Latest in Defy Media

Clevver has found a new home for its stable of YouTube channels with female appeal after former parent Defy Media ceased operations last fall. Hearst Magazines has acquired the portfolio, which reaches an audience of 15 million subscribers. Like all traditional magazine publishers facing declines in the print…

UPDATE: The story is updated with a statement from the company Defy Media, a company known for such millennial-focused digital brands as SMOSH, Break and Clevver, said it ceased operations today and is laying off all of its employees. The company issued a statement blaming market conditions for getting in the way of…

UPDATED with Defy Media statement: Andy Signore, the Emmy-nominated creator of popular web series Honest Trailers, is suing the company that fired him last year over allegations of sexual harassment. The wide-ranging suit filed today in Los Angeles Superior Court (read it here) alleges breach of contract, multiple…

EXCLUSIVE: Defy Media, owner of digital brands such as Smosh, AWEme, Clevver and ScreenJunkies, and GRB Entertainment, a production outfit whose most notable credit is A&E’s long-running Intervention, have set a programming partnership. The team-up is GRB's first development and distribution deal with a digital studio…

Honest Trailers creator Andy Signore has been fired after accusations of sexual harassment and abuse went public. Defy Media, which owns the Screen Junkies YouTube channel where Honest Trailers airs, tweeted the announcement of Signore’s termination. The digital media company said that his termination was effective…

An iconic, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter who has sold over 75 million records and recorded eight top 10 albums, it would seem that there is little Michael Bolton hasn’t done. Reaching the zenith of the music industry, recording alongside the likes of Celine Dion, opera powerhouse Luciano Pavarotti and mentor…

Defy Media and 3 Ball Entertainment (Bar Rescue, Extreme Weight Loss) are teaming to develop and produce original programming to be distributed on Defy's YouTube channels. Their first project, How It’s Destroyed, an original concept developed by 3 Ball, will air later year on Defy’s AWEme channel. Original series How I…

Troma has nabbed rights to Theatre Of The Deranged II and will release the film on Blu-ray and VOD on October 13. No DVD release is planned. The second installment of the anthology series is, as with the first, executive produced by James Cullen Bressack and Jarret Cohen at Psykik Junky Pictures. The movie showcases…

Digital content company Defy Media has partnered with Emmy Award winning game show producer/creator Andrew Golder for a development deal to create a slate of game show formats aimed at millennials. The partners will share executive production and development on the programs, which will distributed on Defy’s network of…

SMOSH: The Movie, the latest low-budget film stuffed with YouTube stars and set for a multi-platform distribution blitz, will premiere July 23 in Anaheim, alongside the massive VidCon fan convention. The film is co-produced and financed by Defy Media and AwesomenessTV, which is owned by DreamWorks Animation and…

Films such as Winter’s Bone, Margin Call and Swimming with Sharks will stream for free on Break.com’s apps on “over-the-top” online video platforms on the Internet, iOS, Android and Roku devices, the company said. “Movies on Demand” from Break – which is otherwise a humor site owned by Defy Media and, with a minority…

Add Viacom to the companies cozying up to online video networks. The entertainment company swapped its gaming focused digital properties — casual game developers Addicting Games and Shockwave, and video unit GameTrailers  — for an unspecified minority stake in Defy Media. It picks up a seat on Defy’s 10-member…