Machinima Is Ready to Own the Comic and Gamer Audience
When it comes to digital content for die-hard millennial fans of gaming, comics and other geek-out subjects, Machinima is one of the top purveyors in the space. However, even though it was one of the early multi-channel networks, leadership changes and contract issues led to criticism and negative perception.
Machinima CEO Chad Gutstein wants advertisers to know that’s not the case anymore. According to the multi-channel network, its top four series have generated the equivalent of 1,000 years of viewership. It’s currently the ninth largest digital platform in the U.S. and the second largest on YouTube. And over the last 12 months, it has experienced a 60 percent increase in monthly viewership.
“Machinima is back,” Gutstein said at the company’s NewFronts presentation in New York today.
To reiterate that point, Machinima announced a slate of upcoming series with iconic partners including DC Entertainment and Bunim/Murray Productions, as well as creators like Clive Barker and Roberto Orci. Shows include:
- The Heroes Project – DC Entertainment, Blue Ribbon Content and Machinima are teaming up to find the next creator for DC Comics. The reality TV series will follow eight contestants as they try to create a live-action short based on DC Comics’ Starman. DC Entertainment chief creative officer Geoff Johns will be one of the judges.
- #4Hero – Machinima is adapting DC Comics’ Dial H for Hero, a series about a young woman who finds a special smartphone that gives her superpowers for a limited amount of time, depending on what’s trending on social media.
- Clive Barker’s Creepy Pasta – The horror king will retell modern-day, viral urban legends such as Jeff the Killer, Slender Man and Ben Drowned in a new live-action short-film series.
- RoboCops – The Web series, based on the 1987 film rather than the reboot, will follow RoboCop officers in Delta City as they respond to calls for help.
- Happy Wheels – The animated series based on the comically morbid game of the same name will chronicle the tales of several characters on their way to their impending and brutal deaths. The series is co-produced by the digital division of Bunim/Murray Productions (Keeping Up With the Kardashians, The Real World).
- High School 51 – Roberto Orci’s (Transformers, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Star Trek) new series follows the trials and tribulations of 16-year-old Alex Valencia, the only human attending Dream Lake High School, located in the heart of Area 51.
“We are the stewards of a massive community of gamer, comic and hero fans,” Gutstein said. “It matters because fandom and gaming are much more than an affinity for pop culture. It’s a unique cultural shift that connects the millennial generation.”
Read more: http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/machinima-ready-own-comic-and-gamer-communities-164516
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