Xbox_Entertainment_Studios
Xbox Entertainment Studios
American television and movie studio
Xbox Entertainment Studios was a short-lived American television and movie studio based in Santa Monica, California created internally by Microsoft Studios in 2012, in order to create "interactive television content" for Xbox Live.[2]
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Founded | 2012; 12 years ago (2012) |
| Defunct | October 29, 2014; 9 years ago (2014-10-29)[1] |
| Fate | Closed |
| Headquarters | Santa Monica, California, United States |
Key people | Nancy Tellem (president) |
| Parent | Xbox Game Studios |
On July 17, 2014, Microsoft confirmed that the studio would be closing.[3] On October 29, 2014, both the vice president and the president of the company departed, and the company was officially closed.[1]
At time of closure, Xbox Entertainment Studios was developing their first projects: a documentary about the video game crash of 1983,[4] a science-fiction drama titled Humans and a live action television series based on the Halo franchise in collaboration with film producer Steven Spielberg.[5] Future projects were to have included a remake of the BBC sci-fi series Blake's 7,[6] a reboot of the Canadian children's hospital documentary series Little Miracles, and an autobiographical series about rapper Nas.[7] The studio also intended to co-produce certain live events for Xbox Live, including future editions of the Call of Duty Championship, the Miss Teen USA beauty pageant and the VGX.[8]
Before the closure was announced, the studio released a street soccer focused reality series titled Every Street United to coincide with the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Before closing, it released the video game documentary Atari: Game Over and the series spun off from Halo.[3]
In September 2014, The Hollywood Reporter reported that AMC was in talks to acquire the rights to revive Humans and that casting was underway.[9]
Several years after its closure, it was revealed that the studio were developing additional projects before closing, such as an adult animated series based on the Conker franchise.[10]
Xbox Entertainment Studios developed original films and series in collaboration with a variety of studios:
Series
Films
| Title | Genre | Premiere | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atari: Game Over[11] | Documentary | November 20, 2014 | 66 min. |
Specials
| Title | Genre | Premiere | Format | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonnaroo 2014 Live Festival Experience[12] | Live Music | June 12, 2014 | Special (Live Event) | 72 hrs. |
| Miss Teen USA 2014[13] | Beauty pageant | August 2, 2014 | Special (Live Event) | 120 min. |
Cancelled Series
| Title | Genre | Producer(s) | Director(s) | Premiere | Episodes | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3-2-1 Contact[14] | Educational | Sesame Workshop | 02009TBA | 02009TBA | 02009TBA | |
| A Walk in Your Shoes[14] | Reality | Breakthrough Entertainment | 02009TBA | 02009TBA | 02009TBA | |
| Big Kids[14] | Comedy | 02009TBA | 02009TBA | 02009TBA | ||
| Blake's 7 Remake[15] | Sci-fi-drama | Georgeville TV | Martin Campbell | 02009TBA 2014 | 02009TBA | 02009TBA |
| Conker's Big Break[14] | Adult comedy | 02009TBA | 02009TBA | 02009TBA | ||
| Cro[14] | Edutainment | Sesame Workshop | 02009TBA | 02009TBA | 02009TBA | |
| The Electric Company[14] | Educational | Sesame Workshop | 02009TBA | 02009TBA | 02009TBA | |
| Untitled Halo live-action series[16] | Live-Action | Steven Spielberg | TBA | 02009TBA 2014 | 02009TBA | 02009TBA |
| Humans[17] | Sci-Fi | Kudos | TBA | 02009TBA 2015 | 8 Episodes | 60 min. |
| Little Miracles[14] | Reality | Breakthrough Entertainment | 02009TBA | 02009TBA | 02009TBA | |
| Out There[14] | Teen drama | Sesame Workshop | 02009TBA | 02009TBA | 02009TBA | |
| Sponk![14] | Game show | 02009TBA | 02009TBA | 02009TBA | ||
| Square One[14] | Edutainment | Sesame Workshop | 02009TBA | 02009TBA | 02009 60 min. | |
| Street Dreams [18] | Biography | TBA | TBA | 02009TBA 2014 | 02009TBA | 30 min. |
- Pitcher, Jenna (October 29, 2014). "Xbox Entertainment Studios Reportedly Shuttered as Heads Leave". IGN. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
- Farber, Dan (2013-02-11). "Microsoft's Xbox Entertainment Studio working on interactive TV". CNET. Retrieved 2013-12-20.
- Dawn Chmielewski (17 July 2014). "Microsoft to Shutter Xbox Entertainment Studios (Updated)". Re/code.
- "Xbox Entertainment Studios to Debut Documentary Series Exclusively on Xbox in 2014". xbox.com. 19 December 2013.
- McWhertor, Michael (2013-05-22). "Halo TV series early in development, but Microsoft expects 'dramatic impact on how people think about TV'". Polygon. Retrieved 2013-12-20.
- Sweney, Mark (2013-08-15). "Microsoft to fund Blake's 7 remake for Xbox Live service". The Guardian. Retrieved 2013-12-20.
- Samit Sarkar (11 February 2014). "Report: Xbox Entertainment Studios making TV series based on Nas (update)". Polygon.
- "Xbox Execs Talk Momentum and the Future of TV". Microsoft. 2013-02-11. Retrieved 2013-12-20.
- Goldberg, Lesley (12 September 2014). "AMC Lands Xbox Drama Series 'Humans'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
- "First Documentary Explores Fabled Atari Mystery". Xbox Wire. December 19, 2013. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
- "Xbox and Bonnaroo join forces for a live festival experience". Xbox Wire. February 6, 2014. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
- "Microsoft to fund Blake's 7 remake for Xbox Live service". The Guardian. August 15, 2013. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
- Watercutter, Angela (May 21, 2013). "Steven Spielberg Working on Live-Action Halo Series for Xbox". Wired. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
- "Xbox Entertainment Studios and UK's Channel 4 Partner on Original Drama with Kudos". Xbox Wire. April 7, 2014. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
- "Xbox One is getting a biographical show about Nas, of course". Engadget. February 11, 2014. Retrieved February 14, 2014.