Short circuit

Illustration by Charlene Potts

“Will Ferrell having a two-year-old scream at him is viral for a lot of reasons,” says Dan Pasternack, vice president of content at the website Super Deluxe. He’s referring, of course, to “The Landlord,” the short film that launched the site Funny or Die, quickly became the third-most-watched online video ever, and is almost solely responsible for the number of celebrities and professional comics you’ll see premiering shorts and series on comedy websites this fall. 

“It was the first breakout breakout comedy film online,” explains Super D content producer Daniel Weidenfeld. In other words, it wasn’t shot on a home video and it didn’t star an excited dog or adorable rabbit. “It opened the floodgates, which was good for everybody. When we launched, we were contacting everybody; now managers and agents are coming to us.”

“We’ve gotten calls from so many people,” says Chris Henchy, who cofounded Funny or Die with Ferrell and writer-director Adam McKay. “[Celebrities] really recognize the freedom in it. It’s a chance for them to get away from the character they regularly do—and get 1, 2, 3 million hits doing it.”

This fall, those numbers will only rise: At Funny or Die alone, viewers will see John C. Reilly play a fast-food restaurateur, watch the “lost” Eva Longoria sex tape and check out Bill Murray at bedtime. Meanwhile, Super Deluxe, backed by Turner Broadcasting, will feature shorts with stand-ups Patton Oswalt and David Cross, Chris Elliott and the Fugees’ Pras Michel. The latter plays an ex-boyfriend of local scenester Chelsea Peretti in her new series about failed relationships. Another of her exes? Jonathan Winters. “If YouTube is an open-mike night, we want to be the main stage,” says Pasternack.

While some stars only have time for cameos—the Longoria short wrapped in about 45 minutes—others seek Web outlets for the creative control it affords (“Sally Jessy Raphael said she was a good mime, so Adam told us to write her some mime jokes,” recalls Funny or Die production manager Amy Rhodes).

New York’s My Damn Channel takes the artist-in-charge notion to the extreme. “If you put the kings in charge of the kingdom, maybe they’ll be better than the suits,” says president and CEO Rob Barnett, who worked in the TV industry for years before launching his site. “That’s where the [site’s] name came from.”

Barnett follows a laissez-faire policy when it comes to vids: He asks actors and comedians to commit to making a number of shorts for their own channels, and then he gets out of their way. “Rob’s policy is no notes,” says actor-director David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer, The Ten), who hopped on board at the first meeting. “He either wants you or he doesn’t.” Other Damners include Simpsons vox Harry Shearer and MTV darling Andy Milonakis.

In addition to the creative leeway, Pasternack believes the new shorts sites appeal to marquee names because of the instant gratification and the intimate audience connection. “It’s ‘think it, shoot it, post it, see it,’” he says. “There hasn’t been that kind of immediacy anywhere else but in stand-up. That interactivity is really addictive.”

Big corporations agree: Sony’s Crackle will soon announce a sketch comedy channel with content from Airplane! codirector Jerry Zucker. Will the market reach a saturation point?  “There used to be 13 TV channels. And then there were 500,” says Barnett. Pasternack agrees: “The only word for where it’s all going is more.”