Penelope, Mark Duplass’ independently financed and produced TV series has found a home on Netflix, after the streaming company acquired U.S. distribution rights for all eight first-season episodes.
The deal -- somewhat unique for TV series -- provides that brothers Mark and Jay Duplass' production company will retain control of the show, including the right to make a second season. The Duplass Bros. will also retain video on-demand rental rights as they continue to market the series.
Duplass made the announcement Sunday at SeriesFest, after the show debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
Penelope, which stars Megan Stott and Austin Abrams, follows a 16-year-old girl who leaves her life behind for the uncharted wilderness, and tries to find a new life away from contemporary civilization.
Having co-written the project over the pandemic with the help of director Mel Eslyn, and, due to a lack of financiers, decided to self-finance the project, Duplass’ deal with Netflix will secure wider distribution for the series after a nearly six-month marketing process.
“I knew when I brought the scripts to the buyers that there would be a bidding war,” said Duplass in an Instagram post about the series in December. “But there wasn’t. No one would give us the money to make it.”
TheWrap reported that Duplass made it easy for Netflix to acquire the distribution rights: “We’ve basically absolved [Netflix] of the responsibility to make us their flagship show," Mark Duplass said to the trade.
Duplass reportedly told Netflix, “Just put us on the service. We’re going to sign a very short deal with you guys, and we’re going to see how it does. That way at Netflix, you’re not taking an oversized, outsized risk on the show. You’re not going to be pissed off if it doesn’t work.”
The show’s performance on Netflix will likely determine whether Duplass Brothers Productions decides to renew the project for a second season.
