Ice Planet TV Series Announces Production Date, Team
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (October 9, 2006)
CANNES, France - SpaceWorks Entertainment Inc. (Canada), and Circles & Lines (Germany) are pleased to announce the commencement date for principle photography for Ice Planet, a new sci-fi television series and video game enterprise, starring Michael Ironside, with set-building and prep currently underway.
Production will begin November 17, 2006 at SpaceWorks Entertainment's new 63,000 square-foot studio in Scarborough, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto in Canada. The prep stage is nearing completion as the studio will house the majority of scenes being shot for the series as well as some footage to be used by designers of the franchise's video console game.
In addition to interior sets, a half-acre of exterior land will be converted to the threatening landscape of the Ice Planet thanks to the production's crew and the CGI magic of Optix Digital (Toronto, Frankfurt).
SpaceWorks and Circles & Lines are also pleased to announce three key appointments to the production team: John Calvert, Anna Bourque and Gord Barnes.
"We are very fortunate to be able to secure such talent for this unique project," said Ice Planet Executive Producer and SpaceWorks' CEO G. Philip Jackson. "Their collective experience in science fiction brings this project to a new level," added Hendrik Hey, Executive Producer (Germany).
JOHN CALVERT: Perhaps best known for producing such TV sci-fi classics as PSI Factor, William Shatner's Tek War and Earth: The Final Conflict, John most recently worked with Britney Spears on her TV project Brave New Girl.
"This is an exciting project to me not simply because of the challenge involved in a project of this size and tying in a video game, but also because of the amazing team we've been able to put together."
ANNA BOURQUE: The Emmy-award-winning writer has also served as a creator and head writer for such shows as Life of Crime, Freaky Stories, Twitch City and Material World. She has also taught writing and series development at Toronto's prestigious Canadian Film Centre.
"I love being involved at the beginning of a series, especially one as promising as this, since you have the opportunity to create not just the characters, but an entire world."
GORD BARNES: One of the most sought-after Production Designers in the business, Gord has created the worlds of such sci-fi films and series as PSI Factor, In the Mouth of Madness and Tracker, as well as such popular Hollywood titles as Billy Madison, American Pie 5, Gilmore Girls, The War Next Door and The Skulls II and III.
"I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to work on such an ambitious project. This bold new TV series allows for maximum creativity in creating the environments of an entire planet as well as a spaceship that is unlike any ever seen before."
Ice Planet is a Canada-Germany co-production and a SpaceWorks Entertainment Inc. (a D'or, Jackson and Rapovski Company, Canada) and Circles & Lines GmbH (Germany) co-production. The executive producers are G. Philip Jackson, Daniel D'or and Paul Rapovski (Canada) and Frank Winnenbrock and Hendrik Hey (Germany). Produced in association with CHUM Television.
-30-
NOTES TO EDITORS:
About CHUM International:
CHUM International ( www.chumtv.com/international) is the development and distribution arm of CHUM Limited, one of Canada's leading media companies and content providers. CHUM International distributes CHUM-owned and independent multi-platform programming worldwide and develops international licensing arrangements for CHUM's original channel formats.
About SpaceWorks Entertainment:
SpaceWorks Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian creative studio with depth in international co-production and independent film and television financing. Since 1993, the creative team of Daniel D'or and G. Philip Jackson has been critically and commercially acclaimed for its diverse production and sales track record in television series and feature film production. Market-sensitive originality in content and style is at the core of the SpaceWorks approach. Under the D'or / Jackson leadership, the SpaceWorks team has produced more than 20 feature and series titles. In 2002 they were joined by partner Paul Rapovski, bringing further depth in production and greatly increased capacity in Pacific Rim markets to SpaceWorks.
About Silverbirch Studios:
Ice Planet's mobile game developer. Canada's only publicly-traded mobile game developer, Silverbirch Studios was founded by Kevin Birch, who currently serves as its president. After releasing the hugely successful Warner Brothers movie-to-game Constantine, the team at Silverbirch has just completed production on the much-anticipated Superman mobile game.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Mark Terry
VP, Production, SpaceWorks Entertainment Inc.
Associate Producer and Brand Manager, Ice Planet
Studio: 416-265-2145
Office: 416-465-5855 ext. 223
Email: mark@spaceworks.tv