Cadence13, an industry-leading premium podcast company, unveiled the first three audio movies under its groundbreaking new scripted studio, C13Features. C13Features is focused on creating and owning compelling fictionalized feature-length audio stories of all genres that appeal to a wide audience. Cadence13 is part of Entercom (NYSE: ETM), who will be supporting each C13Feature with a strategic marketing plan which will make use of its portfolio of radio stations and digital assets that engage 170 million consumers each month.
C13Features marks Cadence13’s initial entry into the scripted podcast space, with the objective of launching an entirely new creative model to give podcast listeners and sponsors, along with buyers in the entertainment business, a brand-new movie-like listening experience. While the podcast space has traditionally used the serialized multi-episode approach, C13Features aims to tighten the storytelling experience with compelling and dramatic creative arcs, and not force listeners to have to wait for more episodes to find out what happens next. C13Features aspires to give listeners gripping stories with a beginning, a middle and an end, all in one feature-length 90-minute episode, for listeners to experience however and whenever they’d like.
Chris Corcoran, Chief Content Officer, Cadence13
From psychological thrillers to horrors to fascinating stories of all genres, C13Features looks to imagine and define what the movie experience can be for the podcast space, while also creating an incubator for a new kind of IP attractive for film and television.
These one-episode original scripted features will be helmed by Hollywood writers, directors, actors, and composers, and feature cinematic sound design and high-end production.
Chris Corcoran, Chief Content Officer and founding partner of Cadence13, created and developed the concept for C13Features, and will serve as Executive Producer for all features, and leads the new studio.
C13Features will release the following audio movies this year:
Treat: When a small, seemingly perfect, town reels from the social turmoil defining modern America, its locals are driven to desperation. Hope presents itself in the form of a mysterious mystical Piper, who uses his powers to transform and protect the town’s prosperity for the next decade. But there’s a price to pay. Every ten years, on Halloween, the Piper and his spooky servants return to collect his payment from the townspeople. On this chilly picturesque Halloween, when the town falls behind on their payment, the Piper comes calling. When a teenage trio find themselves the focus of his wrath, chase ensues into the evening and they must unlock the secret of the Piper’s powers – even if it lies within one of them. Written by Nathan Ballingrud, with Babak Anvari and Lucan Toh of Two & Two Pictures.
Ghostwriter: When Kate Michaels is offered a new project – to ghostwrite an intricate, violent novel about a mysterious killer — she knows it’s the last thing she needs to overcome her crippling anxiety. But she has no choice: she’s broke, isolated, nearly unemployable and the client, an idiosyncratic billionaire, insists she’s the only person he’ll work with. As they collaborate on the book, Kate finds herself growing dependent on her new client and increasingly sure that something is not quite right. As the novel’s plot comes to life, Kate comes to suspect that what they’re writing together isn’t fiction at all — it’s a memoir. When the murderous story she’s ghostwriting begins to blend with her reality, will anyone believe her? Ghostwriter is a cross between Silence of the Lambs and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Written by Alix Sobler, with Best Case Studios.
The Followers: A newly married pair of 20-something social-media influencers are traveling the world on their honeymoon – posing for aspirational photos – when their dream adventure gets interrupted by a pair of strangers following them. Days earlier, the couple had reluctantly, but naively, agreed to promote an online church; their lives are turned upside down from that point on. As they honeymoon through Europe, they are followed by a sinister force that is imitating their photos and framing them for murder. Fearing for their lives and reputations, the couple is forced to conduct their own manic investigation. The Followers tells the story of one couple—stand-ins for an entire generation—who live and die online. A fast-paced thriller that is part Hitchcock, part travelogue, The Followers is a cautionary tale about social media, and the reverse effect of influence. Written by Brett Neichin.
Endeavor Content is working with Cadence13, bringing their experience and relationships to the new slate, as well as maximizing derivative opportunities for the IP across film and television.
“We’ve been disciplined and strategic, finding the right stories, writing, and characters that we feel meet our ambitious creative expectations,” said Chris Corcoran, Chief Content Officer, Cadence13 and Executive Producer, C13Features. “This is an opportunity to bring storytelling to the world in a brand-new, easily digestible experience, to create ‘movies for your ears.’ I can’t wait to bring these first three original audio features to life in this fashion.”
“We are thrilled to be working with world class creative talent to explore a new and exciting way to launch film franchises, together with our partners at Cadence13, bringing premium movies to podcast listeners, and then expanding these worlds across film and television,” said Lorenzo De Maio, Executive Vice President, TV Advisory and Audio, Endeavor Content. “In today’s growing content landscape, this is yet another unique opportunity to bring compelling storytelling to audiences worldwide.”
