Snapchat is adding 10 original shows to its social media platform, ranging from daily entertainment news and docuseries to scripted shows about zombies, teenage drama, sneakerheads, and more. The company announced plans for new content at its first-ever Snap Partner Summit in Los Angeles yesterday. Snapchat maker Snap will monetize the mobile-only originals with six-second unskippable ads.
The new shows include:
- Two Sides (New Form): A young couple navigates a breakup, told from both characters’ points of view at the same time. The scripted series launches in May.
- Commanders (Dakota Pictures): In this comedy, two teenage outcasts discover a retro computer with a mysterious code that can alter real life, which they use to disrupt the social structure of their high school. The scripted series launches in June.
- Untitled BuzzFeed Daily Show (BuzzFeed): BuzzFeed’s daily afternoon show brings viewers the latest celebrity and entertainment moments blowing up the internet, launching this spring.
- Sneakerheads (Indigo Development and Entertainment Arts and EMJAG Productions): The comedy will follow the misadventures of three college freshmen as they navigate the crazy and shady world of Los Angeles sneaker culture. The scripted series launches in June.
- While Black (Indigo Development and Entertainment Arts and Main Event Media): Author, filmmaker, recording artist, and educator MK Asante explores racially charged social issues through candid conversations. The unscripted social commentary show launches this summer.
- Can’t Talk Now (New Form): This teen soap will take place inside the phones of a group of high school freshman BFFs as drama unfolds across group texts, video chats, and social media. The scripted series launches this summer.
- Compton Dreams (October Films): Follow the highs and lows of three up-and-coming artists from Compton as they strive to become the next big name in hip-hop, this docuseries launches this summer.
- Denton’s Death Date (Insurrection Media): Based on the novel by Lance Rubin, this comedy is set in a world where everyone knows the exact day they are going to die. It centers on a high school junior who starts living life to the fullest with a death date only a week away. The scripted series launches in September.
- Stranded with Sam and Colby (Bunim/Murray Productions): A pair of influencers film from a haunted location, and what starts as something fun quickly takes a terrifying turn. The docuseries launches this fall.
- Dead of Night (Bazelevs in association with Hooked): Armed with only her phone, a teenage girl tries to escape a quarantined city full of zombies. It’s shot in ScreenLife, exclusively from the point of view of the smartphone screen, and is based on a Hooked story. Produced by Bazelevs, in association with Hooked, the scripted series launches in October.
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In addition to the new shows, Snap also announced the launch of its gaming platform, with the launch of six new mobile games. Snapchat users can play games within the social media app thanks to the HTML5-based gaming platform. Players can chat with each other in real time via text chat, and talk to each other via voice. Snap built Bitmoji Party, a series of mini-games that use Snapchatters’ Bitmojis as their avatars, which they can use to complete challenges with eight Snapchatters at the same time.
The ads for the games will be integrated on an opt-in basis, in which game developers can offer players a chance to receive boosts or in-game currency in exchange for watching an ad.
Other games available at launch include Alphabear Hustle from Spry Fox, a collaborative take on Words With Friends; C.A.T.S. (Crash Arena Turbo Stars) Drift Race from ZeptoLab, a multiplayer racing game; Snake Squad from Game Closure, a multiplayer, battle-royale game; Tiny Royale from Zynga, a shoot-and-loot battle royale game; and Zombie Rescue Squad from PikPok, a zombie apocalypse game.
https://youtu.be/LWD4mfKx3eE
Photo: Snap
