Consider the evidence: Pop.com, the streaming-media site backed by DreamWorks and Steven Spielberg's Imagine Entertainment, snapped and crackled -- losing $10 million and giving 70 employees the pink slip -- before it even debuted. The ambitious Pseudo.com, $35 million later, isn't even a pseudo network. Microsoft-backed Digital Entertainment Network is now off the air. And Shockwave.com, a pioneer in the genre, is bowing out to focus on interactive games.

So why is upstart streaming-media site Icebox.com so red-hot?

The Los Angeles company's original Web 'toons have had more than 5.6 million "show viewings" since its launch this summer, drawing attention not only from Silicon Valley but from a more valuable source of money -- Hollywood. Showtime Television has just snapped up the rights to develop Icebox's "Starship Regulars" into a prime-time animated series; and Artisan Entertainment is looking to turn Icebox's most popular program, "Mr. Wong," into a direct-to-video movie. And as the firm debuts three new shows as part of its first "fall season," it's in talks with several studios and networks to sell television rights to three additional programs, as well as to develop a "first look" deal for its properties.

To put it simply, Icebox isn't so much a webcaster as it is a ministudio -- so it's no wonder that its founders have elite Hollywood roots.

"We're an incubator," says co-founder and CEO Steve Stanford, referring to Icebox's potential well of TV and film properties. (Stanford is a former executive at top talent agency International Creative Management, while fellow founders John Collier, Howard Gordon and Rob LeZebnik are executive producers for "King of the Hill," "The X-Files" and "The Simpsons," respectively.)

The company's goal is to deliver "audience-ready" programs to networks and studios, thus eliminating the expensive costs of development. Think of it as a Kozmo.com for Hollywood development execs. It's a clever move, yoking its business strategy to offline revenue. (The private company, which raised $15 million in financing, wouldn't disclose how much revenue it has drawn since launching in June.)

And top writers have come on board because Icebox offers them unfettered creative freedom to produce the kinds of shows they want to make, even if the results sometimes stretch the boundaries of taste.

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