Crypt TV is an American entertainment company focused on developing, producing and distributing horror themed digital content, with an emphasis on monsters and recurring characters in linked universes. It was founded by Jack Davis and Eli Roth in 2015 and backed by Jason Blum and Blumhouse Productions. Crypt specializes in short-form horror videos made for the internet, including viral characters such as the Birch and the Look-See. The company has a combined social media following of 5 million likes on Facebook and 3.18 million subscribers on YouTube. In 2017, Crypt's short films were featured as a keynote presentation at Tribeca Film Festival through Crypt TV's Monster Madness. That same year, Crypt won a Streamy Award in the Action or Sci-Fi category as well as a Webby Award for Best Drama: Individual Short for its production of The Birch.
History
Jack Davis, who was still attending Duke University at the time, met Eli Roth at a dinner party in 2013. The pair kept in touch, discussing how to make scary entertainment effective on phone screens. Crypt TV was formed when Davis and Roth launched a "six-second scare" contest together in October 2014, as "a way to test to see if you could really make great scary content in short form on mobile,” according to Davis. The contest was featured on Good Morning America and subsequently went viral, receiving over 15,000 submissions. Roth showed the contest to Jason Blum, who was looking for a digital strategy for Blumhouse Productions, and Blum became Crypt's first investor. The company was officially launched in April 2015 in Los Angeles with just three employees: Davis, Darren Brandl as Chief Operating Officer, and Kate Krantz as Chief Content Officer. In March 2017, Crypt TV raised $3.5 million in funding, led by venture capital fund Lerer Hippeau Ventures, a backer of Buzzfeed. The company has raised $6.2 million from past investors.
Content and distribution
Crypt releases about 100 videos every three months, building its audience through Facebook and YouTube and averaging more than 100 million online views a month. Using real-time reactions on social media to test characters and concepts, the most well-received characters are inducted into Crypt's "monster universe," who then form the basis for as many as 15 videos in a quarter. Giggles the Clown, The Look-See, and Sunny Family Cult are among the most popular series developed this way. Crypt's viral characters expand beyond traditional narrative videos; Giggles the Clown does live streaming interviews with fans, engaging on social media as a typical influencer would, and she has appeared as an attraction at Knott's Scary Farm. Crypt also has a merchandising deal with Spencer's Gifts, which sells merchandise for Giggles, the Birch, and Sunny Family Cult.
''The Birch''
The Birch is a short film on Crypt TV that has gathered the most views of anything on the channel. It is about a sentient tree who protects a kid from bullies, produced by Crypt TV in 2016. The short was written and directed by Anthony Melton and Ben Franklin, and The Birch creature design was created by special effects artist, Cliff Wallace. The film went viral, winning a Webby award in 2017. The Birch has recently been expanded and developed into a full-fledged Crypt universe character in its own Facebook Miniseries.
''Ghosted''
Ghosted was an eight-episode, long-form digital series distributed by Verizon's go90 streaming video platform, hosted by actress and cosplayer LeeAnna Vamp. In the show, Vamp traveled to different haunted locations in the southern United States and interacted with local ghost hunting communities, as well as exploring local foods, drinks, and attractions in each city.
''El Terror'' / ''Afterlife''
In 2016, Crypt TV partnered up with Fullscreen to launch the El Terror contest, a search for the most horrifying 30-second teaser. The winner would receive $50,000 to create a digital series based on their submission video. The winning concept was Afterlife, a series from filmmakers Kate Freund and Jordan Harris about a woman who cheated death and is now haunted by an entity after her soul. Afterlife debuted on Fullscreen in 2017.
''The Look-See''
The Look-See is a popular horror web series based on a short by the same name. The series is about a sharp-toothed grinning demonic entity that puts his chosen victims to potentially fatal tests, victims have to choose to let go of a specific item or person that they have held on to for a long time, failure to release that specific item will end in the victim's death. The character and series were created by Sarah Ehlers.
''My First Day''
My First Day is a darkly comedic horror short about a demented child who gets accepted into a private school for young aspiring serial killers. The short was written and directed by Jon Kovel. The short went viral and was shown at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival as part of an horror anthology entitled, Crypt TV's Monster Madness.
''Slice of Summer''
Slice of Summer was a series of original horror shorts that premiered on the Chiller Network in July 2016. It featured works by filmmakers across the globe, including films The Thing in the Apartment, The Grey Matter, The Prey, Meridians, and Invaders.
''Sunny Family Cult''
Sunny Family Cult is a popular horror drama web series based on a short by the same name. The show centers around a teenager named Taylor who strives for a normal life while juggling her not-so-normal serial killing cult family. Featuring actors such as Trew Mullen, Russell Cummings, Stephanie Estes and others. Episodes have been directed by Gabriel Younes, and John Ross.
''Forgotten Day in Fright''
In 2015, Crypt partnered with Hearst Digital Studios for a digital series called This Forgotten Day in Fright. The series, hosted by LeeAnna Vamp and Ryan J. Downey, was part of Hearst's This Forgotten Day in... franchise, and looked at memorable moments from that day in the history of horror.
''The Thing in the Apartment''
The Thing in the Apartment is a popular horror short from 2015 about two women who must confront a terrifying creature lurking in the shadows of a flat. The short was written and directed by John Ross. In 2017 it was shown at the Tribeca Film Festival as part of an horror anthology entitled, Crypt TV's Monster Madness, and was featured as part of the Chiller Network's Slice of Summer. It spawned a 2017 sequel, The Thing in the Apartment: Part II.
''Snapchat Murder Mystery''
Crypt TV produced a live, four-minute murder mystery that aired on Snapchat in 2015, featuring a number of YouTube stars. Influencers such as Logan Paul, Lia Marie Johnson, Nick Bateman, Simone Shepherd, and others starred in the Clue-like dinner party mystery at a creepy mansion, in which they got "killed off" one by one. The program drew more than one million opens; the "killer" was revealed to be Lia Marie Johnson.
