Back to All News
The Duffer Brothers Announce New Production Company Upside Down Pictures
Entertainment
06 July 2022
GlobalUnited States
Hilary Leavitt Joins Upside Down Pictures
Duffer Brothers and Netflix Announce Expanded Slate Including New Stranger Things Projects
The Duffer Brothers today announced their new production company, Upside Down Pictures, for film and television projects as part of their overall deal with Netflix.
Hilary Leavitt (Orphan Black, Ozark) has been hired to run the company.
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 and Netflix also announced their growing slate of projects in active development:
An all-new live-action television adaptation of the renowned Japanese manga and anime series Death Note
An original series from creators Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews (Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance)
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
A new stage play set within the world and mythology of Stranger Things, produced by prolific and multi award-winning producers Sonia Friedman, Stephen Daldry (The Crown, Billy Elliot, The Reader), and Netflix. Daldry will also direct. 21 Laps serves as Associate Producer.
A live-action Stranger Things spin-off series based on an original idea by The Duffer Brothers, with Upside Down and 21 Laps producing.
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 #1 on Netflix's (all time) Most Popular English TV list with an astounding 1.15Bn hours viewed in its first 28 days - only the second series to cross the billion hour viewing mark, with the final tally expected to be higher as Vol. 2 reaches the 28-day viewing period. The third season released in 2019 still holds at #3.Stranger Things 4 record-breaking highlights include:
It was the biggest premiere weekend ever for an English-language TV show on Netflix with 286.79 Million hours viewed.
It hit #1 on the Top 10 lists in 91 countries, a first for an English TV series
It became the most viewed season of English-language TV in a single week on Netflix with a staggering 335.01M hours viewed.
It entered the Most Popular list at #3 with 621.80M hours viewed just 10 days after its premiere, setting yet another record as the fastest English-language series to break into the Most Popular list.
QUOTES:
Matt and Ross Duffer: It didn't take long into our first meeting with Hilary, where we bonded over films like Jaws, Home Alone, and Speed, to know we had found a kindred spirit. Hilary's passion for storytelling is perhaps matched only by her passion for the storytellers themselves, for whom she is fiercely protective. No wonder so many writers and directors are drawn to working with her. She is a rare talent indeed, and we feel extremely grateful to have her at our side as we build Upside Down Pictures
Ted Sarandos Quote: 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.
Hilary Leavitt Quote: "I remember the first movie I saw in the theater, the first VHS tape I got for Christmas, the first international one-sheet I bid for on ebay because it was cooler than the domestic. And the first time I met Matt and Ross. All of these seminal moments have led to this ridiculously cool opportunity to build a company with the Duffer Brothers where we produce movies and television because we love movies and television. This love is at the core of Upside Down Pictures, where we're able to collaborate with other artists on projects across the full spectrum of genre. We all love what we do and are excited to do more and more.
About The Duffer Brothers
The Duffer Brothers broke out onto the scene in late 2011 when, fresh out of college, they had multiple movie studios vying for their horror-thriller spec script HIDDEN, which landed at Warner Bros. The Duffers directed the film, which starred Alexander Skarsgard and Andrea Riseborough and was released in 2015. They wrote and were executive producers on M. Night Shyamalans hit television show WAYWARD PINES. The Duffer Bros then created the worldwide phenomenon, STRANGER THINGS, for Netflix in 2016 starring Winona Ryder and David Harbour. The fourth season of the series, which they wrote, directed, and executive produced, was released in June 2022.
About Hilary Leavitt
Leavitt began her career at BBC America where she helped develop and manage the Emmy Award-winning series ORPHAN BLACK. She then served as VP of Television at MRC, where she helped shepherd OZARK to Netflix, THE GREAT to Hulu, and developed the Apple series SHINING GIRLS. Leavitt then launched her production banner Blazer with an overall producing deal at Hulu. A proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community, she put an emphasis on queer and female-driven projects, leading to collaborations with a wide variety of diverse artists and creative partners that include Our Lady J, Liz Hannah, John Wells Productions, and many others. She was also a consultant on KILLING EVE.
###
Media Contacts: Nidia Caceros Kide, nkilde@netflix.com Emily Robinson, emilyr@netflix.com
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
In a live broadcast from the Reagan National Defense Forum, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik joined Morgan Brennan on CNBCs Closing Bell: Overtime. Ku...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Introducing New Perks to Help You Get Even More from LinkedIn Premium Published on Dec 5, 2025 Categories: Company News, Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Co...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
Back to All News
