Parallel Entertainment and YayBig announced “Dump” was named the winner of the Storyteller’s Initiative at SeriesFest: Season One. “Dump” scriptwriter Reggie Henke will receive a development deal with Parallel and YayBig.
“Dump” is an animated comedy about a vast and fantastic landfill populated by filthy creatures with filthier mouths.
“We were very impressed with all the finalists, but Reggie’s unique voice and freakishly imaginative mind jumped off the page, and it became clear we had something special,” said Liz Bartels of Parallel Entertainment.
Parallel Entertainment and YayBig partnered with SeriesFest for the inaugural Storyteller’s Initiative to discover creative, fresh comedy writers. SeriesFest received hundreds of script submissions, which narrowed to 35 semi-finalists with a group of four finalists competing at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in Downtown Denver on Saturday, June 20. The event included creative workshops with established industry professionals and a reading of their pilot done by professional actors in front of a live audience.
Joining “Dump” in competition was “Delivered,” written by Scott C. Reynolds, and “Eastern Block,“ written by Zack Phillips and Natasha Vaynblat.
Netflix’s subscriber growth is slowing, but its profit and stock price are still surging
Netflix on Thursday reported that its subscriber growth slowed dramatically during the summer, a sign the huge gains from the video-streaming service's crackdown on freeloading viewers is tapering off.
The 5.1 million subscribers that Netflix added during the July-September period represented a 42% decline from the total gained during the same time last year.
Even so, the company's revenue and profit rose at a faster pace than analysts had projected, according to FactSet Research.
Netflix ended September with 282.7 million worldwide subscribers – far more than any other streaming service.
The Los Gatos, California, company earned $2.36 billion, or $5.40 per share, a 41% increase from the same time last year. Revenue climbed 15% from a year ago to $9.82 billion. Netflix management predicted the company's revenue will rise at the same 15% year-over-year pace during the October-December period, slightly than better than analysts have been expecting.
The strong financial performance in the past quarter coupled with the upbeat forecast eclipsed any worries about slowing subscriber growth. Netflix's stock price surged nearly 4% in extended trading after the numbers came out, building upon a more than 40% increase in the company's shares so far this year.
"We had a plan to reaccelerate growth and we delivered on that plan," Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said during a video call discussing the results.
The past quarter's subscriber gains were the lowest posted in any three-month period since the beginning of last year. That drop-off indicates Netflix is shifting to a new phase after reaping the benefits from a ban on the once-rampant practice of sharing account passwords that enabled an estimated 100 million people watch... Read More