EXCLUSIVE: Zero Gravity Management has signed transmedia company Keenspot Entertainment, whose webcomic and graphic novel Marry Me by Bobby Crosby was recently adapted by Universal into the hit rom-com of the same name, starring Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson.
Released simultaneously last year in theaters and on Peacock, Marry Me hit #1 at the box office upon its Valentine’s Day weekend opening and also came in as Peacock’s most-streamed day-and-date title to date.
The company behind the source material, co-founded by CEO Chris Crosby, which has Bobby Crosby serving as President, launched as a pioneering publisher of webcomics in the year 2000, racking up billions of impressions on its website, keenspot.com and ultimately branching out into print. Now a top indie publisher in comic book stores worldwide, with direct market sales often on par with competitors like Archie Comics, Keenspot also has a book line distributed exclusively by Simon & Schuster.
Keenspot is currently producing a series adaptation of the comic series Grubbs by Max Weaver, which features the voices of Wil Wheaton, Jerry O’Connell, Jodie Sweetin, Jaleel White, Jason Marsden and Debi Derryberry. M.J. Offen (Jade Armor) is serving as showrunner, co-producer and voice director for the series, with Zero Gravity’s Glass House Studios supplying the animation.
The company also is currently developing a number of other projects based on IP from its library of 100+ titles including Softball Crew, based on the videos by Bobby Crosby that have attracted over 800M views on his YouTube channel, and the comic book spin-off that followed. The writer behind the animated series adaptation, following a ragtag group of amateur softball players who get into adventures through space and time, is SpongeBob SquarePants’ Emmy-nominated Richard Pursel.
Pursel is also currently attached as showrunner for Keenspot’s animated series Kung Fu Legume, based on the kids comics by Michael Adams about a bean who gains sentience and martial arts mastery after getting struck by lightning in space, then teaming up with a young girl genius and her robot grandpa to save the multiverse. The fifth issue of that comic book hits stories March 22nd, with a related book collection planned for the 2023 holiday season.
Among the Keenspot comics also in active development for film and TV are Bobby Crosby’s pre-World War II romance Dreamless; Brett Murphy’s Toy, about an inventor named Toy who also happens to be a toy; Troy Dongarra’s Kid Slapshot, watching as the last human boy alive on a planet of monsters escapes after being granted space-faring powers; Erik Klaus’ Ninjas & Robots, in which a ninja princess with memory loss battles robot overlords; Casey Bowker’s Hollowed, following two mismatched detectives as they track a serial killer who hollows out their victims; and Chris Crosby’s God Mode, set at the dawn of the internet, in which a feisty Asian-American girl creates a gaming website acquired by an out-of-touch conglomerate.
Upcoming print comic book launches from Keenspot include Danny Harrell’s Rebel Grrrls in July, Matt Fife and Matt Rodgers’ sci-fi comedy Happy Astronaut in August, and Chris Crosby & Mike Rosenzweig’s 1890s-set supernatural Western Greenhorns in September. And launching in May as a Keenspot webcomic is Amber Greenlee’s Captain T.
“My brother Bobby and I are extremely enthusiastic that Keenspot is now being represented by Zero Gravity,” said Chris Crosby. “Very cool!”
“As a Keenspot comic creator myself, I’m excited to be partnering with Zero Gravity to help adapt our characters to other media,” added Immortal comic book creator Rob Potchak, who serves as associate editor for Keenspot’s comic book line.
Representing a diverse rosters of actors, writers, directors and producers working in film and television, Zero Gravity has also been behind films like Copshop and The Marksman, as well as such series as Ozark, Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! and Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker.