Yahoo News Adi Shankar Signs With WME (EXCLUSIVE)
Adi Shankar and his Bootleg Universe Media Productions have signed with WME for representation, Variety has learned exclusively. He continues to be repped by Chris S. Lee at B&C Content and Scott Sims at Ziffren Brittenham.
Shankar, who is based in Los Angeles and Dubai, has been referred to as the godfather of fan films on the internet. He first came to prominence by producing sophisticated cinematic shorts for YouTube based on major IP like “The Power Rangers,” “The Punisher,” “Judge Dredd,” “Pokemon,” and “Venom.” Actors like James Van Der Beek, Katee Sackhoff, and Thomas Jane have appeared in the shorts.
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Shankar has plans to produce feature length films through Bootleg Universe Media Productions. He previously executive produced the Netflix animated series “Castlevania,” based on the video game franchise of the same name. The show ran for four seasons on Netflix followed by the followup series, “Castlevania: Nocturne,” which Shankar also executive produced.
He is currently at work on an animated series version of the “Devil May Cry” Capcom games for Netflix, with Shankar serving as creator and executive producer. The show does not have a premiere date at the time of this publishing.
Shankar also created the Netflix animated series “Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix.” The six-episode series debute on the streamer in 2023. It was inspired by “Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon” while also drawing from multiple Ubisoft properties.
On the live-action front, Shankar created the series “Guardians of Justice” at Netflix, which was a satire of DC Comics and the Justice League. The cast included WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page as well as RJ Mitte, Jane Seymour, Denise Richards, and Christopher Judge.
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