Atom.com Signs First Look Deal With Content Creator Sandeep Parikh
September 25 2008 - 4:10PM
PR Newswire (US)
NEW YORK, Sept. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Viacom
(NYSE:VIANYSE:andNYSE:VIA.B) MTVN Entertainment Group's Atom.com, a
digital comedy network and COMEDY CENTRAL's exclusive partner and
anchor brand for original digital comedy content, announced today
that it has signed writer-director Sandeep Parikh to an exclusive
first look production commitment. The deal follows the success of
Parikh's "Legend of Neil" series
(http://www.legendofneil.atom.com/), which has generated 700,000
plays since debuting on Atom.com in August and reached over 400,000
more viewers when it made its television debut on "Atom TV" on
COMEDY CENTRAL on September 15. The production deal gives Atom the
first option on new digital content ideas from Parikh and it has
committed in advance to developing two of them to pilot stage. In
addition, Atom and Parikh are in discussions on future seasons of
"Legend of Neil," building on the adventures of a guy who gets
sucked into "The Legend of Zelda" after a night of heavy drinking
and game playing and must fight his way out or risk perishing in
the magical world. The series was a hit among gamers, who also know
Parikh from his work as an actor in Felicia Day's "The Guild," a
popular web series set in the world of massively multiplayer online
games. "Working with Megan and the Atom.com team has been an
absolute blast," said Parikh. "I couldn't be more excited about the
success of 'The Legend of Neil' and the new deal we've struck."
"Sandeep's funny and inventive first season of 'Legend of Neil' has
resonated with the Atom audience online, on Atom TV and on all of
our platforms," said Atom's VP of Development and Acquisitions,
Megan O'Neill. "He really understands the Web and we are thrilled
to be creating more content with him." The Atom.com digital comedy
network extends far beyond the Web site, reaching almost every
screen that plays video. Elsewhere on the Internet, Atom channels
are featured on iTunes (which is currently selling the complete
first season of "Legend of Neil"), AOL, AT&T, Bebo,
Dailymotion, Veoh, xBox Live, and Parikh's own Effinfunny.com site.
On television, the weekly "Atom TV" series (TV-MA) features
original Atom comedy videos and top user videos on COMEDY CENTRAL
every Monday night at 2:00 a.m. On mobile phones, Atom has
prominent channels on Verizon Wireless' V CAST as well as
AT&T's CV and AllTel. About Atom.com Atom.com, a division of
Viacom Inc.'s (NYSE:VIANYSE:andNYSE:VIA.B) MTV Networks, is a
digital comedy network for young men that reaches millions of
consumers each month on the Atom.com Web site and millions more
through multiplatform distribution on television, mobile phones,
and the Internet. Drawing on a strategic partnership with COMEDY
CENTRAL and its own 10-year history of online video innovation and
leadership (formerly as AtomFilms), Atom.com delivers Web comedy
like nobody else. DATASOURCE: MTVN Entertainment Group CONTACT:
Aileen Budow of MTVN Entertainment Group, +1-212-767-3952, Web
Site: http://www.atom.com/ http://www.legendofneil.atom.com/
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