Sony Pictures Television International and Electric Farm Entertainment to Develop and Produce 'Woke Up Dead' and 'Gemini Division'

Sony Pictures Television International and Electric Farm Entertainment to Develop and Produce 'Woke Up Dead' and 'Gemini Division'

'Woke Up Dead' is a Multi-Platform Zombie Comedy

'Gemini Division' is a Multi-Platform Conspiracy Action Drama Starring Rosario Dawson

SPTI Holds All International Rights to Both Series

NBC Universal Digital Studio Takes U.S.

CULVER CITY, Calif., April 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI) will jointly develop and produce Woke Up Dead, a cross-platform scripted comedy series, and Gemini Division, a cross-platform action drama starring Rosario Dawson (Seven Pounds, Sin City), with Electric Farm Entertainment principals Stan Rogow (Lizzie McGuire, All I Want for Christmas, Afterworld), Brent Friedman (Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars video game, Dark Skies, Mortal Kombat 2, Afterworld) and Jeff Sagansky. As part of the agreement, SPTI will exclusively acquire all international rights over all media to the projects including television, theatrical and DVD releases, Internet, digital sell-through, all gaming and mobile rights. NBC Universal Digital Studio has acquired domestic distribution rights to both series. The announcement was made today by Marie Jacobson, executive vice president, programming and production, international networks, SPTI, Keith LeGoy, executive vice president, distribution, SPTI, and Stan Rogow, CEO, Electric Farm.

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"SPTI is leading the charge when it comes to sourcing and producing A-list talent-driven multiplatform projects created for the worldwide market," said Jacobson. "By getting involved with projects like Woke Up Dead and Gemini Division at the concept stage, we can tailor the video, web, mobile and gaming offerings to best suit our international TV, telco and ISP outlets and further establish SPTI as a home for producers from around the world to collaborate on distinctive cross-platform initiatives with the upside of massive distribution across our family-owned stable of networks and third-party partners."

"Andy Kaplan and his team have proven with Afterworld their incredible ability to take original entertainment and sell it into virtually every country on a multi-platform basis," said Rogow.

Woke Up Dead is a live-action sci-fi comedy thriller about Drex, a twenty-something USC student. All in all, things were looking pretty good for Drex until the morning he woke up dead! Scary, funny and compelling, the project is a re-imagining of the zombie myth. Drex soon comes to understand he is not alone and not yet dead.

Gemini Division is an action drama starring Rosario Dawson as a New York City detective whose investigations into the murder of her husband uncover a global conspiracy involving the creation and infiltration of genetically fabricated life forms into everyday society. The series will feature a combination of live-action and stop-motion animation elements.

Woke Up Dead and Gemini Division are SPTI's second and third multi-platform series with Electric Farm. In a related announcement today, both Woke Up Dead and Gemini Division became the first two projects to be acquired for domestic digital distribution by NBC Universal Digital Studio, the newly formed digital division of NBC Universal. Both series are slated to debut on NBC.com later this year.

In 2007, SPTI acquired all international rights to Afterworld, a multi-platform series which was nominated for the 2008 Global Mobile Award "Best Mobile Video Service" and a 2008 Webby Award for Best Dramatic Series. Afterworld has launched or is currently being deployed in Asia, Europe, Canada, Australia and Latin America in multiplatform deals with mobile operators, ISPs and broadcasters.

Internationally, the Woke Up Dead and Gemini Division packages will include 50 x 3 minute episodes, fully immersive destination websites and numerous made-for-mobile components, including downloadable and subscription-based mobile games, which fulfill the 'dedicated content for dedicated platforms' promise which drives all of SPTI's digital acquisitions and commissions. The episodes will also be made available as six broadcast half-hours, featuring new and original content designed to drive broadcast consumption.

Demonstrating SPTI's continued commitment to interactive and immersive entertainment, Woke Up Dead and Gemini Division will each have dedicated web content including archived episodes, character blogs and journal entries, wallpapers, online games and other emerging forms of digital and interactive content.

About Sony Pictures Television International

Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI) is the division of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) responsible for all television business outside of the United States. SPTI operates three complementary lines of business: 1) distribution of SPE's feature films and television programming to television, mobile and digital content delivery outlets around the world, 2) local television production in key international markets, and 3) international television networks. In addition to being a leader in the distribution of current and classic U.S. and international films and television product worldwide, SPTI produces high profile, locally produced television in local languages. With dedicated offices in France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Miami (Latin America), the People's Republic of China, Russia, Spain and the United Kingdom, SPTI currently oversees production in nine regions of the world and is the leader in international television production among all major Hollywood studios. SPTI's worldwide television networks portfolio is a key strategy in the SPE's long-range commitment to the global marketplace, with over 50 networks in more than 130 countries reaching over 300 million viewers worldwide. SPTI is a Sony Pictures Entertainment company.

About Electric Farm Entertainment

Electric Farm Entertainment is a digital studio for the development of intellectual properties across multiple platforms. The company principals are Stan Rogow, Brent Friedman and Jeff Sagansky, who together created the revolutionary online series "Afterworld." Rogow has produced some of the most successful series targeted at the youth audience, including The Disney Channel's "Lizzie McGuire," Discovery/Kids' "Darcy's Wild Life" and "Flight 29 Down." The long list of credits also include NBC's "Shannon's Deal," the critically acclaimed show that was nominated by the Television Critics Association for the "best show of the year," the CBS series "Middle Ages" and "South of Sunset" and the UPN series "Nowhere Man." Friedman wrote the feature "Mortal Kombat: Annihilation" based on the best-selling video game and his current projects include "Godzilla 3-D!," an original 3-D Imax project and "Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars," a sci-fi/action videogame. He also recently served as co-executive producer on 44 episodes of the UPN drama series "The Twilight Zone" and created, wrote and/or co-wrote 12 episodes and served as supervising producer of the sci-fi series "Dark Skies" for Columbia Television, which aired for a full season on NBC. Jeffrey Sagansky was recently named Co-Chairman of the Board of Peace Arch Entertainment Group Inc. Jeffrey, who has been CEO, CBS Entertainment; Co-President, Sony Pictures Entertainment; President, TriStar Pictures; SVP/Programming, NBC; and CEO, Paxson Communications, will serve on Peace Arch's Board along with the company's former Chairman and now Co-Chairman, Drew Craig.

Contacts:
Ron Sato
Sony Pictures Television International
+1 310 244 4687
ron_sato@spe.sony.com

Gabriella Alaimo Thomas
Sony Pictures Television International
+1 310 244 3538
Gabriella_alaimo@spe.sony.com

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

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Source: Sony Pictures Television International

CONTACT: Ron Sato, +1-310-244-4687, ron_sato@spe.sony.com, or Gabriella
Alaimo Thomas, +1-310-244-3538, Gabriella_alaimo@spe.sony.com, both of Sony
Pictures Television International

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