May 25, 2017
Seriously announces the world premiere of “Best Fiends Boot Camp,” the first original Best Fiends animated short
All-Star Voice Cast Featuring Kate Walsh, Mark Hamill and Pamela Adlon in Animation Produced by Reel FX, Creators of “The Book of Life”
Venice, California & Helsinki, Finland – May 25, 2017 – Seriously, a mobile first entertainment company, today announced the world premiere of Best Fiends Boot Camp , the first original animated short from their Best Fiends franchise. The feature film-quality animation, produced by Golden Globe-nominated studio Reel FX , further demonstrates the Best Fiends brand’s potential to be developed into a major entertainment property.
“We have been fortunate to work with some of the best talent in the industry to create a fantastic, hilarious animated experience that further brings the world of Best Fiends to life beyond our first two mobile games,” said Andrew Stalbow, CEO and Co-Founder, Seriously . “Given the audience shift from incumbent media platforms like televisions and movie theaters, we’re focused on building a world on your mobile, with the characters, stories and music you would expect from a Hollywood animated franchise.”
Best Fiends Boot Camp features an all-star voice cast of Kate Walsh ( 13 Reasons Why , Grey’s Anatomy ), Mark Hamill ( Star Wars ), Pamela Adlon ( Better Things , Californication ), David Herman ( Office Space ), Billy West ( Futurama ) and Alan Oppenheimer ( He-Man and the Masters of the Universe , The NeverEnding Story ). The short features full 3D CG animation production by Reel FX, the studio behind The Book of Life and recognized for work on Ice Age, Looney Toons and other top animated properties. Boot Camp’s music is composedby HeitorPereira ( DespicableMe) ,writtenbyE mmy-awardwinningproducerandwriter,J. Stewart Burns ( The Simpsons ), and produced by Emmy-nominated producer, Claudia De La Roca (F uturama).
“This is the second time I’ve worked with Seriously , after our Don’t Download Best Fiends video, which won one of YouTube’s ads of the year for 2016,” said Kate Walsh. “I’ve always been interested in their vision of building an entertainment franchise where the content is directly connected to the fan base. What I love about them is that they put the audience experience first, which I think is reflected in both the game and animation.”
The 3D animated comedic short follows the protagonist Slugs, Hank and Roger, who are excited to join the Slug Army and fight the Fiends. However, after a series of hilarious misadventures, it gradually dawns on them that they are being set up to fail. To complete the mobile experience, a live Boot Camp event will simultaneously be released inside the Best Fiends games, where Hank and Roger will make a special guest appearance.
“When Seriously approached us about working together , I immediately fell in love with the characters, ” said Augusto Schillaci, Director and Sr. Visual Effects Supervisor, Reel FX. “It’s rare that you get a chance to work on a world that has so much potential for comedy, and it’s exciting to launch the short in a different way – straight into a global audience. We can’t wait for fans’ reactions to this.”
With 70 million downloads, and a passionate audience of over 2 million daily players who spend a collective 2 million hours per day in the Best Fiends apps, fans can watch Boot Camp via the Best Fiends apps or on its YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSHEmjhzdno.
Seriously ’s next Best Fiends short, Visit Minutia , will premiere this summer with additional shorts releasing later this year, each complemented with new in-game content.
The company also announced today that Michael Montgomery has joined as an independent Board Member and investor and Ynon Kreiz has joined as an investor. Michael Montgomery was previously President and
CEO of Sega GameWorks, Vice President and Treasurer at the Walt Disney Company and Board Member at Dreamworks. Ynon Kreiz was formerly Chairman and CEO of Fox Kids Europe , Chairman and CEO of Endemol and, most recently, Chairman and CEO of Maker Studios.