BitTorrent has teamed up with Marco Weber‘s Rapid Eye Studios to develop exclusive video content for its BitTorrent Bundle platform, according to a statement published Wednesday on the peer-to-peer file sharing giant’s corporate website. The content will be produced under the BitTorrent Originals banner and targeted at young adults.
Their first project is “Children of the Machine,” a sci-fi series first announced in 2014. The companies also plan to announce additional BitTorrent Originals in coming months.
“This landmark deal with Marco is a major milestone for us and an aggressive expansion into the media space for BitTorrent, Inc.,” Eric Klinker, CEO for BitTorrent, Inc, said in a statement. “Expanding into the world of original content is a move that makes us a serious player in the media business, and takes us another step closer toward our goal: creating a sustainable digital future for creators of all kinds.”
BitTorrent claims to reach 170 million monthly users and Matt Mason, the company’s Chief Content Officer, thinks it gives them a decided edge. “Others in the original content space such as Amazon Prime, Netflix and Hulu have made great progress,” Mason said, “but we are starting out with a big advantage: We have a larger audience than all of those platforms combined.”
“I found it fascinating to watch how BitTorrent has grown into an enormous creative community over the course of the last few years,” Weber, CEO and Founder of Rapid Eye Studios said. “Today they reach more than 170 million people; young, social, influential and tech-savvy. It became obvious to me that original content would add a tremendous amount of value and engagement to the growing BitTorrent Bundle platform.”
Slated for eight hour-long episodes, “Children of the Machine” is planned to launch on BitTorrent Bundle in late 2015 for free under an advertiser-supported model. A premium version of the series will be available later for $9.95, with BitTorrent Bundle planning to shop the product the same way it sold Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke’s album “Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes.”
“Children of the Machine” and all subsequent BitTorrent Originals will be available exclusively via Bundle for the first 30 to 60 days, but after that the North American rights will be turned over to Paradigm.