Holiday Inn Express and Digitas recently announced the second season of "The Smart Show," a web series that "showcases the quirks, challenges and occasional charms" of business travel. Each episode will be distributed by our friends at blip.tv and a key component in the rollout of the new season is promotion across four web series including For Your Imagination's very own Break a Leg. The promotion will run in conjunction with the web series' much anticipated season finale of videos and concludes at the end of October.  “Holiday Inn Express and Digitas clearly understand this new medium and how to engage consumers," said Dina Kaplan, co-founder and COO of blip.tv.  Thanks to our good friends at Holiday Inn Express, Digitas and, of course, blip.tv for the support!

Over the last few years, the popular web sitcom Break a Leg has given viewers explosions, The Child Actors Guild, an adult-sized Gary Coleman, mimes, unrequited love, sword fights, adultery, ‘triples’ and the introduction of the word Swamblers (Swinger + Gambler) into the American lexicon.   On July 7th, it all comes to an end as Break a Leg unveils the first episode of their much anticipated season finale.

“We’re so thankful to our audience for supporting us as the show has grown,” said Break a Leg co-creator and star Yuri Baranovsky.  “But after all the plot twists and turns, puns and porn, it’s time for a nap.  This definitely isn’t goodbye but more like ‘gone fishing – be back soon.’”

"This is the biggest episode we've ever done. The finale will include everything from a peyote-induced drug trip, to an epic civil to the tragic death of a character. It will have claymation, ghosts, murderous children, and even a guest appearance from one of the members of the Partridge Family. I'll go as far as saying that this is the best produced and highest quality episode of any internet sitcom -- ever." says Yuri's brother and fellow co-creator, Vlad Baranovsky.

But fear not Break a Leg fans, the cast and crew are set to release a DVD, “tentatively and very cleverly titled Volume One” according to Baranovsky, in the coming months.  Additionally, this season of the show is being sponsored by Holiday Inn Express for a four month period, stretching the season into late October.

“These are great examples of how a strong web series can cashify their content,” said Paul Kontonis, the CEO of For Your Imagination, the executive producers of the series.  “Holiday Inn Express recognized how special this show is and we’re confident that the show’s incredibly loyal audience will love the DVD.”

Over the course of the series, the show has attracted nearly four million viewers and has regularly been featured on YouTube as well as on other popular distribution platforms like Blip, Revver and Dailymotion.  A critical darling, Break a Leg has received rave reviews from the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, The San Francisco Chronicle and The Huffington Post.  “If we could only have gotten into The New York Times and USA Today…” Baranovsky said.

For Your Imagination will continue to manage the development, marketing and advertising and sponsorship sales for Break Leg, starting with its inclusion in the company’s forthcoming comedy video network.  In addition to being the cornerstone property of the new network, the show’s episodes will continue to live on video sharing platforms including YouTube, Blip, DailyMotion, Revver, Metacafe and as a podcast on iTunes.

Problems in your personal life?  Frustrated at work?  Suspect that you might have a mutant power?  Fear not as all of these issues, and so many more, will be addressed by the latest web series executive produced by For Your Imagination, “Kyle Piccolo: Comic Shop Therapist.”  

The brainchild of writer/director Neil Turitz, For Your Imagination’s Chief Creative Officer Alec Pollak, actor/writer Eric Zuckerman (starring in the title role) and superstar artist John Cassaday (Astonishing X-Men with Joss Whedon), the show has generated a significant amount of buzz and has already attracted significant sponsors – Warner Bros. Pictures’ “The Dark Knight” and New York City based Midtown Comics, true believers in the series with each episode being shot at one of Midtown Comics’ two Manhattan locations.

"The world of the comic shop we know well and it's one that easily lends itself to our brand of humor,” says John Cassaday, co-producer of Kyle Piccolo. “We're having an embarrassing amount of fun."

The first five episodes of the show, which focuses on comic book store “therapist” Kyle Piccolo and his ability to find the answer to your personal problem in the pages of a comic book, are exclusively sponsored by Warner Bros. Pictures’ “The Dark Knight,” the next installment of the re-imagined Batman series.  Starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine and the late Heath Ledger, the film opens nationwide on July 18th.

“This is one of the best test cases for developing a unique web series,” said For Your Imagination’s CEO Paul Kontonis.  “From the initial concept to casting, from writing and development to major sponsorships, we’re thrilled to have been able to launch this new show.”

For Your Imagination will manage the development, production, marketing and advertising sales of the Kyle Piccolo web series and the www.kylepiccolo.com destination site. The series will be distributed on video sharing platforms including Blip, DailyMotion, MySpace, Revver, Viddler and as a podcast on iTunes.

TubeMogul, the leading web video distribution and analytics platform has released their list of the most viewed web video producers. Out of 30,000 producers, TubeMogul's list ranks the top 40 producers and online media company For Your Imagination places fourth in great company with producers and friends like Chris Pirillo (#2),  Tornante's Vuguru (#5), Viral Video Genius Nalts (#8), MyDamnChannel (#9),  CBS Interactive (#11),  HBO (#12), and the fantastic Hayden Black (#25). Thank you to our key distributional and promotional partners Blip.tv, DailyMotion, iTunes, Metacafe, Revver, Veoh, Viddler, Yahoo! Video and of course, YouTube. And finally thank you to our industry leading video networks, DadLabs and The Green House, and hit web series Break a Leg, xgobobeanx, IFC Lunchbox and the newest series, Kyle Piccolo. And most of all thank you to TubeMogul!

Following in the produce once and distribute everywhere model, For Your Imagination has just announced an online distribution and licensing revenue share partnership with the New York City based international distribution platform MediaMerx. The partnership will assist in the distribution and monetization of the original high-quality web video content executive produced and managed by For Your Imagination worldwide.

“For Your Imagination is creating the next wave of entertainment and MediaMerx is proud to be a part of the distribution process,” said Tejpaul Bhatia, the Chief Executive Officer of MediaMerx.  “We believe that For Your Imagination’s content has great potential for audiences in Latin America, Asia, Middle East, Africa and Europe.”

”MediaMerx offers an amazing conduit for us to distribute our video to consumers who wouldn’t normally be able to see it,” said For Your Imagination’s CEO, Paul Kontonis.  “That, coupled with their monetization plan, made this partnership an important part of our ongoing super syndication strategy.”

MediaMerx offers a unique opportunity to get online content into Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East through international web portals serving more than 105 million users eager to consume online video.  With shows like DadLabs – Taking Back Paternity, the online sitcom Break a Leg and the eco-friendly Green House already certified hits among U.S. audiences, MediaMerx will begin distributing For Your Imagination’s broad slate of high-quality video content immediately.