MP3 success

The MP3 craze is a gray area to many local bands, but to Jason Brannon it's as white as the shining stars in the Star Wars galaxy. Just ask his trash-talking version of Yoda that launched his Internet success. MP3.com was the first site to showcase Brannon's craft: satirical comedy synced to tunes played by his friends, brought to life by Thomas Lee with flash animation on the Internet. \nBrannon wears a Ceaser-style crew cut and would blend in just as well at a college Democrats meeting as at a fraternity party. The chances of finding him at either location are slim -- he's back at IU after a year-long hiatus- one of several. If a fifth-year student is a super senior, than keep the kryptonite away from 28-year-old Brannon, who is taking 6 hours of classes to finish his occupational safety degree. \nHis ascent to 'Net success started when he took a break from Bloomington to help launch a public access TV show in Chicago with a few friends. Or maybe it was when he watched Star Wars constantly as a kid. But either way, the show didn't pan out, and Brannon and his buddies wound up launching a site on MP3.com. \nAlthough MP3.com is one ship in a sea of sites that offer free music, settlements with all of the 'big five' record companies have left gaping holes in its side. But even with the MP3.com power sinking under the lack of weight of hundreds of millions in settlement dollars, Jason's work is still afloat. \nIn fact, it was www.mp3.com/bentframe that inspired Brooklyn Weaver, Brannon's agent and owner of Energy Entertainment, to contact Brannon. \nThe site is a mock edition of a record label featuring acts like a Hillijack-redneck rapper and The Chipmunks -- newly minted with a crack habit and bad attitudes. The site gained steam from the laughter of viewers who numbered in the thousands and boosted the site to MP3.com's top 10 most downloaded pages. All in all, surfers clicked on its animations about a million times. \nThe popularity turned into cash for Brannon, who raked in $8,000 one month and averages about $3,000 a month in revenue. MP3.com pays Brannon on a 'payback for playback' basis, meaning his monthly check depends on how many people download his 'Nettoons. \nAlthough he found success bridging the galaxy far, far away with Compton, Calif., he doesn't plan to let that level of success mark the end of his rainbow. Brannon's going to Net-tucky. \n"My overalls are custom-tailored, coming at you straight from a trailer…" Brannon rapped, tapping out a beat on the surface of a table. \nMoseying about in a 'Got Dip?' T-shirt, his new character merges Fox's King of the Hill with Homer Simpson. And the least ironic part is that Fox is interested in the character. \n"I just had a conference call with Fox on Monday," Brannon said. "They liked the idea so now I'm working on a script for the show." \nThe show will consist of Internet shorts crafted with flash animation, linked to the Fox Web site. Even if the executives don't pick up the show, his agent will connect Brannon with buyers on the market for comedy. \n"My goal is to take the characters that Jason creates, incubate them on the Internet, gain an awareness -- a following -- and broker an offline deal with a studio or network, with Jason and Thomas attached as writer/producers," Weaver, Brannon's producer, says. \nAlthough Brannon isn't sure now how much the Fox gig would translate to in terms of cash, he's been brokered to merge his talents with animators for skits at $3,000-$5,000 a pop. He estimates the skits take a week to make. \n"(Fox) pretty much told me that whatever I come up with, the door is open," Brannon says. \nU.S. courts are starting to echo the view that sites like MP3.com are compromising the copyrights of artists (and the record companies that profit from them). But for now Brannon is living proof that these sites give rise to a new breed of artists. It doesn't take money and connections or even a Volkswagen bus with a 'Hollywood or bust' sign to make a million people laugh. \n"I got good feedback... I didn't know we'd have agencies in L.A. knocking on the door, though," Thomas Lee, Brannon's animating partner, says. "It was quite a shock"