Blackpills Offers Dose of Digital Originals

Blackpills, a free, ad-based OTT service focused on millennial audiences, has launched an app for iOS and Android devcies that is getting off the ground with 12 original series, with a new show to be released each week.

Blackpills, also available on the web, said it is offering more than 50 shows from talent and creatives that include James Franco, Bryan Singer, Logan Paul, Christian Delgrosso, Zoe Cassavetes, Eric Johnson, and Denise Richards.

Those short-form shows, delivered in 10-minute episodes, focus on topics such as virginity and sexual health, privacy in a digital age, politics and racial diversity.

Examples of originals offered at launch include All Wrong (with Chris Marquette and Brittany Furlan), Duels (with Daniela Delfino and David Brownstein); Junior (directed and created by Zoe Cassavetes, with Lucia Ribisi, Kristin Froseth, Eric Johnson, and Amy Seimetz), and Playground, from Luc Besson), about a a teenage girl joins a school for assassins and uncovers the mystery of her parents’ death.

“We designed Blackpills Media to provide creatives the resources and a new sort of freedom to authentically express themselves.” Patrick Holzman, co-founder of Blackpills, said in a statement. “We’ve created this through our edgy content, fast production time, and native mobile format that attracts a large range of international high-quality talent.”

Blackpills was launched in 2016 by Daniel Marhely, founder of Deezer, and Patrick Holzman, a former EVP of Canal+ International and the co-founder of AlloCiné. It’s funded by French venture capitalist Xavier Niel.

Blackpills said it has greenlit 54 shows to premiere in the app before the end of 2018.