Shockwave Signs Creators of ‘South Park’ for Web Site

In a deal that underscores the growing importance of animation on the Internet, entertainment site Shockwave.com has signed an exclusive contract for a new series of online shows from the creators of the hit Comedy Central cartoon series “South Park.”

Under the terms of the deal, two of Hollywood’s hottest animators, Matt Stone, 28, and Trey Parker, 30, are committed to creating 39 works that will air first on the Shockwave.com Web site during the next few years.

Officials declined to comment on the financial details of the deal. But sources said the duo will get a budget of about $1.5 million to produce the new works, as well as ownership stakes in Shockwave.com.

The deal is a coup for Shockwave.com, a site launched in July by San Francisco-based Macromedia Inc., a leading maker of software used to create and view animation online.

Shockwave beat out other sites that had hoped to strike similar deals with Parker and Stone, whose fans are likely to flock to the Shockwave.com site when the new shows--which will not be related to “South Park”--begin airing in March.

Stone’s and Parker’s talents are considered so well-suited to the Net that it’s not uncommon to hear entertainment executives say they would love to find “a ‘South Park’ of the Internet,” meaning a low-budget show with simple graphics capable of capturing a huge audience.

Analysts said the deal shows the rapid convergence of Hollywood and the Internet.

“This is truly an endorsement of the Web by a force in entertainment,” said Joe Butt, an analyst at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass. “We’re seeing the creation of a new art form and a new distribution scheme for it.”

Most of the new works from Stone and Parker are expected to be animation clips two to five minutes long, and could include unrelated pieces or episodes in an ongoing series.

Stone said he and Parker were intrigued by the deal because it would allow them to experiment with new characters and ideas without the financial or creative pressures of a television series.

“The real allure is that we get to create another TV series but on a much smaller scale,” Stone said. “We have so many ideas that haven’t fit in ‘South Park.’ The intent is to tap into that well of stuff.”

Stone and Parker will retain the offline rights to whatever they create, so that if a character or idea catches on, they are free to pursue traditional television or movie deals.

Stone and Parker made their name from “South Park,” an intentionally crude animated series about elementary-school-age boys that is as uproarious to some as it is offensive to others. The series is very popular with teenagers and young adults.

The Shockwave.com deal comes at a time when at least a dozen Internet sites are positioning themselves as entertainment destinations.

These include independent sites, such as Seattle-based AtomFilms.com, which has amassed a library of hundreds of short films. AtomFilms’ popular shows include “Micro-Gerbil 2001,” an animated short that lets viewers zap a rodent in a microwave, as well as a spoof of a Steven Spielberg film, called “Saving Ryan’s Privates.”

More recently, major studios have begun to stake positions online. Warner Bros., for instance, recently launched Entertaindom.com, a site offering a range of entertainment choices from films to news.

DreamWorks SKG and Imagine Entertainment also recently announced plans to create a Web site, Pop.com, that will feature short films.

So far, major Hollywood players have mainly ventured online to promote offline works.

Actor-comedian Adam Sandler, for instance, recently took part in an animation that aired on Entertaindom.com largely to promote a comedy album being released in record stores.

Much of the content featured on entertainment sites comes from amateur filmmakers and animators hoping to get noticed by the mainstream industry. Stone and Parker are among the handful going in the other direction.

Of course, they can afford to take such creative risks. “South Park” has made both Parker and Stone millionaires. They made a “South Park” movie last year and negotiated lucrative new contracts with Comedy Central, whose ratings have soared because of “South Park’s” runaway success.

The deal with Shockwave could make Stone and Parker even richer.

Sources said they will be awarded stakes in the company that are now valued at several million dollars but could be worth far more if the company sells stock to the public.

Shockwave was created largely as a showcase for Macromedia’s software. But it has become the third-most popular animation site on the Net, following Disney and Warner Bros., according to research firm Media Metrix.

Earlier this month, Shockwave got $44 million in funding from a group of investors including venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and Jim Clark, founder of Netscape Communications Corp. and Silicon Graphics Inc.

Shockwave also recently announced a content deal with Stan Lee, creator of the Spider-Man comic book character.

Though Stone and Parker owe their success to television, they are considered particularly suited to the Net. They are known for a simplistic animation style that, unlike live-action films, can be downloaded quickly or viewed online even at slow modem speeds without significant degradation of the image.

Stone and Parker are also known for the off-color humor of their “South Park” characters and say they are looking forward to the creative freedom of the Net.

Because they don’t have to deal with the Federal Communications Commission, Stone said, “we’re going to be able to do really raunchy stuff.”