Posted in: streaming, TV | Tagged: Among Us, owen dennis

Among Us Series Creator on Bringing Game's Tone to Television & More

Among Us series creator and EP Owen Dennis offers an update on the animated series and discusses adapting the game's tone for television.

The last time we checked in on how things were looking with series creator and executive producer Owen Dennis' Among Us, we were being treated to our first extended look at the animated adaption of the hit video game. Members of your crew have been replaced by an alien shapeshifter intent on causing confusion, sabotaging the ship, and killing everyone. Root out the 'Impostor' or fall victim to its murderous designs – a concept just begging to be made into a series. The series features Randall Park as Red, Ashley Johnson as Purple, Yvette Nicole Brown as Orange, Elijah Wood as Green, Patton Oswalt as White, Debra Wilson as Yellow, Phil LaMarr as Brown, Wayne Knight as Lime, Dan Stevens as Blue, Liv Hewson as Black, and Kimiko Glenn as Cyan. Speaking with Deadline Hollywood, Dennis discussed bringing the game's tone to television, what their initial approach was to adapt the game, and some surprisingly good news about where things stand production-wise.

"The game can be a little unsettling. You're walking around what is mostly an empty spaceship with the knowledge that at least one person on the crew is an alien and wants to kill you. It's creepy in the best way. At the same time, it's funny and tongue-in-cheek, clearly echoing 'Alien,' 'Star Trek,' and 'The Thing.' Balancing that sort of humor with drama is something I love to do and is in a lot of my previous work, like 'Infinity Train' and 'Regular Show.' Bring people in with some jokes, then scare them," Dennis shared about how to view the game when seeing how it could work on the small screen, something Dennis has experience in.

In terms of the show's tone, Dennis makes it clear that they didn't want this to just be a show with laughs and a big body count. For the creative team, it was about making sure viewers care about the characters. "We had a lot of freedom to develop these characters and figure out who we wanted in the show – their roles and their dynamics with each other – and we built the show out from there. It's a very character-based show. We wanted this to feel like a bunch of people you already know and care about, so whenever someone dies (and there will be a lot of deaths), you feel bad about it even though you just met them," Dennis explained. "So that was the plan: whatever we do if a character dies, we have to make sure the audience cares about it."

While the series is still finalizing a home, Dennis revealed that the series is "All finished and wrapped in a bow." In fact, the series creator had some fun "pitching" the series for those interested – extolling some extraordinary benefits. "Actually, I've heard that if you put this show on your platform, that makes you super cool and sexy and the life of the party, and everyone will like you and, subsequently, the cleaning of your fridge you've been putting off for three months will actually already be done," Dennis added.

With Titmouse (Big Mouth, Star Trek: Lower Decks) set as the animation studio, Dennis will executive-produce Among Us alongside Forest Willard, Marcus Bromander & Carl Neisser of Innersloth, as well as alongside Chris Prynoski, Shannon Prynoski, Antonio Canobbio & Ben Kalina of Titmouse. CBS Eye Animation Productions (CBS Studios) produces in association with Innersloth.

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