TC Cribs: Funny Or Die Takes Us Behind The Scenes And Between Two Ferns

This week on Cribs we continue our string of Hollywood startups at Funny or Die headquarters in Los Angeles, California.

This is the fourth office for the digital content company since its start in 2007. And for some reason this time the walls aren’t finished. Funny or Die’s CEO Dick Glover tells us, like everything it does, that’s on purpose. We’re not sure if we are completely in on that one, but perhaps it hints at the rawness comedians must get to for the funny times to happen.

The furniture is also impermanently placed – all of it sits on wheels to move for the 100 some odd employees to maneuver for shooting purposes in the 26,000 square-foot space.

Billy on the Street interviews Chris Pratt.

Billy on the Street interviews Chris Pratt.

The digital content startup had a rare celebrity-infused leg up from most others in the space. Will Ferrell founded Funny or Die, along with Adam McKay and Chris Henchy, to create high-quality comedic content and political commentary. Judd Apatow, notable for such works as ‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin’ and HBO’s ‘Girls’ is also a principal partner in the company.

According to the company, Funny or Die now hosts a global audience of more than 70 million viewers and produces content for over 15 platforms such as Billy on the Street (truTV), @Midnight on Comedy Central, and HBO comedy specials like the recent ‘Ferrell Takes the Field.’

Funny or Die’s new place is on a studio lot that sandwiches with OWN, Oprah’s network. But the building has a history going back to the days of Charlie Chaplin. MGM bought the property from United Artists at one point. A real estate trust has since taken over and developed the building to house Funny or Die and other media companies.

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We stepped away from our ordinary drill and interviewed a whole cast of characters at the new place, including Glover, head of social content Dashiell Driscoll, and head of digital content Chris Bruss.

Check out the video above to get a peek behind the scenes where Funny or Die makes such greats as Between Two Ferns and the Yeezus 2020 campaign. Also, note the bathrooms. You can thank me later.