Youth Focused Entertainment Site Thirsty.com Launches

Posted on June 12, 2000

Jeff Pollack and Benny Medina, founders of the Hollywood management and production company Handprint Entertainment, have announced the launch of their new youth entertainment company, called Thirsty. The company raised $10 million in its initial round of venture funding from Constellation Ventures and NorthStar Capital.

Launching to consumers in July 2000, Thirsty will feature content and news, refreshed over 20 to 40 times per channel per day, in youth lifestyle categories ranging from Pop, Rock, Punk, Hip-Hop and Gothic to X-sports, Wrestling, Comic Books/Sci Fi, Grrrlz and Technology. Thirsty's content will be distributed online and will also be accessible on cell phones, pagers, PDAs and eventually broadband mediums.

``We are committed to establishing an emotional relationship with our users through the delivery of the community, content and commerce that reflects their specific passions,'' said Pollack, co-chairman and CEO. ``By identifying and reporting on trends relevant to our users, we enable them to enhance their lifestyle choices, online and off.''

``Shaping the youth market's lifestyle agenda is not a new business for us,'' said Medina, co-chairman. ``In our traditional media ventures it meant recognizing that hip hop was ready for prime time television and convincing NBC to take a chance on Will Smith and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. The relationship that teens have with their lifestyles has not changed, it's the means of communication that has undergone a paradigm shift. That's why Thirsty is such an important move for us.''

Thirsty has a full time editorial staff comprised of editors and writers many of whom ran their own popular underground genre sites specific to the Thirsty lifestyle categories. Additionally, registered users will be encouraged and rewarded to submit original content specific to where they live. Thirsty will also leverage its exclusive relationship with Handprint Entertainment to provide information on celebrities, trendsetters, popular icons and emerging lifestyle trends.