Ben Affleck & Matt Damon to Produce Reality Series The Runner

LOS ANGELES/NORTH HOLLYWOOD: Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have signed on to executive produce The Runner, a reality competition show for Verizon’s go90 platform.

The unscripted adventure show will be produced by Adaptive Studios and Pilgrim Media Group, with Affleck and Damon involved through their Pearl Street Films banner. The Runner sees one individual attempt to make it across the U.S. unnoticed over the course of 30 days, while a team of eight “Chasers,” as well as the entire country, endeavors to locate and capture him or her using all available technology. In addition, go90 users who provide tips, sightings and evidence of the runner’s location are also eligible to win a cash prize. The series is scheduled to launch this summer.

Adaptive Studios’s founding partner Marc Joubert said: “This is an excellent format for a brand-new platform. The Runner is our way of meeting a Millennial audience where they live: on their smartphones and on social media.”

Pilgrim Media Group’s CEO Craig Piligian added: “This show is exactly the kind of series Pilgrim is known for. The Runner integrates real high-stakes competition, live elements, a need for speed, and the ability to fight and persevere. It’s incredibly exciting to produce something this complex, and we’re thrilled to be in business with Matt and Ben, Adaptive, and our partners at go90 to do it.”

“We’ve been busy bringing a lot of original content to go90, but to deliver on an original with this level of interactivity for users excites us,” said Shawn Strickland, the head of product innovation at Verizon. “Go90 is inherently social and producing content that supports those elements of the platform creates a pairing for something unique.”