 | This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points.(September 2021) |
GeekChicDaily (founded in October, 2009) was a multi-platform publisher of pop culture based newsletters, founded by Peter Levin and Gareb Shamus and operated by CEO Peter Levin.
The now-defunct publisher had multiple newsletter publications including GeekChicDaily, GeekChic Los Angeles and GeekChicNYC. The targets for the newsletters were socially active consumers of genre fare. Rebranded as Nerdist News post merger with Nerdist Industries. [1]
CEO Peter Levin and Gareb Shamus launched GeekChicDaily with Peter Guber and other advisors in October, 2009. The company launched GeekChic Los Angeles, a regional version of the newsletter, in April 2011. [2] GeekChicNYC was later added in August 2011. [3] The offices are based out of Santa Monica, California.
Comedian Chris Hardwick's Nerdist Industries, entered into an equity partnership with GeekChicDaily in June 2011. [4] Nerdist Industries operates a podcast network, including the flagship Nerdist Podcast, Nerdist Blog and NerdMelt theater at Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles. [5] On the Nerdist Blog, Hardwick stated that "Peter Levin, founder of GeekChicDaily, will take over the business-y parts of the growing Nerdist tentacles." [6]
In February 2012, GeekChicDaily fully merged with Nerdist Industries and became Nerdist News. [7]
Wizard Entertainment Inc., formerly known as Wizard World, was a producer of multi-genre fan conventions across North America.
Paul Francis Tompkins is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He is known for his work in television on such programs as Mr. Show with Bob and David, Real Time with Bill Maher, and Best Week Ever, later renamed Best Week Ever with Paul F. Tompkins.
Christopher Ryan Hardwick is an American comedian, actor, television and podcast host, writer, and producer. He hosts Talking Dead, an hourlong aftershow on AMC affiliated with the network's zombie drama series The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead, as well as Talking with Chris Hardwick, a show in which Hardwick interviews prominent pop culture figures, and The Wall, a plinko-inspired gameshow on NBC, Hardwick created Nerdist Industries, operator of the Nerdist Podcast Network and home of his podcast The Nerdist Podcast, which later left the network and was renamed to ID10T with Chris Hardwick. His podcast has broadcast 1,000 episodes as of December 2019.
Janet Varney is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer. She is known for voicing the character of Korra in the Nickelodeon animated television series The Legend of Korra, co-starring as Sheriff Evie Barret in the television series Stan Against Evil, and a recurring role as Becca Barbara in You're the Worst.
Lydia Marie Hearst-Shaw is an American fashion model, actress, socialite, and lifestyle blogger. She is a great-granddaughter of newspaper publisher and politician William Randolph Hearst and a daughter of the author and actress Patty Hearst.
Legendary Entertainment, LLC is an American mass media and film production company based in Burbank, California, founded by Thomas Tull. The company has often collaborated with the major studios, including Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures and Paramount Pictures, as well as streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu. Since 2016, Legendary became a subsidiary of the Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group, with American equity firm Apollo buying a minority stake in 2022. In 2024, Legendary bought out Wanda's stake, making the former and Apollo equal partners.
Blaine Harold Capatch is an American stand-up comedian and writer. He is best known for hosting Season 2 of the Comedy Central game show Beat the Geeks.
Michele Morrow is an American television presenter, host, actress, writer, producer and video game personality. She is the co-creator, executive producer and lead actor of the single camera sitcom, Good Game, a YouTube Original with Dan Harmon's Starburns Industries and Game Grumps, and is the voice over artist for Alleria Windrunner in Hearthstone.
Jonah Ray Rodrigues is an American actor, comedian and writer from Los Angeles. He stars as Jonah Heston, one of the primary hosts of Mystery Science Theater 3000. He is a former host of The Nerdist Podcast and was the co-host of Comedy Central's The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail.
Kyle Christian Kinane is an American stand-up comedian and actor from Addison, Illinois.
ID10T with Chris Hardwick is a weekly podcast "about what it really means to be a nerd" hosted by Chris Hardwick. From its launch in 2010 until 2018, Jonah Ray and Matt Mira were usual co-hosts, after which Hardwick hosted alone. As of January 30, 2023, the most recent episode was published on 22 March 2022; no announcement has been made as to whether more will follow.
Matthew Paul Mira is an American podcast host, stand-up comedian and television writer based in Los Angeles. He was a co-host of The Nerdist Podcast from 2010 to 2018.
Nerdist News is a Nerdist-branded pop culture newsletter launched in February 2012. It was founded and operated by Nerdist Industries' CEO, Peter Levin, and its CCO, Chris Hardwick. It was hosted by Jessica Chobot.
Course of the Force, founded in 2012, is a partnership between Lucasfilm, Nerdist Industries, Machinima and Octagon. The partnership's primary event is an Olympic-style lightsaber relay along the California coast.
Chloe Frances Dykstra is an American cosplayer, model and actress. She produced and co-hosted the web series Just Cos for the Nerdist Industries' YouTube channel and is a cast member of the SYFY show Heroes of Cosplay. She is also a freelance game journalist for several websites. In June 2018, Dykstra received media attention following an article she wrote on Medium detailing her alleged abuse from a former partner, subsequently identified as Chris Hardwick.
Nerdist Industries, LLC is part of the digital division of Legendary Entertainment. Nerdist Industries was founded as a sole podcast created by Chris Hardwick but later spread to include a network of podcasts, a premium content YouTube channel, a news division, and a television version of the original podcast produced by and aired on BBC America.
Gareb Seth Shamus is an American publisher. He is the founder, former chairman and CEO of Wizard Entertainment. He is also a co-founder and CEO of ACE Comic Con.
Hal Lublin is an American actor, improv performer, and voice-over artist best known for his work on the Thrilling Adventure Hour and Welcome to Night Vale.
Janice Min is an American media executive. She started her career in journalism, working at People magazine and InStyle, and was editor-in-chief at Us Weekly from 2002 to 2009. As a co-owner, co-president, and CCO, she revamped entertainment industry publications The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard Magazine. In 2021, she became the chief executive officer, editor-in-chief, and co-owner of Ankler Media.
Talking with Chris Hardwick is a weekly talk show that features host Chris Hardwick interviewing a celebrity guest from the world of pop culture that premiered on April 9, 2017 on AMC.