Mike Farah, President of Production, Funny or Die, interview @ Banff World Media Festival 2011

I had a great time and learned a lot from attending Mike Farah, President of Production Funny or Die, and his teammates director Jake Szymanski and producer Chris Bruss’ Banff World Media Festival 2011 panel discussion. Afterwards, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mike.

Here is my video interview with Mike.

The following are a few highlights of my video interview with Mike.

* 0:00 In terms of making money, I asked Mike about the “game show idea” with Billy Eichner which the panel talked about and showed a bit of footage. [Kempton’s note: Here are some clips of Billy Eichner doing other things on Funny or Die.]

* 1:04 Mike talks about the television and online opportunities of the Billy Eichner game show.

* 1:31 In the beginning of Funny or Die, how small or big was the creative team?

* 2:15 How many writers did Funny or Die start with in the beginning?

* 2:54 In terms of the branded entertainment (or shows that featured products prominently), how does Funny or Die make money? Revenue sharing? Or more like a traditional advertising campaign?

* 3:52 In terms of big stars (e.g. Oscar winning Marion Cotillard) that appear on the show, do they get “paid”? How do you guys get the stars?

* 4:40 So the stars see Funny or Die as something that gives them additional internet presence?

* 5:00 What is the next big thing for Funny or Die?

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June 19th update: Following is an official festival chat with Mike Farah,  director Jake Szymanski and producer Chris Bruss.

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For all other Banff 2011 related interviews, please see here.

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Aug 10th, 2011 update: Funny bit from Funny or Die with Paul Rudd and Harvey Weinstein.