From Washington Square News
February 16, 2000

Quirky director visits NYU to pitch newest idea
by Doug Letterman
Front Page Editor

A Hollywood director known for his quirky low budget films came to the University yesterday to recruit students to help launch his most recent venture — an Internet entertainment site that caters to college students.


Doug Liman, who achieved fame after directing the 1996 sleeper hit “Swingers,” and later “Go,” attracted a crowd, mainly film students, that packed a theater at the Cantor Film Center to hear Liman appeal to them to develop programming for his new company, Nibblebox.com.


Liman’s project is simple: Draw on the talents of legions of students in hopes of creating an Internet entertainment channel with programs that will become hits with viewers in the lucrative and hard-to-reach 18-30 age range. In return, students will receive equipment and guidance from Nibblebox.com and a chance to make their names known.


“It’s called Nibblebox because we see the Internet as a place you go for snacks of entertainment,” said Liman, who is chairman of the company.


The company was started by Liman last year to broadcast original Web-programming targeted at colleges students, many of who have Internet connections fast enough for complex media. Nibblebox is currently soliciting students from 50 universities to submit ideas and regular programs after the site officially launches in April.


Liman said that while the entertainment industry knows that the Internet will change its business, no one knows exactly how. For answers, Liman said, he is turning to students.


“We’re not saying we know what entertainment on the Internet is going to look like, we’re saying you know,” he said.


John Christie, head of affiliates for Nibblebox, said that the company is not only courting students at film schools, but also those at institutions with strong writing programs and publications, such as the Harvard “Lampoon.”


“We’re really trying to cast a wide net,” he said.


Liman said that NYU was one of the universities that his company is looking to for exceptional talent.


“NYU was [among the] top five on our list of schools where we thought there would be bright students,” he said. Other institutions on the list include the University of Southern California (USC), Syracuse and Harvard.


Students who produce content for the site become what Nibblebox calls “affiliates.” In return for their work, affiliates are provided with any equipment needed to make a program, which they can keep once it is completed, Liman said. Nibblebox will also provide a production budget, assistance from Nibblebox producers and a personal mentor from the entertainment industry.


The Nibblebox.com Web site proudly advertises that its mentor list includes brothers Peter and Bobby Farrelly (“Something About Mary”), Larry Karaszewski (“Man on the Moon”), John Leguizamo (“Freak”) and Steven Soderbergh (“Out of Sight”).
There is also the chance to make some money through Nibblebox, Liman said.
“There’s no catch to this,” he said. “Profits from a show will be split between the school and the creators.”


NYU does not have any formal agreement with Nibblebox, but the film department always encourages students to exhibit their films online at sites including

“AtomFilms” and “ReelShort.com,” said David Irving, chairman of the department of film and television and director of “C.H.U.D. II.” Irving added that NYU is unique among many film schools in that students have exclusive ownership rights over their films.


To demonstrate the sort of content that he hopes will soon fill Nibblebox, Liman showed the audience a short interactive program by several students from USC called “Virtual Rob.” It allows viewers to control the actions of a live-action video character named Rob by clicking on objects and people around him. Liman encouraged the audience to learn technologies such as Macromedia Flash, Director, and Adobe Photoshop to make similar content.


“I think that definitely the last year has brought forward a lot of creative opportunities for people to create work that’s got a market, whether it’s student films or other forms of student storytelling,” said Amos Feldman, a sophomore in the Tisch School of the Arts, after viewing Liman’s presentation. Feldman was doubtful, however, that Liman’s project would create the next cultural smash hit with programing like “Virtual Rob.”


“This is the sort of thing that came out a few years ago when multimedia and CD-ROMs came out,” said Feldman, who is also the president of “Xposure,” a student group at NYU formed last semester to broadcast student films and other media over the World Wide Web.


Liman, who rode an old green bicycle to the event and wore a laid-back outfit consisting of faded jeans and a loose white T-shirt, described the ups and downs of his career before pitching Nibblebox. Liman spent one year of graduate film school at USC (he graduated from Brown University) before dropping out and pursuing a directing career in Los Angeles while running a security alarm business. A major blow for Liman came when his bid to direct “Parent’s Night,” was turned down by Paramount Pictures, who instead gave the job to the director of “Fat Camp 2.” Liman subsequently referred to this period as his “Fat Camp Phase.”


Liman later befriended John Favreau, the eventual writer and star of “Swingers.” Each spent nearly six months trying unsuccessfully to make his own way in the movie business, before Liman read Favreau’s script for “Swingers” and decided to pursue the project himself.


“The person who had my destiny was in my hands and I didn’t even know it,” Liman said. Liman made “Swingers” with a paltry $200,000 in financing over the course of 19 days in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.


“To do a film at that number is to publicly admit that people won’t trust you with a cent more,” he said.


Eventually, after several unsuccessful screenings and rejection by the Sundance Film Festival, “Swingers” was purchased by Capital Entertainment for $5 million, Liman said.


Liman’s anecdotes of triumph and tragedy were aimed at encouraging audience members to “be in the game” and hopefully become Nibblebox affiliates.


“[Nibblebox] is basically like a giant incubator or workshop, mentoring students in creating content and marketing it back to colleges,” Liman said. “You have to get yourself into the game — get yourself out there.”