The Further
Dead Sled Coffee Inks Deal With Warner Bros. for Multiple Horror Franchises
Our friends over at Dead Sled Coffee, makers of Bloody Disgusting’s official 20th anniversary Bloodbath Blend, have just signed a major deal with Warner Bros., providing them with 2-year licensing rights to a handful of major horror franchises. The deal will allow Dead Sled to make officially licensed coffees based on some of the top franchises out there.
The 2-year deal includes full licensing rights to:
- IT Chapter 1 & 2
- Beetlejuice
- The entire Nightmare On Elm Street franchise
- The entire Friday the 13th franchise
- Freddy vs. Jason
Dead Sled tells Bloody Disgusting, “This deal has been nearly two years in the making as talks started around the time we released our Robert Englund Stay Awake blend. Funny story, the talks actually came to be after Warner Bros. informed us that we needed to change the artwork on the Robert Englund bag to avoid any sort of copyright issues, which we obviously did. I took that as an opportunity to start the talks of getting the official Nightmare on Elm Street license, which led to the deal we recently finalized.
“What’s a bit different about our deal, specifically for anything including Nightmare on Elm Street is that due to having Robert Englund under our banner, we’re able to use the likeness of Freddy Krueger for our bag artwork. When other companies work with the franchise they are usually unable to use Freddy’s true likeness.”
They add, “We plan on launching multiple bags with all properties including limited edition horror box sets and more. We can’t wait to show everyone what we have planned.”
Stay tuned. Something is coming next week…
The Further
Killer Shorts Horror Writing Competition Open NOW With New Category for Feature Screenplays!
The annual genre competition dedicated to finding and launching the next generation of horror writing talent, this year’s Killer Shorts is now officially open for entries!
Founded in 2019, Killer Shorts has established itself as a premier industry launchpad. The competition connects screenwriters and prose authors directly with the executives, managers, and producers who actively greenlight and option dark genre cinema.
But this year’s competition isn’t only about killer horror shorts…
For this brand new season, Killer Shorts is expanding its categories to include feature-length screenplays alongside its traditional short script, one-page script, and short story divisions.
The Top 10 finalists across all categories are evaluated by an elite industry jury composed of over a dozen horror legends, literary managers, and producers. The panel includes:
- Barbara Crampton (Horror Icon, Actress & Producer — Jakob’s Wife, Suitable Flesh)
- John Zaozirny (Literary Manager & Producer, Bellevue Productions)
- Tananarive Due (Author, Producer & Horror Historian)
- Lucas Ford (Producer, Ford Films — The Backrooms)
- John Squires (Editor-in-Chief, Bloody Disgusting)
- Sophie Carroll (Creative Director, ALTER & DUST at Gunpowder & Sky)
- Gigi Saul Guerrero (Director & Co-Founder, Luchagore Productions)
- Aaron B. Koontz (Producer & CEO, Paper Street Pictures)
Yes, yours truly is joining the Killer Shorts judging panel for the first time ever!
Killer Shorts has a proven track record of transitioning undiscovered writers into working professionals. Alumni success stories include Season 2 finalist Vanessa Võ, who signed with Bellevue Productions, and Season 3 finalist Kelly Nugent, who secured representation at Wonder Street.
Additionally, screenplays submitted for coverage that receive a “Recommend” rating qualify for inclusion on The Scream List. This real-time tracking board is monitored by top-tier genre companies, including Screambox, Raven Banner Entertainment, Zero Gravity Management, and Grey Matter Productions.
Submissions will be accepted across all major platforms, including the official Killer Shorts website, Scrybe, Stage 32, FilmFreeway, and Network ISA.
For full guidelines, prize breakdowns, and submission details, visit the official website!
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