AFI BLOG: Media and Technology

Variety

HBO is getting into bed with Will Ferrell’s FunnyorDie.com Internet vid venture.
Pay cabler has bought a small equity stake in the 2-year-old comedy website and has commissioned 10 half-hours of programming from Funny or Die as part of the deal.

The wide-ranging pact also envisions the two sides partnering on a host of future projects, from the live comedy tours that Funny or Die is developing to a possible Funny or Die-branded programming block on one of HBO’s offshoot channels.

For now, the website is focused on recruiting a veteran producer to help Ferrell and his Funny or Die partners — Adam McKay, Chris Henchy and Judd Apatow — shepherd the initial order of 10 half-hours.

The specifics of those programs are still to be worked out. Some segs may be stand-alone entries, while some may be multiple installments revolving around the same concept or characters.

“We do know we want it to be in the same family of the comedy that we’re doing on the website — just a wide range of anything from a funny offbeat talkshow to a maybe more-traditional-type sitcom to a show with puppets,” Ferrell told Daily Variety. “We don’t want to limit ourselves in any way, which is what we love about the stuff that we do for Funny or Die. The spitballing on these ideas is going to be the fun part of all this.”