Will Ferrell has become a big player in the fledgling podcast world and he’s just getting started.
During a keynote interview at the Podcast Movement Evolutions event, where he was interviewed by Conal Byrne, CEO of the iHeart Digital Audio Group, which is partners on Ferrell’s Big Money Players Network podcast company, he unveiled a pair of new shows.
This includes The Big Sexy Interview Show with Michael Bolton and a standup comedy series The Feed.
The Big Sexy Interview Show with Michael Bolton comes from The Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaffer and Comedy Bang Bang’s Scott Aukerman.
Lonely Island, the troupe run by Schaffer, Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone, was behind Michael Bolton’s Big, Sexy Valentine’s Day Special, a Netflix variety special starring the crooner.
The Feed, which Ferrell describes as “inside baseball”, features a group of comedians that take over a podcast feed in character. It is aiming for a June launch.
The Feed is an anthology comedy podcast series presented by Ferrell, Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers of Las Culturistas podcast. Each month will feature a fresh comedic talent creating a brand new podcast format hosted by an original character of their own creation, in the spirit of The Ron Burgundy Podcast. The diverse roster of comedians will be curated by Ferrell, Yang and Rogers with an eye towards representation, inclusivity, and elevating the next generation of comedic voices.
“I believe it’s 10 different comedians we’ve selected from a wide spectrum, and they’re all getting their own mini-shows and some of its scripted and some of its not,” said Ferrell.
Byrne added, “You basically launch an RSS that becomes a stage that you hand over to comedians for weeks at a time.”
The Anchorman star said that it’s about “paying it forward”. He added that his company, which is behind series including The Ron Burgundy Podcast and The Nikki Glaser Podcast among others, was continuing to solicit ideas.
The Big Money Players Network was launched in 2019.
