ROK’s Fun Little Movies Now Available on MSN Mobile Video

ROK Entertainment Group's made-for-mobile comedy channel, Fun Little Movies is featured as a new MSN Mobile video channel currently available to millions of viewers on mobile phones and PC’s.

MSN Mobile offers a broad lineup of premium, branded video programming to include Fun Little Movies for people to watch on PC’s, free of charge, with the service being entirely advertising supported. Advertising will be incorporated into the mobile stream service in the near future.

In addition to Fun Little Movies and ROK Comics, ROK develops and delivers a portfolio of revenue-generating mobile applications, content, services and technologies including streamed mobile TV, push email services and data compression technologies, to mobile operators and handset manufacturers alike.

Commenting on the initiative, Laurence Alexander, Group CEO of ROK said “To be working with MSN Mobile on this highly innovative initiative is fantastic and we are delighted to continue our global push of mobile entertainment services in this way”.

• Fun Little Movies are also available via newsjack.tv

ROK's Fun Little Movies and Monkey With A Shotgun Team-up for Worldwide Mobile Content Distribution

Fun Little Movies, a subsidiary of ROK Entertainment Group Inc. which owns ROK Comics, has announced that it has teamed up with award-winning comedy collective Monkey With A Shotgun to create an original comedy series for its global mobile distribution network.

The new series, titled The Learnin’ Place, will launch later this month with short video clips available to download and watch for free on iPhones and from Sprint and Verizon Wireless ‘Rhythm Video’ services across the US.

The Learnin’ Place is a satirical look at the proliferation of adult education classes, taken to the extreme and will be advertising-funded.

“We are thrilled to be working with creative talent like Monkey With A Shotgun,” said FLM's President and Chief Creative Officer Frank Chindamo. “Our global audience expects great content from FLM and this deal is part of our ongoing strategy to reach out and work in co-operation with the best creators in the business to deliver instantly engaging mobile content.”

FLM, based in California, specializes in the development, production and distribution of original video content for global distribution to mobile network operators. It has distribution deals with Sprint, Verizon and ATT as well as several handset makers and overseas partners, from China and Japan to Europe, Africa and South America.

Monkey With A Shotgun is a collective of writer/directors (Padraic Culham, Cher Lytle, Rod Ramsey, Debra Stolberg and Kip Stolberg) who teamed up in 2007 to prove that online comedy content could be hilarious and still maintain high quality production values. Their vision has paid off with millions of views of their comedy shorts since the collective began. Monkey With A Shotgun shorts, including the mega-hit Spanish for Your Nanny and the cult favorite Tales from the Laundry series, have been awarded featured status on the front pages of Yahoo, MySpace, Revver, SuperDeluxe and College Humor.

• More information can be found at www.monkeywithashotgun.com

ROK's Fun Little Movies wins MEFFY Award

ROK Entertainment subsidiary, Fun Little Movies won the Content Award for its Fun Little Movies Channel at the prestigious 2008 Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) in Cannes last week.

Fun Little Movies, based in California, specializes in the development, production and distribution of original video content for global distribution to mobile network operators and was the first US company to produce comedic films for mobile phones worldwide, when it launched as a channel on Sprint TV back in in 2004. Shows include the animated series such as Hoota N Snoz, Doodlez (above), Ms. Rabbble and more.

The Meffy awards, which received applications from 21 countries across four continents, are judged by an independent panel of national media and leading trade journalists and analysts. The Content Award shortlist, which received the third highest number of entries, included FLM, MTV Networks International, and Orange.

This isn't the first award for the company: FLM's "Fun Funny Phone Films" have won 22 awards to date, including CTIA's "World Smallest Film Festival" and two Golden Eagles at the American Cine' Awards, as well as The Content Award at Cannes in 2008, over MTV and Orange. FLM was also a finalist at the Cannes Film Festival for Best Short Film and the 2008 Mobile Content Award in London.

Commenting on FLM's success, Rimma Perelmuter, MEF Executive Director, said "With distribution from Brunei to Bethlehem to Burbank, Fun Little Movies' collection of funny, short, made-for-mobile comedy films has proven the universal appeal of laughter and snackable content."

"Our gratitude goes first to ROK Entertainment Group," said FLM's President and Chief Creative Officer Frank Chindamo, "who, since acquiring FLM in 2007, have supported and helped enhance our product offering, such as in partnership with ROK Motion.

"We would also like to thank the MEF, our own creative staff, and all the filmmakers with whom we have partnered or whose work we have licensed. In fact, look for our latest production, HighSpeed Dating, written and directed by Terry Rossio and Jocelyn Stamat. Terry wrote and/or produced the Shrek, National Treasure and Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and we have high hopes for the series release later this year."

"We're delighted to have won this award and congratulate the FLM team," added Laurence Alexander, Group CEO of ROK. "This award demonstrates the success of ROK's growth strategy as well as recognition that the creation and delivery of relevant, funny and fast-paced mobile content is great for mobile consumption. FLM faced tough competition and this award is proof of their position in the market for the production and delivery of mobile content."

Fun Little Movies have played on numerous US TV networks worldwide including HBO, Showtime, CBS, Playboy, MTV and Comedy Central. FLM's mobile comedy can be watched on Sprint, Verizon, Nokia, Motorola and ATT mobile phones, on Veoh.com, Revver.com, Vuze.com and many other top video sites, and on other mobile and Internet platforms. FLM also has distribution deals with several handset makers and overseas partners, from China and Japan to Europe, Africa and South America.

• Visit the Fun Little Movies website