Sony Pictures Television International and Electric Farm Entertainment to Develop...

Sony Pictures Television International and Electric Farm Entertainment to
Develop and Produce 'Woke Up Dead' and 'Gemini Division'
'Woke Up Dead' is a Multi-Platform Zombie Comedy

CULVER CITY, Calif., April 17 /PRNewswire/-- Sony Pictures Television
International (SPTI) will jointly develop and produce Woke Up Dead, a
cross-platform scripted comedy series, and Gemini Division, a cross-platform
action drama starring Rosario Dawson (Seven Pounds, Sin City), with Electric
Farm Entertainment principals Stan Rogow (Lizzie McGuire, All I Want for
Christmas, Afterworld), Brent Friedman (Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars video
game, Dark Skies, Mortal Kombat 2, Afterworld) and Jeff Sagansky. As part of
the agreement, SPTI will exclusively acquire all international rights over all
media to the projects including television, theatrical and DVD releases,
Internet, digital sell-through, all gaming and mobile rights. NBC Universal
Digital Studio has acquired domestic distribution rights to both series. The
announcement was made today by Marie Jacobson, executive vice president,
programming and production, international networks, SPTI, Keith LeGoy,
executive vice president, distribution, SPTI, and Stan Rogow, CEO, Electric
Farm.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080417/LATH040LOGO)
"SPTI is leading the charge when it comes to sourcing and producing A-list
talent-driven multiplatform projects created for the worldwide market," said
Jacobson. "By getting involved with projects like Woke Up Dead and Gemini
Division at the concept stage, we can tailor the video, web, mobile and gaming
offerings to best suit our international TV, telco and ISP outlets and further
establish SPTI as a home for producers from around the world to collaborate on
distinctive cross-platform initiatives with the upside of massive distribution
across our family-owned stable of networks and third-party partners."
"Andy Kaplan and his team have proven with Afterworld their incredible
ability to take original entertainment and sell it into virtually every
country on a multi-platform basis," said Rogow.
Woke Up Dead is a live-action sci-fi comedy thriller about Drex, a
twenty-something USC student. All in all, things were looking pretty good for
Drex until the morning he woke up dead! Scary, funny and compelling, the
project is a re-imagining of the zombie myth. Drex soon comes to understand
he is not alone and not yet dead.
Gemini Division is an action drama starring Rosario Dawson as a New York
City detective whose investigations into the murder of her husband uncover a
global conspiracy involving the creation and infiltration of genetically
fabricated life forms into everyday society. The series will feature a
combination of live-action and stop-motion animation elements.
Woke Up Dead and Gemini Division are SPTI's second and third
multi-platform series with Electric Farm. In a related announcement today,
both Woke Up Dead and Gemini Division became the first two projects to be
acquired for domestic digital distribution by NBC Universal Digital Studio,
the newly formed digital division of NBC Universal. Both series are slated to
debut on NBC.com later this year.
In 2007, SPTI acquired all international rights to Afterworld, a
multi-platform series which was nominated for the 2008 Global Mobile Award
"Best Mobile Video Service" and a 2008 Webby Award for Best Dramatic Series.
Afterworld has launched or is currently being deployed in Asia, Europe,
Canada, Australia and Latin America in multiplatform deals with mobile
operators, ISPs and broadcasters.
Internationally, the Woke Up Dead and Gemini Division packages will
include 50 x 3 minute episodes, fully immersive destination websites and
numerous made-for-mobile components, including downloadable and
subscription-based mobile games, which fulfill the 'dedicated content for
dedicated platforms' promise which drives all of SPTI's digital acquisitions
and commissions. The episodes will also be made available as six broadcast
half-hours, featuring new and original content designed to drive broadcast
consumption.
Demonstrating SPTI's continued commitment to interactive and immersive
entertainment, Woke Up Dead and Gemini Division will each have dedicated web
content including archived episodes, character blogs and journal entries,
wallpapers, online games and other emerging forms of digital and interactive
content.
About Sony Pictures Television International
Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI) is the division of Sony
Pictures Entertainment (SPE) responsible for all television business outside
of the United States. SPTI operates three complementary lines of business:
1) distribution of SPE's feature films and television programming to
television, mobile and digital content delivery outlets around the world, 2)
local television production in key international markets, and 3) international
television networks. In addition to being a leader in the distribution of
current and classic U.S. and international films and television product
worldwide, SPTI produces high profile, locally produced television in local
languages. With dedicated offices in France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Miami
(Latin America), the People's Republic of China, Russia, Spain and the United
Kingdom, SPTI currently oversees production in nine regions of the world and
is the leader in international television production among all major Hollywood
studios. SPTI's worldwide television networks portfolio is a key strategy in
the SPE's long-range commitment to the global marketplace, with over 50
networks in more than 130 countries reaching over 300 million viewers
worldwide. SPTI is a Sony Pictures Entertainment company.
About Electric Farm Entertainment
Electric Farm Entertainment is a digital studio for the development of
intellectual properties across multiple platforms. The company principals are
Stan Rogow, Brent Friedman and Jeff Sagansky, who together created the
revolutionary online series "Afterworld." Rogow has produced some of the most
successful series targeted at the youth audience, including The Disney
Channel's "Lizzie McGuire," Discovery/Kids' "Darcy's Wild Life" and "Flight 29
Down." The long list of credits also include NBC's "Shannon's Deal," the
critically acclaimed show that was nominated by the Television Critics
Association for the "best show of the year," the CBS series "Middle Ages" and
"South of Sunset" and the UPN series "Nowhere Man." Friedman wrote the
feature "Mortal Kombat: Annihilation" based on the best-selling video game and
his current projects include "Godzilla 3-D!," an original 3-D Imax project and
"Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars," a sci-fi/action videogame. He also
recently served as co-executive producer on 44 episodes of the UPN drama
series "The Twilight Zone" and created, wrote and/or co-wrote 12 episodes and
served as supervising producer of the sci-fi series "Dark Skies" for Columbia
Television, which aired for a full season on NBC. Jeffrey Sagansky was
recently named Co-Chairman of the Board of Peace Arch Entertainment Group Inc.
Jeffrey, who has been CEO, CBS Entertainment; Co-President, Sony Pictures
Entertainment; President, TriStar Pictures; SVP/Programming, NBC; and CEO,
Paxson Communications, will serve on Peace Arch's Board along with the
company's former Chairman and now Co-Chairman, Drew Craig.
Contacts:
Ron Sato
Sony Pictures Television International
+1 310 244 4687
ron_sato@spe.sony.com

Gabriella Alaimo Thomas
Sony Pictures Television International
+1 310 244 3538
Gabriella_alaimo@spe.sony.com

SOURCE Sony Pictures Television International

Ron Sato, +1-310-244-4687, ron_sato@spe.sony.com, or Gabriella Alaimo Thomas,
+1-310-244-3538, Gabriella_alaimo@spe.sony.com, both of Sony Pictures
Television International