<P> The Duffer Brothers prepared a script that would essentially be similar to the series' actual pilot episode, along with a 20 - page pitch book to help shop the series around for a network . They pitched the story to a number of cable networks, all of which rejected the script on the basis that they felt a plot centered around children as leading characters would not work, asking them to make it a children's show or to drop the children and focus on Hopper's investigation in the paranormal . In early 2015, Dan Cohen, the VP of 21 Laps Entertainment, brought the script to his colleague Shawn Levy . They subsequently invited The Duffer Brothers to their office and purchased the rights for the series, giving full authorship of it to the brothers . After reading the pilot, the streaming service Netflix purchased the whole season for an undisclosed amount; the show was subsequently announced for a planned 2016 release by Netflix in early April 2015 . The Duffer Brothers stated that at the time they had pitched to Netflix, the service had already gotten recognized for its original programming, such as House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black, with well - recognized producers behind them, and were ready to start giving upcoming producers like them a chance . The brothers started to write out the series and brought Levy and Cohen in as executive producers to start casting and filming . </P> <P> The series was originally known as Montauk, as the setting of the script was in Montauk, New York and nearby Long Island locations . The brothers had chosen Montauk as it had further Spielberg ties with the film Jaws, where Montauk was used for the fictional setting of Amity Island . After deciding to change the narrative of the series to take place in the fictional town of Hawkins instead, the brothers felt they could now do things to the town, such as placing it under quarantine, that they really could not envision with a real location . With the change in location, they had to come up with a new title for the series under direction from Netflix's Ted Sarandos so that they could start marketing it to the public . The brothers started by using a copy of Stephen King's Firestarter novel to consider the title's font and appearance, and came up with a long list of potential alternatives . Stranger Things came about as it sounded similar to another King novel, Needful Things, though Matt noted they still had a "lot of heated arguments" over this final title . </P> <P> To pitch the series, The Duffers showcased images, footage and music from 1980s films such as E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Poltergeist, Hellraiser, Stand by Me, Firestarter, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Jaws, in order to establish the tone of the series . </P> <P> With the critical success of the first season after its release in July 2016, speculation on a possible second season was raised . The Duffer Brothers initially intended for Stranger Things to either be a standalone miniseries or an anthology series . They also considered the possibility of setting a potential second season (which they refereed to as a' sequel') in the early 1990s and featuring an older version of the characters, along with all new characters, who are drawn back to Hawkins after supernatural events begin occurring again. . However, following the release of the first season, they realized that the likability of the characters - especially the children - was key to the series' success, and they decided to set the second season in 1984 and focus on the same characters . By the end of July, The Duffer Brothers had outlined a plan for such a season if it was green - lit, and Netflix's CEO Reed Hastings said in early August that the company "would be dumb not to" renew Stranger Things for a second season . On August 31, 2016, Netflix announced it had renewed Stranger Things for a second season of nine episodes, to be released in 2017 . The Duffer Brothers revealed that the series had been renewed for a second season before the first premiered . Regarding the decision to wait more than a month after the first season premiered to announce the renewal, Matt Duffer said, "it actually ended up working because it had built up to this fever pitch . I guess that's what (Netflix) were intending to do all the time ." </P>

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