Nerdist Industries' Chris Hardwick buys half of PUNY Entertainment
Chris Hardwick just got himself another gig. The founder of Nerdist Industries recently bought half of PUNY Entertainment, a Minneapolis-based animation company that also has an office in Los Angeles. PUNY has worked on a range of things, including the website for the most recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, animation for the New Yorker, and bits for Yo Gabba Gabba.
Hardwick has worked with PUNY before, and has become close friends with the company's writer and executive producer, Shadi Petosky. They originally met when PUNY writer Will Shepard introduced them a few years back.
“We worked together on a pilot for IFC a couple years ago,” says Petosky.
While IFC opted not to order up the series pilot, Hardwick did turn to PUNY shortly after to create the introduction for his Mandroid comedy special on Comedy Central.
When Petosky's business partner wanted to move, both Hardwick and Petosky felt it was the right fit for for the Nerdist founder to come onboard to pursue projects not associated with his constantly-expanding company. Petosky recalls Hardwick saying that had he not gone into comedy and hosting, his next choice for a career would have been animator.
As this is being written, the details of his long-term role in the company are still being worked out.
“We want to make more pilots and shows, but we're also looking at doing more mobile games,” she says.
Hardwick has a lot of ideas when it comes to mobile games, as well as different ways channels of distribution.
“He's also a great strategist,” adds Petosky.
Stay tuned for upcoming collaborations.
