Ridley Scott partners with Machinima for web series

Published on March 12, 2013 05:57PM EDT

Ridley Scott was most recently behind last year’s (sadly misunderstood) Prometheus. Next, he’ll tackle the Internet, announcing yesterday that he was partnering with Machinima, a video entertainment company you’ve probably watched on YouTube. (The company reports that its videos were viewed almost 2 billion times… in February.)

The prolific director-producer will executive produce 12 short films in partnership with the company using talent pulled from Scott’s own production company, Ridley Scott and Associates. Each of the films will be “high-octane science fiction.” The most successful of them will be further developed, meaning they could each spawn a feature film or a web series or a line of high-octane greeting cards.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity for pushing the creative boundaries for both our filmmakers and the audience,” Scott said in a statement.

Machinima is quick to point to its wide reach with young men, as well as to name-check its past successes, as with the Mortal Kombat franchise.

Scott’s deal has potential for what he brings with him: The statement highlights the big-name directors who’ve worked with RSA already, including Kathryn Bigelow, Martin Scorsese, and Neill Blomkamp. There’s no word yet about a timetable for production of the dozen films, or when the directors for each will be announced, but it will probably all involve a lot of octane.

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