No medium understands the terrifying potential of TV quite like film does. That’s right: countless horror movies have paid homage to the spooky possibilities of their industry’s smaller screen little brother over the years. Movies like Poltergeist, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, and The Ring all recognize that a television set is a powerful, scary totem.
A TV set is a device that families have placed in their living rooms for decades, passively welcoming in all manner of signals, blithely trusting that evil somehow won’t piggyback its way on them. Still, for much of television’s early years, there wasn’t a ton of great horror series to speak of (aside from the truly iconic like The Twilight Zone). That has all changed now.
With the arrival of the 21st century has come a veritable explosion of great horror TV shows. Thanks to the influence of...
A TV set is a device that families have placed in their living rooms for decades, passively welcoming in all manner of signals, blithely trusting that evil somehow won’t piggyback its way on them. Still, for much of television’s early years, there wasn’t a ton of great horror series to speak of (aside from the truly iconic like The Twilight Zone). That has all changed now.
With the arrival of the 21st century has come a veritable explosion of great horror TV shows. Thanks to the influence of...
- 10/30/2023
- by Maznah Shehzad
- Den of Geek
In 2009, siblings Lisa Donovan and Ben Donovan teamed up with Danny Zappin to create Maker Studios. Five years and $500 million later, Lisa and Ben are leaving their company. The Donovans announced their departure from Maker Studios a few months after its sale to Disney. The Donovans, Zappin, and a few top YouTube creators (including ShayCarl, KassemG, and Philip Defranco) initially formed Maker as one of YouTube's first multi-channel networks. Lisa Donavan was a well-known YouTuber herself; her LisaNova channel has built up 565,000 subscribers and 141 million views, even though she stopped publishing new videos in 2011. Initially, the company put much of its focus on a single channel called The Station, which has since been rebranded as Nacho Punch. With the help of several funding rounds, Maker grew into a massive network that now claims 6.5 billion monthly views and more than 450 million subscribers. At the time of their departure, the Donovan duo...
- 8/8/2014
- by Sam Gutelle
- Tubefilter.com
Maker Studios' board has approved the company's sale to Disney, but a former employee is providing an added hurdle. Three days after the top YouTube network parried ex-ceo Danny Zappin's attempt to break up the acquisition, it is facing a fresh lawsuit from Maker stockholder nm4619027 autoAndy Faberlle[/link]. Faberlle's lawsuit, first reported by The Hollywood Reporter, includes many of the same complains as Zappin's lawsuit, which was launched in June 2013. "With great power comes great responsibility," says Faberlle's complaint. "Upon information and belief, members of Maker's Board of Directors, Mark Suster, Lisa Donovan, Ben Donovan, Rachel Lam, Dana Settle, and Michael Disanto, unhappy with their inability to control Maker and/or obtain a quick return on their invested capital in Maker, orchestrated a scheme to illegally issue enough shares to themselves and those friendly to them that would be required to approve any sale." The full text of Faberlle's lawsuit can be read here.
- 4/18/2014
- by Sam Gutelle
- Tubefilter.com
Former Maker Studios employee Andy Faberlle has hit the digital studio with a new lawsuit that demands a rescission of the Disney merger. Faberlle identifies himself as a Maker stockholder. His LinkedIn profile says he worked at the company from April 2011 to August 2013 as Director of Partnerships. His lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday makes many of the same fraud claims made by ex-ceo Danny Zappin. "With great power comes great responsibility," says the complaint. "Upon information and belief, members of Maker's Board of Directors, Mark Suster, Lisa Donovan, Ben Donovan, Rachel Lam,
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- 4/17/2014
- by Eriq Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Update 3:18 P.T.: Maker Studios has responded to the lawsuit filed against it by former CEO Danny Zappin with the following statement: "The lawsuit is without merit and the allegations are baseless. We regret that Danny is taking this step and involving the Company he co-founded in litigation." Earlier: Four Maker Studios founders, including former CEO Danny Zappin, have sued the media and entertainment company, accusing its leaders of breaching fiduciary duties and conspiring to kick Zappin out of the company. Zappin (below) is even suing Lisa Donovan, his fellow co-founder, board member and former girlfriend. In...
- 6/26/2013
- by Lucas Shaw
- The Wrap
Ray William Johnson has threatened to sue Maker Studios should the multi-channel network not return his Adsense account, but Maker now has a much more immediate mess on its hands. According to a report in Variety, co-founder Danny Zappin and three others are suing the company, accusing its executives of breach of contract and fraudulently ousting Zappin as CEO. In May, Former Endemol boss Ynon Kreiz took control of Maker as the Executive Chairman, while Zappin relinquished the title of Maker's CEO and taking on an advising role as a member of the company's board. In a statement released after the hiring, Zappin sounded enthusiastic about Kreiz's new role at the top of the network, but that was obviously not the case. Along with fellow plaintiffs Scott Katz, Derek Jones, and Will Watkins, he now claims Maker diluted his stock in the company so that it could control the Board...
- 6/26/2013
- by Sam Gutelle
- Tubefilter.com
The Producers Guild of America announced today the honorees for the inaugural Digital V.I.P. initiative and awards gala. Nine Visionaries, Innovators, and Producers who have made significant contributions to the advancement of digital entertainment and storytelling during the past year will be honored on April 11 in Los Angeles. Honorees for the first-ever Digital V.I.P. are: Visionaries – those who have brought forth new ideas about the creative application of technology to advance storytelling across all media. Ø John Raatz (Founder, Board Chairman, CEO), Eckhart Tolle (Honorary Founder) and Jim Carrey (Honorary Founder) of The Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment (Gate) Ø Bruce Sterling, multi award-winning science fiction author for his influence upon technology as it relates to storytelling and in co-founding the cyberpunk movement Innovators – those who have developed new methods or technology that enables the production of storytelling. Ø Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, Co-Founders of Instagram Ø Bill Westenhofer,...
- 12/12/2012
- by aablog@hollywoodnews.com (Josh Abraham)
- Hollywoodnews.com
Google will present the YouTube Brandcast in New York City on Wednesday, May 2, 2012. It’s an invite only affair at the Beacon Theater where hundreds of advertisers and brand representatives are going to watch what everyone expects will be the biggest showcase of digital media properties and platforms of all the showcases of digital media properties and platforms at the first ever Digital Content NewFronts. Select recipients of funding from YouTube’s $100 million Original Channels initiative will undoubtedly be showcased by those channels’ stars and tentpole events will be teased by what I’m anticipating will be some very well known celebrities. I’m basing the above expectations on the popular conception of what an upfront entails, and because that’s kinda what happened at the first YouTube Upfront, except there was a fashion show runway, live models walking on that fashion show runway, and a build-your-own-s'mores station there, too.
- 5/2/2012
- by Joshua Cohen
- Tubefilter.com
Maker Studios made out big with YouTube's big announcement last night revealing its first wave of original channels. Maker Studios was one of the big winners with three original channels—the most channels awarded to any producer. Of the 96 original channels announced yesterday, most only received one; only six other producers were given three channels: Bedrocket Media, BermanBraun, Clevver Media, Demand Media, Electus, and IconicTV. YouTube has committed over $100 million dollars for its latest content initiative, tapping A-list producers and top talent to create premium content. Yet unlike many of the new Hollywood-focused channels blessed by YouTube, what Maker founders Dan Zappin, Lisa Donovan, and Ben Donovan have created along with talent co-founders KassemG, Michael Gallagher, Shay Carl, and many others is something built from the ground up. "YouTube itself has changed the world, some individual videos on YouTube and certain YouTube Partners have impacted the world, and now whole...
- 10/29/2011
- by Drew Baldwin
- Tubefilter.com
Maker Studios has been relatively quiet as it ramps up its staff in its new Venice, CA homebase, building out a veritable powerhouse of top YouTube creative talent. Now word comes that the studio has raised around $1.5 million in funding in a round led by Greycroft Partners and Grp partners. Mark Suster, a partner at Grp partners (and host of web show This Week in Venture Capital) is also listed as a Board member in a recent SEC filing for Maker Studios. The company confirmed the funding round to us, and it’s now already listed as an active part of Greycroft’s investment portfolio, alongside recent investments like Ad.ly, Klout and Vuze. It didn’t confirm the exact size of the round, though in the SEC Form D filing from January, the company stated it plans on raising $1,524,999, with five directors listed including founders Ben Donovan, Lisa Donovan (aka LisaNova), Daniel Zappin,...
- 4/21/2011
- by Marc Hustvedt
- Tubefilter.com
Courtesy of JaneFonda.com
Jane Fonda is back and hotter than ever. For the first time in over 15 years, at the age of 72 (though you'd never know it by looking at her), she is releasing a two DVD set for the senior crowd called Prime Time. In a recent Facebook chat with viral video producer Lisa Nova and a handful of bloggers, Jane talked about why doing an exercise series for people of her generation is important and how exercise has changed since the '80s.
Like thousands of other aerobic-crazed women in the '80s and '90s we used to "drive the big truck" with Jane on her original workout tapes. The actress-turned-political-activist pretty much invented the genre. She pointed out, "I didn't create the workout, but I put it on video and I popularized it and that changed everything. It created a fitness industry... It also opened...
Jane Fonda is back and hotter than ever. For the first time in over 15 years, at the age of 72 (though you'd never know it by looking at her), she is releasing a two DVD set for the senior crowd called Prime Time. In a recent Facebook chat with viral video producer Lisa Nova and a handful of bloggers, Jane talked about why doing an exercise series for people of her generation is important and how exercise has changed since the '80s.
Like thousands of other aerobic-crazed women in the '80s and '90s we used to "drive the big truck" with Jane on her original workout tapes. The actress-turned-political-activist pretty much invented the genre. She pointed out, "I didn't create the workout, but I put it on video and I popularized it and that changed everything. It created a fitness industry... It also opened...
- 12/16/2010
- by Pop Culture Passionistas
- popculturepassionistas
YouTube Play is a collaboration between the world's largest video-sharing site, the Guggenheim Museum, Hp, and Intel. The companies and art institution asked online video creators to submit works of “animation, motion graphics, narrative, non-narrative, or documentary, music videos and entirely new art forms - creations that really challenge the world’s perceptions of what’s possible with video." Out of the 23,348 videos received, Guggenheim's curatorial team narrowed those down to a shortlist 125 videos long, which YouTube Play's renowned jury then cut to 25. Those 25 selections were displayed in a special YouTube Play Exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum last weekend in New York City. YouTube had a party to celebrate the collaboration, the art, and the artists. Here's what I learned by attending: Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Guggenheim Museum for digital projections. I haven't looked through Wright's 700 sketches and six complete working drawings of the Guggenheim he created over a 15 year period,...
- 10/27/2010
- by Joshua Cohen
- Tubefilter.com
YouTube star Lisa Nova sat down with "California Gurls" Katy Perry for an exclusive 30-minute interview that featured questions submitted by text and video form the YouTube community through the newly-launched Moderator tool. Over 20,500 text and video questions like “Did you really kiss a girl?” “Do you ever laugh at the parody videos making fun of you?” “Are you and Russell Brand planning on having kids?” were submitted for which over 401,600 votes were cast. Related News:Next New Networks Breaks 600 Million Views TheWillofDC Asks: What Matters More, Views or Subscribers?...
- 7/31/2010
- by Drew Baldwin
- Tubefilter.com
Rocketboom was the internet’s first breakout video blog; its steadfast devotion to quirky, quippy coverage of interesting things found nowhere else has kept it thriving since 2004. Lisa Nova is a YouTube institution. She’s been posting sketch comedy with abundant fanfare since 2006, but I’ve long wondered why this staggering talent has not been applied to a bigger, more collaborative project (on the internet - I’m not counting her stint on Madtv). Now she is. With what appears to be a value-building collaboration, Lisa Nova will add to Rocketboom’s slow-growing network with two additional episodes each week, says the blog of Rocketboom creator Andrew Baron. Baron, who has cautiously watched the mistakes of many other video networks, believes that incremental spinoff series are the safest bet for his small startup that recently signed an ad deal with Sony’s Crackle. But this is not the first time...
- 12/22/2008
- by Jamison Tilsner
- Tilzy.tv
You could say Liam Sullivan has found his big break. He is, after all, currently on tour opening for Margaret Cho in shows across the country. But that's not how he got famous. No, the 34-year-old comedian found his fame by portraying a teenaged girl named Kelly in a series of wildly popular videos on YouTube. As he sang about shoes and text message breakups, Sullivan was becoming yet another in a line of comedians who have recently made the jump from traditional comedy to the digital world.
Lisa Donovan, another YouTube comedian (who goes by the name LisaNova), earned a spot on "MADtv" after her videos gained attention, and unlikely stars like laughing babies and bored suburban teenagers often find themselves on the site's list of most-viewed videos with their self-made comedy.
"It's kinda cool cause it's not like some company hired me to do this. I came up with it.
Lisa Donovan, another YouTube comedian (who goes by the name LisaNova), earned a spot on "MADtv" after her videos gained attention, and unlikely stars like laughing babies and bored suburban teenagers often find themselves on the site's list of most-viewed videos with their self-made comedy.
"It's kinda cool cause it's not like some company hired me to do this. I came up with it.
- 10/27/2008
- BooshMagazine.com
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