MAKER STUDIOS’ POLARIS AND ‘HUNTSMAN’

SCREENWRITER EVAN DAUGHERTY

REIMAGINE SUPER MARIO BROS.

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Four New Short Films Debut on Polaris this Week

LOS ANGELES – November 14, 2013 – Video game fans can now experience Super Mario Bros.’ Mushroom Kingdom from the unique perspective of screenwriter and director, Evan Daugherty.  Maker Studios’ collaborative gaming and geek culture network Polaris (www.youtube.com/polaris), and Daugherty, screenwriter of the 2012 fantasy/action film Snow White and the Huntsman, today announced the release of The Four Players, four new short films, each one reimagining a different character from Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. franchise.  The first two films, The Fixer (Mario) and The Addict (Luigi) will debut on Polaris beginning today, with The Star (Princess Peach) and The Soldier (Toad) being released tomorrow.

Watch the first two shorts here:

·         The Fixer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBRVSdwpjzo

·         The Addict: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPRK1ZW8Y3U

Focusing on the four playable characters from Super Mario Bros. 2; Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and Toad, the films offer a grounded, dark and grittier treatment similar to Daugherty’s work in Snow White and the Huntsman.

“Making these short films gave me a chance to really ‘do my own thing,’ while having a little fun treating one of my favorite video game properties with a darker vibe,” said Daugherty.  “I had been kicking around the idea for years before I was even working in the industry, so to finally be able to share these films with fans on Polaris is a very exciting thing.”

Dar Nothaft, Vice President and general manager of Polaris, Maker Studios continued, “Polaris’ community of savvy, gaming creator-fans is the perfect audience for The Four Players.  Not only is Evan’s unique take on these four iconic video game characters visually amazing, there are tons of Easter eggs that reward you every time you re-watch these imaginative videos.”

In addition to PewDiePie and The Yogscast, Polaris also features top gaming talent such as; Dodger, the #1 female gamer on YouTube; Toby Turner; as well as GameGrumps, Markiplier, HuskyStarCraft, TotalBiscuit, and more.  Polaris recently announced the addition of new channels on its network including Captain Sparklez, Jide of KSIOlajidebt, Ali-A and Mitch aka TheBajanCanadian.  Each of the channels are in the YouTube top 100.  The four channels together account for over 150 million views per month, and over 13 million subscribers.  The Polaris channel serves as a hub for a broad network, which attracts more than 1 billion+ views a month across 500+ top channels.

Daugherty, whose credits include Paramount’s summer 2014 release of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Divergent, an adaption of Veronica Roth’s best-selling young adult book, continues to stay busy working on a variety of projects.  He is currently writing G.I. Joe 3 for Paramount, scheduled for release sometime in 2015, as well as adapting Victor Hugo’s classic novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, into a limited event series for ABC called Esmeralda.

About Polaris:

Polaris is a geek culture network powered by the best and biggest gamers on YouTube. Polaris represents every flavor of fandom, from 8-bit nostalgia to first-person shooters, and from superhero fanatics to anime lovers. The network’s innovative programming is a celebration of gaming and geek culture, featuring editorial coverage on the stories that matter to its audience. The Polaris channel serves as a hub for a broad network (formerly The Game Station, TGS), which attracts 1 billion+ views a month across 500+ top channels. To learn more, visit http://www.youtube.com/Polaris

About Maker Studios:

Maker Studios is a next-generation media and technology company and the world’s largest provider of online video content for millennials. Maker Studios has more than 4.5 billion monthly video views and 340 million subscribers, including 40% viewership on mobile, and 80% of the coveted millennial audience. The company is home to many of online video’s top digital stars and content including the all-time most-subscribed YouTube personality PewDiePie, KassemG, Nice Peter and EpicLLOYD’s “Epic Rap Battles of History,” the Shaytards, Snoop Dogg’s WestFestTV, The Yogscast, The Gregory Brothers, Bad Lip Reading, Toby Turner and Mike Tompkins, among many others. The Maker Network also includes Blip, a leading digital media company that develops and distributes original web series. Maker Studios is headquartered in Culver City, Calif.

About Evan Daugherty:

Evan Daugherty attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, studying filmmaking and screenwriting.  Evan’s first produced film, Snow White and the Huntsman, was released in the Summer of 2012 and won the weekend, going on to gross more than 400 million worldwide.  Evan wrote the film as a college student at NYU almost ten years ago, and in 2010, his screenplay created a bidding war, becoming one of the biggest studio spec sales in years.  Soon to be released are an adaption of Veronica Roth’s best-selling young adult book, Divergent, for Summit-Lionsgate in March of 2014, as well as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for Paramount in the summer of 2014.  Evan is also writing GI Joe 3 for Paramount, scheduled for release sometime in 2015.  In television, Evan is currently adapting Victor Hugo’s classic novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, into a limited event series for ABC called Esmeralda. Evan is represented by UTA and Benderspink.