Lion Forge Entertainment has teamed up with Sinking Ship Entertainment to finance and co-produce Lila Goes Viral, a live-action musical series about a teenager who uses her new online virality to fight climate change. 

The eight-episode series is set to premiere on Earth Day, April 22, to tie into the show’s themes around advocating for the environment. The first two episodes will be available on YouTube Kids, with new episodes dropping weekly.  

While they’re launching it to YouTube first, Lion Forge Entertainment and Sinking Ship are seeking broadcast partners, and there are also opportunities for licensing, consumer products and publishing deals. Some deals are already in place and others are yet to be announced, according to a spokesperson. 

Lila Goes Viral is an interesting case study of two studios with track records for making popular series with broadcasters that are instead going the digital-first route with a new series. But there are a few reasons why this approach makes sense. 

Since the fictional Lila is telling her story to the camera in vlogs, like real-life online creators do, the series has a very YouTube feel, similar to Sinking Ship’s YouTube-first series Lockdown. For Hair Love and Iyanu producer Lion Forge, Lila is part of a new strategy to embrace digital-first storytelling. Last year, the studio inked a deal to develop a TV adaptation of TalesVision’s YouTube series Lostlings, with a plan to launch its take on the property to YouTube before going to streamers or linear. “With its mix of music, creator culture and environmental themes, Lila Goes Viral is exactly the kind of bold, platform-native project we’re excited to bring to life,” said Stephanie Sperber, president and chief creative officer at Lion Forge. 

The series’ strong musical focus and DIY charm is meant to blend in on a platform where kids are already watching music videos and following their favorite creators. Lila revolves around a teenager who makes an original song about climate change that goes viral overnight. The show follows her as she learns to navigate stardom, while continuing to make an impact through song. 

Sinking Ship learned a lot about making a YouTube-style production from Lockdown and it’s bringing that to Lila Goes Viral, Alexis Grieve, director of partnerships, previously told Kidscreen.

Leaning into that musical element, the companies have secured a deal with Sony-owned kids and family music company Magic Star to release the show’s soundtrack. Magic Star has become something of a go-to partner for kids and family music deals, having previously teamed up with the likes of Hasbro, Sunny Bunnies and just earlier this week, The Smurfs. 

And the producers also have a broad plan to roll out accompanying digital content—like music videos, acoustic versions and short-form videos like dance challenges—for every song in the series. 

In keeping with the theme of the series, the producers partnered with environmental non-profit The Climate Initiative, which is focused on educating and empowering youth to take action on climate change. As part of this team-up, The Climate Initiative sent out a call to its network of students and ambassadors to make their own interpretations (such as remixes, translations or lyric videos) of a song from the show, “Fish Out of Water”. (The song was featured in the show’s trailer, which has been viewed 2.5 million times). 

YouTube has been promoting the series because of its climate focus, the producers previously told Kidscreen, which has helped unlock partnerships. 

The studios seem to be confident that the show will do well, and both Sinking Ship and Lion Forge have pledged that 10% of its earnings will be donated to organizations that support sustainability and climate awareness. 

Sinking Ship developed the series, which was co-created by Erica Rabner and Robby LeDoux. Amy Friedman, a former Nickelodeon exec and founder of RedHead Consulting, brought the project to Sinking Ship and is an executive producer on the series. That was after it won development funding from Aspen Institute’s climate-focused education initiative Planet Media.

Images courtesy of Sinking Ship and Lion Forge.