Republicrats Receives Half-Million 'Votes' During First Week; MSN, Generate Declare Victory
Generate-produced satire exceeds first week expectations with over 500,000 views becoming one of MSN's most successful original series to date
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 5 -- Generate (www.generatela.com), the independent production and management studio that develops media properties across multiple platforms, today announced week one episodes of its scripted political satire Republicrats received over 500,000 views between August 19th and August 26th, immediately making it one of MSN's most successful original Web series to date.
"Republicrats has roared out of the gate, making it one of our most successful original series to date," said Omer Khan, Director, MSN Video. "This is a great example of high quality online programming; it's engaging, topical and funny. We continue to see strong traffic and expect a steady audience growth into November in the run up to the election. Partnering with innovative production companies like Generate is really important to us. It allows us to deliver the kind of online original entertainment consumers demand."
According to numbers released this week by MSN, during week one, viewers spent an average of six minutes on Republicrats' interactive site at http://republicrats.msn.com/, reading character blogs, joining discussions and uploading their own videos. User-submitted videos received over 15,000 views. Week one episodes fared similarly-well on YouTube, MySpace and Windows Live Spaces, where they garnered approximately 200,000 views. The series' 24 Webisodes will run twice weekly through Election Day.
Created by and starring comedian Sean Masterson, whose Republicrat alter-ego The Hollywood Reporter called "a deadpan riot, with just the square jaw, perfect coif and glazed glibness of a prototypical politician," Republicrats follows Masterson as a former weather man who forms the "Republicrat" party and runs as the party's presidential candidate. As the third donkey-elephant in the race, Masterson's approach is to allow the American people to make every major decision in his campaign, from selecting a VP running mate to a First Lady. Viewers have the opportunity to share their opinions on Masterson's various platforms and pitch themselves to be a part of his presidential Cabinet by uploading videos directly to the Republicrats robust, interactive destination site.
"We're thrilled by the positive audience response to Republicrats," said Jordan Levin, CEO of Generate, which developed and produces the series for MSN. "By taking on the topical twists and turns of a Presidential race now going full-throttle we look forward to bringing even more politically-astute and Web-savvy viewers into the Republicrat party. Generate is focused on developing content that engages young, intelligent and connected viewers like those who have already voiced their support for Republicrats."
Republicrats is the first release on Generate's fall 2008 slate that also includes Somebodies, BET's first original scripted series, premiering at 10:30 p.m. ET on Sept. 9, the second season of dark Web comedy Pink: The Series, premiering Sept. 16, and Chocolate News, premiering in October on Comedy Central.
About Generate
Launched in 2006 by leading entertainment executives with diverse experience in television, film, digital and talent management, Generate is the first independent production and management studio established to develop franchise entertainment properties for the transmedia generation. Generate develops professionally produced, premium content that can migrate from broadband to television, film, publishing and beyond, and creates innovative concepts to integrate into the advertising, technology and entertainment communities. Generate's talent management arm boasts a large concentration of online talent including actors, comedians, writers, producers and directors. Headquartered in Los Angeles and New York, Generate was recently named to the 2008 AlwaysOn OnHollywood 100 as a top private company in digital entertainment and media. The company completed a $6 million Series A round backed by Velocity Interactive Group and MK Capital in March 2008. For more information on Generate visit www.generatela.com.
