Crackle's "The Unknown" Available Now

CULVER CITY, Calif., July 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Crackle, Sony Pictures Television's online video network, announced today that "The Unknown," the long-form anthology series starring Dominic Monaghan (LORD OF THE RINGS, "Lost"), Francis Fisher (THE LINCOLN LAWYER), William Atherton ("Life"), Taryn Manning ("Hawaii Five-0"), Christina Pickles ("Friends"), Brea Grant ("Heroes"), Gbenga Akinnagba ("The Wire"), Brian Krause ("Charmed") and Jay R. Ferguson ("Mad Men") among others is now available at Crackle.

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Created by Chris Collins ("Sons of Anarchy") and individual episodes directed by Kevin Connolly ("Entourage"), Martha Coolidge (REAL GENIUS) and Sam Nicholson ("The Walking Dead"), "The Unknown" chronicles the efforts of an anonymous blogger (Monaghan) to uncover the strange occurrences, supernatural events, and conspiracy theories that are intentionally left undocumented. The series explores the unexplainable phenomena happening around us every day. "The Unknown" is comprised of six, standalone episodes that fuse drama, psychological thrills, suspense and horror. Monaghan's character is the common thread that ties the series together.

"The Unknown" chronicles:

• "Relapse": A troubled woman (Grant) discovers a disturbing secret about her past that may come back to haunt her.
• "Yesterday": A priest (Atherton) becomes deeply disturbed after he meets a man (Krause) seeking redemption for a horrible crime.
• "Prime Cut": A master chef (Ferguson) uses a very special ingredient in his culinary creations to keep his cuisine unique.
• "Life Sentence": A soon-to-be-released prisoner (Akinnagbe) is faced with a life-changing choice on the eve of his release.
• "Spare the Child": A man is shown a mysterious herbal cure that can bring the dead to life—but is there something about it he wasn't told?
• "Privacy Settings": A cyber stalker toys with a woman's (Manning) life with a few strokes of his keyboard.

Starting today, July 13, Crackle has made five of the six, half-hour episodes of "The Unknown" available across all of its existing platforms, with a sixth bonus episode featured exclusively on the Crackle Xbox LIVE ®app on Xbox 360® for one week. All episodes will become available across all of Crackle's existing platforms beginning July 20. The series is available in the U.S. and Latin America.

"We couldn't be more enthused to bring Crackle fans 'The Unknown' beginning today," said Eric Berger, Executive Vice President, Digital Networks for Sony Pictures Television.  "As an anthology series, audiences will be intrigued by each individual story that examines unexplained phenomenon. The series is a perfect fit in our programming line-up, offering our fans something really unique with an extremely exciting slate of creative talent."

"The Unknown" was produced by Collins and Steve Tzirlin (STAR WARS: CLONE WARS) in association with Ryokan Productions and R&G Media, and written by Collins, Matt Michnovetz ("24"), Aron Coleite ("Heroes"),  Andy Black ("Crossing Jordan"), and Tom Monteleone.

"The Unknown," is another example of Crackle's move into digital long-form series, joining the network's portfolio of original content that includes the Webby Award-winning drama "Urban Wolf"; the highly lauded comedy series, "Backwash," from Josh Malina, Danny Leiner & Daniel Schnider, which featured a talented array of actors, including Jon Hamm, John Stamos, Sarah Silverman and Hank Azaria, among others; as well as the Josh Cooke and Matt Oates' hybrid series "Issues" which combined live action and animation, and starred Cooke alongside the voices of Eric Stonestreet, Greg Grunberg, Seth Green and others. "Issues" most recently garnered two Silver Telly Awards and two Webby Award honors.

Crackle continues to expand its brand across multiple platforms and services. Its launch on Xbox LIVE earlier this year has received millions of online hours viewed by Xbox 360 users. The network's highly successful mobile app launch last year also debuted as the #1 free entertainment download on both iPhone and iPad in just its first day and most recently has been honored by the 16th Annual Webby Awards for Best Use of Mobile Video and Best Mobile Entertainment (Handheld Device). Crackle plans to expand its network throughout the remainder of 2012 as well.

For additional information and updates on "The Unknown" make sure to visit www.crackle.com/c/The_Unknown and follow Crackle on Facebook and Twitter at facebook.com/crackle and twitter.com/crackle.

About Crackle, Inc.
Crackle, Inc. is a multi-platform next-generation video entertainment network that distributes digital content including original short form series and full-length traditional programming from Sony Pictures' vast library of television series and feature films. Crackle is one of the fastest growing entertainment destinations on the Internet today, offering audiences quality programming in a variety of genres, including comedy, action, sci-fi, horror, music and reality. Crackle reaches an impressive audience through its diverse online and mobile distribution network. Visit Crackle's site at www.crackle.com.

SOURCE Crackle, Inc.