AirLockAlpha.com

With its new name firmly in place, Syfy is ready to try and see how well its branding will work on the world stage, and have partnered with famed horror author Stephen King to do it.

Syfy has ordered 13 episodes of "Haven," a supernatural series based on King's novella "The Colorado Kid." It will not only be readied for distribution on Syfy's American operations for 2010, but on all the Syfy properties around the world.

Mark Stern, who heads original programming at Syfy, said the network couldn't pick a better series to launch globally.

"'Haven' is the quintessential Stephen King town, full of complex, yet identifiable, characters, and compelling supernatural situation," Stern said in a release.

The series is being produced by E1 Entertainment, part of E1 Television Group, and is the first partnership between Syfy and the company. It will begin filming the series in 2010 based on a pilot written by Sam Ernst and Jim Dunn. Ernst and Dunn have some exposure with another property based on King's work, "The Dead Zone," where they wrote two episodes, according to Internet Movie Database. They also wrote the video game version of "Shrek the Third."

They will be joined by Adam Fratto as a co-executive producer. Fratto was an associate producer on "Dead Zone" for a short stint, and later worked on the ABC Family show "Greek."

Not a single person has been cast for "Haven," but E1 head John Morayniss already is calling "Haven" a massive success.

"E1 has successfully orchestrated the first Syfy global partnership with Syfy in the U.S. and their international pay channels, and we couldn't be more pleased," Morayniss said in a release. "What a combination: The Syfy brand, the pedigree of Stephen King and the global presence and reach of E1. With those ingredients, I predict a worldwide ratings hit for 'Haven.' Syfy audiences and television viewers around the world will be enthralled with this exciting new series."

The show will get a worldwide release in late 2010 everywhere except Canada and Scandinavia. Set in Maine, Haven is a town where people with supernatural abilities have migrated to for generations because its mutes their powers, allowing them to lead normal lives, according to a release.

However, FBI agent Audrey Parker is called to Haven to solve a murder, but instead, stumbles upon the secret of this little town.

Scott Shepherd, who got his start as a supervising producer on the NBC series "Quantum Leap" only to later be a part of shows such as "Tru Calling" and "The Dead Zone," will be the showrunner for "Haven." His production team includes a who's who of "The Dead Zone" refugees including Lloyd Segan and Shawn Piller as executive producers, along with Morayniss and "Hung's" Noreen Halpern.

Since its rebranding, Syfy has experienced a significant surge in audience, recently recording its best October ever behind the strength of "Sanctuary" and new show "Stargate: Universe." Syfy also had success with another freshman series this past summer, "Warehouse 13," and is expecting to premiere its "Battlestar Galactica" prequel "Caprica" in January.