Madman Teams With WASTELANDER PANDA For New ABC iView Series

We're big fans of Madman Entertainment here at ScreenAnarchy and now we've got another reason to be. Madman's production division has partnered with Epic Films, ABC TV's iView platform and the South Australian Film Corporation (them's the ones that backed Danger 5!) to create new episodes of the awesome apocalyptic webseries Wastelander Panda.

"Madman Production Company (MPC) is thrilled to be working in partnership with Epic Films. In establishing a production business, a huge part of our remit is to work with the brightest talent on the freshest work, and the team behind WASTELANDER PANDA certainly fits that bill!  It is fantastic that the SAFC and the ABC are investing in the development of the series so that we can resource this phase and ensure that the next steps for WASTELANDER PANDA will build on the great work to date and establish it as an ongoing property." - Nick Batzias, Head of Production, Madman.

"This co-production straight to on-demand is a landmark first for ABC iview. It's a great fit - building on iview as a creative platform for exciting, innovative Australian storytelling." - Arul Baskaran, Controller ABC Multiplatform.

"The SAFC has been a big supporter of the team behind WASTELANDER PANDA since the early days of the project, so we are particularly excited to have Madman and ABC come on board as partners to keep it moving ahead," said SAFC CEO Richard Harris. "We can't wait to see where the team takes the project in its next development phase."

"WASTELANDER PANDA has been through a unique journey online over the past two years, and we are incredibly grateful to our fans, crowdfunding supporters, cast and crew, who have enabled us to bring this story to life.  We are excited to be partnering with Madman, the ABC and the SAFC to develop the next stage of the project, and look forward to extending our existing narrative and taking the story to a wider audience." - Victoria Cocks (Writer/Director) & Kirsty Stark (Producer), Epic Films.

WASTELANDER PANDA is a post-apocalyptic adventure series about the last anthropomorphic pandas of the Wasteland - Arcayus and his estranged brother Isaac. Developed from a rich storyworld, the project has been designed to offer compelling narrative threads across multiple platforms.  The initial short-form web series in development with Madman, the ABC and the SAFC will tell the story of Isaac's life after he leaves the family home; centring around his relationship with Rose, a young human girl whom he raises from childhood.

 

In February 2012, Epic Films released their independently produced WASTELANDER PANDA Prologue online, and within three days, had garnered over 100,000 views. Production then began on three new episodes in late 2012, which were released in late May to a volley of fan excitement, media attention and social media praise from peers such as video game luminaries, Randy Pitchford (BORDERLANDS) and Brian Fargo (FALLOUT, WASTELAND).

Check out the first episode of the previous three-part series below.