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Fun Little Movies

Fun Little Movies (FLM) is a production and distribution company of short films intended for the internet and mobile devices.[1] [2] It was founded in 1988 by Frank Chindamo,[3] currently an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California.[4][5][6] Based in Burbank, California,[2] Fun Little Movies was the first U.S. company to produce comedic films for mobile phones worldwide.[3][7][8][9][10] By the time the company was in development of Psyche 101 in 2004, they had already begun producing shorts promoting internet dating services.[1] In 2007, ROK Entertainment bought controlling interest in FLM, although in 2008 ROK defaulted on their agreement.

History

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Fun Little Movies was founded as a short-film company in 1988 and developed interstitial programming for such networks as ShowTime, Comedy Central, PBS, CBS, and Playboy TV.[3]

In 2004, Fun Little Movies became the first U.S. company to produce comedic films for mobile phones worldwide when Mobile Media Labs announced they were to begin distribution of made-for-mobile and made-for-Internet "HowTo" and "Health" related reference videos over a new movie channel to be launched on FLM.[7][8][9][10][11]

In 2005 Sprint launched Sprint TV as two new independent mobile-TV content providers for the carrier's premier multimedia service offerings by Fun Little Movies.[12][13][14][15][16] In June 2005, Smartvideo added FLM and E! Entertainment to its mobile video channel line-up.[17][18][19] And in December 2005, FLM concluded a deal with the ZVUE family of portable media players to make over 1,000 short films available for download to ZVUE owners.[20]

At the 2006 NATPE convention Fun Little Movies co-sponsored the first annual MoTV Awards and presented the "Fun Little Movies Award for Best Comedy".[21] The winner was Miami 85 by Santa Fe Community College professor Marc Shahboz.[22]

In 2007 HandHeld Entertainment expanded an existing agreement with Fun Little Movies in order to stream FLM's short comedy videos on their network of Web sites, including ZVUE.com, Putfile.com, YourDailyMedia.com, UnOriginal.co.uk, FunMansion.com and Dorks.com.[23]

In 2008, ROK Entertainment, a United Kingdom-based mobile TV provider, bought a majority (51 percent) stake of Fun Little Movies for a total of $1.375 million.[24][25] Also in 2008 FLM debuted the Toyota series The Pool, a humorous series about a group of carpoolers, who happen to drive a Toyota Camry.[26][27]

Recognition

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Fun Little Movies has won more than 20 awards, including a finalist's place for Best Live Action Short Film at the Cannes Film Festival.[4][5][6][28] These include the 2006 and 2007 Mobile Entertainment Magazine Awards for Best Video, top prize at the 2003 CTIA's "World Smallest Film Festival",[3][8] and two Golden Eagles at the American Cine Awards.[4]

At the MoFilm competition at the February 2009 GSMA Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, Spain, out of 250 entries from more than 100 countries,[29] Fun Little Movies's production Turbo Dates: English as a Second Language won both Best Comedy and the Grand Prix.[6][29][30]

Further reading

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  • Mashable[31] Are You Up for a Half-Hour TV Show About Mobile Apps?
  • Chicago Tribune, "Still in its infancy, cell phone cinema preps for a close-up"[9]
  • USA Today, "When the movie theater fits in your hand"[32]
  • Reuters, "Spacey and Will.i.am back mobile content"[33]
  • Los Angeles Times, "'I Can't Talk, I'm Watching My Cellphone'"[34]
  • Los Angeles Times, "'THE WEB, ETC.; WEB SCOUT; Web-only series? Yep. Audience? '"[35]
  • Los Angeles Times, "'Television; CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; Airing soon on a gas pump near you; TV, mutating and decentralized, can be whatever and wherever we want it to be. '"[36]
  • Los Angeles Times, "'New media will get Emmy of their own; Daytime awards adds a category for podcasts, video blogs, even original content created for cellphones. '"[37]
  • Nuovu (French), "Hollywood s'empare du mobile (Hollywood takes mobile)"[38]

References

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  1. ^ a b Dano, Mike (May 10, 2004). "Video phone could become third screen". RCR Wireless News. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  2. ^ a b Gold, Matea (May 7, 2005). "'I Can't Talk, I'm Watching My Cellphone'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  3. ^ a b c d Howard, Courtney E. (October 1, 2003). "Made for mobile: the World's Smallest Film Festival merges state-of-the-art technology, creative video and animation, and the mobile medium". Computer Graphics World. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  4. ^ a b c Piane, Renee. "Fun Little Movies on cell phones". womensradio.com. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  5. ^ a b "Digital Hollywood - Frank Chindamo". Digital Hollywood. October 29, 2008. Archived from the original on February 11, 2010. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  6. ^ a b c Duryee, Tricia (February 21, 2009). "Kevin Spacey And MOFILM Film Festival Highlight Opportunities And Challenges In Mobile Film". Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  7. ^ a b "Speaker Frank Chindamo". Next Stage. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  8. ^ a b c "ROK Company profile - Products & Services - Fun Little Movies". tcstocks.com. Archived from the original on 2010-11-19. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  9. ^ a b c Gwinn, Eric (September 23, 2004). "Still in its infancy, cell phone cinema preps for a close-up". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  10. ^ a b Browne, Mike (June 22, 2005). "DinkyTV for the Palm". Consumer Electronics. Archived from the original on October 7, 2011. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  11. ^ "How To Web TV Inc. Reports Mobile Media Labs And HowToWebTV Sign A Distribution Deal". Business Wire. December 15, 2004. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  12. ^ "Mobile Content Initiatives Sponsored by MEF". National Association of Broadcasters. April 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  13. ^ "Sprint adds TV channels to wireless phones". Kansas City Business Journal. January 6, 2005. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  14. ^ Baig, Edward C. (January 12, 2005). "VCast viewing eases airport wait for late flight". USA Today. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  15. ^ Howe, Peter J. (January 23, 2005). "Tune in, walk on". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  16. ^ "US - Sprint PCS offers CellToons, Fun Little Movies". Financial Times. January 7, 2005. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  17. ^ Mullen, Georgia (September 1, 2005). "Today's Smartphones: Better than TV?". Telecommunications Magazine. Retrieved 2009-06-09.[permanent dead link‍]
  18. ^ "SmartVideo to offer Fun Little Movies". RCR Wireless News. May 23, 2005. Retrieved 2009-06-09.[dead link‍]
  19. ^ "SmartVideo adds Fun Little Movies". The Online Reporter. June 4, 2005. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  20. ^ Marchetti, Nino (December 1, 2005). "Handheld Entertainment Adds Comedies". Digital Trends. Retrieved 2009-06-09.[permanent dead link‍]
  21. ^ Guider, Elizabeth (January 20, 2006). "Confab set to mobilize on tech issues". Daily Variety. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  22. ^ "SFCC professor's cell phone flick turning heads". The Gainesville Sun. February 7, 2006. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  23. ^ "Handheld Entertainment Expands Pact with Fun Little Movies". M2 Communications Ltd. April 17, 2007. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  24. ^ "ROK Acquires Fun Little Movies". M2 Communications Ltd. November 28, 2007. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  25. ^ "ROK Company profile - Market". tcstocks.com. Archived from the original on 2010-11-19. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  26. ^ Newcomb, Kevin (July 28, 2006). "Toyota Touts Mobile Series With TV Ads". clickz.com. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  27. ^ McClellan, Steve (February 5, 2007). "Toyota Relies On Mobile, Eschews TV For FJ Push". adweek.com. Adweek. Retrieved 2009-06-09. [dead link‍]
  28. ^ Marek, Sue (February 1, 2005). "Filmmaker focuses on mobile audience". Wireless Week. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  29. ^ a b "Putting movies on mobiles". BBC News. February 27, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  30. ^ Green, Tim (February 19, 2009). "Fun Little Movies wins Mofilm grand prix". Mobile Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 24, 2009. Retrieved June 9, 2009.
  31. ^ "Are You up for a Half-Hour TV Show About Mobile Apps?". 4 January 2011.
  32. ^ Goodale, Gloria (December 1, 2006). "When the movie theater fits in your hand". USA Today. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  33. ^ Holton, Kate (February 19, 2009). "Spacey and Will.i.am back mobile content". Reuters. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  34. ^ Gold, Matea (May 7, 2005). "Spacey and Will.i.am back mobile content". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-11-09.
  35. ^ Sarno, David (Nov 11, 2007). "THE WEB, ETC.; WEB SCOUT; Web-only series? Yep. Audience?". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved 2009-11-09.
  36. ^ Brownfield, Paul (Apr 30, 2006). "Television; CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; Airing soon on a gas pump near you; TV, mutating and decentralized, can be whatever and wherever we want it to be". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved 2009-11-09.
  37. ^ Gold, Matea (Dec 19, 2005). "New media will get Emmy of their own; Daytime awards adds a category for podcasts, video blogs, even original content created for cellphones". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved 2009-11-09.
  38. ^ Burkhalter, Laurent (September 10, 2005). "Hollywood s'empare du mobile" (in French). Retrieved 2009-06-09. Google Translation: "Hollywood takes mobile"
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