Men's Site Breaks Out Original Creative

Break Media set up a production group, “Creative Lab,” to develop original content for advertisers on its video site, Break.com. The film team was built as a result of demand by advertisers who sought custom video shorts for the site.

The team, a total of 11 people including eight full-time production employees and three managers, work at separate offices from Break.com. The company invested resources in people, but also in a studio and equipment.

“In a lot of ways you can think about it as an old-style studio system,” Keith Richman, CEO of Break Media told ClickZ News on Monday. The group will hash out ideas, scripts, and film episodes. The staff is not new to the arrangement either. “These guys are people who have already written, produced, and directed stuff, and [some] have scripts in process at other studios.”

Banner ads and other ad units have always been available on Break.com. However advertisers were asking the sales team for more. “Over the course of the last six months we’ve seen a dramatic increase in brands coming to us and wanting to understand building an audience,” said Richman.

The first series from the new group will appear on Break.com in mid-February on behalf of an advertiser. The advertiser was not yet named.

Break Media positions itself as a destination for men age 18 to 34. Its anchor is Break.com, which hosts videos ranging from user-generated content to content provided through partnerships from Hulu, Sony Pictures, Video Jug, NBA, Revision 3, FEARnet, and others. Break also has editorial properties such as Cage Potato, Chickipedia, Holy Taco, Wall Street Fighter, and Screen Junkies. In addition, it runs a publisher network of sites.

Videos created for brands through the Creative Lab will be distributed not only on Break.com, but Break Media’s other properties and its publisher network.