New Media Revolutionaries STEPHANIE THORPE & PAULA RHODES At the Helm of New ElfQuest Deal

INDIE PRODUCERS SCORE RIGHTS TO FANTASY FRANCHISE ELFQUEST

 

United States of America—Nov. 6, 2012—:  LOS ANGELES, CA – It was announced today that the rights to the 35-year old comic book series ElfQuest, by Wendy and Richard Pini, have been acquired by indie producers Stephanie Thorpe and Paula Rhodes (see the related article as posted in Variety, here). While Warner Bros held the option on ElfQuest until the first quarter of 2012, the Pinis have since agreed to have Thorpe and Rhodes develop their series in order to put the ElfQuest story directly in the hands of its loyal fans. Previously, Thorpe and Rhodes produced the cyber-phenom “ElfQuest: A Fan Imagining”, a short live-action production.

Part of the generation that grew up with ElfQuest, Thorpe and Rhodes’ aim is to bring even wider exposure to the fantasy series, which has a healthy following already; ElfQuest.com, the property's official website, generates 10 million views a month and continues to acquire new fans. The saga has also been published by both Marvel Comics and DC Comics, and has a global following in 12 countries.

 

 Both Thorpe and Rhodes have developed and produced successful independent film and web productions while gaining loyal fan bases through unique content and original storytelling. Their most recent project is the crowd-sourced and fan-funded, “ElfQuest: A Fan Imagining”. The multi-award winning project has had panels at Comic-Con and WonderCon and has been featured in the New York Times as well as on CBS and G4's Attack of the Show.

“Paula Rhodes and Stephanie Thorpe more than proved themselves to us with their award-winning "ElfQuest : A Fan Imagining",” Wendy Pini said. “With their deep love and understanding of the property, they represent a new direction for ElfQuest... new creative energy and new connections in the larger media.”

"We are thrilled to bring ElfQuest, a tale that has influenced our storytelling and imaginations, to life for new and existing fans," said Thorpe, “The global fan support we've received has been amazing."

Rhodes added, "When we discovered our shared lifelong love for this series we were spurred to action. ElfQuest gave us heroines we could aspire to be and its magic shaped us, ultimately leading us into the creative entertainment sphere. We owe it a lot!"

New pages of ElfQuest: The Final Quest are now being released weekly on Boing Boing and Elfquest.com, attracting nearly half a million hits on the first day.

ABOUT STEPHANIE THORPE

Stephanie Thorpe is a prolific actor/producer who has spearheaded over 150 episodes of web TV, 2 features and a dozen shorts. She has been honored with several acting and directing awards. An expert on New Media and member of the IAWTV, Thorpe is a popular guest speaker, appearing on panels at Comic-Con, WonderCon, VidCon, Digital Hollywood, AFI, SAG, Digital LA, Comikaze and Geek Girl Con. Find her online at www.thestephaniethorpe.com .


ABOUT PAULA RHODES

Paula Rhodes is a working actor/producer with a collective 104 million views in new media projects she's been a part of and a substantial list of credits including Robert Redford's Lions for Lambs and Screen Media Film's award-winning recent thriller, Shuffle. Visit her online at www.OfficialPaulaRhodes.com .

ABOUT ELFQUEST FAN TRAILER

Inspired by a childhood love for the ElfQuest saga, "ElfQuest: A Fan Imagining" was created by Stephanie Thorpe and Paula Rhodes. This project has been an Official Selection at Balticon, the Renovation Film Festival, the Hollyshorts Film Fest, Phoenix Comicon, Dragon*Con, the IFQ Film & Webisode Festival, Best Shorts and the St. Louis International Film Festival. The work has also won Best Directing of a Webisode for IFQ, Award of Merit in Best Shorts, Special Shorts Award in Balticon, 2012 Silver Prestige Award, and Best Web Series Trailer at the Indie Intertube Awards. See it online at www.ElfQuestFanTrailer.com .

ABOUT ELFQUEST

Debuting in 1978, ElfQuest tells the story of a tribe of elves on the distant World of Two Moons who find themselves brutally driven from their forest by humans. In their desperate quest for a new home, they discover something they didn't know existed: other elves. It is an adventure story with violence, war and sexual content. Created by Wendy and Richard Pini, ElfQuest is known for its magical artistry and for being a vanguard of the indie/fantasy scene. The story has been retold by Marvel Comics and published by DC Comics, enjoyed several novelizations and short story anthologies and has been printed in over 12 countries. Find out more at www.elfquest.com .