Dean Devlin
Electric Entertainment is a hits machine. As a producer, it has created long-running IPs as "The Librarians" or "Leverage", and as distributor, the company, its offer a vast library for global buyers. "I'm addicted to shows that make me feel good", said Dean Devlin, CEO of Electric Entertainment and producer. "The content I make happens to be a little escape from our reality,” he asserted.
That seems to be the secret ingredient of Electric's shows such as the drama series "Leverage: Redemption" (two seasons); the crime series "Almost Paradise" (two seasons); or the fantasy series "The Outpost" (four seasons). “'Almost Paradise' is like the shows we used to watch a long time ago, but it's done in a brand-new and exotic setting, the Philippines," exemplified Devlin.
On the other hand, in the last MIPCOM, Electric Entertainment showcased its new Sci-Fi drama series "The Ark", that will be premiering next year on the SYFY Channel in the U.S . It's really a human drama", affirmed Devlin, who is also the producer of the series. “The Ark” takes place 100 years in the future, when planetary colonization missions have begun as a necessity to help secure the survival of the human race. The first of these missions on a spacecraft known as Ark One encounters a catastrophic event causing massive destruction and loss of life. With more than a year left to go before reaching their target planet, a lack of life-sustaining supplies and loss of leadership, the remaining crew must become the best versions of themselves to stay on course and survive. “It's going to be very appealing because it has very relatable characters, and a lot of action with really cool visuals, cool effects,” he added.
ADAPTING TO THE CHANGES
Electric Entertainment had to know how to adapt to the changes introduced at first, for the streaming services and then, by the Covid pandemic. "We started with an incredibly changing landscape, with the streaming services' disruption that really affected our business, and then we got hit with COVID", Devlin reminded. But, Electric Entertainment was able to shot 54 hours of television and did three TV series during the pandemic. "We had a lot of products to sell when other people didn't have anything", he commented. But also, Electric partners looked at the company as a real reliable partner, that it could provide content, even in a very difficult time. "Since then, not only we are producing our content, but people are asking us to produce their content. So it's a very exciting time to be Electric.”
In the distribution business, the executive said during COVID buyers were frightened to buy, but now they're anxious to buy new content. "A lot of buyers have made offers after the screening of The Ark," asserted Devlin.
FAST OFFER
Electric Entertainment has launched its FAST Channel a year and a half ago and nowadays, it's performing very well. "We launched our FAST channel because we noticed that we had a huge fan base of 'Leverage'; and 'The Librarians', but they weren't necessarily the same people", explained Devlin. "So we thought if we start our own channel and our own app, ElectricNow, maybe we could aggregate them together", he added.
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