Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer have launched production company Upside Down Pictures with an overall deal with Netflix.

Hilary Leavitt, a former BBC America and MRC executive who most recently ran her own production company, has been hired to run Upside Down Pictures. Leavitt’s credits include Orphan Black, Ozark, The Great and Shining Girls.

3. Duffer Bros

Matt and Ross Duffer are the creative force behind Stranger Things, now in its fourth season on Netflix.

The Duffer brothers and Netflix also announced a slate of projects in active development including a live-action television adaptation of Japanese manga and anime series Death Note, and a series adaptation of Stephen King and Peter Straub‘s The Talisman alongside Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment and Paramount Television to be created by Curtis Gwinn.

The company is also working on a number of Stranger Things spin-offs: a new stage play set within the world and mythology of Stranger Things, produced by Sonia Friedman, Stephen Daldry (The Crown, Billy Elliot, The Reader), and Netflix. Daldry will also direct. 

A live-action Stranger Things spin-off series based on an original idea by The Duffer Brothers, with Upside Down and 21 Laps producing.

According to the Duffer brothers, Upside Down Pictures will “aim to create the kind of stories that inspired the Duffers growing up - stories that take place at that beautiful crossroads where the ordinary meets the extraordinary, where big spectacle co-exists with intimate character work, where heart wins out over cynicism.”

The Duffer brothers most recently released the fourth season of their hit Netflix series Stranger Things, which they wrote, directed, and executive produced. 

Stranger Things 4 is now number one on Netflix’s all time most popular English TV list with 1.15 billion hours viewed in its first 28 days.

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said: “Matt and Ross are an exceptionally unique talent with a vision so crisp and clear. They are all about the details —  it’s no accident that Stranger Things has pierced the zeitgeist to become the epic pop culture phenomenon it is today. We’re excited to continue telling new stories with them as they grow Upside Down Pictures and to welcome Hilary as creative partner.”

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