Defy Media is getting into game shows. The digital media company has teamed up with Emmy Award-winning producer Andrew Golder, via its television production and management division Generate, to create game shows aimed at digital millennials.
Golder has executive produced and co-created a variety of hit game show content for television, including the CW’s Penn & Teller: Fool Us and Comedy Central’s late-’90s series Win Ben Stein’s Money (which pulled in several Daytime Emmys over the course of its run). Under his deal with Defy Media, the producer will develop at least four new game show concepts over the course of a year for distribution across the media company’s digital network, with the option of moving to other outlets like TV and over-the-top platforms.
Defy’s new agreement with Golder is an extension of a pre-existing relationship between the producer and Jared Hoffman, President of Defy’s Generate branch and executive producer for AMC’s The Walking Dead digital series. Previously, Hoffman and Golder worked together on an original game format dubbed Camera Roll; game manufacturer Endless Games licensed the format and distributes Camera Roll online and through retailers such as Target and Toys “R” Us.
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“We’re thrilled to partner with a producer of Andrew’s caliber to create programming in a genre where he has seen such success,” said Keith Richman, President of Defy Media, in a release. “Combined with the television development and production expertise of our Generate team, and the power of DEFY’s digital and social networks, we are confident we can create compelling game formats and build a significant audience and momentum around them.”
“This is a great opportunity to expand game formats cross-platform and turn the traditional model on its head a bit,” added Golder. “There’s great value in the ability to introduce new programming in the digital space and have that immediate response from viewers. I’m excited to approach the development process in this way and look forward to working with DEFY and Generate to build on exciting concepts that will appeal to younger audiences and migrate to other platforms.”
Golder and Hoffman will start production on the first game show for Defy, tentatively called Crazy Smart, in fall 2015. The two entertainment creatives will tap both Defy’s digital creator network as well as Generate’s talent list to help cast the upcoming shows.
Defy Media currently reaches more than 125 million viewers per month across all its social, web, and mobile platforms.
