Upfront 2013: Syfy & Chiller
Syfy and Chiller President Dave Howe has announced a new programming slate featuring Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx executive producing, writing and directing a horror anthology series, a trio of new reality series, and 19 scripted and reality development projects. Here’s a look at what’s coming up.
Reality series:
- Joe Rogan Questions Everything (wt), premiering Tuesday, July 16 at 9p, centers on paranormal mystery-addict Joe Rogan, who ventures into unknown worlds to search for answers to life’s most startling theories. Production company: A. Smith & Co.
- Cosworld (wt), premiering Tuesday, August 27 at 10p, is a six-episode docuseries that lifts the veil on the imaginative world of cosplay competition. Production company: 51 Minds, an Endemol Company.
- Fandemonium (wt), which debuts in fall 2013, celebrates the often misunderstood, and fascinating fan girl and fan boy culture. Production company: 495 Productions.
Scripted series:
- An untitled Jamie Foxx project, premiering in October, will be in the vein of Tales from the Crypt and The Twilight Zone. Studio: Universal Cable Productions.
- A team of scientists investigates a possible disease outbreak in an Arctic research facility and find themselves trying to protect the world from annihilation in Helix.Production company: Lynda Obst Pictures & Tall Ship Productions.
Pilots:
- High Moon explores what happens when the countries of Earth establish colonies to mine the Moon’s resources and discover a new form of life. Universal Cable Productions will serve as the studio.
- Long form development project Ringworld is a four-hour mini-series based on the Hugo Award-winning novel by Larry Niven, while Childhood’s End is based on the Arthur C. Clarke novel.
Nine new scripted series in development include No Place, in which Syfy joins forces with Fox Television Studios, director/producer Robert Zemeckis, producers Jack Rapke and Jackie Levine, and feature film writing team John Brancato and Michael Ferris. The show centers on residents of a high-tech gated community, who awaken one morning to find themselves cut off from the rest of reality. Only one man has contact with the powers responsible for what is known as The Rift, and he must lead his fellow residents beyond the void to discover the truth. Circle of Confusion and Top Cow will produce the project.
Eight new reality series in development include The Jim Henson Creature Shop, which will give aspiring creature makers the opportunity to win the job of a lifetime: an apprenticeship with the Creature Shop.
Two long form scripted developments: Eyes of the Dragon (Universal Cable Productions and Ostar Productions), based on Stephen King’s best-selling novel, and Darkfall (The Jim Henson Company and Universal Cable Productions), which explores what happens when modern forms of power and technology become a thing of the past.
