network, and cyber bridges readers can access by entering a code from the book to unlock video, audio, and photos on the official Level 26 website.
Eqal, the masterminds behind Web sensation lonelygirl15 and "Harper's Island" companion social site Harper’s Globe, teamed up with Zuiker to provide readers an intense multi-platform experience featuring exclusive online content.
If you'll be attending this year's Sdcc, Zuiker will be joined by Miles Beckett and Greg Goodfried of Eqal to provide a...
Zuiker, creator of the "CSI" franchise, is the author of Level 26: Dark Origins, a crime novel due in stores on September 8th. The "digi" part consists of a blog, rich social network, and cyber bridges readers can access by entering a code from the book to unlock video, audio, and photos on the official Level 26 website.
Eqal, the masterminds behind Web sensation lonelygirl15 and "Harper's Island" companion social site Harper’s Globe, teamed up with Zuiker to provide readers an intense multi-platform experience featuring exclusive online content.
If you'll be attending this year's Sdcc, Zuiker will be joined by Miles Beckett and Greg Goodfried of Eqal to provide a...
- 7/12/2009
- by The Woman In Black
- DreadCentral.com
Is mid-range web TV too risky? The middle ground of web television, somewhere in between homebrew video blogs and high-end celeb-laden studio series, appears to be murky waters. The closing of digital studios 60Frames and maniaTV stand as somber reminders that web television is still shuffling to find its business model. And it's boiling down to cost structure according to Eqal co-founder Greg Goodfried. Eqal Eqal, founded by Goodfried along with Miles Beckett, is of course the web studio that made its mark with arguably the most successful dramatic web series to date, lonelygirl15, setting themselves up for top seat in the serialized drama space. Follow-up series like LG15: The Resistance, Bebo-backed KateModern and Polish-lonelygirl spinoff n1ckola basically locked up the genre for the venture-backed studio.
- 6/12/2009
- by Marc Hustvedt
- Tubefilter.com
Today kicked off the official start of new interactive thriller web series Harper's Globe from the team at Eqal, creators of lonelygirl15 and KateModern. Miles Beckett and Greg Goodfried, the creative minds behind the series popularized highly interactive low-fi video blogging dramas, basically setting the bar for the genre. The online series stars former lonelygirl15 regular Melanie Merkosky, as newcomer Robin Matthews to the sleepy vacation island who is tasked with digitizing old news archives from the local paper. Her mysterious past and penchant for video presumably make her the fitting conduit to get to the bottom what's really going on around the island—that is, people getting killed off one by one.
- 3/19/2009
- by Marc Hustvedt
- Tubefilter.com
When I met up with Eqal co-founders Miles Beckett and Greg Goodfried last September, they mentioned their ambition to turn lonelygirl15 and its interconnected series of “social shows” into a ”Star Wars-type franchise.” I took that to mean developing and nurturing a mythology that’s replete with characters and images ripe for merchandising and beloved by a specific subculture but still accessible to the general public. Though that hasn’t happened (…yet), Eqal has brokered a different type of licensing deal. It’s one that (considering Jar Jar Binks exists) George Lucas would’ve been smart to adopt, as opposed to his ironclad control over all aspects of his intergalactic baby. Last week, Eqal announced a deal with Polish producers Agora and A2 Multimedia to create at new chapter in the LG15 universe, n1ckola. Though the content of the show operates inside the world established by lonelygirl15, the...
- 1/30/2009
- by Joshua Cohen
- Tilzy.tv
Busy boys Miles Beckett and Greg Goodfried, the brains behind Eqal and the online web phenomenon lonelygirl15, have been blowing up. Having recently launched a community-sourced web series LG15: The Show Is Yours, creators of the LG15 Universe have announced a license agreement with a Polish media company for a new story in the LG15 canon: n1ckola—all this on the heels of another announcement for a multi-platform mystery web series in partnership with CBS Interactive Harper's Globe, which will complement Jon Turtletaub's new prime time television series Harper's Island premiering on CBS in April. Harper's Globe will be launched in anticipation of Harper's Island with original show episodes that will support the on-air storyline with overlapping characters, locations, and plots. Beckett and Goodfried, who created hit online shows lonelygirl15, KateModern, and LG15: The Resistance were tapped by CBS in May...
- 1/22/2009
- by Drew Baldwin
- Tubefilter.com
Eqal, the “social entertainment company” founded by Lonelygirl15 and KateModern creators Miles Becket and Greg Goodfried, is soliciting its fan base to help add a substantial body of work to the Lonelygirl canon. Dubbed LG15: The Show is Yours, the crowdsourcing contest asks viewers to create episode one or a “pilot presentation” of what will become an eight week spin-off series that incorporates and builds upon the mythology of the Breeniverse. Interested parties must present a treatment for the “social show” and the winner will be responsible for producing at least two videos per week, along with “additional content such as pictures, text blogs, and interactivity.” An Eqal producer may also be brought on board to make sure the series stays on schedule and consistent with pre-existing storylines. Here’s the pitch: Drew at Tubefilter wonders if this is a bad omen for the brand. Yes. It is. The...
- 1/6/2009
- by Joshua Cohen
- Tilzy.tv
Lonelygirl15 studio rebrands, attracts investors
CORRECTED 1:24 p.m. PT April 23, 2008
NEW YORK -- The studio behind Internet sensation lonelygirl15 has received funding from a group of investors including veterans of Netscape, Google and Cloudbreak Entertainment.
LG15/Telegraph Ave. Prods., which is being rebranded as EQAL, will receive a $5 million Series A round of financing led by Spark Capital. Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen, Conrad Riggs of Cloudbreak, Silicon Valley venture investor Ron Conway and former Google director Georges Harik also are investing in this round.
Company CEO Miles Beckett, president and COO Greg Goodfried and Mesh Flinders launched "lonelygirl15" in June 2006, and it quickly became a viral hit on YouTube. In summer 2007, Beckett and Goodfried launched "KateModern" on Bebo, a social network popular in the U.K. that is being acquired by AOL.
Beckett and Goodfried explained that the funding isn't tied to a specific new project; they're looking to "build the corporate infrastructure" and hire programrs, developers and ad sales workers. The studio now has eight full-time employees, with "lonelygirl" and "KateModern" employing production units of 12-14 people apiece.
NEW YORK -- The studio behind Internet sensation lonelygirl15 has received funding from a group of investors including veterans of Netscape, Google and Cloudbreak Entertainment.
LG15/Telegraph Ave. Prods., which is being rebranded as EQAL, will receive a $5 million Series A round of financing led by Spark Capital. Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen, Conrad Riggs of Cloudbreak, Silicon Valley venture investor Ron Conway and former Google director Georges Harik also are investing in this round.
Company CEO Miles Beckett, president and COO Greg Goodfried and Mesh Flinders launched "lonelygirl15" in June 2006, and it quickly became a viral hit on YouTube. In summer 2007, Beckett and Goodfried launched "KateModern" on Bebo, a social network popular in the U.K. that is being acquired by AOL.
Beckett and Goodfried explained that the funding isn't tied to a specific new project; they're looking to "build the corporate infrastructure" and hire programrs, developers and ad sales workers. The studio now has eight full-time employees, with "lonelygirl" and "KateModern" employing production units of 12-14 people apiece.
- 4/16/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Bebo has 'Lonelygirl' date
LONDON -- Social networking Internet venture Bebo is launching its first global Internet programming venture, "Lonelygirl Presents ... KateModern," based on the Lonelygirl 15 character that gained 50 million viewers on YouTube.
Bebo has joined with the "Lonelygirl15" creators Miles Beckett, Greg Goodfried and Mesh Flinders to create a unique, original interactive programming concept that will launch within the social networking hub, allowing Bebo users exclusive updates to the plot lines as well as the ability to interact with the character, Bebo president of international Joanna Shields said.
With 31 million viewers worldwide averaging 41 minutes usage a day, audiences for the new interactive project could well exceed the numbers that tune in to cable in the U.S. and U.K., Shields added.
"This is truly a native social media entertainment form and fits perfectly within the Bebo experience," she said. "These characters become part of Bebo in a viral, multilayered way that has never been done before," she said, noting that 16- to 24-year-olds were moving away from television and looking for more innovative forms of programming.
Bebo has joined with the "Lonelygirl15" creators Miles Beckett, Greg Goodfried and Mesh Flinders to create a unique, original interactive programming concept that will launch within the social networking hub, allowing Bebo users exclusive updates to the plot lines as well as the ability to interact with the character, Bebo president of international Joanna Shields said.
With 31 million viewers worldwide averaging 41 minutes usage a day, audiences for the new interactive project could well exceed the numbers that tune in to cable in the U.S. and U.K., Shields added.
"This is truly a native social media entertainment form and fits perfectly within the Bebo experience," she said. "These characters become part of Bebo in a viral, multilayered way that has never been done before," she said, noting that 16- to 24-year-olds were moving away from television and looking for more innovative forms of programming.
- 4/16/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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