The Wall Street Journal.
Our first ‘legit’ newspaper mention, in today’s Wall Street Journal (and congratulations to Ben Ross, who’s “Lunch Time” from Episode 2 was the only illustration in the article):
Mini Movies
Cellphone clips and video podcasts vie for Emmy awards as small-screen entertainment gets bigger
By JOHN JURGENSEN
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
November 19, 2005
Post-It-size entertainment is now Emmy material: In May, for the first time, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences will present an award to a program created for computers, mobile phones or hand-held gadgets. Tiny screens are increasingly coveted spaces for TV companies. Next month, the producers of ABC’s “Lost” will begin shooting 22 two-minute “Lost Video Diaries,” available next year on Verizon’s on-demand video service, the companies say. But it’s not clear how profitable the venture will be: Yankee Group, a technology-research firm, estimates that only 1.2 million Americans pay to watch videos on their phones. Though made-for-mobile shows are becoming more common, most cellphone streams are clips from TV shows like Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.” Below, three of the most popular shows created for portable devices.
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“Love Bytes”
Available for $4.95 a month on one of Sprint’s 32 “channels,” this 16-episode show about a dating service with clients that include extraterrestrials cost studio Fun Little Movies $75,000 to make.
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“MAXX H2O”
Camera crews film surfers in Australia and Tahiti for this show distributed by MobiTV, a supplier of content to Sprint and other carriers. Key for showing on a 2-inch screen: lots of close-ups.
[tiny tv]
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“Channel Frederator”
Created by Fred Siebert (sic), executive producer of Nickelodeon’s “The Fairly OddParents,” this free series of animated shorts has gotten about 15,000 downloads a day since arriving last month on Apple’s iTunes music store. The cartoons can also be watched on computers or downloaded to portable devices from channelfrederator.com.
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On November 20th, 2005 at 12:00 am
OMG!! Every time I read one of these I just get so excited!!!! This is just increadible!!Soo cool Fred..keep goin’ man!!!
On November 20th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Thanks Aliki. You are the greatest. And keep making great cartoons.
On November 21st, 2005 at 12:00 am
My mom totally saw this article and pointed it out to me! I couldn’t believe it…way to go Fred!
On November 22nd, 2005 at 12:00 am
Thanks Anne. It’s the wonderful filmmakers like you and the rest of the Oh Yeah! shorts team that make our lives worth living.