MUMBAI: Ex-Disney chief Michael Eisner’s company Vuguru is launching an innovative prequel web and mobile phone series based on G.P. Putnam’s Sons latest novel, Foreign Body from author Robin Cook.
The series will be co-produced by Cyber Group Animation (www.cyber-animation.com) and developed and directed by online entertainment company Big Fantastic (Prom Queen, Sam Has 7 Friends), and is set to debut on 27 May, 2008. This is 10 weeks before the book becomes available worldwide.
For the first time ever, a leading consumer book publishing company and a new media studio will combine resources to marry the best in traditional storytelling with the sky-rocketing popularity of original-based online content. The launch of the web series will air a new episode every day, five days a week, for 10 weeks, leading up to the last installment which will be released on 4 August. On 5 August, G.P. Putnam’s Sons will publish Robin Cook’s new novel Foreign Body.
“By joining forces with bestselling author Robin Cook and pioneers of Internet storytelling Big Fantastic, we have taken the best of two genres to create a web series that will change the traditional publishing and marketing model forever. As the internet continues to evolve, Vuguru remains committed to producing quality content and finding new and exciting ways to enhance the storytelling experience,” said Eisner.
Cook commented, “I’m so happy that my work has brought together my longtime publisher and one of the entertainment industry’s innovative new media companies. My hope is that this web movie series will be a new experience for readers everywhere. It will be really exciting to see my characters come alive online.”
G.P. Putnam’s Sons president Ivan Held said, “It’s very exciting to be collaborating with a media leader and innovator such as Michael Eisner and his extraordinary team on this groundbreaking venture. This marks another step in Putnam’s ongoing efforts to deliver our authors’ stories to an Internet audience and to expand the overall worldwide readership of Robin Cook, one of our master storytellers.”
Cyber Group Animation president Pierre Sissmann added, “Robin Cook is an international brand with loyal readers all over the world and the market is looking for innovative content to distribute on all formats. With this internet series that we will also distribute on TV, we are already shaping the future of content in terms of 360° distribution.”
“We feel privileged that we have been given the opportunity to work with someone like Robin Cook whose prose has inspired and captivated literary audiences’ time and again.” states Douglas Cheney of Big Fantastic.
