‘Don’t Walk Home Alone After Dark’ Horror YouTube Channel Gets Series Adaptation From Mercury Filmworks, La Chouette Compagnie (EXCLUSIVE)
Ottawa-based Mercury Filmworks, producer of Netflix’s Annie and Emmy-winning animated series “Hilda,” and France’s La Chouette Compagnie (“Droners”) are teaming to develop, produce and distribute the new original horror-suspense anthology series “Don’t Walk Home Alone After Dark.”
Mercury Filmworks will present the project to potential global media partners at Mipcom later this month.
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Now in development, the 2D-animated series is based on the popular YouTube channel of the same name. Despite having released only half a dozen shorts so far, the channel boasts over 200,000 subscribers and more than 9 million views. The short “I Think My Step-Dad’s a Werewolf” (pictured above) has more than 4.6 million views.
Aimed at teenage and YA audiences, the project was created by Emmy-winning “Hilda” producer and director Andy Coyle, who will helm the “Don’t Walk Home Alone After Dark” series adaptation. Inspired by horror traditions and conventions, the anthology series features modern folk tales that frequently touch on coming-of-age themes that will be familiar to its intended audience.
Like the YouTube channel, the series will blend podcast and lo-fi YouTube content to create episodes that can be watched, listened to or both. Although each episode will feature a stand-alone story, they will share a larger narrative universe that can be enjoyed as a whole or bit by bit and feature plenty of Easter eggs for keen-eyed viewers.
According to Mercury VP, Original Series & Co-Productions Chantal Ling: “Andy’s distinctive creative vision brings a fresh and electrifying twist to the horror genre. Having worked alongside him on ‘Hilda,’ we know firsthand his remarkable ability to blend heart and suspense seamlessly. This anthology series will not only thrill existing fans of the YouTube shorts but also captivate new audiences around the globe with its unique storytelling. Whether watching or listening, we’re eager to expand on the series’ established fanbase and share these spine-tingling tales with viewers everywhere.”
La Chouetter Compagnie CEO Mariam Hachmi added: “Don’t Walk Home Alone After Dark’ promises to be a fun ride for fans of the horror genre with each episode delivering a new tale, and we look forward to working with Andy and the team at Mercury to make this an epic series that will appeal to teen audiences around the world.”
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