Company type | Private |
---|---|
Founded | 2000 |
Founders | |
Defunct | 2012 |
Fate | Closed |
Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, US |
Products |
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2020) |
Katalyst Network was a company founded by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, based in Los Angeles, California. It was the company behind television series such as Beauty and the Geek and Punk'd .
The company was launched in 2000 by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg to develop television and film properties. In 2005, a social media division was added. The mission is to match storytelling with competitive distribution and technology platforms for some of the biggest brands in the world.
The company also founded a YouTube channel, Thrash Lab, to show unscripted content. The channel was partially funded by YouTube in 2012. [1] [2]
The company is now permanently closed. [3]
Christopher Ashton Kutcher is an American actor, producer and entrepreneur. Kutcher began his acting career portraying Michael Kelso in the Fox sitcom That '70s Show (1998–2006). He made his film debut in the romantic comedy Coming Soon (1999), followed by the comedy film Dude, Where's My Car? (2000), which was a box office success. In 2003, Kutcher starred in the romantic comedies Just Married and My Boss's Daughter. That year, he created and produced the television series Punk'd, also serving as host for the first eight of its ten seasons. Kutcher starred in the science fiction film The Butterfly Effect (2004) and had a voice role in Open Season (2006).
Punk'd is an American hidden camera–practical joke reality television series that first aired on MTV in 2003. It was created by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, with Kutcher serving as producer and host. It bears a resemblance to both the classic hidden camera show Candid Camera and to TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes, which also featured pranks on celebrities. Being "punk'd" referred to being the victim of such a prank. New episodes hosted by King Bach and DeStorm Power aired on BET.
Frederick G. Seibert is an American television producer and media proprietor. He was the first employee and creative director of MTV in 1980, and later founded Frederator Networks in 1997, as well as its spin-off companies Frederator Studios, Channel Frederator Network, and Cartoon Hangover. Having held numerous executive positions for Viacom Media Networks, he was the final president of animation studio Hanna-Barbera from 1992 to 1996. He's since co-founded Next New Networks, Bolder Media, and the production company FredFilms by 2020.
Guy Harley Oseary is an Israeli-American talent manager and writer. His clients include Madonna, Amy Schumer and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, whom he has managed since 2021.
Jason Goldberg is an American film and television producer. Goldberg is the producer of the films Guess Who and The Butterfly Effect and executive producer of the shows Beauty and the Geek and Punk'd. He often works with Ashton Kutcher.
Orny Adams is an American actor, comedy writer and stand-up comic. He is best known for his role as Coach Bobby Finstock for the MTV series Teen Wolf.
Machinima, Inc. was an American multiplatform online entertainment network owned by WarnerMedia. The company was founded in January 2000 by Hugh Hancock and was headquartered in Los Angeles, California.
The Real Wedding Crashers was an American prank/hidden camera series on NBC, inspired by the 2005 comedy film Wedding Crashers, that premiered on April 23, 2007. Ashton Kutcher, who helped create the concept, has explored a similar idea in Punk'd.
Miss Guided is an American sitcom that ran from March 18, 2008, to April 3, 2008, as a mid-season replacement on ABC. The series follows the life of Becky Freeley, a guidance counselor at a high school that she attended when she was a teenager. The pilot was directed by Todd Holland. The series was not renewed for a second season.
The YouTube Next Lab and Audience Development Group, founded as Next New Networks, is a company based in New York City. Next New was launched in March 2007 by founders Fred Seibert & Emil Rensing, and co-founders Herb Scannell, Timothy Shey and Jed Simmons with $8 million in funding from investors including Spark Capital. The company was the home to online television networks Barely Political, Channel Frederator, Fast Lane Daily, Pulp Secret, Threadbanger, Vsauce, and Indy Mogul, among others. Next New Network's first creative hire was filmmaker Justin Johnson.
Spread is a 2009 American sex comedy film directed by David Mackenzie and starring Ashton Kutcher and Anne Heche. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 2009, and was released in North American theaters by Anchor Bay Films on August 14, 2009.
Eli Holzman is an American creator–developer, writer, producer and television executive known for creating or serving as executive producer on a number of reality-based television series and documentaries, such as Project Runway, Project Greenlight, The Seven Five, Undercover Boss, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, Free Meek, Living Undocumented, American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance.
Forever Young is an American reality television series that premiered on TV Land on April 3, 2013 from Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg's Katalyst, and 3 Ball Productions headed by executive producers J. D. Roth and Todd A. Nelson.
Katalyst may refer to:
The YouTube Original Channel Initiative was a $100 million program funded by Google in 2012 to bring original content onto YouTube. The original channel initiative was also meant to kick start Google TV. The channels are collectively known as "original", "premium" or "YouTube funded" channels.
A-Grade Investments, LLC is a venture capital firm founded in 2010 by actor Ashton Kutcher, entertainment manager Guy Oseary, and billionaire investor Ron Burkle to invest in technology start-up companies. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.
A Plus is a digital media company based in New York City. The company produces original written, social, and video content, with a focus on positive journalism. The company states that it "strive[s] to deliver positive journalism to readers, with the intention of making a meaningful difference in the world by highlighting our common humanity, promoting personal growth, and inspiring social change."
Evan Beard is an American entrepreneur, engineer, and co-founder with Ashton Kutcher of the media company A Plus (aplus.com). A Plus ranks among the largest websites in the US, with 30 to 50 million monthly unique visitors, and six months after launch was the fastest growing website in comScore's Mobile Metrix database. Beard has been recognized on the Forbes "30 under 30" list which features the "brightest young entrepreneurs, breakout talents and change agents" and Business Insider's list of the "most inspiring and influential people in New York tech". Prior to A Plus, Beard co-founded Etacts and ArmorHub, both acquired by publicly traded companies.
Philo is an American internet television company currently based in San Francisco, California, that was first founded at Harvard University in 2010 by Tuan Ho and Nicholas Krasney. Investors in the company include HBO, Andrew McCollum, and Mark Cuban. The company and its service is named in honor of one of the pioneering engineers of television, Philo T. Farnsworth. As of 2021, their OTT streaming television service has over 800,000 subscribers.
El Reino Infantil is an Argentine YouTube channel featuring music for children owned by Leader Music. It was founded by Roberto Pumar in 2011.