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Digital-native media platform FaZe Clan is breaking into traditional TV formats with a three-year plan for both unscripted and scripted content, including a “Saturday Night Live”-style series for the Gen Z audience that will launch on livestream service Twitch in June, Variety has learned exclusively.

Titled “unFaZed,” FaZe Clan describes the weekly show as “the first-ever variety franchise born out of internet culture,” that will feature a recurring ensemble cast of internet celebrities and be hosted by rotating special guests from that same world, while also regularly bringing in celebrities from the TV, film, music and sports industries.

“unFaZed” is one of two inaugural formatted series set at the esports and online entertainment giant, a media platform that is rooted in gaming and youth culture and boasts a combined social following of over 500 million. The second show is the previously announced “Big Brother”-esque “FaZe1: The Warehouse,” a...

Talent agency UTA has signed gaming and entertainment organization FaZe Clan.

UTA will work with FaZe as it continues to expand into different content sectors, including scripted, unscripted, podcasting, and livestreaming. It will also work with the esports company on brand partnerships.

“Our partnership with UTA signals the next stage in our evolution as a media and entertainment company, with a heightened focus on content expansion,” FaZe Clan CEO Lee Trink said in a statement. “Content and talent have always been the nucleus of our organization. With UTA’s powerful network and skill at aligning brands for high-impact opportunities, FaZe will further accelerate our indisputable growth trajectory.”

On the content front, FaZe in December hired former NFL exec Bill McCullough to serve as EVP of content, overseeing the company’s original slate.

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UTA announced Tuesday that it signed FaZe Clan, the prominent gaming and entertainment organization. The agency will assist FaZe’s expansion into scripted and unscripted content, podcasting, live streaming and brand partnerships.

FaZe is home to some of the most celebrated players from around the globe, including existing UTA clients NickMercs, Swagg and Mongraal. Its members specialize in iconic franchises such as Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, FIFA and Fortnite Battle Royale. In 2020, FaZe expanded its global footprint with its first roster located entirely in Asia.

Most recently, FaZe launched the #FaZe5 recruitment challenge, a competition for gamers to join the organization. The challenge attracted a staggering 211,000 applicants. Each of the six winners was revealed during a live stream, which collectively surpassed 9 million viewers across FaZe’s social media channels.

“Through its execution of innovative concepts such as #FaZe5, FaZe has cultivated an...

Former HBO Sports, NFL and GoPro Entertaiment exec Bill McCullough is set to share director duties on Thrive, a documentary on sport athletes’ traumatic brain injuries from The Workshop Content Studios.

The 90-minute film will feature athletes Koby Stevens, Sidney Crosby, Owen Wright and Kevin Pearce as they recount their rollercoaster experience after sustaining a traumatic brain injury (Tbi) and the groundbreaking treatments that helped their brains heal. Stevens, a former professional Australian rules footballer, McCullough and Tom Farrell, CEO of The WorkShop Content Studios, will co-direct Thrive.

Three-time Super Bowl champion Lonie Paxton will executive produce the doc, which will ...

Former HBO Sports, NFL and GoPro Entertaiment exec Bill McCullough is set to share director duties on Thrive, a documentary on sport athletes’ traumatic brain injuries from The Workshop Content Studios.

The 90-minute film will feature athletes Koby Stevens, Sidney Crosby, Owen Wright and Kevin Pearce as they recount their rollercoaster experience after sustaining a traumatic brain injury (Tbi) and the groundbreaking treatments that helped their brains heal. Stevens, a former professional Australian rules footballer, McCullough and Tom Farrell, CEO of The WorkShop Content Studios, will co-direct Thrive.

Three-time Super Bowl champion Lonie Paxton will executive produce the doc, which will ...

In today’s film news roundup, “I Won’t Be Home for Christmas” is in the works, the NFL has made a documentary about female team owners and D Street Pictures has signed Kenny Gage and Devon Downs to direct the dance feature “Move.”

Holiday Project

Miramax has acquired film rights to Lauren Iungerich’s holiday-themed screenplay “I Won’t Be Home for Christmas.”

Iungerich is set to direct, as well as produce, alongside Eli Roth and Roger Birnbaum under their newly-formed Arts District Entertainment; Jamie Dooner; and Miramax’s Bill Block. Jennie Frisbie, Michael Besman and Miramax’s Michael Lachance will executive produce. Production is slated for June and will be supervised by Lachance.

The film marks Iungerich’s feature film directorial debut. The story focuses on a 16-year-old woman who spurns her family to go skiing with her new boyfriend over the holidays. After he unceremoniously breaks up with her before the trip,...

As the NFL gets ready to celebrate its 100th season, NFL Films premiered the documentary A Lifetime of Sundays at its 2019 Annual Meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz. Narrated by Oscar-winning actress Regina King, the feature champions the women who have played an integral role in its history, offering an unprecedented look at the history of the NFL through the eyes of four iconic female owners: Virginia McCaskey, Martha Firestone Ford, Norma Hunt and Patricia Rooney. NFL Films released the first official trailer today which you can watch above.

A Lifetime of Sundays profiles four famously private women: the Chicago Bears’ McCaskey, the Detroit Lions’ Ford, the Kansas City Chiefs’ Hunt, and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Rooney. They are the matriarchs of four American football families who, for the first time, share the history of the game from a very different perspective. What ties them together is not just their colorful memories, but...

Camera company GoPro has emerged as one of the Internet’s biggest branded content success stories, and it has more growth on its mind. According to Variety, GoPro has hired Bill McCullough, formerly of HBO Sports, as a programming executive.

McCullough’s official title is executive producer for GoPro’s extreme sports and team sports channels. The company’s YouTube channel is replete with sports videos, many of which provide first-person viewpoints for major events. A recent offering, for example, gives viewers a first-person look at a winning run from a recent motorsports event hosted by another big-time branded video producer, Red Bull.

McCullough plans to continue GoPro’s innovative approach to video. The short-form content produced on his watch will give viewers access to angles and viewpoints they would otherwise not have. “The camera itself really breaks down so many barriers,” he told Variety, referring to GoPro’s well-known line of action cameras.