BoxTop leads clients into the Web world.

LOS ANGELES - Things are hopping at BoxTop Interactive Inc., where employment has gone from three to 35 and revenues have jumped from $75,000 to $8 million over the past three years.

BoxTop makes World Wide Web sites with a specialty in the entertainment industry.

It is growing so fast and things are going so well that the company is outgrowing its present office on hip Melrose Avenue near Doheny Drive in Los Angeles, said officials. The company is located in a 7,000 square foot facility that was once a small theater.

After being there for just seven months, officials at the company are now thinking of either expanding into an adjacent building or moving to an entirely new location, says Charles Como, co-founder of BoxTop and the self-described creative force behind the company. Como, 31, doesn't have a title at BoxTop.

The other leaders of BoxTop are 44-year-old co-founder Kevin Wall, chairman, and 54-year-old Hal Katersky, president and chief operating officer.

The rest of the people at BoxTop are mostly young men and women in their 20s. The atmosphere in the office is informal, with everyone but Katersky in casual clothes. There are posters of rock stars on the walls and many of the people at BoxTop share desks or other work space.

"We're jammed in here pretty good right now," says Como. "But in a way that's good because everyone is involved."

Dealing face to face

It's his philosophy, says Como, that requires employees to come into work rather than telecommute through a computer screen at home. "It's happened that you need someone right away and they're not there. Also, it's better for the creative process to talk direct with someone."

That way of thinking is interesting coming from a person who makes his living off people sitting in front of computer screens.

The company, with its specialization in the entertainment industry, designs Web sites for movie production studios, television networks and entertainers like rock groups, singers and comedians.

The Web sites, or home pages, are places on the Internet that advertise, entertain and inform users about a product, in this case a movie or rock group.

Among BoxTop's clients are Fox Broadcasting Co., A&M Records, rock group Megadeth, the Academy Awards and the House of Blues nightclub.

BoxTop was basically the product of Como's desire to get into the Internet business. The money to found the company - about $1 million - came from Wall, a television and special-events producer.

Como caught the computer bug early, he says. Before he was 10, he started playing around with computers. In high school, Como sold computers. After getting a degree in finance from the University of Florida, Como went into the securities business, working for major brokerage houses.

Wanted: Creative kick

Because the financial business didn't satisfy his creative juices, Como says he quit his job in 1992. After thinking about his future for several months, he decided on creating a business around the Internet.

"I didn't know anything about it but I knew that it was going to be big. That it was going to be where the future is," says Como.

Como designed a home page filled with different rock acts, comedians and other entertainers. After that, the calls started coming in from people and companies who were willing to pay him to design a Web site.

The company started in 1993, with Como and two assistants working out of his Hollywood apartment. Wall soon entered the picture, with financing and an extensive background in producing events.

The company's business plan was written by Katersky, who held various positions with financial consulting and real estate firms before joining BoxTop on a full-time basis last year.

To create a Web site will cost a customer at least $150,000, says Como, and will take three or four months to complete. He says one of the biggest problems at the company is educating customers about the complexity of creating Web sites. "They think it can be done in no time," he says.

Because BoxTop got into making Web sites early in a field that is quickly filling up with competitors, it has built up a reputation and gets most of its customers through referrals, says Como.

However, the company is expanding into new industries, like apparel and telecommunications, and plans to become more involved in creating original material for the Internet.

In the future, says Katersky, is the possibility of growth through acquisitions and mergers, or becoming a public company.

RELATED ARTICLE: BoxTop Interactive

Year founded: 1993 No. of employees then: 3 No. of employees now: 35 Revenues then: $75,000 Revenues now: $8 million