Academy Award(R) winners Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are teaming with Adaptive Studios (Project Greenlight) and Pilgrim Media Group (Zombie House Flipping) to launch "The Runner" - the first original, high-concept, broadcast-quality competition series to become available on mobile-first social-entertainment platform, go90.
The announcement was made today by Affleck, Damon, Adaptive Studios founding partners Marc Joubert and Perrin Chiles, and Pilgrim Media Group CEO Craig Piligian.
Affleck and Damon executive produce through their company Pearl Street Films. Adaptive Studios' Joubert and Chiles serve as executive producers alongside Pilgrim Media Group's Craig Piligian and Mike Nichols. The series was packaged by WME.
"The Runner" is a groundbreaking new reality competition series in which one individual attempts to make it across the United States unnoticed over the course of 30 days, while the entire country endeavors to locate and capture him or her using all available technology. At stake is a million dollars - not only for the Runner, but also for the chase teams, or "Chasers," who are part of the show format as well. In addition, go90 users who provide tips, sightings and evidence of the Runner's location are also eligible to win big money. The series is scheduled to launch this summer.
Said Joubert, "This is an excellent format for a brand new platform. 'The Runner' is our way of meeting a Millennial audience where they live - on their smartphones and on social media."
Added Piligian, "This show is exactly the kind of series Pilgrim is known for. 'The Runner' integrates real high-stakes competition, live elements, a need for speed, and the ability to fight and persevere. It's incredibly exciting to produce something this complex, and we're thrilled to be in business with Matt and Ben, Adaptive, and our partners at go90 to do it."
"We've been busy bringing a lot of original content to go90, but to deliver on an original with this level of interactivity for users excites us," said Shawn Strickland,Head of Product Innovation at Verizon. "Go90 is inherently social and producing content that supports those elements of the platform creates a pairing for something unique."
Casting for "The Runner" is currently underway. For more information visit
www.therunnercasting.com.
About "The Runner" On a quest to make it from coast to coast over a 30-day period, the chosen "Runner" receives clues that determine his or her itinerary, including specific mandated checkpoints. At the same time, the game includes "Chasers" - eight two-person teams equipped with mobile devices that also receive clues - who try to track the Runner's moves and swoop in to make a capture before the next checkpoint is reached. In an epic twist, all of America can play along and provide tips and information that can help capture the Runner for big cash rewards. Real-time video updates are provided on go90 throughout the game, with multiple updates released each day. People at home can play along in real time regardless of their proximity to the Runner.
About Adaptive Studios Adaptive Studios is a pioneering media studio focused on the acquisition and development of intellectual property across all platforms. Sourcing material through partners including studios, talent agencies, management companies and production houses, as well as in-house, Adaptive creates and produces film, television, books and graphic novels, and digital entertainment - focusing on whichever platform best fits the story. Adaptive produced the highly acclaimed
PROJECT GREENLIGHT for
HBO and recently launched
PROJECT GREENLIGHT Digital Studios, through which it is actively "greenlighting" an expanding slate of new digital series with emerging filmmakers. The company also announced plans to bring its latest novel, DC TRIP, written by comedian and author Sara Benincasa, to the big screen alongside Van Toffler's new studio, Gunpowder & Sky, and with Bona Fide Productions. Adaptive Books, the publishing imprint of Adaptive Studios, has released 10 titles to date and will publish an average of 10 books and graphic novels annually. For more information visitwww.adaptivestudios.com.
About Pearl Street Films Pearl Street Films is a Los Angeles-based film and television production company. Founded by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, PSF provides filmmakers with a creative home for making television and film across budgets and genres. Recently, Pearl Street produced season four of its Emmy(R) nominated
PROJECT GREENLIGHT for HBO, the filmmaking documentary series Affleck and Damon originated in 2001. Pearl Street Films has just completed production on the feature film LIVE BY NIGHT. Affleck adapted the Dennis Lehane novel, in which he also starred and directed.
About Pilgrim Media Group Craig Piligian's Pilgrim Media Group, a Lionsgate company, produces a wide variety of unscripted and scripted programming for television, including Fast N' Loud,
STREET OUTLAWS and
MISFIT GARAGE for Discovery;
MY BIG FAT FABULOUS LIFE for TLC; NAACP Award-winner Welcome to Sweetie Pie's for OWN; Ghost Brothers for Destination America;
GHOST HUNTERS for Syfy;
BRING IT! and Step It Up! for Lifetime; David Tutera's CELEBrations for WE tv;
WICKED TUNA and
WICKED TUNA: OUTER BANKS for National Geographic Channel; and
MISSING IN ALASKA for History. Pilgrim also produces FYI talk show series Kocktails with Khloé, hosted by Khloé Kardashian, and The Runner, with Executive Producers Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, for go90. In the scripted realm, Pilgrim produces for
FreeForm the freshman series Recovery Road. The company's original movies for Lifetime include Amanda Knox: Murder On Trial In Italy; Abducted: The Carlina White Story, which earned a 2012 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing In A Motion Picture; and the crime thriller Stalkers. For more, check outpilgrimstudios.com.
About go90 go90 is a free, mobile-first, social entertainment platform that makes it easy and fun to discover, enjoy and share great content. Available on iOS and Android, go90 is part of the Verizon Communications family of companies. Built for the next generation, go90 brings together networks, distributors, creators, audiences and brands to deliver great experiences for the next generation. For more, check out go90.com.
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