Lion Forge Entertainment and digital first studio TalesVision have announced plans to adapt shortform social video production Lostlings for the TV market.
Currently available in its original form on TalesVision’s YouTube channel, Lostlings is set in the town of Shadowbrook, “where we have a tradition, but not the kind you celebrate”. One night, every year a teen mysteriously vanishes without a trace, without clues, only to return exactly one year later with no memory of where they were or what happened while they were gone. When a character called Jamie disappears and doesn’t come back, his friends decide to rescue him and free their town from its curse.
TalesVision co-founders Tristan Tales and Luke Pounder will act as showrunners and writers for the longform series. Commenting on LinkedIn, Tales said: “I am beyond excited to announce our partnership with Lion Forge. We tested the concept on the TalesVision social media channels and it received over 17 million views and a dedicated fanbase. This is a great example of how social media can be used to incubate new IP – which is the foundation of our business model.”
Launched in 2024, TalesVision’s YouTube channel has attracted 600,000 subscribers to date with its youth-focused fantasy content. From that start, the company has viewed itself as a bridge between traditional and digital media. It describes itself as “an IP-creating machine. We develop new IP and test it in front of millions of viewers via shortform content, creating millions of fans before the series even launch.”
The longform adaption of Lostlings will debut on TalesVision’s channel before being licensed to traditional platforms. Lion Forge Entertainment CEO and founder David Steward II said: “We see this as the first project in a strategic partnership to develop YA-focused live-action content working with some of the best YouTube creators in the business. We’re happy to make this investment and feel confident that this approach is a smart path forward in the future of live-action development and content distribution—especially for YA audiences.”
