LOS ANGELES — What if you woke up one day at summer camp to discover all the adults had disappeared? That’s how the kids’ adventure series, eScape, begins when it comes to the Web this summer, producers announced today.

Created by Mike Feurstein of New York-based MovieQuest Productions and co-produced by Runic Films, eScape tells the story of a group of campers seemingly abandoned by their counselors. They soon discover they are trapped in a video game that grants them amazing abilities. But in the real world, this game is the object of a power struggle between powerful corporations and mysterious military interests.

The first three seasons of eScape will premiere on the Web this summer on its Web site, www.eScapeTheSeries.com. A trailer and a preview of the show are available on the site now.

The show tells a great story in the same vein as Lost. Young and older viewers alike connect with its characters’ struggles to make the right life choices in the face of adventure, danger and unimaginable odds. — Series creator Mike Feurstein

eScape’s third season is currently in production in and around Albany, N.Y., starring local actors and school children. The students also worked behind the scenes to help produce the series.

“Wide release of eScape this summer will introduce viewers to the space- and time-bending world of the show,” said Runic Films producer Ben Alpi.  “It’s a world we plan to continue to explore.”

eScape is the latest project from Runic Films, which comprises the creative team behind the Web series Star Trek: Phase II, winner of TV Guide’s Online Video Award for Science Fiction, and nominee for the Hugo and Nebula awards — science fiction’s highest honors.

Alpi, who had contributed visual effects to the first two seasons of eScape, introduced series creator Feurstein to his Runic partners — writer-producer Carlos Pedraza, cinematographer David Berry, and visual effects artists Joël Bellucci and Matt Jolly — after their recent departure from the Trek series.

Watch the Trailer

Feurstein and his young filmmakers have produced movies that have won gold medals in New York state competitions and top prizes in regional film contests. Feurstein himself earned Best Local Filmmaker kudos in readers’ polls from the Albany, N.Y., Times Union, and the Metroland newsweekly. He has also produced an international educational DVD series on autism, contributed to the blockbuster award-winning Guitar Hero video game and owns Cucumber Alley, a film lighting rental company.

“Ben, Carlos and the rest of the Runic guys came aboard to help make the third season of eScape the best yet,” Feurstein said, “and its release on the Web is an exceptional showcase for the cast and crew.”

Runic Films is a production and entertainment company developing original properties for Web, film and television. Now located in Los Angeles, Runic was founded by two brothers in New York, and has grown to a staff of award-winning writers, directors, artists and technicians. Dedicated to upholding the rich traditions of storytelling, Runic Films harnesses cutting-edge technology and visual effects to create amazing worlds for dramatic tales grounded in humanity.

Based in historic Schenectady, N.Y., MovieQuest Productions is a motion picture production company dedicated to offering young people educational opportunities to create quality films.

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Links

• eScape Web site http://www.eScapeTheSeries.com
• Runic Films http://www.runicfilms.com

I was honored to learn that TrekMovie.com, the leading Star Trek movie news site, named the Star Trek: Phase II production of my screenplay, “Blood and Fire, Part 2” the best Star Trek fan production of 2009.

That, along with Joss Whedon telling Rolling Stone that “World Enough and Time,” the Star Trek: Phase II production I co-executive produced, inspired him to create Dr. Horrible’s Singalong Blog, made my year.

Rolling Stone, btw, named Phase II, which I wrote for and produced, one of their five must-watch Web series.

“Blood and Fire” is based on a script Gerrold originally authored for Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was never produced because its passing reference to a male couple aboard the Enterprise was considered too controversial by the producers.

I adapted the script for the original Trek series-based Phase II, expanding the story to include Captain Kirk’s nephew Peter as one part of the male couple. Interestingly, two decades later, that portrayal proved plenty controversial when “Blood and Fire, Part 1″ debuted a year ago.

Fortunately, Part 2′s release this past November was greeted by far fewer objections.

Randy Hall of SciFiPulse reviews “Blood and Fire,” Parts 1 and 2.

PART 2 of “Blood and Fire,” the Star Trek: Phase II episode I co-wrote with David Gerrold was released Nov. 21, nearly a year after Part 1. Part 2 features Star Trek: The Next Generation star Denise Crosby in a great guest-starring role. I’ve been so busy lately I haven’t had time to track down all the reviews, but here are excerpts of some I’ve come across so far.

Part 2 doesn’t seem to have engendered the vitriol that Part 1 did with its depiction of a relationship between two male officers aboard the Enterprise (one of them Capt. Kirk’s nephew. Shocking!).

This episode features Star Trek: The Next Generation star Denise Crosby in a great guest-starring role and amazing visual effects by my dear friend Joël Bellucci. ¡Hire him! Dave Berry was the director of photography and Ben Alpi the second-unit director — all three are my partners in Runic Films and associates of the production company, Blue Seraph Productions, owned and operated by me and J.T. Tepnapa (who also debuts in the episode as the newest Mr. Sulu).

The Reviews

• SciFiPulse.net (Randy Hall) —

The “gold standard” of independent Trek productions. … I have to wonder how much longer Phase II can continue to be considered an “amateur” series.

• TrekMovie.com (Anthony Pascale) —

Director David Gerrold keeps an even better pace with part 2. … It flows like a Star Trek episode. … The script, by Gerrold and Carlos Pedraza (based on an unused TNG script by Gerrold) also (mostly) rings true for classic Trek, full of traditional themes like family and sacrifice. … The effects are top notch for a fan film (and even many ‘real’ TV shows).

• Treks in SciFi blog —

This series of fan films has always been my favorite and they do a great job of capturing the feel of the original series and also giving us things we never got to see in the past. The sets are incredible and detail is amazing. Each episode gets better and better in terms of production values and they have many more episodes planned.

• TheLogbook.com (Earl Green) —

Another outstanding entry for Phase II. … I guess my ambivalence about [Part 2] is the allegory went. For years, tales have circulated about “Blood and Fire” being an appropriately fiery criticism of the lack of forward motion on a cure for AIDS, with the bloodworms standing in for the disease; Part 2 really seems to drop that ball. I was ready – and rooting for – David Gerrold to tear into all sorts of social injustices, and somehow it just doesn’t happen. Maybe over the years the legend became bigger than the story itself. In any case, the script as written/rewritten is expertly executed.

That’s a really legitimate question: One I’ll take on when I get a chance. Meanwhile, the review and comments on the gay-themed AfterElton blog were a bit sharper, and make some good points. Here’s a snippet:

• AfterElton.com (Ed Kennedy) —

Don’t get me wrong – this is an amazing product for a fan production. It just didn’t strike the right emotional tone to feel like Star Trek. Star Trek doesn’t do romance, at least not like this. Swashbuckling style is what it does well. … And I can’t recall a family moment like the Kirks had, even between Picard and Wesley Crusher. This was more of a Lifetime movie set on the Enterprise. And as Lifetime movies go, it was pretty good. But it wasn’t Star Trek.

What did the fanboys think of it? Last time it was pretty harsh. This time, the forums seem to have quite a few gay men in them, who appreciate the story. As for the review? It’s pretty much the opposite of what I said. Don’t worry, I’m used to it.

Don’t forget to read the comments.

An Associated Press article run in the Washington Post today notes that major studios are starting to back more Web series with talent and cash. The subject of this article, the series The Bannen Way, got $1 million in funding from Sony Pictures through their online network, Crackle.

Here’s an excerpt from the Washington Post article with a link to the full story:

Hollywood adds money, talent to made-for-Web shows

By RYAN NAKASHIMA
The Associated Press
Sunday, December 20, 2009

LOS ANGELES — Web sites that buy original video clips often pay so little that “The Bannen Way,” a flashy crime thriller debuting online, looked destined to be made poorly if it could be made at all.

Yet budding filmmakers Jesse Warren and Mark Gantt managed to hire 40-odd staff, including a boom operator, camerapeople – yes, more than one – and even production assistants on hand to offer sunscreen and sandwiches. And the production had actors familiar to some TV and movie audiences, including Michael Ironside, Robert Forster and Vanessa Marcil.

The secret to their success? Treat the Internet run like a TV or movie release, which often loses money on its on-screen debut, but can make healthy profits when issued on DVD or Blu-ray and later sold for reruns on cable or overseas.

With that in mind, major movie studios are now getting behind such productions, giving them a lift in budgets and quality – a far cry from the shaky camerawork and dubious special effects prevalent when Web video became a new phenomenon a few years ago.

Read the entire article >>

Wouldn’t the world be a wonderful place if we could shed labels like black, white, Latino, Asian, gay, bisexual or lesbian? We like to imagine — assume, even — that humanity will only ever continue to progress socially and technologically and that one day such distinctions will blur into a pleasant haze of meaninglessness.

That is dangerous thinking.

We rejoice at our own peril at the California Supreme Court’s recent decision declaring gay marriage legal under the state’s constitution. While the ruling clearly represents progress in civil rights, some worry it could spark a backlash at the polls in which right-wing voters turn out in large enough numbers to swing California’s treasure trove of electoral votes from blue to red, costing the Democrats the White House yet again.

Those fears may be overblown but there’s no doubt that gay issues continue to press political hot buttons at every level of society. Every new bit of gay news digs beneath our polite surface to reveal deep-seated prejudices and fears. Our own science fiction subculture is no more immune to the phenomenon than any other, despite our high-minded claims to imagining a better future.

Pushing Homos

Consider the news item several weeks ago in which Bryan Fuller, executive producer of the ABC series Pushing Daisies, disclosed that Star Trek: Voyager was to have featured a gay couple. Fuller, who was a producer on Voyager, confessed to AfterElton.com that he was glad the characters never materialized because they were so two-dimensional. Even so, the news occasioned all manner of discussion on the various Trek-related forums, including an awful lot of homophobic drivel, as well as a reminder that fan film producers beat “real” Star Trek to the punch by introducing gay characters years ago.

I used to write and produce the fan series that did so, Star Trek: Hidden Frontier, which introduced several gay characters, including Ro Nevin, a Bajoran who is the first gay starship commander in the succeeding series, Star Trek: Odyssey. I co-wrote with scifi author David Gerrold the script, “Blood and Fire,” which introduces gay characters into Trek’s original series via Star Trek: Phase II (formerly Star Trek: New Voyages). The two fan-produced series made bold moves by tackling the subject, receiving both kudos and condemnation in return.

Among all the discussion I’ve recently noticed a disturbing trend in which homophobes have found common ground with some proponents of portraying gay people in Star Trek — namely, that 200 or 300 years from now being gay doesn’t matter. Here’s how one reader, msspurlock, put it in the comments on TrekWeb’s story about gays on Voyager:

People who are as sad and deluded as to think this will even be a topic of discussion in the 23rd Century are morons. Morons lacking any imagination. Morons seeking external validation in the present day for something that will not be a topic of discussion in the positive future Roddenberry outlined. So anyone making an issue of it now, is either looking to cash in or get press coverage.

Compare this with how Star Trek: Hidden Frontier’s producer, Rob Caves, characterized about his gay Bajoran, Ro Nevin. In announcing the character’s new show, Star Trek: Odyssey, Caves described Ro as bisexual instead of gay, which he later admitted was a lie to make the new Odyssey series more palatable to a general audience.

The only reason that I did that was so we didn’t scare away the homophobes right out of the gate. … I should have stood up and just said he was gay and not cared what people think or if they watch the show or not, but … I wanted people to give this show a chance.

Remarkably, however, Caves reversed course and retracted the gay label again:

I quickly retracted my statement that Ro is gay and that’s that. Because … it shouldn’t be about those labels at all. … Not once did we hear Ro or anyone else refer to him as gay. As far as I’m concerned, that label is more or less extinct by the 24th century.

Next: Gay extinction? »

The Star Trek: New Voyages episode, “World Enough and Time,” that I executive-produced was just nominated for a Hugo Award, one of science fiction’s greatest honors, joining some fine productions. The other nominees were all produced by large studios or networks in the United States and the United Kingdom.

“World Enough and Time,” written by Michael Reeves and Marc Scott Zicree, was nominated in the category Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form, alongside:

• Battlestar Galactica, “Razor,” (SciFi Channel/NBC-Universal). Only the televised version was nominated, not the DVD release, which features an extended version.
• Doctor Who, “Blink,” (BBC).
• Doctor Who, “Human Nature” and “Family of Blood,” (two-parter, BBC).
• Torchwood, “Captain Jack Harkness” (BBC).

My self-congratulations aside, two things are significant about the New Voyages (recently renamed Star Trek: Phase II) nomination: First is that this is the first time an Internet production has received a Hugo nomination; second, this is the first fan film that’s been nominated for a Hugo. This is on top of the recent Nebula Award nomination for this episode (which is solely for the script; the Hugo honors the actual production).

We’re in the middle of what I believe is a revolution in media — where non-Hollywood productions go toe-to-toe with more expensively produced studio films. The chokehold on quality exerted by needing to succeed in mass media (i.e., network television and theatrical release) may be nearing its end. Inexpensive, independent productions made with the high quality afforded by affordable technology stand an economic chance, freed from having to ‘win’ a TV ratings war or having to appeal to specific demographics at the cinemaplex.

Want to see what such a production looks like? You can watch “World Enough and Time” online, streaming, or find out where to download here.

And if you want to vote for the Hugo Award, you can learn how on the Hugo Awards Web site.

Besides, executive producing “World Enough and Time,” I also served as script supervisor. And I got to direct all the bridge scenes that you see in the episode. Dream Come True — Nerd Edition™.

About the Hugo Awards

SCIENCE FICTION’S MOST PRESTIGIOUS AWARD The Hugo Awards have been awarded annually since 1955. The Hugos are voted on by the thousands of members of the World Science Fiction Society and awarded in 15 categories.

About ‘World Enough and Time’

A Romulan weapons test goes awry and traps the Enterprise. Lt. Commander Sulu returns to find himself 30 years out of place and the key to saving the crew of the Enterprise as the precarious grasp on their own dimension begins to slip. Guest starring George Takei, who returns to the role of Hikaru Sulu. View now >>

As co-executive producer of Star Trek: Phase II (formerly New Voyages) I was as surprised as anyone last week to discover that the board of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) voted unanimously to name our latest episode, “World Enough and Time” (we affectionately call it WEaT), on the final ballot for the coveted Nebula Award for Best Science Fiction Script.

With that nomination — the furthest any Star Trek product has made in the Nebula process ever — Phase II joins such notable professional productions last year as Children of Men, Pan’s Labyrinth, Dr. Who, The Prestige, and V for Vendetta. This should be good news, right?

Well, it’s all a matter of perspective, and it all hinges on that word professional. Naming Phase II as a professional production qualified the writers of WEaT, Marc Scott Zicree and Michael Reaves, for the Nebula Award. It also has the by-product of endangering our whole show, which has been produced for years with CBS/Paramount turning a blind eye to what we’ve been doing as long as we didn’t make any money. And we haven’t. Trust me, my empty wallet testifies to that reality.

Marc Zicree pleaded with the SFWA board of directors to make WEaT eligible for the Nebula. In doing so, he characterized our production in a way that doesn’t quite jell with my understanding. According to the UK blog, Den of Geek:

Now “World Enough and Time” director Marc Zicree has weighed in with his point of view in a statement prepared for the SFWA. The argument he constructs is interesting in itself… but what’s more interesting is how incredibly candid he is about how connected Phase II actually is. The show’s fannish producers, lead by Kirk actor James Cawley, have traditionally been tight lipped about the privileged position Phase II and New Voyages before it enjoys with the studio. Not Zicree.

He tells us that “World Enough and Time” was produced with the full co-operation and knowledge of Paramount and CBS (from “Business Affairs on down”), that he was given directorial advice by no less than J.J. Abrams while shooting the show and that several key personnel were paid for their involvement – including George Takei, and Zicree himself.

From top: George Takei and Walter Koenig reprise their Original Series roles as Sulu and Chekov in the fan-produced Star Trek: Phase II; Denise Crosby (Yar in Star Trek: The Next Generation) guest stars in Phase II’s upcoming “Blood and Fire.”

The SFWA board acceded to Marc Zicree’s plea, mostly because their bylaws have never bothered to really define what ‘professionally produced’ actually means. But that’s a far cry from Marc’s characterization of our show being “produced with the [studio's] full cooperation and knowledge.” See, I don’t believe we have been tight-lipped about the extent of involvement by industry professionals in our production. Trust me, a tour of our press releases over the past few years confirms that. And our so-called position of privilege really only extends as far as Paramount allowing us our fun as long as we don’t make money from it. And that benign neglect extends to all fan films, like Star Trek: Hidden Frontier (where I was also a writer and producer), Starship Exeter, Intrepid, Farragut and the others.

So there are no secrets being revealed by Marc’s public plea for Phase II’s professional status; consider that Marc has a vested interest in portraying the show as professionally produced – he (not the production itself, mind you; the award is only for the script) can now win a Nebula. And I own the fact the we have a vested interest in remaining non-professional – our agreement with Paramount is that we can’t be professional (i.e., earn money) and continue producing our show. But in a pro vs. non-pro contest, I’ll put my empty wallet up against the empty space on Marc’s mantle any day. It would be a shame if the Nebula controversy ended up as a pyrrhic victory – Marc gets his award and the show is shut down by Paramount.

It also highlights a looming change in perspective that needs to acknowledge that the democratization of creative production, thanks to technology and Web-based distribution, has blurred the line between professional and amateur. That’s a controversy I welcome. In the meantime, can we lose the term fanfessional (fan + professional)? Sounds like I’ve committed a crime I should be ‘fessing up to. And I haven’t. Not yet, anyway.

My writing and business partner, J.T. Tepnapa, was just cast as Mr. Sulu in Star Trek: Phase II (formerly known as Star Trek: New Voyages), the Web series for which I write and serve as co-executive producer.

J.T. and I met on the set of our first collaboration, Star Trek: Hidden Frontier, the Web’s longest-running scifi series, back in 2003 when he starred in the first screenplay I ever wrote, “Grave Matters.” Though I left that series in 2005, we’ve since joined together to begin work on our first feature film, Judas Kiss, under the umbrella of his production company, Blue Seraph Productions.

J.T. is now the fourth person to portray Sulu in a major production, following George Takei (with whom I worked in New Voyages’ recent episode, “World Enough and Time”), John Lim (also in New Voyages) and John Cho in J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Star Trek movie.

I’m excited to be on a working set shortly with J.T. again. We’ll be shooting the next two episodes of Phase II this summer in New York. Um, as soon as I finish writing one and rewriting the other.