VidAngel expands business into standup comedy with Provo shows
Patrons gather before the Dry Bar Comedy show in Provo on Friday, Jan. 27, 2017.
Alex Velluto performs during Dry Bar Comedy in Provo on Friday Jan. 27, 2017.
Alex Velluto performs for Dry Bar Comedy in Provo on Friday, Jan. 27, 2017.
It’s a bit odd for a company specializing in filtering movies to host a comedy club twice a week, yet that’s exactly VidAngel’s latest venture.
VidAngel is a filtering service, similar to ClearPlay, which allows VidAngel customers to rent movies and filter content, such as vulgarity, nudity and violence.
But it’s always been the vision of VidAngel to branch into original content. And so began Dry Bar Comedy. Dry Bar Comedy is a family-friendly comedy show that happens every Friday and Saturday night at VidAngel headquarters in downtown Provo, where the Madison Nightclub once was.
“It is new territory for VidAngel,” said Neal Harmon, CEO of VidAngel. “But this is something VidAngel has wanted to do for a long time.”
Harmon said the Dry Bar Comedy was planned for much later in 2017, but the recent civil suit brought against VidAngel from major Hollywood studios prompted Harmon and his team to push the show up a little earlier in the year.
Over the last few months, VidAngel has suffered several legal blows, being denied appeals and emergency stays to an injunction demanding VidAngel remove all movies from its service.
But with that, Harmon said Dry Bar Comedy couldn’t come soon enough.
“As we fight this battle for the rights in our own homes, laughter is the best medicine,” he said. “Standup comedy is awesome, but standup comedy on major platforms like Netflix or HBO is not family friendly content.”
Each Dry Bar Comedy show is filmed to later be published on VidAngel. There, parents and VidAngel users will be able to use the same filters they used on movies on Dry Bar Comedy showings.
“They’re probably filtering me for saying ‘butt’ right now,” joked Steve Soelberg, MC for one of Friday night’s shows.
The Dry Bar Comedy is the first step in VidAngel’s recent business goal of original content creation. As the civil litigation has nearly shut down VidAngel, its creators are doing as much as possible to keep the filtering service around, including creating several original movies, which will be available soon.
Yet, Harmon said the top priority is strengthening or even amending the Family Movie Act of 2005, which is a primary defense of VidAngel’s legal rights.
“The Family Movie Act makes it clear enough,” he said. “We’ve had multiple members of Congress contact us and ask, ‘How do we get it fixed?'”
In his Dec. 12 order granting the preliminary injunction against VidAngel, U.S. District Court Judge Andre Birotte Jr. wrote that the Family Movie Act clearly requires that filtered content comes from an “authorized copy.” VidAngel’s digital streams to customers aren’t authorized copies and the act doesn’t provide a defense for other copyright violations, he wrote.
Harmon urged VidAngel customers and supports to write or email their congressmen and women to encourage more attention to the Family Movie Act.
Harmon said the legal battle with Hollywood continues and they hope to have their services back online for customers soon.
If VidAngel is permitted to resume filtering of Hollywood movies, Harmon said Dry Bar Comedy is hear to stay to provide a fun, family activity for the weekends.
“It’s not an interim thing, this is a long-term strategy for VidAngel to get into content,” Harmon said. “It will build in parallel with VidAngel’s priority of getting filtering into people’s homes.”
VidAngel expands business into standup comedy with Provo shows
Patrons gather before the Dry Bar Comedy show in Provo on Friday.
Alex Velluto performs during Dry Bar Comedy in Provo on Friday Jan. 27, 2017.
Alex Velluto performs for Dry Bar Comedy in Provo on Friday, Jan. 27, 2017.
It’s a bit odd for a company specializing in filtering movies to host a comedy club twice a week, yet that’s exactly VidAngel’s latest venture.
VidAngel is a filtering service, similar to ClearPlay, which allows VidAngel customers to rent movies and filter content, such as vulgarity, nudity and violence.
But it’s always been the vision of VidAngel to branch into original content. And so began Dry Bar Comedy. Dry Bar Comedy is a family-friendly comedy show that happens every Friday and Saturday night at VidAngel headquarters in downtown Provo, where the Madison Nightclub once was.
“It is new territory for VidAngel,” said Neal Harmon, CEO of VidAngel. “But this is something VidAngel has wanted to do for a long time.”
Harmon said the Dry Bar Comedy was planned for much later in 2017, but the recent civil suit brought against VidAngel from major Hollywood studios prompted Harmon and his team to push the show up a little earlier in the year.
Over the last few months, VidAngel has suffered several legal blows, being denied appeals and emergency stays to an injunction demanding VidAngel remove all movies from its service.
But with that, Harmon said Dry Bar Comedy couldn’t come soon enough.
“As we fight this battle for the rights in our own homes, laughter is the best medicine,” he said. “Standup comedy is awesome, but standup comedy on major platforms like Netflix or HBO is not family friendly content.”
Each Dry Bar Comedy show is filmed to later be published on VidAngel. There, parents and VidAngel users will be able to use the same filters they used on movies on Dry Bar Comedy showings.
“They’re probably filtering me for saying ‘butt’ right now,” joked Steve Soelberg, emcee for one of Friday night’s shows.
The Dry Bar Comedy is the first step in VidAngel’s recent business goal of original content creation. As the civil litigation has nearly shut down VidAngel, its creators are doing as much as possible to keep the filtering service around, including creating several original movies, which will be available soon.
Yet, Harmon said the top priority is strengthening or even amending the Family Movie Act of 2005, which is a primary defense of VidAngel’s legal rights.
“The Family Movie Act makes it clear enough,” he said. “We’ve had multiple members of Congress contact us and ask, ‘How do we get it fixed?'”
In his Dec. 12 order granting the preliminary injunction against VidAngel, U.S. District Court Judge Andre Birotte Jr. wrote that the Family Movie Act clearly requires that filtered content comes from an “authorized copy.” VidAngel’s digital streams to customers aren’t authorized copies and the act doesn’t provide a defense for other copyright violations, he wrote.
Harmon urged VidAngel customers and supports to write or email their congressmen and women to encourage more attention to the Family Movie Act.
Harmon said the legal battle with Hollywood continues and they hope to have their services back online for customers soon.
If VidAngel is permitted to resume filtering of Hollywood movies, Harmon said Dry Bar Comedy is hear to stay to provide a fun, family activity for the weekends.
“It’s not an interim thing, this is a long-term strategy for VidAngel to get into content,” Harmon said. “It will build in parallel with VidAngel’s priority of getting filtering into people’s homes.”