By: Dylan Sikes - AllPennyStocks.com News

Thursday, March 28, 2013

One might think that celebrity endorsements would be fantastic for the share price of a small or microcap company. After all, famous and successful athletes or movie stars have a stack of cash to invest and the connections to help accelerate business developments. Oddly, though, it doesn’t seem to have a great deal of impact. Even sports legends Shaquille O’Neal and Reggie Jackson being onboard as both investors and brand ambassadors to Soupman, inc. (OTCQB:SOUP) haven’t lifted shares. In fact, shares actually slipped lower after announcing Shaq, one of the biggest names in basketball history and a promotional wizard, in late 2011. Surely hoping that the announcement of a new star partner will have a more beneficial impact on market valuation is Digital Development Group Corp. (OTCBB:DIDG) with Wednesday evening’s report that actor Charlie Sheen has joined the team. The Hollywood-based company is involved in acquisition and distribution of Over the Top, or “OTT,” television content.

OTT content is, in short, the broadband delivery of video or audio by a third party (meaning that the Internet service provider is not involved in the control or distribution of the content) that is accessible through multiple internet-connected mediums. It is steadily gaining traction as consumers continue to utilize more mobile devices, smart TVs, connected DVD players, game consoles and devices like Roku to meet their demands to control what they watch free of constraints of traditional cable programming packages and, often times, commercials. Household names in the OTT industry include Netflix (Nasdaq:NFLX) and Hulu.

Obviously, big-budget companies like Netflix and Hulu tailor their business towards distribution of mainstream programs and movies, but smaller companies like DigiDev, as it is often called, are initially focused on creating original content for its growing library of material. For a small fee, the company currently offers access to collections through channels such as its “Sci-Fi Station” with cult classics in horror, science fiction, etc. and “Synapse Films,” which contains a wide array of “features, documentaries and clips…be it weird, offbeat, cult, sexy, exploitation, B movies, or other strange and unusual titles,” to name a few.

Future offerings include channels featuring people like Kato Kaelin, made famous as a witness in the O.J. Simpson murder trial, former porn star (and vice presidential candidate) Marilyn Chambers, and now Charlie Sheen.

Sheen, the son of Hollywood icon Martin Sheen and brother of actor Emilio Estevez, has made a positive name for himself as a star in blockbuster movies such as Platoon and Wall Street and TV show Two and a Half Men, but also has had his personal life criticized with reports of alcohol and drug abuse as well as alleged domestic violence.

Describing his company as “misfits of TV,” DigiDev president Joe Q. Bretz, says that he has been working with Sheen for “quite some time” to ink the new partnership. Bretz explained that “misfits change the world, and we intend on creating something alongside Charlie that will be historical.”

“A long time ago on a movie set far, far away, a character I once played said, ‘life all comes down to a few moments, and this is one of them,’” commented Sheen in the corporate statement. “DigiDev is one of these moments. For years I have longed for a home and an outlet for the tsunami that is my brain. Batten down the Forbes hatches; I hope DigiDev can hold its breath for a long time.”

Sheen will serve as curator of DigiDev’s channels and as an advisor for special content acquisitions, according to the company. No filings with the SEC have been made as of the time of this writing to sift through for more details of the contract.

From the investor side, traders will be watching as Thursday progresses to see if the news can make a splash, and so far it has with shares up 18% my mid-day to $0.10. Shares of DIDG have been on the slide since it began trading in April 2012 around $1.30 per share.

Shares had sunk as low as 5 cents in January, before spiking to 20.5 cents about two weeks later. Will this be the kick it needs for the stock to identify the nickel mark as a true bottom and start a new uptrend? Well, only time will deliver that answer, but this is an interesting development for fans of DigiDev and Hollywood’s bad boy. Proper due diligence is, as always, encouraged.

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