Digital Entertainment Network

Digital Entertainment Network, the Santa Monica firm that is creating a lineup of television-style shows for the Internet, is expected to announce today that it has raised $26 million from Microsoft, Dell Computer, Cassandra Chase Entertainment Partners, Chase Capital Partners and senior executives of Lazard Freres. Together, the investors will hold less than 20% of the company.

Mike Upchurch has elevated slacking to an art form. The Emmy Award-winning writer is the creator of "Powerloafing," an online comedy about a world-class slacker, Cubicle Carl, whose adroit avoidance of work makes him a role model for aspiring office slugs. "That's part of the definition of powerloafing," Upchurch said. "You're not just goofing off, you're getting away with it and you're convincing all the right people that you're a top worker."

The stock market may be rocky, but online workers don't seem too concerned. Take what happened to the working masses at Digital Entertainment Network, the pioneering Internet video company in Santa Monica best known for adopting Hollywood excesses, using its venture capital to pay huge salaries, and a sex scandal involving one of the company's founders. When DEN recently closed its doors and laid off its entire staff, employees say they were bombarded with calls from recruiters.

With the three founders of Digital Entertainment Network and their assets at least temporarily out of reach, attorneys in some sex molestation lawsuits against the trio have turned their sights on related parties. One suit filed last year has been updated to include claims against three former directors of the defunct Santa Monica Internet company, alleging that they knew or should have known that DEN founder Marc Collins-Rector and other executives were taking advantage of teen employees.

One week after replacing its two top executives, Internet entertainment start-up Digital Entertainment Network laid off between 50 and 60 employees, according to a company insider. The layoffs reduce the Santa Monica firm's work force by 15% to 20%. The staff reductions were aimed at controlling costs at a company that had ballooned from 60 to 300 employees in less than a year, the insider said. A DEN spokeswoman did not return a call seeking comment.

Three co-founders of Santa Monica-based Digital Entertainment Network have unexpectedly left the company in the midst of preparations for an initial public stock offering, in part because of a civil lawsuit alleging sexual misconduct by one of the founders. Marc Collins-Rector, the 40-year-old founder and chairman of the company, resigned last week, a month after a complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in New Jersey that he had engaged in sexual activity with a minor in 1996.

The stock market may be rocky, but online workers don't seem too concerned. Take what happened to the working masses at Digital Entertainment Network, the pioneering Internet video company in Santa Monica best known for adopting Hollywood excesses, using its venture capital to pay huge salaries, and a sex scandal involving one of the company's founders. When DEN recently closed its doors and laid off its entire staff, employees say they were bombarded with calls from recruiters.

Jim Ritts resigned Friday as commissioner of the LPGA and was replaced by Ty Voltaw, who becomes the fifth leader of the women's pro golf tour in the last 11 years. Ritts, who succeeded Charlie Mechem 3 1/2 years ago, accepted a job as chief operating officer for Digital Entertainment Network Inc., of Santa Monica, which produces and distributes television-quality programming for the Internet.

Digital Entertainment Network has filed for Bankruptcy Court liquidation, saying it owes more than $10 million to more than 200 creditors. The Chapter 7 filing last week in Los Angeles had been expected since the company closed its Santa Monica office last month and dismissed its more than 100 employees. The filing makes the company, also known as DEN, one of the highest-profile Internet firms to end in bankruptcy.

With the three founders of Digital Entertainment Network and their assets at least temporarily out of reach, attorneys in some sex molestation lawsuits against the trio have turned their sights on related parties. One suit filed last year has been updated to include claims against three former directors of the defunct Santa Monica Internet company, alleging that they knew or should have known that DEN founder Marc Collins-Rector and other executives were taking advantage of teen employees.

Every Tuesday, the creative team behind Eruptor Entertainment hunkers down for a production meeting in a cramped Marina del Rey warehouse on a street better known for auto-body repair than super-hip dot.com companies. The goal? To create a youth-oriented hit series for the Web the way "South Park" assaulted cable television. Today's topic: "LivinGiant.com," one of more than 40 projects Eruptor has in development.

CMGI Inc., which owns or has stakes in more than 70 online companies, may announce plans soon to exit some struggling ventures, including its majority-owned entertainment Webcasting company ICast, industry sources said Tuesday. Shares of Andover, Mass.-based CMGI rose $2.81, or 10.5%, to close at $23.81 in heavy Nasdaq trading. CMGI officials were not available for comment, and a spokesman for ICast, which employs about 200 people, declined to comment.

Digital Entertainment Network, the Internet video company that burned through $60 million of investor money in two years, is being investigated for possibly fraudulent asset sales before it filed for bankruptcy in June. Court-appointed officials overseeing DEN's liquidation are investigating the sale of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of DEN equipment and other assets to company insiders.

Three former employees of Digital Entertainment Network, including one hired and allegedly abused before age 16, have accused the defunct company's three founders of rape, assault and death threats, according to a civil complaint filed last week. The allegations against Marc Collins-Rector, Chad Shackley and Brock Pierce came in a Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit. The suit also names the Internet video company known as DEN, which filed for bankruptcy liquidation in June.

A former employee of Digital Entertainment Network has sued the bankrupt company and its three founders, accusing them of inducing him into sexual relationships after hiring him as 15-year-old actor. The teen's suit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, names as defendants the company known as DEN, former Chairman Marc Collins-Rector, and former executives and co-founders Chad Shackley and Brock Pierce.

Digital Entertainment Network has filed for Bankruptcy Court liquidation, saying it owes more than $10 million to more than 200 creditors. The Chapter 7 filing last week in Los Angeles had been expected since the company closed its Santa Monica office last month and dismissed its more than 100 employees. The filing makes the company, also known as DEN, one of the highest-profile Internet firms to end in bankruptcy.

Three former employees of Digital Entertainment Network, including one hired and allegedly abused before age 16, have accused the defunct company's three founders of rape, assault and death threats, according to a civil complaint filed last week. The allegations against Marc Collins-Rector, Chad Shackley and Brock Pierce came in a Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit. The suit also names the Internet video company known as DEN, which filed for bankruptcy liquidation in June.

Imagine a television network that features shows about punk rock, aggressive skateboarding and the neighborhoods of East Los Angeles as well an Asian-style Hardy Boys series. Such a lineup may be a hard sell for cable TV, let alone a broadcast network. But a Santa Monica company is planning to take on television by offering those shows--plus 26 more--on the Internet starting in May. By focusing on a large number of niche audiences, Digital Entertainment Network Inc.

The stock market may be rocky, but online workers don't seem too concerned. Take what happened to the working masses at Digital Entertainment Network, the pioneering Internet video company in Santa Monica best known for adopting Hollywood excesses, using its venture capital to pay huge salaries, and a sex scandal involving one of the company's founders. When DEN recently closed its doors and laid off its entire staff, employees say they were bombarded with calls from recruiters.

The stock market may be rocky, but online workers don't seem too concerned. Take what happened to the working masses at Digital Entertainment Network, the pioneering Internet video company in Santa Monica best known for adopting Hollywood excesses, using its venture capital to pay huge salaries, and a sex scandal involving one of the company's founders. When DEN recently closed its doors and laid off its entire staff, employees say they were bombarded with calls from recruiters.