AdAge Digital: Damon Wayans on Dealmaking

Damon Wayans certainly got the crowd’s attention on the “Talking Talent” panel. He recently launched WayoutTV.com, which he called “In Living Color 2.0″

Moderator John Battelle, Founder of Federated Media cut straight to the point with him, asking, “How are you getting paid?”

Damon said he goes after partnership deals with sites like Youtube and Myspace. “If I bring a brand to the table, then there’s a split. Sometimes it’s 55/45. Youtube is 60/40, but they guarantee impressions.”

“Basically they’re your distribution,” asked Battelle. “Yes,” Wayans replied, “Their front page has a lot of value. I want to bring them the brands, so I can see some money. We launched two weeks ago on Youtube, and we’re fluctuating between #35 and #45 of all their partners. Now, they’re calling me about ‘how do we get brands involved.’”

Wayans also drew comparisons to FunnyorDie.com, saying, “To me Will Ferrell proved that celebrity online is a big thing. Where they missed the mark is they didn’t incubate that as a TV show. That little girl [from the Landlord] is a star. That is the trick, how do you incubate, and then bring it to the network and say, ‘I don’t care what you think, 10 million people like this girl.’”

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