paidContent - CollegeHumor's New Production Spinoff: Notional; Van Veen's Heading It
This story was written by Rafat Ali.
Earlier today we reported on a new spinoff multimedia production company out of IAC-owned CollegeHumor. Now we have more details on it: the new company is called Notional, and is headed by Ricky Van Veen, the co-founder of CH. He will be the CEO of Notional, and will transition out of his current position at CH by the end of this year. That means, he has plenty of time to buy a decent suit now, to get along with other TV suits…
Along with him, there are six others on the production team, including TV vet Dave Noll, who will be the President of Television at Notional. Noll was the president of the NYC video production firm CityLights prior to this, and is a two-time Emmy winner.
I spoke to Van Veen earlier and he mentioned he had been doing CH for 10 years, and oversaw some of the breakout video hits over the years.
He wants to take the lessons of developing hit Internet video and try and bring that to TV. That includes its knack for the zeitgeist, cost efficient production capabilities and online expertise. The focus will be unscripted programming, broader than comedy aimed at young males that they have been known for, and will include all genres. The first production effort should come to light by fall this year, Van Veen said. The company will be funded out of IAC’s huge cash chest ($2 billion) that it is sitting on.
The new team has just started working on it, and will move into a newer office (along with other ConnectedVentures companies) soon. Van Veens fellow CH co-founder Josh Abramson will remain at CollegeHumor and oversee its operations, as well as those of other CollegeHumor Media sites. Van Veen will report directly to Barry Diller, which shows you they are serious about this venture. It will be tough in a highly competitive field, and jumping from short form vid clips to broader world of TV is fraught with lots of uncertainties. But if anything they have Diller’s vast TV/movie expertise behind them. Some details in release.
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By Rafat Ali