IAC has merged popular comedy site CollegeHumor with its production company Electus, consolidating its digital studios, production companies wand web entertainment properties under the Electus Digital banner. Electus COO Drew Buckley will oversee the division, which also consists of websites such as CollegeHumor and WatchLoud.com, YouTube channels WatchLOUD, Nuevon and Hungry, and production companies Big Breakfast and dumbdumb.
CollegeHumor will remain based in New York while Electus resides in Los Angeles.
“This configuration represents a combination of the best of creative execution and distribution on the digital landscape,” Buckley said in a statement. “As one team, we are now able to deliver even more inventive, high-quality programming to more fans across all platforms.”
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Big Breakfast, Sam Reich’s production company, will develop movies, TV shows and digital series for Electus Digital while also producing videos for CollegeHumor.com and TV channels such as TBS. Big Breakfast is already developing a version of the CollegeHumor series “Jake and Amir” for TBS.
“Since we started making original video content in 2006, we’ve kept Sam and his team in-house as our own little secret. Breaking them out should really unlock their potential,” CollegeHumor co-founder Ricky Van Veen said in a statement. “It’s funny how many new projects have come together since we moved them to the West Coast — who would’ve thought being in Los Angeles would help with our film and TV efforts?”
“As CollegeHumor, we mastered the art of the internet short. Now, as Big Breakfast, we mean to master the arts of film and TV. We bring with us the most passionate comedy writers, directors, producers, and editors in the industry,” said Sam Reich, President of Big Breakfast. “For years, we were a bubbling volcano, and now we’re erupting all over Los Angeles, like in that Tommy Lee Jones movie.”
Van Veen will work with Buckley to develop new shows and expand the various sites’ audience.