10-part limited series follows a government agency and its attempts to fight an outbreak of a viral epidemic
COS COB, Conn., Nov. 22, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment Inc. (“the Company”) (Nasdaq: CSSE), one of the largest operators of streaming advertising-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) networks, announced today that the Crackle Original Series Outbreak will premiere on December 1. The 10-part limited series follows the interconnected stories and lives of seemingly complete strangers as their world becomes engulfed with a virus epidemic outbreak. The heart-pounding series, a French-Canadian production filmed in Montreal and Quebec, focuses on how the threat takes hold of the population, bringing out the best and the worst in people, calling forth a blend of paranoia, credulity, greed, self-sacrifice and heroism.
“An extremely timely series, Outbreak is a compelling scripted drama that eerily mirrors current events,” said Jeff Meier, head of programming, Crackle Plus. “It is the perfect series to add to our ever-expanding slate of original content that speaks to a variety of audiences.”
In Outbreak, a dangerous virus begins to spread within a group of vulnerable homeless people in Montreal. How long will it take for Anne-Marie Leclerc (Julie LeBreton), director of the Emergency Public Health Laboratory, to discover the existence of this highly contagious disease? Will she be too late to prevent the outbreak of a deadly epidemic in the wider population?
The Emergency Public Health Laboratory is responsible for dealing with viral and bacterial emergencies such as bioterrorism, epidemics, and mass poisonings. The lab is under the authority of government minister Laurent Demers (Guillaume Cyr), who doesn’t have as much faith in Anne-Marie as she deserves, but the two must now work together to defeat a ruthless, invisible adversary. They’re obliged to undertake an investigation as they seek to track the virus back to its origins. To limit the spread of the disease, they must impose sometimes unpopular measures, while doing their best to prevent a public panic. Will Laurent and Anne-Marie win their battle against this deadly virus, which doesn’t discriminate between old and young, between people of different races, or between homeless people and those who are close to government ministers and infectious disease specialists?
As one of the only AVODs continually adding original and exclusive programming that uplifts, entertains, and inspires audiences, Outbreak will join Crackle's growing library of scripted and unscripted original content including The Jesus Rolls, PROMISELAND, Playing With Power: The Nintendo Story, Cagefighter, After the Murder of Albert Lima, Lennox Lewis: The Untold Story, The Clearing, Anything is Possible: The Serge Ibaka Story, Bucket List, and the award-winning Going From Broke.
Outbreak is distributed in North America by Screen Media, a Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, Inc. company and the supplier of exclusive and original content to Crackle Plus.
The Crackle Plus networks are currently distributed through 50 touch points in the U.S. with announced plans to expand to over 64 touch points including Amazon FireTV, RokuTV, Apple TV, Smart TVs (Samsung, LG, Vizio), gaming consoles (PS4 and XBoxOne), Plex, iOS and Android mobile devices and on desktops at Crackle.com. Crackle is also available in approximately 500,000 hotel rooms in the Marriott Bonvoy chain.
ABOUT CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL ENTERTAINMENT
Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSSE) (the “Company”) operates streaming video-on-demand networks (VOD). The Company owns Crackle Plus, which owns and operates a variety of ad-supported and subscription-based VOD networks including Crackle, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Popcornflix, Popcornflix Kids, Truli, Pivotshare, Españolflix and FrightPix. The Company also acquires and distributes video content through its Screen Media subsidiary and produces original video content through the Chicken Soup for the Soul Television Group. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment is a subsidiary of Chicken Soup for the Soul, LLC, which publishes the famous book series and produces super-premium pet food under the Chicken Soup for the Soul brand name.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this press release, and on the current expectations of management and are not predictions of actual performance. Such assumptions involve a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to our core strategy, operating income and margin, seasonality, liquidity, including cash flows from operations, available funds, and access to financing sources, free cash flows, revenues, net income, profitability, stock price volatility, future regulatory changes, price changes, the ability of the Company’s content offerings to achieve market acceptance, the Company’s success in retaining or recruiting officers, key employees, or directors, the ability to protect intellectual property, the ability to complete strategic acquisitions, the ability to manage growth and integrate acquired operations, the ability to pay dividends, regulatory or operational risks, and general market conditions impacting demand for the Company’s services. For a more complete description of these and other risks and uncertainties, please refer the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, filed with the SEC on March 31, 2021, and for further information regarding our recent acquisition of the Sonar library and related assets, please see our Current Reports on Form 8-K, as amended, filed with the SEC on May 27, 2021 and July 1, 2021. If any of these risks materialize or our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof and the Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the Company’s expectations with respect thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based.
INVESTOR RELATIONS
Taylor Krafchik
Ellipsis
csse@ellipsisir.com
(646) 776-0886
MEDIA CONTACT
Kate Barrette
RooneyPartners LLC
kbarrette@rooneypartners.com
(212) 223-0561
