RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
And in other news, the creators of "South Park" and "The Book of Mormon" have announced they are forming their own production studio. NPR's Mandalit del Barco reports.
MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE: Having success in TV, movies and Broadway, Trey Parker and Matt Stone are now branching out with their own, $300 million production company. They've named it Important Studios, and it's poised to approve TV movie and theater projects. It will give the moguls creative and financial control over what they do.
In a news release, the partners quipped that having worked with several different studios, quote, "we came to realize our favorite people in the world are ourselves."
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DEL BARCO: The duo created the racy, satirical, animated TV show and movie "South Park," which is now in its 16th season on Comedy Central. Stone and Parker have already cut a sweetheart deal with the cable network, that gave them half of all revenue not related to television; giving digital rights to "South Park" movies, soundtracks and merchandise, even video games.
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DEL BARCO: "South Park" was one of the first TV shows to be streamed online, and its huge revenues from millions of fans will reportedly help finance Important Studios. So will backers from the Hollywood investment bank The Raine Group; also, profits from the hit Broadway musical Parker and Stone created in 2011, about wide-eyed Mormon missionaries sent to a remote village in Uganda.
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DEL BARCO: "The Book of Mormon" has grossed more than $200 million. It won nine Tony awards in 2011, and productions are still on tour. The movie version is expected to be one of the first projects for Important Studios.
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DEL BARCO: Mandalit del Barco, NPR News.