South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are forming their own studio, called tongue-in-cheekily enough Important Studios. Having their own studio will allow the pair to develop any type of film, television or stage project for themselves or for others without having to interest a distributor beforehand.
As Parker states in today’s press release, “Having worked with several different studios over the years, we came to realize that our favorite people in the world are ourselves.”
One of the first projects the studio may embark on is a film adaptation of the pair’s Broadway hit The Book Of Mormon, which won nine Tony awards.
In addition to wooing investors, the pair have brought a sizeable stake of their own money to the project. And future revenue from South Park and The Book Of Mormon will be funneled into Important as well. Parker and Stone have a rather unqiue 50-50 revenue sharing deal with Comedy Central for any income from South Park merchandise. Currently, Book Of Mormon has already grossed an estimated $200 million and continues to generate in the neighborhood of $4.6 million between the Broadway production, a recently opened Chicago production and the national touring company. A London production is set to open later this year.
And while I am sure that Parker and Stone will also produce projects for other people, it is the freedom that having their own studio will give them to pursue their own projects is what excites me about this news. The pair have worked on a couple of intriguing projects that never managed to come to fruition for whatever reasons (Fuzzies, Giant Monsters Attack Japan), so it will be interesting to see what they will be able to come up with while unfettered by the purse strings of others.
