Netflix takes a trip to ‘Murder Mountain’ in true-crime series
Woody Woodpecker is back
LOS ANGELES, Nov 24, (RTRS): Netflix has picked up “Murder Mountain,” a truecrime murder-mystery documentary series from the team behind “Man on Wire” and “LA 92.” The six-part series examines a series of murders that took place in a remote California community.
The Lightbox-produced series bowed on US cable net Fuse earlier this year. Netflix will launch it globally, including the US, as an original on Dec 28.
The series is set in Humboldt County, California, where marijuana is the dominant local industry, and dozens of people have gone missing in the last few years – more than any other county in California.
“Murder Mountain” focuses on the disappearance of 29-year-old Garret Rodriguez in 2013. The investigation into his whereabouts, the producers said, exposes “a wild, lawless place.” The series shows Humboldt’s marijuana farms, both legal and illegal, and the farmers and dealers associated with the industry.
“’Murder Mountain’ is a riveting tale about vigilante justice and outlaw culture in a lawless community that resembles America’s Wild West past,” said Jonathan and Simon Chinn, series exec producers and co-founders of Lightbox.
The series is a co-production by Netflix and digital network Fusion. Stephen Neely and Matt Testa are also exec producing. Joshua Zeman directs. “The series pulls back the curtain on a secret world few of us know anything about, with a cast of real-life isolationists, outlaws, vigilantes and other unforgettable characters,” the Chinns added.
Universal Pictures Intl has teamed with Universal 1440 Entertainment to create a new 10-episode series of Woody Woodpecker, directed by
The series, comprised of five-minute episodes, will play next month on the Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish and English-language YouTube channels dedicated to Woody Woodpecker. The channels launched a year ago.
In addition, a 13-minute documentary has been created to complement the new cartoons, “Bird Gone Wild: The Woody Woodpecker Story.” The docu goes behind the scenes with the makers of the new toons and takes a look back at the origins of the crazy bird. The documentary will also be available on the YouTube channels in December.
“When we launched Woody Woodpecker on YouTube in 2017, the channels immediately resonated and the dedicated Portuguese channel for Brazil was a breakout hit; we knew there was a unique opportunity to do more with this favorite, classic character,” commented EVP, International New Media, NBCUniversal Global Distribution.
The Brazilian channel has attracted more than two million subscribers and the Spanish channel more than 700,000, Bell said.
Given this success, “coupled with extremely high engagement and watch time,” Bell said, “it was clear there was an appetite to build upon the strength of the existing IP and a strategic opportunity for us to create original content.”
Viewers of the Woody Woodpecker YouTube channels can already access hundreds of videos, including the classic Woody adventures created by Productions from 1940-1972, and the modern seasons created after 1999.
“Woody Woodpecker is my favorite impish trickster,” said Zamm. “It was an incredible honor to take a legacy character like this and create a whole new series of cartoons for him to star in. And it was also great to be able to include many of Walter Lantz’s other beloved characters.”
ABC has passed on moving forward with the proposed spinoff of family comedy “The Middle” revolving around Sue Heck character.
ABC shot a pilot and had been developing “Sue in the City” as a potential followup to Warner Bros TV’s “The Middle,” which wrapped its nine-season run earlier this year. The spinoff was penned by “Middle” creators and
ABC confirmed the decision Wednesday afternoon.
The decision comes as ABC and other networks are poised to make a slew of development decisions for the 2019-20 development cycle. ABC is in the midst of an executive transition as entertainment president Channing Dungey has stepped down and will be succeeded by formerly a top programming executive at Freeform and NBC.
Sher’s character was a fan-favorite. “Sue in the City” was set to follow her adventures as a young adult after leaving her small fictional town of Orson, Ind, where “Middle” was set, for a new life in Chicago.
ABC will not be picking up additional episodes of crime dramedy “Take Two,” Variety has confirmed. The show, which starred and premiered in June and concluded its 13-episode first season in September. “Take Two” came from “Castle” creators
and and received a straight-to-series order at ABC last November. The series paired up Bilson’s Sam Swift, a former star of a hit cop series, with Cibrian’s Eddie Valetik, a private investigator. Sam turned to Eddie to research a potential comeback role after a stint at rehab, and Eddie realized the disgraced actress’ skills and experience may serve as a valuable asset.
The series was one of the lowest-rated series of the summer season, averaging a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic, according to Nielsen.
The procedural also starred
and Miller and Marlowe wrote and executive produced, along with fellow executive producers and The series was produced by ABC Studios, Tandem Productions, StudioCanal, and Milmar Pictures.