Los Angeles Times and Nerdist Industries Launch “Hero Complex: The Show”
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Times and Nerdist Industries today announced the creation of "Hero Complex: The Show" an original entertainment news program for the new Nerdist Channel on YouTube.
Nerdist Channel debuts Monday, April 2, and is the latest venture of Nerdist Industries, a multi-platform creator of genre and popular culture content.
"Nerdist Industries has emerged as one of the most respected tastemakers in genre entertainment," said Times Director of Entertainment Advertiser Marketing and Hero Complex General Manager Jeff Dellinger. "Hero Complex is one of the leading sources of all things geek, and creating a show for their new channel presents exciting opportunities to extend our brand with the audience that matters most."
Debuting the week of April 9, "Hero Complex: The Show" fittingly brings The Times pop culture writer Geoff Boucher together with a who's-who of fanboy superstar talent on the channel, including the Nerdist himself Chris Hardwick, Neil Patrick Harris, the Kids in the Hall, Harry Knowles, "Weird Al" Yankovic and Rob Zombie.
"NO ONE gets the kind of nerd culture coverage that Geoff Boucher is able to get, nor at his level of quality, which one could only describe as amazetastic," said Hardwick. "Were I smaller, I would stow away in his pocket so that I could be present for his one-on-one interviews with the actors, directors and writers that I idolize. Since I'm not, I've somehow tricked him into doing the next best thing: CAPTURING IT ON VIDEO. I am incredibly lucky that Geoff has decided to port the genius of Hero Complex over to The Nerdist Channel."
The first of 15 planned episodes will feature a one-on-one interview with legendary filmmaker Ridley Scott, who created much of the visual language of contemporary science fiction with"Blade Runner" and "Alien" and this summer returns to the genre with "Prometheus." The director of "Gladiator," "Thelma & Louise" and "Black Hawk Down" will discuss his past, present and future in cinema, from his painting studies with David Hockney to his intriguing thoughts on another "Blade Runner." The second and third episodes will feature "Star Trek" icon Leonard Nimoy and Eisner Award-winning comic book writer and cartoonist Ed Brubaker ("Captain America," "Criminal") respectively. Available on both Nerdist Channel and Hero Complex, each show will offer Boucher's unique perspective and voice on a broad range of topics, from the newest nerd crazes to films with massive cult followings to the most appropriate way to swing a cape while wielding a pen.
"Living in Los Angeles and watching the explosive growth of Hero Complex and appreciating what it has come to mean to genre fans, fanboys and fangirls everywhere, it gives us tremendous pleasure to announce this joint effort with Geoff Boucher, Hero Complex and the Los Angeles Times. A common thread throughout our Nerdist Channel lineup is the authenticity of the people and properties we are collaborating with; Geoff and Hero Complex set the standard in that arena," said Peter Levin, Chief Executive Officer of Nerdist Industries.
Hero Complex debuted in 2008 as the first major mainstream news site dedicated to the increasingly influential realm of science fiction, fantasy and superheroes. It has rapidly become one of latimes.com's most popular offerings and won numerous awards. Hero Complex stories are now regularly published in The Times print edition and its ongoing expansion includes the Hero Complex Film Festival and screenings of fan favorites and upcoming releases with artist Q&A's throughout the year. It also anchors a dedicated area for comics and graphic novels at the annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books (April 21-22), which continues to grow in scope and distributes special glossy magazines at San Diego & New York Comic-Cons and WonderCon.
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About the Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country, with a readership of 1.9 million Monday through Saturday and 2.9 million on Sunday, more than 17 million unique latimes.com visitors monthly and a combined print and online local weekly audience of 4.4 million. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Times has been covering Southern California for more than 130 years.
The Los Angeles Times Media Group (LATMG) businesses and affiliates include the Los Angeles Times, The Envelope, Times Community News, LA, Los Angeles Times Magazineand Hoy Los Angeles and reach approximately 5.1 million or 38% of all adults in the Southern California marketplace. LATMG also owns and operates California Community News as well as Tribune Direct'swest coast division and is part of Tribune Company, one of the country's leading media companies with businesses in publishing, the Internet and broadcasting.Additional information is available at https://latimes.com/aboutus.
About Nerdist Industries
Nerdist Industries is a multi-platform creator of genre and popular culture content and a true next generation media company. Founded in 2008, Nerdist is the brainchild of comedian, author, podcaster and new media personality and Talking Dead host Chris Hardwick. In 2011, Nerdist and GeekChicDaily merged to form Nerdist Industries with Hardwick serving as Founder and Chief Creative Officer and digital media entrepreneur Peter Levin, co-founder of GeekChicDaily, serving as Chief Executive Officer. Nerdist Industries consists of a popular website at Nerdist.com; a premium YouTube channel (youtube.com/nerdist), a top comedy/popular culture podcast network on iTunes, recently named one of the top 10 best comedy podcasts by Rolling Stone and sold as a television show to BBC America; a following of over 1.6 million Twitter fans, which Time Magazine named as one of the 140 most influential brands on Twitter; a book, The Nerdist Way, by The Penguin Group; a plethora of live events and much more. Nerdist Industries investors include Legendary Pictures, Mandalay Enterprises, Machinima CEO Allen DeBevoise, Japanese media juggernaut Yoshimoto Kogyo, Gamespy founder Mark Surfas and Revolution Studio's Joe Roth. Nerdist Industries' partners in its YouTube channel include The Jim Henson Company, Broadway Video Entertainment and The Chernin Company. Nerdist Industries is headquartered at Meltdown Comics in Hollywood, CA.
Contact:
John Conroy | Los Angeles Times | 213.237.4791 | john.conroy@latimes.com
Nerdist Channel debuts Monday, April 2, and is the latest venture of Nerdist Industries, a multi-platform creator of genre and popular culture content.
"Nerdist Industries has emerged as one of the most respected tastemakers in genre entertainment," said Times Director of Entertainment Advertiser Marketing and Hero Complex General Manager Jeff Dellinger. "Hero Complex is one of the leading sources of all things geek, and creating a show for their new channel presents exciting opportunities to extend our brand with the audience that matters most."
Debuting the week of April 9, "Hero Complex: The Show" fittingly brings The Times pop culture writer Geoff Boucher together with a who's-who of fanboy superstar talent on the channel, including the Nerdist himself Chris Hardwick, Neil Patrick Harris, the Kids in the Hall, Harry Knowles, "Weird Al" Yankovic and Rob Zombie.
"NO ONE gets the kind of nerd culture coverage that Geoff Boucher is able to get, nor at his level of quality, which one could only describe as amazetastic," said Hardwick. "Were I smaller, I would stow away in his pocket so that I could be present for his one-on-one interviews with the actors, directors and writers that I idolize. Since I'm not, I've somehow tricked him into doing the next best thing: CAPTURING IT ON VIDEO. I am incredibly lucky that Geoff has decided to port the genius of Hero Complex over to The Nerdist Channel."
The first of 15 planned episodes will feature a one-on-one interview with legendary filmmaker Ridley Scott, who created much of the visual language of contemporary science fiction with"Blade Runner" and "Alien" and this summer returns to the genre with "Prometheus." The director of "Gladiator," "Thelma & Louise" and "Black Hawk Down" will discuss his past, present and future in cinema, from his painting studies with David Hockney to his intriguing thoughts on another "Blade Runner." The second and third episodes will feature "Star Trek" icon Leonard Nimoy and Eisner Award-winning comic book writer and cartoonist Ed Brubaker ("Captain America," "Criminal") respectively. Available on both Nerdist Channel and Hero Complex, each show will offer Boucher's unique perspective and voice on a broad range of topics, from the newest nerd crazes to films with massive cult followings to the most appropriate way to swing a cape while wielding a pen.
"Living in Los Angeles and watching the explosive growth of Hero Complex and appreciating what it has come to mean to genre fans, fanboys and fangirls everywhere, it gives us tremendous pleasure to announce this joint effort with Geoff Boucher, Hero Complex and the Los Angeles Times. A common thread throughout our Nerdist Channel lineup is the authenticity of the people and properties we are collaborating with; Geoff and Hero Complex set the standard in that arena," said Peter Levin, Chief Executive Officer of Nerdist Industries.
Hero Complex debuted in 2008 as the first major mainstream news site dedicated to the increasingly influential realm of science fiction, fantasy and superheroes. It has rapidly become one of latimes.com's most popular offerings and won numerous awards. Hero Complex stories are now regularly published in The Times print edition and its ongoing expansion includes the Hero Complex Film Festival and screenings of fan favorites and upcoming releases with artist Q&A's throughout the year. It also anchors a dedicated area for comics and graphic novels at the annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books (April 21-22), which continues to grow in scope and distributes special glossy magazines at San Diego & New York Comic-Cons and WonderCon.
About the Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country, with a readership of 1.9 million Monday through Saturday and 2.9 million on Sunday, more than 17 million unique latimes.com visitors monthly and a combined print and online local weekly audience of 4.4 million. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Times has been covering Southern California for more than 130 years.
The Los Angeles Times Media Group (LATMG) businesses and affiliates include the Los Angeles Times, The Envelope, Times Community News, LA, Los Angeles Times Magazineand Hoy Los Angeles and reach approximately 5.1 million or 38% of all adults in the Southern California marketplace. LATMG also owns and operates California Community News as well as Tribune Direct'swest coast division and is part of Tribune Company, one of the country's leading media companies with businesses in publishing, the Internet and broadcasting.Additional information is available at https://latimes.com/aboutus.
About Nerdist Industries
Nerdist Industries is a multi-platform creator of genre and popular culture content and a true next generation media company. Founded in 2008, Nerdist is the brainchild of comedian, author, podcaster and new media personality and Talking Dead host Chris Hardwick. In 2011, Nerdist and GeekChicDaily merged to form Nerdist Industries with Hardwick serving as Founder and Chief Creative Officer and digital media entrepreneur Peter Levin, co-founder of GeekChicDaily, serving as Chief Executive Officer. Nerdist Industries consists of a popular website at Nerdist.com; a premium YouTube channel (youtube.com/nerdist), a top comedy/popular culture podcast network on iTunes, recently named one of the top 10 best comedy podcasts by Rolling Stone and sold as a television show to BBC America; a following of over 1.6 million Twitter fans, which Time Magazine named as one of the 140 most influential brands on Twitter; a book, The Nerdist Way, by The Penguin Group; a plethora of live events and much more. Nerdist Industries investors include Legendary Pictures, Mandalay Enterprises, Machinima CEO Allen DeBevoise, Japanese media juggernaut Yoshimoto Kogyo, Gamespy founder Mark Surfas and Revolution Studio's Joe Roth. Nerdist Industries' partners in its YouTube channel include The Jim Henson Company, Broadway Video Entertainment and The Chernin Company. Nerdist Industries is headquartered at Meltdown Comics in Hollywood, CA.
Contact:
John Conroy | Los Angeles Times | 213.237.4791 | john.conroy@latimes.com
