Weekly World News Comedy Series From ‘Reno 911!’ Co-Creator Robert Ben Garant Raises $2.5M To Film Full Season Independently In California
Robert Ben Garant and Cathy Shim are making a six-episode comedy series set in the world of Weekly World News, the satirical tabloid known for stories about Bat Boy, aliens and Elvis sightings. The project is being financed independently, giving the creators a way to make a comedy amid limited opportunities for the genre before pitching it to distributors.
Weekly World News Studios raised $2.5 million from six private investors to fund the season, which is due to begin filming in Simi Valley, California, in the first week of February. The improvised mockumentary will follow reporters who take extraordinary stories seriously; its makers have written “scriptments” and say the season could exceed six episodes. The print tabloid ran from 1979 to 2007, and its brand remains active on social media.
In short
- Robert Ben Garant and Cathy Shim are making a Weekly World News comedy.
- Six private investors raised $2.5 million for the season.
- The creators plan to pitch it after filming footage.
Explained simply
Weekly World News was a US satirical tabloid that ran from 1979 to 2007, publishing absurd stories about figures such as Bat Boy, aliens and Elvis sightings. The brand has continued on social media, where its mix of invented news and parody remains familiar to some readers.
Robert Ben Garant, known for co-creating the comedy series Reno 911!, and Cathy Shim are developing a mockumentary set around the tabloid’s reporters. The format imitates a documentary, while the performers improvise from written outlines rather than following fully scripted dialogue.
The project is being made independently, with private investment covering production before the creators seek a distributor. It reflects one way comedy-makers can try to produce a series when opportunities to get one made are limited.