Blip.tv and Collective Digital Studio Announce Strategic Partnership to Expand Distribution of Original Web Series

Blip.tv and Collective Digital Studio Announce Strategic Partnership to Expand Distribution of Original Web Series

Blip.tv to Distribute The Annoying Orange, Fred, FreddieW, iJustine and Other Series

--Collective Digital Studio Also Announces Original Web Series from Lucas Cruikshank a.k.a. "Fred" and FreddieW to be Hosted and Syndicated by blip.tv--

NEW YORK, June 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Web series network blip.tv and Collective Digital Studio, the online content division of leading entertainment management and production company The Collective, today announced a strategic partnership for blip.tv to distribute online content from Collective Digital Studio's roster of content creators. Through this partnership, blip.tv will be responsible for distributing and monetizing Collective Digital Studio content, including such web series as The Annoying Orange, FreddieW, Fred and iJustine. Blip.tv will be managing the distribution of these series on YouTube and other platforms as part of this partnership.

Collective Digital Studio also announced two new original online series including an animated series based on the "Fred" character created by Lucas Cruikshank and produced by Kate Boutilier and Eryk Casemiro (Rugrats and Wild Thornberries), and a new feature length original web series from FreddieW creators Freddie Wong and Brandon Laatsch.

As the online content division of The Collective, Collective Digital Studio offers artists a full range of creative, social media and distribution solutions to help them identify, develop and maximize opportunities across multiple platforms.

"This partnership is one more step in the realization of our plans to provide creative talent with a 360-degree solution to build their brands in the digital space," said Michael Green, CEO and founder of The Collective. "We've long viewed blip.tv as an ideal partner to bolster Collective Digital Studio's existing production, social media and distribution expertise. This deal with blip.tv will provide our content creators with a whole new set of tools to understand and communicate directly with their audience and will offer additional capabilities for advertisers to engage with our clients' audiences."

Since 2005, blip.tv has worked closely with the world's top web series producers, advertisers and distribution platforms with the mission of helping web series producers make a sustainable living. With the recent introduction of blip.tv's consumer-facing website, launched on May 17, 2011, the company continues to enhance its offerings to producers, talent, advertisers and is now enabling viewers to easily discover the most entertaining series on the web. With well over three billion views, the company is now on pace to reach one billion views per quarter.

"Collective Digital Studio has partnered with many of the most talented and influential online producers and personalities, and we are thrilled to partner with them to maximize opportunities for their clients with fans and with advertisers," said Mike Hudack, CEO and founder of blip.tv. "This partnership with Collective Digital Studio is a validation of original web series and blip.tv's role in the media industry as a whole."

"I believe this exciting new platform will provide 'Fred' fans around the world greater access to enjoy his videos, and I'm thrilled about the new 'Fred' cartoons; as a content creator, it will be fun to have a fresh and growing audience for all of my digital projects and new ideas," said "Fred" creator Lucas Cruikshank.

Collective Digital Studio's content creators will join the ranks of top tier web series such as Anyone But Me, Smosh, and Day[9] that are already part of the blip.tv network.

Over the next six months, blip.tv will roll out additional updates and new products. For more information please visit http://blip.tv. For additional information on The Collective, please visit: http://thecollective-la.com.

About blip.tv

Blip.tv is the place to discover the best in original Web series from both professional and up-and-coming producers. It gives viewers free access to a wide variety of dramas and comedies, series about sports, videogames, food, fashion and more, and makes it easy to find what you want when you want it. The company currently syndicates series to iTunes, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, roku, Verizon FiOS, TiVo, Sony TVs and elsewhere. Blip.tv hosts more than 330 million video views per month and shares all advertising revenue with producers on a 50/50 basis. Please visit http://blip.tvfor more information.

About Collective Digital Studio

Collective Digital Studio is the online content division of leading entertainment management and production company The Collective. Formed in 2005, the Collective's mission is to unlock the value of the direct relationship between artists and their fans by identifying, developing and maximizing opportunities for creative talent across a multitude of media platforms. Clients include Linkin Park, Counting Crows, Enrique Iglesias, Slash, Alanis Morisette, Godsmack, Martin Lawrence, Michelle Rodriguez, Emile Hirsch, Jason Isaacs, Eliza Dushku, Eddie Izzard and Lucas Cruikshank AKA "Fred." Based in Beverly Hills, The Collective employs a staff of more than seventy employees.

About Lucas Cruikshank a.k.a. "Fred"

Fred was created by Lucas Cruikshank who writes, directs and performs all the characters. Fred is one of the top subscribed sites on YouTube with over 740 million views and over 2.1 million subscribers. Fred's humorous dialogue is quoted by kids throughout the world and immortalized on Fred merchandise at retail shops throughout North America. In August of 2009, Lucas took top honors as Favorite Web Star at The Teen Choice Awards as Fred Figglehorn, beating out Ashton Kutcher, Will Ferrell, Perez Hilton and Andy Samberg. He also appeared in the broadcast singing a duet with Miley Cyrus. Lucas has appeared on iCarly in the episode "iMeet Fred" and in an episode of Hannah Montana. In November of 2009, he starred in "Fred: The Movie" with Family Guy writer David A. Goodman, director Clay Weiner and producer Brian Robbins partnering with Lucas and his team at The Collective. Premiering on Nickelodeon, "Fred" went on to be the highest rated cable movie of the year. Lucas has also released two Fred music projects: "Fred's Hackin' Christmas" and "Who's Ready to Party" both produced by The Collective and the team of Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Neville and released through The Collective's deal with Sony Red.Lucas is currently filming the soon-to-be-announced feature sequel to "Fred: The Movie", also produced by Brian Robbins' Varsity Pictures and The Collective, written by David Goodman ("Family Guy") and directed by John Fortenberry ("Night At The Roxbury") to be distributed by Lionsgate. Lucas is currently developing a half hour series starring vehicle "Marvin Marvin" for Nickelodeon, produced by The Collective and written by Jon Ross ("Father of the Pride"). For additional information please visit www.fredfigglehorn.com.

About FreddieW:

FreddieW is one of the fastest growing YouTube channels of all time. Created just a year ago by Freddie Wong and his partner Brandon Laatsch, the channel has already attracted 250 million total upload views, 1.5 million subscribers and 40 million views per month, placing Wong and Laatsch among the leading pioneers in online video, bringing professional premium content to original online series. Their uniquely crafted, mind bending viral videos have spread across the Web, generating 2 to 3 million views of each video within weeks of posting, attracting growing attention from the mainstream media, and regular guest appearances by such actors as Eliza Dushku, Andy Whitfield and Kevin Pollack. For additional information please visit http://blip.tv/freddiew or www.facerocker.com

SOURCE blip.tv; Collective Digital Studio

blip.tv; Collective Digital Studio

CONTACT: blip.tv, Sunshine Sachs, Jessica Berger, berger@sunshinesachs.com, or Dani Dalesandro, dalesandro@sunshinesachs.com, +1-212-691-2800; or The Collective, Bing Communications Group, Jonathan Bing, +1-310-310-3561, jbing@bingcommunications.net

Web Site: http://thecollective-la.com

-------
Profile: intent