BURBANK, CALIF., September 23, 2010 – Building on the success of their digital productions that include the best-selling Watchmen Motion Comics and Terminator The Machinima Series, Warner Premiere today announced it is creating two live-action, multi-platform digital series with top Hollywood talent. Warner Premiere continues to be committed to developing cutting-edge content for a new generation of consumers who fluidly watch content on multiple screens. Both these series capitalize on the flexibility of digital platforms to both present unique stories in short bites, and to also offer viewers additional complementary content that further flushes out the stories’ mythologies and characters’ backgrounds.
The series are being co-financed through an agreement with entertainment industry veteran Dolphin Entertainment who has executive produced hit shows Zoey 101 and Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide. Warner Bros. Digital Distribution and Dolphin Entertainment will work with cable, satellite, broadband and mobile clients for placement and promotional support.
The first titles produced under this agreement will be the futuristic survival tale H + from blockbuster Director / Producer Bryan Singer, and Aim High, the High School action, thriller from multitalented Producer and Director McG.
H +
H+ takes viewers on an episodic two-and-a-half hour, apocalyptic journey into the future where technology has gone horrifically wrong. In 2019, 33% of the world’s population uses a radical new piece of technology – an implanted computer system called H +. This allows a person’s mind and nervous system to be connected to the Internet 24 hours a day.
But that same year, a mysterious and vicious computer virus is released, and within seconds millions of people died — leading to radical changes to the political and social landscape of the planet.
H+ is produced by Director / Producer Bryan Singer (X-Men / Battlestar Galactica) in association with Bad Hat Harry Productions (House). The series comes from the imaginative minds of writers John Cabrera (Gilmore Girls) and Cosimo de Tommaso who also serve as Executive Producers, directed by Stewart Hendler (“Sorority Row”) and produced by Lance Sloane (Yucatan). H + is currently in pre-production and shooting expected to commence by the end of the year.
“I’ve had a great relationship with Warners and I’m looking forward to working with them and Dolphin Entertainment on this project,” said Bryan Singer. “The epic nature of the story combined with its interactive components makes it an ideal web series. In addition, the high cinematic quality of H + will make it viable for other forms of distribution.”
Aim High
“Killing people is easy. High School is hard,” according to lead character Nick Green. Aim High is the story of a young man leading a double life – juggling his studies by day and serving as a government agent by night. This series chronicles the life of Nick Green, a sophomore who’s just starting a new school year as one of the country’s 64 highly trained teenage operatives.
When he’s not handling international spies, Nick is dreaming of Amanda Meyers, the most popular girl in school who’s cool, intelligent and very alluring. Amanda mercilessly flirts with Nick, but before he can enjoy her advances he has to avoid Derek – her overly protective boyfriend who threatens him for even looking at her.
To make things more complicated, Nick just blew a hit on a Russian mercenary and now he’s out to take revenge on Nick. On top of that Nick also discovers he has an “in” with Amanda but his best friend is planning to post a salacious rumor about her on his blog. All in all, it’s going to be a rough semester.
Aim High comes from Director/ Producer McG (Chuck / Charlie’s Angels), Wonderland Sound and Vision, and production services are being provided by Bandito Brothers. Peter Murrieta, who served as Executive Producer for the mega-hit Wizards of Waverly Place is the Executive Producer. The series is written by Heath Corson (Living with Abandon / Scary Godmother) and Richie Keen (Living with Abandon) who also serve as Executive Producers, directed by Thor Freudenthal (Hotel for Dogs/ Diary of a Wimpy Kid) and produced by Lance Sloane (Yucatan). Pre-production is underway and shooting will take place in Los Angeles this October.
“I’m thrilled to take this next step into the digital frontier with Warner Bros. on Aim High; a project that combines the best of comedy, teen angst, and elevated action,” said McG. “While I’ve produced material in this space before, this particular series will consist of longer episodes with multiple derivative stories. The goal here will be for the content to be viewed on a TV screen through an on-demand network as opposed to the free web. This approach is very innovative and exciting.”