You know how fun it is to watch movies with your friends and make comments about the actor’s hair, or poke fun of some star’s bad facelift, or even just complain about the homework you should be doing. Well what’s a person to do when their friends can’t come over because they’re grounded or stuck on some nightmare family vacation? Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way you could watch shows and chat without actually having to be in the same room? You say great, I say Screening Parties.

Funny Garbage worked with Viacom’s The-N.com (now known as TeenNick) to create a multi-user environment for communally watching videos online. With Screening Parties, users create a video playlist, pick a theme for their party (prom, beach party, nightclub, etc.), and plan a time to watch these videos with their friends. Once the party begins, users are able to chat about the content they’re watching - kind of like the online version of a TV party. The application builds on The N’s existing avatar system, online economy of creds and social network. Party hosts can control the playlist and pause the video to purchase mini-games such as a Virtual Piniata, Smack-an-Avatar, and The-Best, in which the game winners are awarded site creds as prizes. The application also offers a variety of ways to integrate sponsorships and promotions through sponsored themes and games.