BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Friday, April 13th will strike fear in YouTube as BlackBoxTV – the highly anticipated premium channel from CSI: creator Anthony E. Zuiker, in collaboration with director Tony E. Valenzuela and Collective Digital Studio – will officially launch at YouTube.com/BlackBoxTV.
Part of YouTube’s premium programming strategy, BlackBoxTV will present the best in horror, thriller and sci-fi online programming. The new channel will build upon the cult favorite BlackBoxTV anthology online series from the twisted mind of director Tony E. Valenzuela with an array of signature series that will introduce new content on a regular basis. BlackBoxTV will launch with the following chilling programming line-up:
- BlackBoxTV – Tony E. Valenzuela’s original BlackBoxTV: Silverwood series returns – re-imagined and expanded with true spine-tingling stories that offer a mixture of self-contained horror, suspense and psychological thrills, often ending with an unexpected twist. Each 12-15 minute episode will take fans to the chilling town of Silverwood for pulse-pounding adventures. “The Door” will kick off the BlackBox TV channel at 10:00 AM Pacific on April 13th.
- Anthony E. Zuiker Presents – This anthology series will feature 10-15 minute episodes developed from the mastermind behind the CSI: franchise. One episode will be released each month. Production was recently completed on “Execution Style,” a story about three highly-skilled assassins who clash over which of them took down a five million dollar target. The episode was directed by Lexi Alexander (Punisher: War Zone).
- Black Friday – Entertainment Tonight meets Attack of the Show for the horror/sci-fi set. Hosted by three rotating correspondents, this broadcast magazine format series will explore genre pop culture (TV, film, music, etc). New episodes will debut each Friday starting in the month of April.
- True Stories – A thrilling reality series focused on the scary and supernatural, including sleepovers in real haunted houses and exploring frightening places.
An impressive stable of talent, both behind and in front of the camera, have already signed on to be a part of BlackBoxTV programming. Talent includes Bill Bellamy (How To Be A Player, Lottery Ticket and Oliver Stone’s Any Given Sunday), Goran Visnjic (‘ER,’ Pan Am, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Drake Bell (Nickelodeon’s Drake & Josh, Superhero Movie), Justin Deeley (90210), Yvonne Zima (Daisy Carter in The Young and the Restless), Rene Auberjonois (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Boston Legal, Saving Grace) and Jordan Hinson (A Very Harold & Kumar 3-D Christmas).
Helmers include Peter Winther (co-produced The Patriot, Godzilla and directed the TV movie The Librarian: Quest for the Spear) and Lexi Alexander (Academy Award winning short Johnny Flynton, Green Street Hooligans and Punisher: War Zone).
"Online is not a new medium, it's a movement and without a doubt, the future of storytelling," said Zuiker. "With their new channels, YouTube is giving content creators more than just a platform, they are giving us the creative freedom—a playground—to do all of the things we have been yearning to do. Because of this, we are excited about the opportunity to create premium programming that features great talent and breaks new ground for a YouTube channel."
"I believe now, as I did when I uploaded my first short film in 2007, that YouTube offers filmmakers an amazing place to showcase their work and share their stories,” said Valenzuela. “I am extremely excited to jump into this next phase of BlackBoxTV with my new partners and the talent to deliver the best Sci-Fi, Horror and Thriller content to the web."
Michael Green, CEO of The Collective who through its Collective Digital Studio is co-producing and marketing the channel, added, “Collective Digital Studios is constantly looking to develop new opportunities and pairing Anthony and Tony on YouTube was an attractive proposition. With a proven track record in creating content that resonates with viewers, we have attracted a diverse cross section of actors and directors for this new slate of programming that is compelling and action packed. We are confident that BlackBoxTV will be the ultimate destination on the Web for genre content for both creative artists and their fans.”
President of Production Matthew Weinberg will oversee the initiative for Dare to Pass, reaching out to the industry to work directly with talent. Dare to Pass most recently completed production on the cyber-bridges for Zuiker's third Level 26 Digi-novel, Dark Revelations that will be published by Dutton on December 29, 2011.
YouTube recently began rolling out its new offering of premium channels of which BlackBoxTV is one. Well-known personalities and content producers from TV, film, music, news, and sports, as well as some of the most innovative new media companies in the world and some of YouTube’s own existing partners, will launch new, advertising-supported channels for YouTube’s worldwide audience.
For more information go to www.blackboxtelevision.com/.
About Anthony E. Zuiker
Anthony E. Zuiker is one of the most creative and multifaceted individuals working in Hollywood today. He is the creator of television’s hugely successful CSI franchise, and in July of 2011, Zuiker, and his production company, Dare to Pass, signed a three-year first-look deal with ABC Studios. In addition to expanding his film and television efforts, Zuiker continues to delve into the worlds of gaming, publishing and cross-platform storytelling. He is a pioneer of the “Digi-novel” genre and author of the Level 26 series published by Dutton/Penguin Group, and the final book in the series, Dark Revelations, was released in December of 2011. Around that same time, Zuiker also released a personal memoir, MR. CSI: How a Vegas Dreamer Made a Killing in Hollywood, One Body at a Time, published by Harper Collins. Zuiker is repped by Brillstein and CAA.
About Tony E. Valenzuela
Tony E. Valenzuela began his career in entertainment as a songwriter and recording artist for the music publisher BMG, where he created a catalogue of over 200 songs while touring, recording and living in Europe. At this time he also began to create and design web sites and digital artwork for his own band and for others. He subsequently served as a graphic designer and art director for the television network UPN and then its parent network CBS. His award-winning print campaigns and key art for "Veronica Mars," "CSI: Miami," "The Grammys" and others eventually led to his becoming a Creative Director (on the agency side) for CBS. After designing a handful of shows and interactive experiences for ABC.com in 2007, Tony decided to develop shows of his own for YouTube. His first venture into episodic web content, "2009 A True Story," earned him a Streamy nomination (Best Dramatic Series), millions of views and the honor of being selected as one of Wes Craven’s top 10 horror directors during Wes’s stint as an editor for YouTube in 2008. Following on the heels of "2009’s" success, Tony directed "Harper's Globe," an online episodic web companion to John Turtletaub's critically acclaimed TV show "Harper's Island" (CBS). He followed “Harper’s” with "Green Eyed World," a reality and music based web series created for the Coca-Cola brand Sprite. This award winning web series was the first on YouTube to incorporate Facebook connect and iTunes interaction directly into its videos and main channel. Tony's latest venture into online story-telling, "BlackBoxTV" is currently the #1 most-subscribed genre channel on YouTube. Valenzuela is repped by The Collective.
About Collective Digital Studio
Collective Digital Studio (CDS) is the online content division of leading entertainment management company The Collective. An industry leader in the production and distribution of digital content, CDS offers artists a full range of creative solutions to help them identify, develop and maximize opportunities across multiple platforms, and boasts some of the top content channels on the Internet, including The Annoying Orange, FreddieW, Fred, iJustine and Megan and Liz. CDS produces the original Yahoo! Web series “In the Dressing Room” with Cat Deeley, the host of “So You Think You Can Dance,” and the celebrity talk show “Figgle Chat” featuring Lucas Cruikshank AKA Fred. CDS is in the process of rolling out a Fred animated series produced by Kate Boutilier and Eryk Casemiro (“Rugrats” and “Wild Thornberries”), and “Video Game High School,” a new feature length original web series from FreddieW creators Freddie Wong and Brandon Laatsch.