LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Break Media, the single largest creator and distributor of male-targeted content online, today announced the debut of Speakeasy, a premium original web series of candid and humorous conversations with personalities from television, film and music. The program will be launched in partnership with Bacardi±. Hosted by popular comedian Paul F. Tompkins, the new talk show features celebrity guests sitting down for casual interviews over cocktails to give viewers a behind-the-scenes view of the real people behind some of their favorite movie and television characters, beginning with Ty Burrell, who plays Phil Dunphy in ABC’s Emmy Award-winning Modern Family.
Tompkins, well known for his role in HBO’s sketch comedy Mr. Show with Bob and David and his work on VH1’s Best Week Ever with Paul F. Tompkins, has established a considerable fan base with which he interacts regularly via social media. Each group of episodes will feature him holding court with guests at a rotating stable of LA destinations, beginning with the debut slate at Harvard and Stone. All episodes will take place over a custom cocktail built by in-house mixologists.
After Burrell, subsequent Speakeasy guests include Chris Hardwick, best known for hosting MTV’s Singled Out, G4’s Web Soup and the Nerdist podcast; Oscar Nuñez, of NBC’s The Office; and Sam Trammell of HBO’s vampire series, True Blood. Tompkins invites guests to open up and give fans a first-hand glimpse into their lives. For example, viewers learn that Nuñez is a licensed dental tech, and Hardwick has a collection of more than 100 framed insects.
“With Speakeasy, we set out to reconstruct the standard talk show format into something that highlights Hollywood’s trailblazers and captures the spirit of our audience—today’s man,” said Mitch Rotter, senior VP and GM of editorial properties for Break Media. “Speakeasy demonstrates our unique ability to produce top quality, episodic content that brings elite Hollywood talent to the digital medium.”
Recognizing the value in targeted, premium digital content, Bacardi+ signed on to be the title sponsor for the first round of Speakeasy episodes.
The show will air on Break Media’s owned and operated men’s lifestyle site Made Man and will be promoted across the Break Media Network as well as through the company’s YouTube presence. The first slate begins today with Burrell, and new episodes will be added every other week. Future episodes of Speakeasy will premiere every other Monday on Made Man and YouTube and future guests will include Zach Galifianakis, Nathan Fillion and Weird Al Yankovic.
About Break Media:
Break Media is the single largest creator and distributor of male-targeted content online touching an audience of more than 200 million through video and editorial content. The company's properties include the largest humor site online—Break.com—as well as Made Man, Game Front, Holy Taco, Screen Junkies, Cage Potato, All Left Turns, Chickipedia and Tu Vez. The Break Media Creative Lab is an in-house production studio creating original videos that range from award-winning branded entertainment to celebrity-driven web shorts to viral one-offs. The Break Media Network represents hundreds of publishers as one of the largest video advertising networks online. The company is organized to help brands navigate the video advertising landscape and its continued evolution. For more information, visit www.breakmedia.com.
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