Ben Affleck, Matt Damon to Develop Competition Series for go90

Actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon will team with with Adaptive Studios and Pilgrim Media Group to launch a new competition series to run on Verizon's mobile-first video service, go90.

The series, The Runner, will depict an individual’s attempts to make it across the United States unnoticed over the course of 30 days while eluding technology being used to track his or her whereabouts, said company officials.

The series, scheduled to launch this summer, will allow go90 users who provide tips, sightings and evidence of the Runner’s location are also eligible to win big money.

“We’ve been busy bringing a lot of original content to go90, but to deliver on an original with this level of interactivity for users excites us,” said Shawn Strickland, head of product innovation at Verizon in a statement. “Go90 is inherently social and producing content that supports those elements of the platform creates a pairing for something unique.” 

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.