National Lampoon Launches The Zaz Report!

Business Wire,  April 22, 2008  

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

Pop Culture Expert and Comedian, Nadine Rajabi, Named Editor-in-Chief of Celebrity News and Entertainment Site

LOS ANGELES -- National Lampoon, Inc. (AMEX:NLN), the most widely recognized brand in comedy, today announced the launch of a female oriented news and entertainment site, The Zaz Report. National Lampoon's Zaz Report (www.zazreport.com) will provide breaking news and daily biting commentary on the world of celebrities, pop culture, and entertainment. Nadine Rajabi, one of LA's top female comedians, will serve as editor-in-chief, with Matt Zaller acting as editor.

The rollout of The Zaz Report continues the expansion of National Lampoon's wholly owned online properties. It follows last year's launch of the National Lampoon Splog (www.nationallampoonsplog.com), a sports comedy blog, along with the acquisitions of DrunkUniversity.com, CollegeHangover.com, and Comedy Express. The Zaz Report gives National Lampoon a presence in the highly popular area of celebrity entertainment news and gossip, which will attract new fans and a larger female audience to the many National Lampoon properties.

"The launch of The Zaz Report is part of National Lampoon's continued efforts to expand our online presence, along with capturing more advertising revenue targeted at additional demographics," said Daniel Laikin, Chief Executive Officer of National Lampoon. "This project was in large part driven by our advertisers, coming to us for more targeted ways to reach specific viewers. The online world is a key area of business for us and we will continue to build out more National Lampoon online properties throughout 2008."

The Zaz Report will include video reports, breaking news blogs, celebrity interviews, skits and timely parodies involving in-house National Lampoon talent. Users can browse the frequently updated entertainment blogs, post comments on breaking news and read the latest juicy gossip. With parodies ranging from Britney Spears to George W. Bush, and star interviews with the hottest names in show business The Zaz Report is the perfect platform to satisfy any pop culture craving.

National Lampoon Editor-in-Chief Scott Rubin has named comedian and pop culture expert, Nadine Rajabi, as Editor-in-Chief of The Zaz Report. Often referred to as "Kathy Griffin 2.0", Rajabi is the younger, spunkier version of the over the top comedian with the attitude to prove it. She will host a daily Vlog on The Zaz Report, "The Daily Quickie with Nads," which will give a satirical alternative breakdown on the day's celebrity news, poking fun at everyone from Coolio to Paris Hilton. Rajabi is a seasoned comedian and was the youngest paid female regular at the Hollywood Improv. She has also performed in many of the top comedy venues in New York, Los Angeles, London, and Australia.

Matt Zaller, as host of the National Lampoon Network, has interviewed the biggest names in Hollywood. His improvisational style has scored him sit-downs with everyone from Robin Williams and Owen Wilson to Lindsey Lohan and Johnny Depp. Last year Zaller snagged a world-wide exclusive when he orchestrated the only interview of Sacha Baron-Cohen's 'Borat,' by a Jew. In his new role as editor of The Zaz Report, Zaller will oversee its daily news blog and also post his celebrity interviews to the site.

"I'm thrilled to be a part of National Lampoon and to head up The Zaz Report," said Nadine Rajabi. "To help such an iconic comedy brand reach new fans is a real honor. I'm sure my mother will be pleased that I am finally putting my MBA to good use!"

About National Lampoon

National Lampoon, Inc. (AMEX: NLN) has been a dominant force in the US comedy world for almost 40 years, and is currently active in a broad array of media and entertainment segments. These include feature films, television programming, online and interactive entertainment, home video, audio, and book publishing. The Company also owns interests in all major National Lampoon properties, including National Lampoon's Animal House, the National Lampoon Vacation series and National Lampoon's Van Wilder. National Lampoon reaches nearly one in four of all 18 to 24 year old college students in America today. The Company has three core operating divisions: National Lampoon Films, which includes production along with theatrical and video distribution of feature films; College Marketing Division; and National Lampoon Networks, providing humor content through a number of platforms. These include its National Lampoon College TV network, the National Lampoon Humor Network - the most trafficked humor sites on the web, Toga TV.com - the company's broadband channel, the Drunk University Network, and the National Lampoon Video Network, which includes channels on YouTube, AOL, Yahoo, Joost, and a number of digital video platforms across the Internet. These are all anchored by the award winning comedy website www.nationallampoon.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 Business Wire
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning