AOL and Katalyst Films, Inc. today announced an innovative production deal that will bring new original programming to the Web exclusively on AOL.com (http://www.aol.com) and the AIM service (http://www.aim.com). Katalyst Films is co-owned by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg.

The creators of Punk’d and Beauty and the Geek will develop, produce and deliver at least five programs, each with at least 20 mini-episodes, that will be available on AOL.com and throughout the AIM® service later this year.

According to Ashton Kutcher, "At Katalyst, we love making movies and television. Our core audience is into the Web so we felt it was natural for us to reach youth culture online."

Adds Jason Goldberg, "This partnership makes sense on so many levels for both companies. As content providers and strategic partners it makes it very easy for us to do what we do best when our distributor has a firm grasp of what they are looking to program and the audience they are striving to connect with."

“Katalyst's understanding of young adult audiences makes them a perfect partner to help grow our original programming and community efforts," said Jim Bankoff, Executive Vice President, Programming & Products for AOL. “These are smart, savvy, wickedly funny and undeniably creative guys - the embodiment of the demographic that is already using the AIM service and AOL Comedy. We’re able to tap into that with Katalyst, and we’re confident that the programming they’re developing is going to leave our audience in stitches.”

The AOL.com portal already offers some of the Web's funniest programming at AOL Comedy (http://www.aol.com/comedy). Features include viral videos, on-demand stand-up performances, the Moviefone® Short Film Festival, comedy radio programming from XM Radio and much more.

With 43 million active users, the AIM service is the nation's largest instant messaging community. It is now available for use on computers, cell phones and other handheld devices, and offers instant messaging, email and SMS mobile texting as well as voice and video chat services.

About Katalyst Films, Inc.
Katalyst Films is a feature film and television production company based in Hollywood, CA whose mission is to create thought provoking, adventurous and compelling content. The company was founded in 2000 by partners, Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg. In 2004, Katalyst Films joined forces with 20th Century Fox Television in a multi-year overall deal. In the summer of 2005, Karey Burke, former Executive Vice President of Prime Time Series at NBC, joined Kutcher and Goldberg at the company. Feature film credits include The Butterfly Effect (2004) and Guess Who (2005), and reality series credits include Punk’d, Beauty and the Geek and Fountains of Youth.

About America Online, Inc.
America Online, Inc. and its subsidiaries operate a leading network of Web brands and the largest Internet access subscription service in the United States. Brands include the AOL® service, the AOL.com® website, and the AIM®, MapQuest®, Moviefone®, Netscape®, CompuServe® and ICQ® services. America Online offers a range of digital services. The company also has operations in Canada and Europe. America Online, Inc. is based in Dulles, Virginia, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX).