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Tuesday, November 20 2018 11:26

General Mills Wants Monster Cereals Movies... and I Have the Pitch!

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General Mills Wants Monster Cereals Movies... and I Have the Pitch!

This week, news hit the wires that General Mills has launched a search for talent in hopes of bringing their famed "Monster Cereals" characters to life on-screen. The cereals have been a breakfast staple for decades, and as the new "Work With the Monsters" website points out, they've been on the fringes of Hollywood since the 60s - but they've never had a big break of their own. Recent years have seen the Monsters enter the toy departments through licensing agreements with Mattel's Hot Wheels brand, Funko, and even Big G Creative for this year's excellent Monster Crunch Game. Now it's finally time to take things to the next level, and that means that I need to remind the folks at General Mills about something: I have the winning pitch. In fact, back in 2015, General Mills' Kevin Hunt invited me to call in and record a bit for the Monster Cereals episode of the A Taste of General Mills Podcast, and in this 2012 article I first mentioned publicly that I'd been sitting on a treatment for a General Mills Monsters movie - one that could easily be adapted into a binge-worthy television series.

Count Chocula Hot Wheels

Per the instructions on the Work With the Monsters website, I have submitted a formal contact request. On the site they state: "Once we verify your credentials, we’ll have our people reach out to your people," so now I can only hope that they have enough to verify with. I've written a lot about the General Mills monsters over the years, and beyond just General Mills... I know a thing or two about monsters in general. I was once nominated for a Spike TV Scream Award for my un-produced screenplay for Death Walks the Streets (it was in pre-production, but sometimes things fall apart), a property that eventually moved into the comic book realm as a crime story set within a world where vampires, demons, zombies and werewolves were real. It was probably a little bit ahead of its time... but Monster Cereals? Those are timeless!

Call me, General Mills - I have what you seek!

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James Zahn

James Zahn is best-known as The Rock Father™, a media personality, commentator, adventurer and raconteur. In January, 2019, after nearly a decade as Publisher of The Rock Father Magazine, he joined Adventure Publishing Group as Senior Editor of The Toy Book—the leading trade publication for the toy industry since 1984, as well as The Pop Insider—a destination for all things pop culture. He is also editor of The Toy Report, a weekly newsletter published by The Toy Book each Thursday. Zahn has over 25 years of experience in the entertainment, retail and publishing industries.

He regularly serves as a Brand Ambassador and spokesperson for several Globally-recognized pop culture and lifestyle brands in addition to consulting for a number of toy manufacturers. 

Creatively, James has directed/edited music videos, lyric videos, and album trailers for bands such as FEAR FACTORY, has appeared as an actor in feature films and commercials, written comic books, and performed in bands. He currently serves as an artist manager and video director for PRODUCT OF HATE, whose debut album was released by Napalm Records in 2016, distributed by ADA/Warner Music in the U.S. with Universal Music handling global. A new album has been completed and is set for release this year.

James and/or his work have been featured in/on CNN, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, WGN, G4, The Chicago Tribune, BusinessWire, Babble, Fangoria, Starlog and more. He's appeared as a music expert on CNN's AC360 alongside Anderson Cooper, and has been interviewed by Larry King. In the past he served as a writer for the Netflix Stream Team,  Fandango Family and PBS KIDS, penned articles for Sprout and PopSugar, and was a contributor to Chicago Parent.

Learn more here. 

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