Gen-Z Media (www.GZMShows.com), the leading producer of audio programming for tweens, teens and families, announces its newest spooky comedy adventure, just in time for Halloween.
The 20-episode serialized podcast, “Mina & Lucy’s Guide to Slaying Dracula,” launches on Thursday, September 21 across all podcast platforms, with additional episodes releasing in the lead up to Halloween.
Penned by Lauren Wells (FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows”) and based loosely on the classic novel by Bram Stoker, the comedy adventure stars Bradley Whitford (“The West Wing”) as the legendary vampire hunter, Professor Van Helsing.
The serialized story chronicles best friends and monster enthusiasts who discover something shocking about their new classmate, and when strange occurrences begin rattling their small town, the friends find themselves confronting the most powerful vampire of legend, Dracula himself.
Whitford voices Professor Van Helsing, Mina’s eccentric and protective grandfather, who guards his secret past as the greatest vampire hunter the world has ever known. Other cast members rounding out the show include Ritchie Coster (“The Dark Knight”) as Dracula, Broadway sensation Suri Marrero (“The Lion King,” “Frozen) as Mina Murray and newcomer Genna Du Quesnay as Lucy West, as well as Marissa Jaret Winokur (“Hairspray”), Julian Chowdhury (“That 90’s Show”), Anthony Atamanuik (“30 Rock”), and Che Tafari (“The Good Fight”).
“Bradley’s portrayal of Van Helsing is heartfelt and hilarious,” says Ben Strouse, Gen-Z Media’s CEO. “Lauren created such a fun version of the iconic character, and it’s thrilling to see Bradley bring him life.”
Strouse sees an increasing demand for immersive family fare, especially in audio. “We create shows like “Mina & Lucy” to appeal to older tweens who may have aged out of younger “kids” podcasts, and that aim also attracts a co-listening audience of young adults, parents and other adults who love big story worlds,” he says. “We try to put smart, relatable characters that young people can identify with at the center of a fun adventure and use original music and immersive sound design to bring it to life in a way that feels very familiar to movie-goers,” Strouse adds.
With its slate of more than 20 original audio mysteries, adventures and comedies, GZM has made a name for itself as the premier creator of scripted audio fiction for young adult and family audiences. Their mystery-adventure “Six Minutes”, now in its third season, has remained at the top of the Apple Podcasts Fiction chart for years, recently claiming the no. 1 spot.
Gen-Z Media’s most recent podcast, “Nightingale” (Ben Shenkman, “Angels in America”), a 12-episode series that sought to honor the struggle of kids and families dealing with serious illnesses, attracted a passionate audience of over 150,000 tweens, teens and their families in its first two months.
Other podcasts from Gen-Z Media include Peabody award-winning “The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel” and Peabody nominated “Treasure Island: 2020,” as well as “The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian,” a podcast for younger listeners, which is being adapted for television by Crayola and MIMO Studios.
About Gen-Z Media.
Gen-Z Media (www.gzmshows.com) is the leading producer of all-ages fiction programming, attracting hundreds of thousands of engaged teens, tweens and families to a slate of more than two dozen original audio adventures, mysteries and dramas. The independent family network creates smart and purposeful stories filled with twists, turns, humor and heart, setting the standard for world building and immersive audio production.
