London, UK; Melbourne, Australia.
September 28th 2007

John Cleese to release new video series in conjunction with The Podcast Network.

British actor, writer and comedian John Cleese is to release Headcast, a series of online videos, which he describes as “some humorous, some more thoughtful, giving me a chance to sound off in my old age.”

A free version will be made available over the next few months on The Podcast Network, which John says is “rather good, run by Australians, and none the worse for that.”

A premium version of the Headcast will also be made available.

John’s free podcast, produced by UK new media company Funk, has achieved close to 500,000 downloads in 2007.

Dean Whitbread from Funk said:

“John is really forward-looking when it comes to technology. He got into video early and he reaped the benefits. He’s been investing in online media for some years now, and when we started to produce podcasts for him in 2005, we saw a huge take up from the online audience.

John’s podcast has been free since we started, and we’re going to maintain that, but its success to date means we can now explore other options, including more video, and adding premium content.

The Headcast is another example of John embracing new technologies to further his creativity - and although he’s well known for being very funny, this gives him the option to do whatever he wants to do and take it wherever he wants to go.”

Cameron Reilly from The Podcast Network said:

“Having a living legend like John Cleese joining The Podcast Network’s growing roster of talent is a coup for the business and a personal thrill.

“Having grown up watching and listening to John, I am extremely pleased that he will be contributing his new material to our site. I have been a fan of his podcasts over the last year and am excited about bringing the Headcast to a wider international audience. Having someone of John’s caliber producing podcasts is another sign of the increasing legitimacy of the medium.”

The Podcast Network is an privately owned media company in Australia with over 80 audio and video podcasts in production and a monthly international audience of over half a million people.

Funk is a creative new media company based in London and Brighton, UK, comprised of producers Mark Crook and Dean Whitbread. Funk is a part of social media business Talking Voices.