Today, My Damn Channel launches an entertainment studio and new media platform created to empower artists to | co-produce, distribute and monetize original, episodic video content. Comedians, musicians and filmmakers will develop short-form series and retain total artistic control of their own web channels. Original content is available free to viewers on www.MyDamnChannel.com and as branded programming syndicated to major web portals and digital devices.


Venerable comedian/political satirist Harry Shearer ("The Simpsons," "This is Spinal Tap"); renowned music producer Don Was (The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan); independent comic filmmaker David Wain ("Wet Hot American Summer," "The Ten"); and Web phenom Andy Milonakis ("The Andy Milonakis Show," MTV), will join www.MyDamnChannel.com live at 7:00 a.m. (EDT) today.


My Damn Channel is the brainchild of President and CEO, Rob Barnett. Barnett was an executive at MTV and VH1 for more than 11 years and was most recently President of Programming for CBS Radio. Barnett has produced new and "traditional" media with hundreds of popular personalities, including President Bill Clinton, Mick Jagger, Johnny Rotten and Oprah Winfrey.


"My Damn Channel gives our talented friends a blank canvas to do what they want and the digital means to reach the masses," said Barnett. "Some execs talk about disrupting media but forget about how smart this new audience really is. The B.S. barometer is very high. Our channels deliver the original content that web fans deserve and that advertisers and syndicators will support."


"My Damn Channel is a great example of the kind of place an artist like me seeks out - a new outpost in an emerging medium where the rules have not yet been engraved in stone," Shearer added. "Rob and his team are giving me the opportunity to make smart, topical comedy and get it to the audience before it cools. What, except for having a zillion stock options in the company, could be better?"


My Damn Channel is ad-supported and all of its programming will also be syndicated to the most heavily-trafficked online communities and social networks. The company will share revenues with its artists from advertising on www.MyDamnChannel.com and from programming syndication deals.


YouTube, the leader in online video, is the first to enter into a syndication agreement with My Damn Channel. Under the agreement, My Damn Channel content will be available to the YouTube community at www.youtube.com/MyDamnChannel.


Beginning today, My Damn Channel will launch with a diverse portfolio of original programming featuring comedy, political satire, music and filmmaking. Every My Damn Channel artist will co-create the look and feel of their own signature channel.

Additional offerings rounding out the launch of My Damn Channel include "Hot Mental Freedom," a video blog for the channel's talent and its fans to attack hot issues and topics. Web phenomenon Andy Milonakis, who has previously starred in his own MTV series, will debut his own "My Damn Channel" in August. Additional talent and syndication partnerships will be announced in the coming weeks along with a channel for new and emerging web stars.


My Damn Channel is signing artists to episodic series deals. The company is the first to devote major resources to producing original promotional spots to fuel branding and destination viewing for its content. Promo spots and the unique interactive experience of the My Damn Channel brand are created by the firm Big Fat Brain. Promos will run on syndication partners, and on a dedicated channel called "PromoSexual." Big Fat Brain Creative Directors Matt Bledsoe and Troy Hitch have garnered multiple Webby nominations and broken down conventional marketing models with experiential campaigns for companies such as TIBCO and iRobot.


In creating My Damn Channel, Barnett forged a strategic relationship with Okapi Venture Capital, securing an initial round of funding and naming Okapi Managing Director B. Marc Averitt to the company's Board of Directors. Warren Chao will serve as My Damn Channel's Chief Operating Officer. Chao was recently Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Planning for Gemstar-TV Guide International, and is a former attorney and venture capitalist. Paul Gallagher, a former VH1 executive producer of "Behind the Music" and Emmy nominee, has been appointed My Damn Channel's Vice President of Production. Vince Thompson will present advertising, sponsorship and promotional opportunities along with fellow managing partner Mark Chassman from the firm Middleshift. Thompson recently pre-sold advertising for the popular web/mobile series "Prom Queen."