Neil LaBute to Create Short Films for DirecTV

EL SEGUNDO: DirecTV has entered into a partnership with the award-winning screenwriter Neil LaBute (The Shape of Things, In the Company of Men) to produce a set of ten short films that will air exclusively on the Audience Network.

The pact sees LaBute writing, directing and producing ten stand-alone stories. Production is scheduled for this month and the films will begin airing later in the fall. This is DirecTV's second collaboration with LaBute, who previously wrote the upcoming limited series Full Circle.

"I'm very excited to move forward on this new project, and there is not a better home than DirecTV for an ambitious series like this," said LaBute. "Although I am incredibly proud of my scripts for Full Circle, I was disappointed I was not available to be a part of the production. That fact drove home for me how important it is, from an artistic standpoint, to roll up my sleeves and immerse myself in all aspects of the creative process on television."

"We are thrilled to share these new films with our customers and are proud that Neil has chosen DirecTV as the first place to write, produce and direct his own material," said Chris Long, the senior VP of original content and production at DirecTV. "The films will be produced with a true auteur model; we're striving for the least possible distance between the artist's vision and the final product."