KCP Loft Options Publishing Rights for Canadian Web Series Carmilla

KCP Loft, the new young adult imprint of Kids Can Press, has optioned world publishing rights for the award-winning Canadian digital series Carmilla.

The book project is slated for publication in spring 2019. Carmilla is a 108×5-minute scripted digital series that puts a modern spin on the cult classic gothic vampire novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. Carmilla follows the adventures of university student Laura Hollis, whose world is turned upside down after a vampire named Carmilla Karnstein moves into her dorm room.

The book project was announced by Lisa Lyons Johnston, the president of Kids Can Press, at the Los Angeles launch of the debut list from KCP Loft. Carmilla is available on Shaftesbury’s YouTube channel KindaTV and has generated more than 69 million views since its launch in 2014. The series is produced by Shaftesbury’s digital studio Smokebomb Entertainment and its branded entertainment agency shift2, in partnership with executive producer U by Kotex. Principal photography was completed recently on a feature-length film, Carmilla The Movie, which is slated for release this fall.

“This is an exciting and notable acquisition for KCP Loft,” said Lyons Johnston of Kids Can Press, part of the Corus Entertainment family. “We introduced the YA imprint with the intention of seeking out content from both traditional publishing marketplaces as well as from innovative, emerging platforms. We are proud to partner with Shaftesbury to transform Carmilla into a hotly anticipated best-selling novel for the legions of fans around the world that this original web series has attracted.”

“We are thrilled to enter into a partnership with Kids Can Press to expand the world of Carmilla and to offer fans of the series and the soon-to-be-released feature film another opportunity to engage with characters who mean so much to them,” said Christina Jennings, the chairman and CEO of Shaftesbury. “Over the past three years, we have seen the audience of Carmilla grow at an exponential rate and become an international phenomenon—and this phenomenon is showing no signs of slowing down. We are very excited to continue to branch out and build up this brand.”