Freeform President Tom Ascheim and Executive Vice President of Programming and Development Karey Burke made several announcements in advance of their Upfront presentation in New York City:
What They Are Saying:
Tom Ascheim, Freeform President:
“In the past year, our commitment to quality has been reflected back to us with a rousing chorus of critical and fan acclaim,” says Ascheim. “Our young adult audience is the most important and influential generation in America and we want to be right there with them every step of the way.” Adds Burke, “We like changing the narrative at Freeform and are proud that our original programming resonates so strongly with this audience. We are grateful to all of our series creators who share our focus on challenging the status quo and telling stories with meaning.”
New Series:
- Besties: A multi-cam sitcom explores friendship, identity, race, and class as two lifelong best friends use each other to get through some of the toughest challenges that they will ever face – figuring out who they are and who they want to be.
- Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists: In Beacon Heights, a seemingly perfect town, a group of three college friends struggle with the stress of being overachievers. In the aftermath of the town’s first murder, each Perfectionist hides behind a secret, a lie and an alibi.
Returning Series:
Siren
- Siren: Freeform announced a second season pickup for the mermaid thriller, whose season one finale airs Thursday, May 24th. The network also added six more episodes to next season’s order, up from ten this season.
Holiday Programming:
- Expanding 13 Nights of Halloween to 31 Nights of Halloween
- Decorating Disney: Halloween to debut in 2018
- Freeform hosting Hocus Pocus 25th Anniversary Extravaganza
- Shadowhunters’ Isaiah Mustafa announced as “Freeform Santa”
- Life Size 2 original movie features Tyra Banks reprises her iconic role as a doll that comes to life; but in the sequel, Eve has grown up. This time she’s magically awakened to help a young woman learn to live and love again. Along the way, Eve experiences the ups and downs of real life
- Sleeping Together original movie is a holiday rom-com about two insomniac strangers plagued by exhaustion. After a brief meeting, they discover that they can only fall asleep if they are sleeping next to each other. What seems like an odd coincidence, and frankly a disruption to their lives, might be more meaningful than they’d like to admit.
Pilots:
- Everything’s Gonna Be Okay: The pilot introduces Nicholas, a typical 25-year-old still living at home with his single dad and two teenage half-sisters, who is not particularly helpful in raising his siblings, one of which has autism. However, when their dad becomes terminally ill, the girls have to cope not only with a devastating loss but with the realization that Nicholas is the one who will have to hold it all together. Thomas created the concept and wrote and stars in the pilot with David Martin, Jon Thoday, and Richard Allen-Turner serving as executive producers for Avalon Television. Stephanie Swedlove and Kevin Whyte also serve as executive producers. Produced by Avalon Television and Freeform Studios, it will be distributed internationally by Avalon Distribution.