Horror helmers do comedy for Xbox Live

Safran Digital Group and Microsoft announced a deal that will have some of the leading directors in horror/supernatural filmmaking trying their hand at comedy as the first original programming on Xbox Live.

The directors involved include James Wan ("Saw"), David Slade ("30 Days of Night"), James Gunn ("Slither"), Lucky McKee ("May"), Andrew Douglas ("The Amityville Horror") and Marcus Nispel ("The Texas Chainsaw Massacre"). They'll provide films running less than 10 minutes that will debut this fall worldwide in HD with the launch of the new Xbox Live Experience user interface.

SDG CEO Peter Safran, producer of the Xbox short film series, said the project gives the directors the chance to prove their skill and creativity outside of the horror genre.