Freeform Enters the Marvel Universe: Upfront News and Views

Venue Sir Stage 37 at 508 W 37th St for the presentation Hudson Mercantile a block away on 10th Ave for the afterpresentation action amp160Freeform fans gathered outside Sir Stage 37 to welcome their favorite series stars as they arrived by limo amp160Simple auditorium setting there with runway and screen in the center amp160Attendees were seated on the main floor while the stars of Freeform were perched in the ropedoff mezzanineamp160 DisneyABC Television Group president and Disney Media Networks CoChairman Ben Sherwood was among the key Disney and ABC executives taking seats in the front rows amp160Over at Hudson Mercantile the party spanned three floors The ground level was set aside for networking and photo opportunities with the stars from a red carpet on one side or with colleagues inside a quotjunglequot composed of white pieces of string hanging from the ceiling amp160Food stations were found upstairs on the sixth floor where the stars were confined to a VIP section and again in the rooftop penthouse where the stars freely mingled with the rest of usamp160 Gradesamp160 35 Jacks for Sir Stage 37 4 Jacks for Hudson MercantilePresentation amp160After two years of establishing Freeform39s identity as a young adultoriented network distinct from predecessor ABC Family the time to cement that identity with participation from other Disney enterprises is now quotEverything around us has changedquot acknowledged Freeform President Tom Ascheim pictured at top quotThe TV industry the audience how they see what they want to seequotamp160 Series like Beyond Stitchers Shadowhunters and justlaunched Famous in Love demonstrate consistent ability in reaching young adultsamp160 Going forward expect new scripted and unscripted series to double down on that foundation amp160What39s more Ascheim and Disney Ad Sales Executive Vice President Laura Nathanson noted empowering young women and women of color through relatable lead characters and women in charge behind the camera will get increased focus amp160Nathanson reminded the audience that Freeform programming is dominant among young female demographicsamp160 Grade 35 JacksNews amp160Marvel will enter the world of young adultoriented series production next year with liveaction adventureamp160Cloak ampamp Dagger and the animated comedy New Warriors Marvel Television chief Jeff Loeb is pictured above center withamp160Cloak ampamp Dagger stars Olivia Holt and Aubrey Joseph Both series will be coproduced with ABC Studios39 Signature division More comedy will come in early 2018 with Alone Together costarring standup comics Esther Povitsky and Benji Aflalo as best friends in a hostile Los Angeles culture Andy Samberg is the executive producer Alsoamp160Broad City starscreators Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson are developing the cartoon Sticks as another 2018 series attraction On the serious side mermaids will prey on residents of a coastal town in the chilleramp160Siren coming next summer The network will get back into madeforTV moviemaking in a big way withamp160LifeSize 2 see below Angry Angelamp160from Easy A producerdirector Will Gluckamp160and a set of originals inspired by material from People magazine and coproduced with Everywhere Studios The People venture was not announced onstage even though it was featured in the postpresentation press release amp160Grade 4 JacksEditoramp8217s Note Responses from the audience during the Freeform event offered incontrovertible proof that the advertising community and Upfront audiences are indeed getting younger amp160First there was an audible buzz of anticipation when it seemed for a few seconds that Andy Samberg might appear in person to discuss his new comedy project Alone Togetheramp160 But when a video with Samberg played instead there were groans and sighs of disappointment around the roomamp160 Plainly Samberg is huge with Millennialsamp160 Also the audience exploded with happy cheers and applause when it was announced that Freeform will produce a sequel to the 2000 ABC hit movie LifeSizeamp160with Tyra Banks reprising her role as Eve a lifesize living dollHostsamp160 Ascheim and his colleagues left no doubt how enthused they were about the content on display while keeping the pace up amp160Grade 35 JacksStar Timeamp160 From Tyra Banks to the casts of Pretty Little Liars and Famous in Love the Freeform starlight was blinding Plenty of onpoint laughs during opening performance by comedienne Iliza Shlesinger whose new Truth ampamp Iliza talkvariety halfhour debuts on Freeform May 2 at 10 pm ETamp160 One choice quote amp160quotNo one talks to women my age in a fun informative way amp160I39m an elder Millennial at 34 Let me tell you the tale of Snapchatquot Grade 35 JacksCuisine A plentiful lineup of treats all over those Hudson Mercantile rooms Best eats a makeyourown dish featuring sticky white and brown rices tuna salmon garnishes and five dressings from which to chooseamp160 Mine was Asian BBQ pulled chicken inside dim sum buns kale summer roles with a dash of Caesar dressing and open black bean burger bites amp160Worst eats more like good not great truffleflavored grilled cheese appetizeramp160 Grade 45 Jacks amp160Note Cuisine ratings are not included in the overall Jacks scoreData Insightamp160 From Nathanson amp8220This year 94 million people watched over 19 billion minutes of Freeform contentamp160 Editoramp8217s note In other words in the Snapchat shattered attentionspan era every minute counts amp160amp8220Our offerings go beyond our linear telecastsamp160 Our fans donamp8217t just sit back and watchamp160 They watch online they post chat and connect with our shows on a daily basisamp160 Accordingly our digital video views have grown significantly and our social army continues to growamp160 In fact with over 467 million social engagements in 2016 alone we remain the most socially engaged TV networkamp8221 amp160Social media usage among the network39s viewers is up 40 percent over the last year amp160Grade 3 JacksInnovative Opportunity amp160Summer Fling a twoday festival of music pop culture exhibits and celebrityfan gettogethers next summer location and dates to be announced amp160In addition to event participation advertisers can play a role in digitalsocial media coverage of the festival andor a Freeform special on the second nightamp160 Grade 4 JacksOverall Grade 35 Jacksamp160 Wellproduced showcase from start to finish leaving no doubt how Freeform wants to move with both its young adult audience and Disney alliancesEd Martin contributed to this reportNext up National Geographicamp8217s FurtherFrontOur Jacks systemamp160 5 Jacks amp8211 Excellent 4 Jacks Very Good 3 Jacks amp8211 Good 2 Jacks amp8211 Fair 1 Jack amp8211 Poor 0 Jacks Don39t go thereClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this article are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggers

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Freeform Enters the Marvel Universe: Upfront News and Views

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Simon Applebaum

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