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Toronto’s Underknown launching long-form content division

By Victoria Ahearn
October 13, 2022
Underknown Studios will make its TV production debut at MIPCOM with a slate led by a long-form version of its hit web series What If.

Toronto-based digital-first media company Underknown, which has been known for specializing in creating short-form web series, is set to make its TV production debut at MIPCOM with the launch of a new division focused on long-form content.

Underknown Studios will launch its Webby Award-winning science documentary web series What If as a long-form TV show at the annual TV trade show in France, with 52 x 60-minute episodes currently in production, according to a news release issued Thursday (Oct. 13).

Underknown co-founder and CEO Steve Hulford (pictured) tells Playback Daily that the project is a segment series based on the company’s existing web series and is different from the previously announced Great Pacific Media What If drama docuseries adapted by Canadian director, writer and producer Brad Peyton.

Underknown Studios will also showcase its other popular web series brands as reworked and reformatted TV shows at the MIPCOM market, which runs Oct. 17 to 20. Underknown Studios is also creating original TV content with History in Living Colour (6 x 60 minutes), in which historian Jordan Lloyd uncovers the unknown stories behind famous photographs.

Joining the Underknown Studios team as consultants are TV industry veteran Ken MacDonald, former GM and VP of Discovery Networks in Canada; Contentum Consulting + Management founder Melissa Campbell; and Carl Hall, founder and managing director of West One International, which will raise financing and distribute Underknown Studios’ content globally.

The development slate has been created by Connor Boals (formerly of CNN’s Great Big Story), and Cameron MacDonald (formerly of Frantic Films).

Hulford said in a statement that the company has “identified some strong themes” from its short-form series and collected a “huge amount of data,” enabling it to “cherry pick the most engaging subjects — tailoring content market by market.”

“By using our digital chops, we are able to present a compelling offering to broadcasters as we rework and reformat our digital IP for a global TV audience,” he added.