Six-Episode Satirical How-To Guide to Claiming Fame on the Internet
Premieres Exclusively on IFC.com Monday, August 18
New York, NY – August 13, 2008 – For anyone trying to claim their 15 minutes of fame-Internet-style, IFC.com provides a hilarious how-to guide for getting the most hits on your user-submitted videos. On Monday, August 18, IFC will premiere its latest original web series Get Hit, a six-episode original comedy series starring co-creators Peter Blomquist (as Garlyn Thornquist) and Jeff Wiens (as Billy Lang) as two dimwits chronicling their secrets to Internet fame, which they believe they once achieved with their fictitious viral smash hit "The Ball Kicking Fight Club." Each five-minute episode of Get Hit offers a step-by-step guide on how to achieve guaranteed viral internet success…or nearly die trying.
"Get Hit turns web content on its head and pokes fun at the increasingly competitive race to create an overnight online video sensation," said Craig Parks, vice president of digital media at IFC. "This is IFC.com’s seventh original web series debut this summer, and we’re generating a significant audience, speaking to the quality and success of our original online programming strategy."
Get Hit teaches by example, as the viral hit makers attempt to recreate their Internet success. Each episode takes on one aspect of creating a guaranteed Internet hit-from script writing, to raising money, to acting and editing and ultimately distributing and promoting your work. Weaving direct-to-camera address, hilariously acted scenes and clever editorial meditation on the state of Internet video, Get Hit is like nothing websters have ever seen before. The series also features Liam Sullivan (of Youtube’s "Shoes" video), Scott Sowers, Victor Verhaeghe and Amanda Ronconi.
Check out this new series August 18 at www.IFC.com/GETHIT.
About the Creators
Writer-director-actor-editor duo Peter Blomquist and Jeff Wiens comprise the entertainment entity known as Franco and Billy LLC. Peter and Jeff won IFC’s "Shorts Down Under" competition in 2006, a short film contest sponsored by Tourism Australia and IFC Media Lab. From this, they were commissioned by IFC to shoot a comedic web-series called Chasing Paradise in Australia. Previously, Peter and Jeff shot their own television pilot, The Independents, which was an official selection at the 2005 Vail Film Festival. They made a short action film in 2003 called Whalebone, which was a finalist in the New York City Moviemaking Madness Competition and was subsequently screened around the country.
About IFC
Operating under the mantra "always uncut," IFC (The Independent Film Channel) uncovers and champions alternative content and makes it available to audiences across multiple platforms: on air, online and on demand. In pursuit of what’s new, next and relevant, IFC presents clever, offbeat original series like "The Whitest Kids U’ Know" and "Z Rock" alongside thought-provoking original documentaries such as At the Death House Door and This Film Is Not Yet Rated. The network also offers exclusive web series, shorts, animation, and a comprehensive independent film library of award-winning titles and cult classics. IFC broadens the audience for independent culture through its exclusive live coverage of notable film and music events like the Independent Spirit Awards and South by Southwest. The network’s on demand offering, IFC Free, gives audiences the opportunity to watch premieres of all of IFC’s original series before they air on the linear network. IFC Media Lab offers financing, professional development and distribution opportunities for aspiring film makers. IFC is a subsidiary of Rainbow Media Holdings LLC.
Rainbow Media Holdings LLC
Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC). Rainbow Media is a leading producer of targeted, multi-platform content for global distribution, creating and managing some of the world’s most compelling and dynamic entertainment brands, including AMC, IFC, WE tv, Sundance Channel, LIFESKOOL, SPORTSKOOL, and VOOM HD Networks. Through IFC Entertainment, Rainbow Media also owns and manages the following: IFC Films, a leading distribution company for independent film; IFC Productions, a feature film production company that provides financing for select independent film projects; and IFC Center, a three screen, state-of-the-art cinema in the heart of New York’s Greenwich Village. Rainbow Media also operates Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation, its advertising sales company; Rainbow Network Communications, its full service network programming origination and distribution company; and 11 Penn TV, a company that manages Rainbow Media’s NYC studios and post-production facilities.