willing to finance short subjects. But with the flameout of big-spending startups like Digital Entertainment Network and Pop.com, interest in the genre as a money-making prospect cooled and funding dried up. With advertainment, Web entertainment seems to be headed for a mini-renaissance.
Which explains why several production companies are gearing up to cater to the new genre. Hypnotic, an online film company formed by the merger of Hypnotic and Nibblebox, will produce films funded by advertisers. And John Ratzenberger, who played postman Cliff Clavin on Cheers, has launched a company called Big Red Tent to focus on content for advertisers' sites. The story of the mom searching for pot will have to wait.
