A rainy day didn’t dampen spirits at NYC’s 620 Loft & Garden Wednesday night (cocktail, anyone?), as Syfy celebrated a slew of announcements after its Upfront.
The net’s new scripted development slate includes adaptations of graphic novels Clone (government conspiracy) and Letter 44 (alien construction project), and book series The Magicians, about a fantasy world that threatens Earth. Unscripted fare (all wt) includes social experiment Adam + Eve, survival show Alive and Alone, high-stakes business show Billion Dollar Club, workplace-set Family Affects, game show Geeks Who Drink and anthology The End Is Near.
Graphic novel Pax Romana, about a time travel clash, and avenging samurai drama Ronin, based on the DC comic book series, will be developed as miniseries.
Sharks won’t take a bite out of the Big Apple until this summer, but Syfy has gone ahead and ordered Sharknado 3 for summer 2015. The Asylum’s Sharknado 2: The Second one premieres Wednesday, July 30 at 9p.
Also ordered: Comedic docuseries Town of the Living Dead (wt), following a small town trying to make their own zombie movie, premieres Tuesday, October 7 at 10p. Ten-ep Killjoys, about interplanetary bounty hunters, debuts in 2015.
Syfy Digital announced social and second screen storytelling initiatives, including a game-to-TV Avatar joining the cast of the hit series Defiance; Syfy Now, debuting on Android phones and tablets this summer, an interactive handbook for new drama Dominion, and a new web experience for Syfy Sync for Sharknado 2 and Defiance.
Also coming up: Syfy’s first original digital comedy series, Underlings. “Today we think about digital as a core part of our content experience, rather than a companion part,” said EVP, marketing, digital and global brand strategy Michael Engleman. “Our storytelling strategy rests on three pillars: enabling greater participation so that fans can influence content and programming, extending the ‘first screen’ story to provide a deeper, richer narrative experience, and, lastly, providing greater access to what goes on behind the scenes. The net result is a more multi-screen brand of storytelling for a fan base that absolutely craves it.”
