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© Mishmash Media/Icebox
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Remove the door and place it by the e-curb, Icebox has announced that it will shut down operations on Friday, February 9. Simply put, the entertainment site was unable to raise enough new funds to keep the lights on. An Icebox spokesman said that the company has burned through US$14.3 million since its inception last year. After months of struggling, the nail in the coffin arose last week when company president Gary Levine stepped down and moved over to Showtime as executive VP of original programming. Levine was a key player in the deal that sent Icebox's STARSHIP REGULARS to Showtime as a live-action series. Currently, Showtime still intends to produce a REGULARS TV show. Icebox's main business plan was to allow established artists a forum to take risks and create edgy content, which would later be moved to other mediums. However, many attempts by the Website to push their content into other arenas failed. In December talks to turn Icebox's ZOMBIE COLLEGE into a Fox series broke down in a very public spat. In addition, plans to bring MR. WONG to Artisan as a direct-to-video feature also fell through. Icebox CEO Steve Stanford said he will not file for bankruptcy, but will attempt to sell the company as a whole. At its peak Icebox employed 106 people, however that number has fallen to 27. The first lay offs came in November as the company moved to an outsourcing model instead of in-house talent. As in previous lay offs at the firm, employees will not be given a severance, but will be able to take their computers and ergonomic chairs. Sandford said, "We just couldn't make the company a financial success in the time frame that we had."
