From a media release:
Award-winning production company, marblemedia, in association with Cloudco Entertainment, a world-class entertainment studio, received a series order for Overlord and the Underwoods™ (20×30) from CBC, Canada’s public broadcaster, Nickelodeon International, ITV, in association with BYUtv.
The original half-hour, live-action, single camera family comedy follows the Underwoods, a North American family, whose life is turned upside down when their distant cousin, Overlord, the second most-wanted villain in the universe, seeks refuge in their home after being forced into intergalactic witness protection. After snitching out his boss, the evil Mega-Lord Supreme, Overlord is sent to live with his incredibly nice, distant cousins on Planet Earth. Over the course of the series, the evil Overlord and the very sweet Underwoods discover a thing or two about each other as they learn to treasure the value of family and the importance of true friendship, diversity, and compassion.
Created by BAFTA-winning showrunner, Anthony Q. Farrell (NBC’s The Office, CBBC’s Secret Life of Boys, CBC’s Little Mosque on the Prairie, upcoming marble and BYUtv series The Parker Andersons/ Amelia Parker) and Ryan Wiesbrock, creator of the Netflix Original Series Buddy Thunderstruck and the live-action adaptation of the Hulu Original series Holly Hobbie for Hulu and Canada’s Family Channel. The series features top talent and pre-production has begun in Toronto.
Farrell is compiling an exceptional creative writing team for the show including Kate Hewlett, Ryan Belleville, Jay Vaidya, Amanda Joy, Angelica Mendizabal, Caleigh Bacchus, Simon Owens, Sadiya Durrani and Richard Young.
Academy-Award winning FX expert, Roger Christian (Alien, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace and Episode IV A New Hope) boards the series as Character Designer. Christian was responsible for creating the props and sets for Star Wars, including the infamous lightsaber. His designs for this show will be brought to life by MastersFX and include Overlord’s helmet and costume and his animatronic, robot sidekick. The team at MastersFX is the character effects company behind hit shows The Handmaid’s Tale and The Umbrella Academy, and they will bring Christian’s designs to life in Overlord and the Underwoods.
Production credits for the series include: Executive Producers Mark J.W. Bishop, Matt Hornburg, Carrie Paupst Shaughnessy, Ryan Wiesbrock, Sean Gorman and Ian Lambur; Supervising Producer Donna Luke; Series Producer Jim Corston; SVP Rights and Executive Producer, Diane Rankin; and Showrunner Anthony Q. Farrell. For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager, Entertainment, Factual & Sports, Trish Williams is Executive Director, Scripted Content, Sandra Picheca is Director of Current Production, Comedy, and Greig Dymond is Executive In Charge of Production. Michael A. Dunn and Andra Johnson Duke are Executive Producers and Jim Bell is Supervising Producer for BYUtv.
The series is produced in association with CBC, BYUtv, Nickelodeon International with ITV/Citv, and with the financial participation of the Shaw Rocket Fund. The series was developed through funding from the Bell Fund Slate Development Program. Cloudco Entertainment and Distribution 360, a marblemedia company, hold worldwide distribution rights for the series.
