Breathed to Co-Write and Executive-Produce Project
SAN DIEGO, CA (February 15, 2022) –Acclaimed comic strip Bloom County, created and written by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, screenwriter, producer and children’s book author Berkeley Breathed, is being developed as an animated series by FOX Entertainment, its Emmy Award-winning animation studio, Bento Box Entertainment, Miramax, Spyglass Media Group and Project X Entertainment.
Co-written and executive-produced by Breathed, Bloom County centers on a collapsed lawyer, a lobotomized cat and a penguin in briefs and fruit headwear living in the world’s last boarding house in the world’s most forgotten place deep in the dandelion wilds of FlyWayWayOver country. To wit, today’s America at a glance. Bento Box will serve as the animation studio on the project. Miramax, Spyglass and Project X will also executive-produce.
Bloom County originated from Breathed’s first published comic strip, The Academia Waltz, which appeared in his student newspaper, The Daily Texan. The comic strip soon got the attention of editors at The Washington Post, who recruited Breathed to do a nationally syndicated strip. Bloom County made its debut in 1980, appearing in more than 1,200 newspapers worldwide, until its end in 1989. Shortly after, Breathed started strips Outland and Opus, which both featured Bloom County characters. In 2015, Breathed started posting new Bloom County strips via Facebook on an almost daily basis.
Regarding the announcement, Breathed said, “At the end of Alien, we watched cuddly Sigourney Weaver go down for a long peaceful snooze in cryogenic hyper-sleep after getting chased around by a saliva-spewing maniac, only to be wakened decades later into a world STUFFED with far worse. FOX and I have done the identical thing to Opus and the rest of the Bloom County gang, may they forgive us.”
“I was introduced to the brilliance of Berkeley Breathed and Bloom County as a teenager. His signature blend of satire, politics and sentiment hooked me. Plus, I love Opus,” added Michael Thorn, President of Entertainment, of FOX Entertainment. “Today, Berkeley’s smart and hilarious take on American culture is more relevant than ever. And, together with Bento Box, we’re thrilled to bring his unique ensemble of characters and social commentary to broadcast television.”
Breathed is a cartoonist and children's book author, best known for his comic strips Bloom County, Outland and Opus. He’s also a screenwriter, production designer and producer on films going back 30 years. His most recent project is the film production of his own story, HITPIG!, from Aniventure, due this year.
Breathed started his career drawing editorial cartoons for the Austin American-Statesman. While a student at the University of Texas, Breathed self-published his first comic strip, ultimately leading to the creation of Bloom County, which earned him the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1987. Breathed continued on to produce ten children's picture books. Two were made into animated films, and another was made into the 2011 motion-capture film Mars Needs Moms.
About FOX Entertainment
FOX Entertainment’s 30-year legacy of innovative, hit programming includes 9-1-1, 9-1-1: Lone Star, The Masked Singer, LEGO Masters, The Simpsons, Empire, 24, The X-Files and American Idol. Delivering high-quality scripted, non-scripted, animation, live content and major sports, FOX won the 2020-2021 broadcast season, marking the second consecutive season it ranked #1. In addition to its broadcast network, FOX Entertainment oversees the operations of FOX Alternative Entertainment, its in-house unscripted studio that produces The Masked Singer, I Can See Your Voice and Name That Tune, among other series; the award-winning animation studio Bento Box Entertainment, which produces animated content for FOX, including the Emmy Award-winning hit Bob's Burgers and new series Duncanville, The Great North and Housebroken, as well as programming for other broadcast, streaming and cable platforms; and Blockchain Creative Labs, a new business and creative unit formed in 2021 by FOX Entertainment and Bento Box, to build, launch, manage and sell Non-Fungible Token (NFT) content and experiences, and fungible tokens, as well as digital goods and assets. FOX Entertainment also recently formed the production venture Studio Ramsay Global, in partnership with award-winning chef, restaurateur and presenter Gordon Ramsay, to develop, produce and distribute culinary and lifestyle programming for FOX, its fast-growing ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) service, Tubi and platforms worldwide. Tubi features more than 35,000 movies and television series, and news content that’s available in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Australia. FOX Entertainment recently acquired the entertainment platform TMZ and all its media properties, including its hit syndicated magazine programs, TMZ and TMZ LIVE, and its flagship digital platform, TMZ.com. Most recently, FOX Entertainment acquired MarVista Entertainment, a global leader in made-for-platform original content. Ranking among the world’s leading independent studios, MarVista will focus on developing and producing content for FOX’s digital platforms, including Tubi, as well as for third-party platforms worldwide.
About Bento Box Entertainment
A FOX Entertainment company, Bento Box Entertainment is an award-winning animation production company with studios in Los Angeles and Atlanta. It produces programming for broadcast, cable and digital networks, feature films, music videos, branded content and motion graphics. The company's recent work includes programming on FOX (multiple Emmy Award-winning Bob's Burgers, Duncanville, The Great North, Housebroken and the upcoming comedies Krapopolis, from Emmy-winning creator Dan Harmon, and Grimsburg, starring and executive-produced by Emmy winner Jon Hamm), Apple TV+ (Central Park, Wolfboy and the Everything Factory), HBO Max (The Prince), Netflix (Paradise PD, Saturday Morning All Star Hits); Hulu (Koala Man), Comedy Central (Brickleberry, Legends of Chamberlain Heights), NBC (The David S. Pumpkins Halloween Special) and Syfy (Alien News Desk), along with many other series, pilots and presentations. In June of 2021, Bento Box, along with FOX Entertainment, announced entry into the fast-growing Non-Fungible Token (NFT) market, with the launch of Blockchain Creative Labs, an NFT studio formed to provide content creators, IP owners and advertising partners end-to-end blockchain computer ecosystem solutions to build, launch, manage and sell NFT content and experiences, and fungible tokens, as well as digital goods and assets.
Contact:
Les Eisner
310-369-3276
