King agrees with both of Carpenter’s selections and also notes that kid-oriented comics like Fetch and The Grimms Town Terror Tales would be ideal as streaming animated series with a tinge of horror.
“Horror can introduce kids to the idea that bad things can happen, but you can deal with it,” she says. “It’s all in how you move forward.”
According to King, Storm King Comics is set up as a creator-owned company, which allows writers to retain the rights to their intellectual property and shop it around for adaptations in other media. “I have a clause that says we get the first chance to executive produce it, but outside of that whatever deals they make are fine with me,” the producer says. “I think everybody should get to prosper.”
Storm King Productions also notably retains the rights to several Carpenter-made cinematic classics, including 1987’s Prince of Darkness and 1988’s They Live. But in keeping with the duo’s shared emphasis on making “new stuff,” they have no interest in shopping streaming series reboots of those fan-favorite films.
“We’ve already told those stories,” King says matter-of-factly about Hollywood’s reboot-crazy climate. “I realize everybody likes to tell and retell the same things, but it’s much more fun to have a new story to tell.”
No storms ahead
One of Storm King’s new stories will be a nine-episode series that’s nearing production at a major cable network. “The powers that be are reading the pilot,” King teases. Four other shows and two features are also in various stages of development amidst the larger production slowdown following last year’s WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
“It used to be that you chose a project, the head of a studio liked it and then you made it,” King says of how Hollywood has changed in the advent of the streaming era. “Now it is a crapshoot. You just have to make sure that you keep on making things. I’m turning out comics and podcasts, and John’s happy making music. We have fun.”
The producer says she’s biding her time during the slow summer months by indulging in her favorite non-Hollywood pastime: preparing homemade preserves. “That way, I’ve got Christmas presents,” she laughs. “That’s what I do all day: I proofread and I make preserves.”
King will be putting the jam aside to make the trip to SDCC. She’s set to appear on two panels and participate in signings at Storm King’s booth, where fans can get their first looks at new and upcoming titles like The Killing Hole and the vampire-themed Blood of the Taken, both of which scored high on Carpenter’s Oh F**K! Meter.