You may have noticed that Epic-Fu’s been on a break lately, as we and the show’s producers, Steve and Zadi at Smashface, have both been thinking about what path we want to take into the future.

In the past year, we saw real growth in viewership of the show over the course of the partnership; we worked together to execute innovative advertising campaigns for clients including Lionsgate, Sony Pictures, XBox Live and Mobivox; and we supported Smashface in the rebranding and successful relaunch of the show in their new incarnation as EPIC-FU. All the while, Steve and Zadi entertained their loyal audience every week and, as the pioneers of videoblogging and inspired, creative people that they are, were great people for us to work with.

With that said, after careful consideration of each company’s goals, we’ve made the decision to move our separate ways. Next New Networks is focused for the coming year on a strategy anchored around our building up our own networks in key categories like autos, entertainment, humor and style, and establishing some new partnerships in those areas. Similarly, Smashface is going to pursue their creative vision in a way that can be most effective for them.

I’m of course disappointed we won’t be working day to day with Steve and Zadi on Epic Fu, as it’s no secret that we’re good friends and enjoy working together. But it’s a great thing to know that we’ve come out of a year with some real success, and a strong vision for what’s next for our companies. We wish them a lot of luck in their next phase, and as always, we’ll be watching.

Congratulations to Steve and Zadi on the 100th Episode of EPIC FU (formerly JETSET). They started working with us at Next New Networks around episode 50, so that’s also getting close to a year of great episodes together. Marc Boxser from our team shot a tribute video featuring many of us from the New York office talking about our favorite EPIC FU moments of the past 100 episodes (with some great editing help from Justin and Ramon):

In the video are, in order: Marc Boxser, Jed Simmons, Steve Nelson, Liam Collins, Fred Seibert, Roy Weissman, Erik Beck and Gary, Patty DeArtega, Jared Roessler, Ramon DeSouza, Justin Johnson, Tim Shey, Corinne Leigh, Emil Rensing, Diane DeCordova, Herb Scannell, Scott Moschella, Dan Meth, Ben Ross, and Rob Czar.

You’ll notice some of the footage is messed up — maybe it’s something similar to what happened to EPIC FU’s latest episode, embedded here below. Can you figure out what’s going on? What exactly is FUnetics, and why are so many videos popping up on YouTube with the same mysterious pledge?

This year a number of us from Next New Networks will be at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, and if you’ll be there we’d love to meet you and hang out at the event.

Three of our networks will be covering the Film, Music, and Interactive portions of the Festival — Indy Mogul, ThreadBanger, and Epic Fu — with episodes both during and after the event. If you see anyone you recognize from the networks walking around, please say hi!

In addition, we’re joining with our friends at Tumblr to sponsor the most epic Rock Band party the world has ever known on Monday night. Party attendees can play Rock Band onstage (first come, first serve for signups), and SXSW Showcase bands Brenn and The Vettes will be playing to close out the night. More details on our SXSW party page, and you can RSVP on Upcoming or Facebook to make sure you get in the door.

For those of you attending the Film or Interactive portions of the festival, I’ll be moderating a Joint Film/Interactive Panel on Saturday morning at 10am called “Quit Your Day Job and Vlog,” with Lindsay Campbell from Wallstrip and the upcoming Mob Logic, Zadi Diaz from EPIC-FU, LisaNova’s Lisa Donovan and Bre Pettis of Make / Etsy fame. Please come on out and join us, and hope to see you there.