Stephen Christy

Stephen Christy
Born1985 (age 38–39)
Chicago, Illinois, United States
NationalityAmerican
Alma materEmerson College
Occupation(s)Editor-in-chief,
Archaia Entertainment
(2010-13)
President of Development,
Boom! Studios
(2014-present)
Years active2008-present

Stephen Christy (born 1985)[1] is an American film and television producer, entertainment executive, and former graphic novel editor. He is the President of Development at graphic novel publisher Boom! Studios, where he oversees Boom!'s first look deals with Disney/20th Century Studios and Netflix. He was formerly editor-in-chief at Archaia Entertainment, where he won two Eisner Awards, as the editor of Jim Henson's Tale of Sand and Return of the Dapper Men.[2]

Early life and education

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Christy was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois.[2] He attended the Latin School of Chicago,[3] and then Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, graduating in 2007 with a degree in film and television production. While at Emerson, he co-founded the literary anthology Thread, which publishes screenplays, plays and comic book scripts; produced original content for the Emerson Channel; and interned at Marvel Comics and DC Comics in New York City.[4]

Career

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Archaia Entertainment

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Following graduation, Christy briefly worked in reality television, and then at Devil's Due Publishing, opening a Los Angeles office for the Chicago-based small press publisher.[4] He then moved to Archaia Entertainment, serving as Director of Development for about a year, before being named editor-in-chief of Archaia Entertainment in April 2010, when he was 24 years old.[1] Christy also handled film and television development for the company, overseeing the sale of the film rights for four graphic novels, two each to Fox and Warner Brothers.[5][6][7][8]

Christy served as editor-in-chief at Archaia until 2013, with notable successes including Tumor, a collaboration with Amazon.com that was released serially on the Kindle prior to its hardcover publication, and was the first graphic novel created specifically for the Kindle;[9] the American English-language re-launch of Shotaro Ishinomori's classic manga Cyborg 009;[10][11] and the publication of Jim Henson's A Tale of Sand, a graphic novel adaptation by Ramon Perez, based on an unproduced screenplay by Jim Henson.[12][13] In a publishing partnership with The Jim Henson Company, which Christy helped negotiate in 2009, Archaia published numerous graphic novels based on Henson properties, including The Storyteller, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow and Fraggle Rock.[1][12][14][15][16]

During Christy's tenure, Archaia won five Eisner Awards.[17] In 2011, Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard won for Best Anthology,[18] while Return of the Dapper Men won for Best Graphic Album: New.[19] In 2012, Tale of Sand won three Eisner Awards, for Best Graphic Album: New, Best Publication Design and Best Penciller/Inker.[20][21] The graphic novel also won two Harvey Awards and a Joe Shuster Award.[4]

Boom! Studios and film/TV producing

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In June 2013, comic book and graphic novel publisher Boom! Studios acquired Archaia Entertainment,[22] creating the largest library of comic book IP outside of Marvel and DC.[23] After the acquisition of Archaia, Christy was named president of development of Boom! Studios, overseeing all film, television, web and animation projects in development at the company's four brands: Boom!, Archaia, KaBoom! And Boom! Box.[17]

In October 2013, Boom! Studios signed a first-look feature film deal with 20th Century Fox Studios for all Boom! Imprints, with Christy acting as a producer on the projects.[24] In September 2014, Boom! signed a separate broadcast and cable first look television deal with 20th Century Fox TV, with Christy serving as an executive producer on any project developed with the studio.[25][26] In 2017, 20th Century Fox acquired a significant minority stake in Boom! Studios.[27] The stake was absorbed by the Walt Disney Company as part of their acquisition of the 20th Century Fox assets.[28] That first-look deal runs through January 2021.[29]

Christy was set to produce Mouse Guard with Matt Reeves, a $170 million CGI motion-capture fantasy film based on the graphic novels. The film was greenlit by 20th Century Fox and was to be directed by Wes Ball and set to star Idris Elba, Andy Serkis, and Thomas Brodie-Sangster. With over $25 million spent by Fox, production was halted by Disney two weeks before its scheduled start in April 2019, as a result of Fox’s merger with Disney a month earlier.[30][31][32] A number of other Fox features were cancelled during the same period.[33]

Christy executive produced Just Beyond, a horror-comedy anthology series that aired on Disney+ in 2021. It was created by Seth Grahame-Smith, and based on the Boom! Studios graphic novel by R. L. Stine.[34] Christy is executive producing HexVet, an upcoming animated series for Nickelodeon,[35] and Butterfly, an upcoming spy thriller series for Amazon Studios with Daniel Dae Kim starring and executive producing.[36] In 2021, Boom! Studios launched the comic BRZRKR, created and co-written by Keanu Reeves. Two weeks after the launch, Netflix purchased the film rights, and also commissioned a two-season anime series. Christy will produce the adaptations, with Reeves starring in both.[37][38]

Christy has sold over 40 film and television projects as a producer, including The Unsound to Netflix with David F. Sandberg producing,[23] Irredeemable to Netflix with Jay-Z producing, Jeymes Samuel directing, and Kemp Powers adapting,[39][40] Goldie Vance to 20th Century Studios with Rashida Jones writing and directing and Kerry Washington producing,[41] Misfit City to HBO Max, with Hannah Hafey and Kaitlin Smith creating and executive producing,[42] and Something Is Killing the Children to Netflix, created by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese.[43] In April 2020, it was reported that Boom! Studios signed a first-look deal with Netflix for live-action and animated series. Christy will executive produce all shows developed through the agreement.[29]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Credited as Notes
2008 Killer Poet: The Double Life of Norman Porter Associate producer Documentary
2020 The Empty Man Producer

TV series

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Year Title Credited as Notes
2021 Just Beyond Executive producer On Disney+
2023 Mech Cadets Executive producer On Netflix
2024 HexVet Executive producer On Nickelodeon

Bibliography

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Christy has edited or co-edited the following books:

Devil's Due Publishing

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  • Sheena: Queen of the Jungle (2007–08)
  • Golden Age Sheena: The Best of the Queen of the Jungle (2008)
  • Halloween: Nightdance (2008)
  • Halloween: 30 Years of Terror (2008)
  • Halloween: The First Death of Laurie Strode (2008)
  • Rest (2008)
  • Spooks (2008)
  • Golden Age Sheena: The Best of the Queen of the Jungle Volume 2 (2009)
  • United Free Worlds (2009)

Archaia Entertainment

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  • The Devil's Handshake (2009)
  • Days Missing (2010)
  • Moon Lake (2010)
  • Return of the Dapper Men (2010)
  • Syndrome (2010)
  • Lucid: A Matthew Dee Adventure (2011)
  • Mr. Murder Is Dead" (2012)
  • Tumor (2010)
  • An Elegy for Amelia Johnson (2011)
  • The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths (2011)
  • Jim Henson's Tale of Sand (2011)
  • The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths Vol. 2 (2013)
  • Cyborg 009 (2013)
  • Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal: The Novelization (2014)
  • Jim Henson's Labyrinth: The Novelization (2014)
  • Jim Henson's The Storyteller: The Novelization (2014)
  • Jim Henson's Tale of Sand Screenplay (2014)
  • The Joyners in 3D (2014)

References

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  1. ^ a b c Albert Ching, “EiC Stephen Christy on ARCHAIA’s Present and Future,” Newsarama, August 10, 2010.
  2. ^ a b “Lightning Session With Stephen Christy III,” Legendary Comics, April 17, 2014.
  3. ^ "Alumni Visit Campus". latinschool.org. 15 December 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c Michael Moccio, “Interview with Archaia Entertainment Editor-in-Chief Stephen Christy,” Archived 2015-04-23 at the Wayback Machine Emertainment Monthly, July 11, 2013.
  5. ^ Mike Fleming Jr, “Fox Buys Graphic Novel ‘Rust’ With Aline Brosh McKenna To Adapt,” Deadline Hollywood, July 15, 2011.
  6. ^ Borys Kit, “Warner Bros Picks Up Graphic Novel ‘Bolivar’ for Animated Movie,” The Hollywood Reporter, March 5, 2012.
  7. ^ Jason Moore, “Warner Bros. Pictures to Adapt Archaia Entertainment’s Lucid,” Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine SciFi Mafia, March 12, 2012.
  8. ^ Borys Kit, “’Devil Wears Prada’ Writer To Adapt Modern ‘Jane Eyre’ Graphic Novel,” The Hollywood Reporter, June 24, 2013.
  9. ^ Calvin Reid, “Amazon, Archaia To Release Kindle Graphic Novel,” Publishers Weekly, July 21, 2009.
  10. ^ Toshi Nakamura, “I Love Cyborg 009, and the New Graphic Novel Does Not Disappoint,” Kotaku, September 12, 2013.
  11. ^ Borys Kit, “Comic-Con 2012: ‘Cyborg 009’ Coming to American Comics, Movie in Development,” The Hollywood Reporter, July 9, 2012.
  12. ^ a b Andy Khouri, “Boom! Studios & Archaia Editors-In-Chief Matt Gagnon & Stephen Christy Talk Merger, Creator Deals and Aesthetics,” Archived 2015-04-16 at the Wayback Machine ComicsAlliance, July 5, 2013.
  13. ^ Alexandra Cheney, “Jim Henson’s Earliest Screenplay Gets Graphic Novel Treatment,” Wall Street Journal, January 16, 2012.
  14. ^ James Gartler, “’Labyrinth’ graphic novel prequel to answer, ‘Who was the Goblin King?’,” Entertainment Weekly, January 6, 2012.
  15. ^ Jason Sacks, “Stephen Christy: Archaia Comics and their Beautiful Books,” Comics Bulletin, May 4, 2011.
  16. ^ Shaun Manning, “Inside Archaia & Henson’s Partnership,” Comic Book Resources, June 23, 2009.
  17. ^ a b Borys Kit, “Boom! Studios Expands Exec Lineup as Company Moves to Fox Lot,” The Hollywood Reporter, April 21, 2014.
  18. ^ Andy Khouri, “New (And Very Lovely) ‘Mouse Guard’ Anthology Arrives in Print Next Week With Stan Sakai, Ben Caldwell & More,” Archived 2015-03-22 at the Wayback Machine ComicsAlliance, June 20, 2013.
  19. ^ Albert Ching, “McCann & Lee Acquire ‘Dapper Men’ Rights From Archaia,” Comic Book Resources, January 2, 2014.
  20. ^ Hugh Armitage, “Eisner Awards 2012: Mark Waid, ‘Tale of Sand’ dominate,” Digital Spy, July 15, 2012.
  21. ^ Calvin Reid, “Archaia’s ‘Jim Henson’s Tale of Sand’ Takes Home Three Eisner Awards,” Publishers Weekly, July 14, 2012.
  22. ^ Heidi MacDonald, “Boom! Studios Acquires Archaia Entertainment,” Publishers Weekly, June 24, 2013.
  23. ^ a b Fleming, Mike Jr. (7 November 2019). "Netflix Wins Horror Package 'The Unsound' From 'Shazam!' Helmer David F. Sandberg, BOOM! Studios & Skylar James". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  24. ^ Borys Kit, “20th Century Fox Inks Innovative Deal With Comics Publisher Boom! Studios,” The Hollywood Reporter, October 2, 2013.
  25. ^ Nellie Andreeva, “BOOM! Studios Inks First-Look Deal With 20th Century Fox TV,” Deadline Hollywood, August 20, 2014.
  26. ^ Nellie Andreeva, “BOOM! Studios Sells Dramas ‘Deep State’ With Howard Gordon & ‘The Rinse’ To Fox,” Deadline Hollywood, November 24, 2014.
  27. ^ Busch, Anita (15 June 2017). "Boom! Studios Sells Minority Stake To Fox After Investment Banker Hire". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  28. ^ Kit, Borys (14 December 2017). "Boom!: Disney-Fox Deal Puts Studio in Comic Book Business Again". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  29. ^ a b White, Peter (13 April 2020). "Netflix Inks First-Look Deal With 'Mouse Guard' Comic Book Publisher BOOM! Studios". Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  30. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (18 April 2019). "'Mouse Guard' Halted Two Weeks From Production Start; Casualty Of Disney Merger?". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  31. ^ McNary, Dave (22 March 2019). "Idris Elba in Talks to Join Andy Serkis in 'Mouse Guard'". Variety. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  32. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (28 June 2019). "Wes Ball On Mouse House Axing His Passion Pic 'Mouse Guard,' A Casualty Of Fox/Disney Deal". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  33. ^ Boone, Brian (13 August 2019). "Canceled Fox movies we'll never get to see". Looper. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  34. ^ "'Just Beyond': Mckenna Grace & Lexi Underwood To Star In Disney+ Anthology Series". Deadline Hollywood. 13 April 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  35. ^ "Nickelodeon Greenlights 'HexVet'". awn.com. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  36. ^ "Daniel Dae Kim to Star in Spy Thriller Series 'Butterfly'". variety.com. 7 February 2023. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
  37. ^ "Keanu Reeves Comic 'BRZRKR' to Become Movie, Anime Series for Netflix". hollywoodreporter.com. 22 March 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  38. ^ "Keanu Reeves Talks 'BRZRKR' Projects". deadline.com. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  39. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (5 May 2016). "20th Century Fox Taps BOOM! Superhero Tale 'Irredeemable'; Adam McKay Helms, Tommy Wirkola Scripting". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  40. ^ "Netflix Sets Feature Take Of 'Irredeemable'". deadline.com. 17 March 2022. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  41. ^ Kilday, Gregg (December 2017). "Kerry Washington, Rashida Jones Team on 'Goldie Vance' Film". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  42. ^ "'Misfit City' Series Based On Graphic Novels In Works At HBO Max". deadline.com. 12 October 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
  43. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (23 February 2023). "Netflix Re-Ups Overall Deal With 'Dark' Creators, Duo Board James Tynion Comic Series 'Something Is Killing The Children' With Boom! Studios". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
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