How ‘Funny or Die’ Changed Hollywood’s Relationship to the Internet

15 years ago, the web video channel showed TV stars the potential of YouTube

When the landlord knocked on the door, Will Ferrell became nervous and his friend Adam McKay threatened to leave. Ferrell’s rent was late and he knew the landlord would be pissed. Reluctantly, he goes to the door and opens it. The camera, pointing nearly vertically downward, reveals Pearl, Adam McKay’s two-year-old daughter playing the role of the angry and drunk (in the way babies always seem drunk) landlord.

“The Landlord,” directed by Adam McKay, was the first short uploaded to Funny or Die in April 2007. 15 years ago, Ferrell, along with co-founders McKay, Mark Kvamme and Chris Henchy, had seen the growing success of web video across the internet and decided to enter the wild world of web television.

Before influencers, Vine stars, and TikTokers, there was a brief period of time where episodic and serial web video was all the rage. Web television and web series, defined by non-traditional…