Getting the thumbs-up was a partnership with Google’s YouTube, which made Vice one of the charter channels in its $100 million original video initiative. That channel launches in the first quarter of 2012. An offer from a major broadcast network’s news division to produce a Vice show, on the other hand, got the gong; Ari Emanuel, co-CEO of William Morris Endeavor and Vice’s agent in Hollywood, warned Smith off the deal, fearing the network would throttle the Vice voice. Instead Emanuel used the offer as leverage to get a similar offer from the more creator-friendly HBO. “HBO’s ludicrous,” says Smith. “They’re sort of the opposite of MTV. I shouldn’t say that, but they are. They really give a sh– about the artist and what you’re doing, and they don’t try to piss on your stuff, and the money’s not an issue. It’s the holy grail.” (Vice, by the way, also has a show on MTV, The Vice Guide to Everything.) Having Freston’s blessing has helped Vice get entrée to people like Emanuel and megaproducer Brian Grazer, with whom the company is in talks to launch an independent film fund. Having Freston around has also been an inspiration on a personal level, says Smith.