That Guy with the Glasses

That Guy with the Glasses
Web address thatguywiththeglasses.com
Commercial? Yes
Type of site
 Web series (entertainment reviews and comedy)
Registration Optional
Owner Channel Awesome
Launched April 20, 2008
Current status Defunct; replaced by Channel Awesome's website.

That Guy with the Glasses was a website showcasing satirical reviews of movies, television shows, music, comic books and video games. It featured the work of Doug Walker, an Italian-born American actor, comedian, writer, and film critic also known as "That Guy with the Glasses". It also featured videos from other producers. The founder and administrator of the site was Michael Michaud, CEO of the parent company Channel Awesome. The site was launched April 2009 following video content being removed from YouTube due to complaints of copyright infringement. On December 3, 2014, it was announced that the site would shut down and rebrand itself as ChannelAwesome.com.[1]

Prior to closing in December 2014, the website was home to several series starring Doug Walker and others. The main Walker series are 5 Second Movies (hyper-edited feature films), Nostalgia Critic (comedic recaps of bad movies), Ask That Guy with the Glasses (a comedy question and answer show) and Bum Reviews (humorous plot summaries of theatrical releases). Other videos and written articles were hosted on the site, including some minor series and sketches starring Walker. Videos are now hosted by blip.tv after problems with earlier provider Revver.[2]

History

Doug Walker first appeared on the web on YouTube, posting several satirical video reviews of films and other media entertainment of the past and present. Initially, Walker viewed making the videos as a side hobby, rarely interacting with his fans and did not reveal his real name until a video responding to the Northern Illinois University shooting. The series had its content withdrawn from YouTube following complaints from 20th Century Fox and Lionsgate over alleged copyright infringement.[3] Walker attempted to re-upload his content by assigning each video a new, separate channel. However, due to continuing issues, Walker decided to leave YouTube altogether and create the website That Guy with the Glasses with webmaster Mike Michaud. Michaud had created the sites' parent company, Channel Awesome, after he and two others were laid off from Circuit City in 2007. Michaud has stated, "If we didn't lose our jobs, [the business] wouldn't have happened anytime soon."[4][5][6]

The site was re-launched in April 2008, and all of Walker's future videos would only be posted there. In the following months, the site rapidly added new contributors and series. In December 2008, Walker appeared in a commercial for the PBS documentary Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America, performing a series of brief imitations of famous comedians, from Charlie Chaplin to Stephen Colbert.[7] In 2009, Doug and Rob Walker and Brian Heinz produced an iRiff of The Lion King for RiffTrax. In March 2009, the iRiff was chosen as the winner of the website's RiffTrax Presents contest. The performers received $1,000 and, with instruction from Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett, recorded a commentary for the film Batman Forever.[8]

The Nostalgia Critic shows averaged 100,000 to 300,000 viewers per week while on the site, and as a whole it received 1 million page views per month.[4][5][9] This was expected to increase following content-provider Blip.tv's deal with YouTube in July 2009.[10] As of July 2009, the site earned more than $10,000 per month in advertising revenue and received more than $11,000 in online donations. In the third quarter of the 2009 fiscal year, Walker's shows earned $53,000, including $32,000 from the Nostalgia Critic alone. This revenue was generated by run of network from Puma and Starburst.[4][5][6][10] The success of his shows has allowed Walker to make a living performing and to quit his previous job as an illustrator, as well as pay the salary of co-founder/COO Mike Ellis.[4]

Channel Awesome has plans to build on the success of That Guy with the Glasses with a network of new websites including Bar Fiesta (covering Chicago entertainment and nightlife), Blistered Thumbs (a spin off incorporating the current site's video game content) and InkedReality (anime, manga, and comic books). Michaud told the Chicago Sun-Times that he has 300 new show ideas in the works, intends to discover more performers like Walker, and has plans to increase revenue through sponsorships and merchandising.[4][6][11]

On June 28, 2012, Channel Awesome content producers Doug Walker (The Nostalgia Critic), Lindsay Ellis (The Nostalgia Chick), Brad Jones (The Cinema Snob), and Todd Nathanson (Todd in the Shadows) signed exclusivity deals with Blip.tv,[12] the video website which has directly hosted most TGWTG and Channel Awesome programming since they left Revver in 2008.[13] The deal did not affect the appearance of the producers' videos on Channel Awesome's That Guy with the Glasses website, and would assist the increase of budget of the four series, as well as provide technical improvements.[12] An extension of this deal is a Blip-run YouTube channel called "League of Super Critics" which also uploads the unedited videos of all four producers, with the exception of the Cinema Snob, whose videos are edited down from the original version so that the only way one can see the full video is to go to Blip.[14]

Long-running series

Nostalgia Critic

Main article: Nostalgia Critic

The Nostalgia Critic is the most popular video series created by Walker, in which he plays the titular reviewer. The show is written by him and his brother Rob Walker. The series was initially launched on YouTube before moving to Blip TV. It is the flagship show for Channel Awesome, which has since built on it with additional content, additional websites and the spin-off show Nostalgia Chick.[15]

The Cinema Snob

Main article: The Cinema Snob

The Cinema Snob stars Brad Jones as a pretentious art critic who watches and comments on late 60's-early 90's obscure exploitation films and pornography, starting with "E.T. The Porno" (January 7, 2010). Like many other shows on "That Guy with the Glasses", Jones started his show on YouTube until he was confronted with a copyright claim from the filmmakers of Nail Gun Massacre.[16]

A film adaptation, The Cinema Snob Movie, directed by Ryan Mitchelle, was released on September 27, 2012.[17][18]

Awards

On January 6, 2011, Doug Walker was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year in Las Vegas at the 4th Annual Mashable Awards, Mashable Awards 2010.[19]

Closing

On December 3, 2014, the site announced it would be officially closing, with most of its content moved over to Channel Awesome.

References

  1. ↑ "ChannelAwesome.com". ChannelAwesome.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  2. ↑ Dreier, Troy. "Revver Non-Payments Have Video Makers Crying Foul". StreamingMedia. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
  3. ↑ Pickard, Anna (November 19, 2007). "The five-second movies and why you should watch them". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Spirrison, Brad (July 6, 2009). "Entertainers don't need TV break to hit it big". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Meyer, Ann (July 6, 2009). "Growing breed of accidental entrepreneur has recession to thank for business creation". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Daley, Jason (December 2009). "The Entrepreneur Economy". Entrepreneur. Please note that Mike Ellis and Mike Michaud have been mislabeled in the article.
  7. ↑ "Lost in DC: PBS Commercial Documentary". That Guy with the Glasses. February 18, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-27.
  8. ↑ "We have a Winner!". RiffTrax. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
  9. ↑ Graham, Jefferson (February 13, 2009). "Blip.tv gives videomakers a chance to be a star". USA Today (Gannett Company). Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Learmonth, Mke (July 28, 2009). "Blip.tv Brings Programs to YouTube, Ads to 'Channel Awesome'". Advertising Age. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  11. ↑ "Status of the Site 6/5/09". That Guy With The Glasses. June 5, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Blip launches production studio, seeks to expand". The Chicago Tribune. June 28, 2012. Retrieved 2012-07-29.
  13. ↑ "Revver be Dead". That Guy With The Glasses. 2008-11-14. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
  14. ↑ League of Super Critics. "League of Super Critics". YouTube. Retrieved 2015-02-23.
  15. ↑ Chicago, Illinois, United States Video / Web (2013-08-28). "Channel Awesomes New Shows and More!". Indiegogo. Retrieved 2015-02-23.
  16. ↑ "BtZ24: An interview with Brad Jones". Bthroughz.com. Retrieved 2012-04-12.
  17. ↑ "The Cinema Snob: Bad movies are beautiful to Brad Jones". Illinois Times. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
  18. ↑ "FROM OUR BLOGS: The Cinema Snob movie reviewed". News Herald. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
  19. ↑ "Mashable". Mashable. January 6, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-07.

External links