AMC is looking to inject IFC with a bit of Funny Or Die spirit.
Deadline reports that AMC Networks has acquired a minority ownership stake in Funny Or Die. Funny Or Die will still be a company that operates independently and work with other places, but the comedy website will collaborate closely with AMC’s comedy offshoot IFC to generate content.
Funny Or Die co-founders Will Ferrell and Adam McKay said of IFC, “We met on Tinder, things moved fast, and now we’re getting married.”
IFC President Jennifer Caserta will be taking a seat on the Funny Or Die board following the stake acquisition.
“This was a company perfectly aligned with IFC both in the content that they create, of which we are big admirers, and in the culture that exists,” said Caserta.
There are no details yet as to what this new partnership may entail, though IFC and Funny Or Die have recently worked together to bring popular Funny Or Die short Brockmire to TV with Hank Azaria and Amanda Peet. Even though Funny Or Die is mainly popular from its online content, the company already has a strong television presence with truTV’s Billy On The Street, Comedy Central’s @midnight, and HBO’s Funny Or Die Presents.
“The ability to work together more closely [with FOD] and increase our commitment to delivering more content on all platforms makes for an extremely significant partnership for both companies, and for the millions of fans of our comedy,” said Caserta. “It also marks a small, but important, first step towards my ultimate goal of appearing on Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis.”
Funny Or Die recently cut 30% of its work force and shut down its Silicon Valley office, which raised questions about a possible sale, though Funny Or Die CEO Mike Farah quickly put that to rest after today’s news.
“Funny Or Die is not for sale. We have a great new partner in IFC… but are still an independent company,” said Farah.
IFC has some cult comedy hits in its family, though it could always use more content considering it is losing some of its major staples. David Cross’ The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret finished its third and probably final season this year, Comedy Bang Bang is currently finishing up its final season, and both Portlandia and Maron are set to end with their upcoming seasons.