Hawai‘i Web Series Lands Licensing Deal

Creative Lab Hawaii – Web-Series Immersive Fellow, Dee McBride, lands a licensing deal on her Web-Series, “Paradise Justice.” Courtesy photo.

The Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism’s (DBEDT) Creative Industries Division (CID) applauds web-series co-creator and executive producer, Dee McBride, a current Creative Lab Hawai‘i – Web-Series Immersive fellow, and her husband/partner Shawn McBride, for landing a licensing deal on their scripted web-series titled, “Paradise Justice,” with Seeka.TV — a new web-series distribution platform and company.

The edgy crime-dramedy series is about a group of detectives working the vice beat in Honolulu and is populated with local actors, writers and crew.

“Participating in Creative Lab Hawai‘i – Web-Series Immersive helped us re-conceive our web-series by applying what we learned in the program,” said Dee McBride. “The coaching that I received in the immersive program from Hannah Cheeseman (Actor, Executive Producer, Co-Creator of the award-winning web-series, “Whatever, Linda”) and the ongoing training and development we are receiving from Executive Director of Creative Lab Hawai‘i, Michael Palmieri, has helped us get to this point and land this deal.”

Vice President of Programming for Seeka.TV, George Reese, says, “Paradise Justice attracted us because it has been created with a high level of artistic and technical quality. In addition, the team has done a wonderful job of leveraging the beauty of Hawai‘i. We are excited to have them in our launch lineup.”

“Dee’s involvement in the program has helped us shift the way in which we do business – as creators, executive producers, and as business people,” says Shawn McBride. “We are incredibly grateful for the State of Hawai‘i, Creative Industries Division, and the U.S. Commerce Department’s Economic Development Agency for their commitment to creative entrepreneurs in the state.”

“It’s exciting to see all the success stories coming out of our Creative Lab Hawai‘i program,” said DBEDT Director, Luis P. Salaveria. “The state remains committed to growing our innovation economy, which will create new job opportunities here in Hawai‘i.”

Georja Skinner, chief officer, CID, and founder of the CLH Program added: “We continue to link our creative entrepreneurs with industry decision-makers and it’s gratifying to see Hawai‘i’s knowledge-based economy growing and thriving.”

Creative Lab Hawai‘i’s Executive Director, Michael Palmieri, said, “We are thrilled for Dee and Shawn McBride, as well as the whole cast and crew of “Paradise Justice.” We are happy to hear that our program has made a significant contribution to them in landing this deal. We look forward to seeing the McBride’s next web-series that they are developing in our program, a dramedy titled, “Surfing Re-Booted,” in which they have partnered with another Creative Lab Hawai‘i – Web-Series Immersive fellow and surfing legend, Dan Moore, who is also executive producing.”

Supporting entrepreneurs in the film and media industry is an important part of building a creative innovation sector that generates new job opportunities. DBEDT’s Creative Lab Hawai‘i program and the HI Growth Initiative’s GVS Transmedia Accelerator (www.gvsaccelerator.com) program provide resources to help Hawai‘i’s creative entrepreneurs in media achieve success in a commercial marketplace.

More information and photos of the 2016 Creative Lab Hawai‘i Web-Series Immersive program and participants may be viewed here.

Creative Lab Hawai‘i is still accepting applications for 2017:

Writers Immersive (March 13 – March 17, 2017)

Producers Immersive (March 20 – March 24, 2017)

Deadline for Writers Immersive and Producers Immersive: December 23, 2016

Web-Series Immersive (June 05 – June 09, 2017)

Animation Immersive (June 12 – June 16, 2017)

Deadline for Web-Series Immersive and Animation Immersive: March 31, 2017

For additional information on registration and submission guidelines visit Creative Lab’s website or email the program.