Seibert began his professional career as a jazz and blues record producer and audio engineer in the 1970s. He co-founded the record label Oblivion Records by 1972 and has received a Grammy Award nomination.[10][11][12]
Seibert's production of the first season of Natasha Allegri's Bee and PuppyCat for his Cartoon Hangover streaming channel was the most backed animated project on Kickstarter for several years. Season 2 was accidentally leaked onto Seibert's Vimeo channel in early 2020, but was eventually announced to be officially dropped on Netflix sometime in 2022.[15]
Seibert stepped down from his position as CEO of Frederator in August 2020, though the company indicated that he would remain executive producer for current projects, including Bee & PuppyCat and Castlevania.[16][17]
On February 23, 2021, Seibert announced the formation of cartoon production company FredFilms, with a first look deal at VIS Kids.[18] The company is in various stages of production on five reboots of vintage Seibert productions, including a live-action The Fairly OddParents for Paramount+ and a CG animated version for Netflix.[19] The company is developing several adult and children's original animated properties, furthering Seibert's philosophy of creators first,[20] always original,[21] and producing your next favorite cartoon.[22]
Streaming video and Internet
In March 1999, MTV Networks CEO Tom Freston tapped Seibert to become the first president of the new MTV Networks Online, soon to split into MTV Interactive (The MTVi Group) and Nick.com.[9] Building on this new media success, in 2007 Seibert co-founded Next New Networks (with Emil Rensing, Herb Scannell, Tim Shey, and Jed Simmons),[23] a pioneer in streaming video, with over 2 billion video views[24] and as of 2010 over 200 million views every month, making it, along with Maker Studios, creators of the Multi-channel networks. Along with their affiliated Indy Mogul, Barely Political, Channel Frederator and several other networks, the company's superdistribution allowed it to become among the most widely distributed video in the world, and to become YouTube's top professional content provider. By the end of 2010, Next New Networks had YouTube's top two videos.[25] In March 2011, Next New Networks was acquired by YouTube.[26][27][28]
In 2004, then-unknown web developer David Karp interned at Frederator Studios at its first New York City location, and built the company's first blogging platform.[29] In 2007, Karp launched Tumblr from a rented desk at Frederator Studios' Park Avenue South offices, along with chief engineer Marco Arment.[30][31] Seibert was one of Tumblr's first bloggers,[32] an angel investor in the company, and served on its board before its acquisition.[33]
Seibert was the original angel investor in Sawhorse Media in 2010,[34][35] the company that created the Shorty Awards and MuckRack, a public relations management platform that enables organizations to connect with journalists to generate media coverage.
After creating Channel Frederator as the "first cartoon video podcast" and migrating it to youTube in 2007, on February 21, 2012, Fred Seibert launched Cartoon Hangover, a channel on YouTube which consists of various animated shorts and series. Cartoon Hangover gained a much larger audience with the revival of Bravest Warriors by Pendleton Ward on November 8, 2012[36] which originally aired as a pilot on Fred Seibert's Random! Cartoons on Nicktoons Network in 2009.[37] In 2014, Channel Frederator was revived as a multi-channel network focused entirely on animation, signing one of YouTube's biggest animation channels, Simon's Cat.[38] By September 2014, the network was distributing 688 channels, with over 65 million monthly views and 10.5 million subscribers,[39] and by 2017 announced it had reached 1 billion monthly views on YouTube.[40]
Seibert and his Frederator Networks partnered with John Borthwick and Betaworks; Jonathan Miller, Jason Ostheimer, Shari Redstone; and entrepreneur Yoel Flohr to form Thirty Labs in 2014, a startup studio based in New York City to develop and invest in video based technology businesses[41] Seibert served as its CEO until its dissolution the following year.
Media branding and cable television
Fred Seibert at Pixelodeon in 2007
Seibert played a key role in the ascendance of the modern cable television age (1980-2010). As MTV's first creative director,[42] Seibert was responsible for a complete rethinking of how the entire television industry was able to think of themselves as “brands.”[43] He guided his team to develop the original voice and visual identity for MTV, and went on to do the same at Nickelodeon, Nick-at-Nite (which he invented with his long time creative partner Alan Goodman), and Comedy Central.
Initially, MTV had none of the kinds of programs that were thought of as "television," only more than 160 hours (there are 168 hours in a week) of music videos that were about three minutes each, and with no set schedule that could be promoted. Seibert had to develop an alternative promotional strategy that was completely different than traditional networks.[45] The promos and network identifications his team produced did not resemble anything TV had every seen before, focusing on an approach that subtly made a series of "promises" to viewers in the wildest and most creative ways possible.[46][47] The network identifications, 10-seconds each, were based on the MTV logo he commissioned and approved,[43] designed by the Manhattan Design collective (that included his oldest childhood friend, Frank Olinsky). The logo mutated its design hundreds, thousands of ways, sometimes within one short animated film.[48] Some senior network executives objected to a logo that did not remain constant, but the approach ultimately prevailed.[49] The 10-second network IDs and the promos ultimately influenced graphic design and advertising for years to come.[50]
Within two years of launch, Seibert was part of the team that developed "I Want My MTV!", the channel's flagship advertising campaign.
In 1983, with partner Alan Goodman, Seibert founded Fred/Alan Inc. in New York City. Goodman had been one of his key creative lieutenants at MTV, and they had worked together in college radio a decade before. Together, they successfully adapted the MTV branding and promotional strategy to overhaul the then-floundering children's cable channel Nickelodeon between June 1984 and January 1985, moving it from worst to first in the ratings in six months,[51] and continued overseeing network branding and promotion for eight more years.
Seibert continued involvement with the cable TV industry for several years. He was employed by Turner Broadcasting as the last president of Hanna-Barbera Cartoons,[56] then as a consultant for almost 15 years at Warner-Amex successor MTV Networks, and as a producer of several animated series[57] for Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.
Musical career
Seibert began his media career in college radio at Columbia University's WKCR-FM in 1969.[58] According to Seibert himself, he spent most of his time in college at the radio station headquarters rather than attending classes, and thus never graduated.[59]
Seibert's productions span multiple mediums in American entertainment. He was first recognized for his musical activity, having received a Grammy Award nomination at the 20th Annual Grammy Awards,[64] and later several Annie Awards,[65][66][67][68][69]Emmy Awards,[69][65] and BAFTA Awards[65] for his television productions. He received an American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) Medal for lifetime exceptional achievements in 2000,[70] was inducted to the Animation Magazine Hall of Fame in 2017.[71] In November 2023, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (presenters of the Emmy Awards) announced his induction[72] into their "Gold Circle," defined as performing "...distinguished service within the industry, setting standards for achievement, mentoring, leadership, and professional accolades for 50...years, respectively. They represent the best and the brightest in the television community."
^Karp, David; Alexandria, Julie (May 27, 2008). David Karp and Tumblr (Video). Wallstrip. Event occurs at 1:30. Retrieved 2013-02-24. Sometime in 2006, we had a couple of weeks between contracts and said 'Let's see what we can do, let's see if we can built this thing', and we threw together the first working version of Tumblr.
