Dark Horse Renews With Universal Cable Productions -- Announces New Projects

Press Release

On the heels of their “Umbrella Academy” series pick-up on Netflix, Universal Cable Productions and Dark Horse Entertainment have renewed their first-look deal to continue developing and producing scripted programming from the distinguished publisher’s comic book library, as well as new original material. UCP continues to roll out its impressive genre development slate with Dark Horse Entertainment’s “Mind MGMT,” from Matt Kindt, to be developed for TV by Dan Cerone (“The Blacklist”); “Flutter” based on Jennie Wood's acclaimed LGBTQ comic, being adapted by Katherine Lindberg and Marc Rosen (“Sense8”); “Tanis,” based on the hit podcast, to be developed by Lee Shipman (“The Son”) and Terry Miles, creator of the podcast, and produced by Sam Raimi (“Evil Dead”) and Debbie Liebling (“South Park”) through their company POD 3; and “The Bright Sessions” being adapted for television by Gabrielle G. Stanton (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “The Flash”) and the creator and star of the podcast, Lauren Shippen.

“Dark Horse Entertainment is a comic mastermind with deep knowledge of the genre and an expertise in developing content” said Dawn Olmstead, Executive Vice President of Development, Universal Cable Productions. “We’re excited to continue to partner with Mike Richardson and Keith Goldberg as we kick off our series Umbrella Academy on Netflix and shepherd the many adaptions we have set up around town."

“Dark Horse is proud to continue its partnership with Universal Cable Productions. Our companies have worked together closely with great success. We have some exciting projects in the works and couldn’t be happier about continuing the relationship,” said Mike Richardson, President of Dark Horse Entertainment.

UCP and Dark Horse are developing the popular graphic novel from New York Times Best-seller and artist Matt Kindt “Mind MGMT,” which will be adapted for television by Dan Cerone (“The Blacklist”). The series follows a true crime writer searching for the truth behind a mysterious airline flight who discovers a secret government agency of spies with psychic abilities. Henry Lyme, the former top agent, has gone rogue and is working to investigate and dismantle the organization.

“Flutter,” is based on the critically acclaimed, award-winning LGBTQ graphic novel series created and written by Jennie Wood with art by Jeff McComsey, published by 215 Ink, about a teenage shapeshifter who turns herself into a boy to get the straight girl that she has a crush on. Katherine Lindberg and Marc Rosen (“Sense8") are writing the television adaptation.

Additionally, UCP and Dark Horse are developing two podcasts for television:

“Tanis,” is based on the serialized, bi-weekly podcast. The series follows Nic Silver on his search to unravel what he thinks might be the last great mystery of the internet age. “Tanis” is what happens when the lines of science and fiction start to blur. Lee Shipman (“The Son”) is attached to adapt with podcast creator Terry Miles. Sam Raimi (“Evil Dead”) and Debbie Liebling (“South Park”) will produce through their company POD 3, along with Dark Horse.

“The Bright Sessions,” is a science fiction drama that follows a mysterious therapist and her unique set of patients, each struggling with a supernatural ability. Created and written by Lauren Shippen, the podcast has been downloaded over 6 million times in under 2 years and was widely recognized as one of the best podcasts of 2016. The development for television is being written by Gabrielle G. Stanton (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “The Flash”) and Shippen.

The studio and publisher previously announced the active development of “Harrow County,” based on the comic book written by Cullen Bunn (“The Damned,” “The Sixth Gun”) and illustrated by Tyler Crook (“Bad Blood”), and the Eisner award-winning “Concrete” from comic legend Paul Chadwick.

“Mind MGMT,” “Flutter," “Tanis” and “The Bright Sessions” are the latest additions to UCP’s impressive genre development slate, including two projects from John Carpenter’s recently announced overall deal “Tales for a Halloween Night” for SYFY and “Nightside.”  In addition to the recent series pick-up of “Umbrella Academy” on Netflix with Dark Horse, UCP is currently in various stages of production and script development on a range of series including: “Happy!” for SYFY; “The Sinner,” “Damnation,” and “Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G” for USA Network; “The Purge” for USA Network and SYFY; “All That Glitters” for Bravo; and “Impulse” for YouTube Red.