CSI Creator to Release Cybergeddon on Yahoo!

LOS ANGELES: Anthony Zuiker, the creator of the CSI franchise, and his production company Dare to Pass are working with Yahoo! on a new motion-picture event, Cybergeddon.

Casting and production have officially started on this project, which will bring to life the growing threat of cybercrime. The motion-picture event is executive produced by Zuiker, along with Matthew Weinberg, the president of Dare to Pass, and Bill O’Dowd, the CEO of Dolphin Studios. Dolphin Digital Media is backing the project.

Cybergeddon is set to launch globally, first on Yahoo! this fall as a series of installments.

"Cybergeddon is the evolution of the crime genre,” said Zuiker. “Through an invaluable partnership with Norton and embracing the forward-thinking vision of Dolphin Entertainment, Cybergeddon will be a motion-picture event released through Yahoo!’s global online distribution. Instead of opening ‘wide’ at 5,000 screens, Cybergeddon has the potential to premiere on 50 million online screens all over the world at the same time. This global distribution model is the future of storytelling with unprecedented scale."

“We’re thrilled to bring a concept like Cybergeddon to our audience. Anthony is one of the most prolific and successful storytellers in Hollywood and there is no better home for Cybergeddon than Yahoo!,” added Erin McPherson, the VP and head of video at Yahoo!. “Together we have the opportunity to bring this compelling and cutting-edge story exclusively to our users and do it in a way that entertains and informs through an engaging and immersive experience that will truly bring Cybergeddon to life."

“When you think about what HBO did for television and what Netflix did for video rentals, they were trailblazers of their time," commented O’Dowd. “By bringing together a group of visionaries such as Anthony, Yahoo!, Dolphin, CAA and Norton, you can expect that Cybergeddon is going to break new ground for how consumers experience entertainment around the world and across multiple platforms.”

“People learn through storytelling and our partnership with Anthony Zuiker in the production of Cybergeddon allows us to reach new audiences in a fresh way,” stated Sally Jenkins, the VP of worldwide consumer marketing at Symantec. “Through entertainment and dramatization, Cybergeddon will illuminate the serious issue of how our constantly connected lives can be vulnerable to cybercrime, breaches of online privacy and theft.”