Backed by “Purge” producer Jason Blum’s company Blumhouse Productions and “Hostel” director Eli Roth, the company (Crypt TV) has focused on making content that is typically less than three minutes in duration. This year, the fruits of their labor have added up to over 250 pieces of original content.

 

The network was created to fill a gap in the kind of viral videos being made. Most of the content, the partners observed, was humorous, and there was very little to scratch a macabre itch.

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“We were looking at the evolving digital landscape and everyone wanted to make short-form content for the phone, but no one was tapping into the genre space,” said Jack Davis, Crypt TV’s co-founder and CEO. “So it became almost a challenge of how do we scare someone in 15 seconds.”

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Davis and Roth say that they’ve been able to build a loyal following in recent months — the service attracts 15 million views and has over 1 million Facebook fans. They believe that this street cred and this ability to communicate directly with audiences between the ages of 18 and 25 years old, who are not as easy to reach on television, will help them appeal to studio and consumer partners. They’ve already helped do some promotional work for studios, assisting on the marketing of “The Visit,” a low-budget horror film that Blum produced.

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“We are creating characters and universes that live entirely in a digital world,” said Roth. “We see this as something separate from what we do on film or TV, but the key is still to create great characters and mythologies that people can get obsessed with.”

Although Blum maintains one of the busiest production hubs in Hollywood, fielding low-budget horror films such as “Insidious” and “Ouija,” he is adamant that Crypt TV isn’t some sort of minor league team tasked with fielding characters and ideas that can be expanded into feature length productions.

“This isn’t some IP factory,” said Blum. “What I was passionate about and what I was interested in discovering is what is scary on a telephone and how long does this content need to be in order to work?”

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The founders say they’ve been heartened by the response, and there’s evidence that some people are beginning to view Crypt TV as a destination in and of itself. Some fans are developing their own Facebook groups to share Crypt content and there are videos of people getting tattoos with the Crypt logo.

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“We see ourselves as the place for the next generations of geeks and nerds, for the freaks and the weirdos, the outcasts and the outsiders,” said Davis.

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Source: Variety.com

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Credits:

Director: Jaz Kalkat

Producer: Tom Morris

Production Coordinator: Elise Morris

DP/Camera Man: Brooks Ludwick

Camera Assistant: Cameron Riddles

Movie Tech: Grant Duncan

Sound Master: Chris Claypool
Makeup Artist: Sheila Mia Selfi
Editor: Tyler MacIntyre
Gaffer: Gordon Yould

Cast:
Sheriff: Peterson Wade
Occula: Mair Mulroney
Megan: Raven Perez