On occasion, I may be a little dismissive of the whole Second Life thing, but I will say that it's producing a burgeoning trade in 'virtual world artisans', and old school machinima veterans The Ill Clan are the latest people to benefit.

As the press release says "ILL Clan Inc., creator of award-winning real-time animation and a pioneer of the machinima (machine+cinema) process, has joined The Electric Sheep Company, the leading creator of virtual world content... ILL Clan Inc. will become the machinima division of The Electric Sheep Company. It will work with the company's growing portfolio of brand-name clients to produce machinima from virtual worlds such as Second Life for re-broadcast, promotions, events and entertainment."

We've previously covered The ILL Clan, who are about as oldschool as they come, having been doing machinima since somewhere around the Quake I era, and Electric Sheep's machinima portfolio showcases what the two companies have been doing to date: "During the Super Bowl XLI pre-game show, CBS aired this machinima promo, produced by ESC, for the hit sitcom Two and a Half Men." Wacky, but ultimately kinda fun.