CULVER CITY, CA – Wizard World, one of the country’s largest producers of fan conventions, with over 500,000 visitors each year, has teamed up with Sony Pictures Entertainment to find the next generation of movies as well as to engage in a number of strategic initiatives. Wizard World and Sony Pictures will option and develop original IP.
Wizard World attracts many of the country’s top artists and story creators as a showcase for their original work. Under the new deal, Sony Pictures and Wizard World will jointly discover top talent, optioning their work to incubate and develop these stories into various media.
“We are always looking for new ways to find that next generation of great IP,” says Jonathan Kadin, executive vice president of production for Sony Pictures, who will be involved in developing the new projects. “This deal gives us unique access to the incredible talent that Wizard World can bring to the table, putting us in a prime position to find the stories that break through the clutter.”
John D. Maatta, CEO of Wizard World, says, “Sony Pictures Entertainment is uniquely aligned as a studio with dominance in the motion picture, television, and electronics spaces. As Wizard World expands into a full spectrum media company from our roots in live exhibition, the partnership with Sony Pictures allows for an exceptional array of new opportunities and initiatives across many business extensions. It also creates a new and powerful voice in the pop culture.”