demon tripe

Well, this is certainly something for my fellow Browncoats to keep an eye on (shamelessly copy-pasted from their “Our Mission” webpage):

We, Michael C. Dougherty and Steven Fisher, are working on our own Firefly/Serenity fan film called “Browncoats: Redemption”. We’ve shared it with several Browncoats and non-sci-fi fans, who have given the treatment an “awesome” and “really good” and we’d like to share this project with the rest of you.

We’re doing this for two reasons. The first, which is obvious, there really isn’t anything going on in the ‘Verse ‘sides a few comic books that take place before Serenity and, let’s face it, we’re all jonesin’ for our next fix. We want a good story with characters we can connect with and root for. Hell we want the crew of Serenity, but let’s face it…it may be a cold day on Osiris before that actually happens. We do not want to have this look like Just Another Fan Film. We also don’t want to promise you a date yet and not have it done. We’re working very hard to maintain a schedule that seems right to have a trailer ready for March 2010 and to show the final film at the Shindig at Dragoncon that same year.

The second, and in my opinion far more noble, reason is to do what we Browncoats do best and raise money for charity. Our approach from a business stand point is a little “left of center”. To be clear, outside of covering the cost of production, this project will be 100% non-profit. Our goal is to have our proceeds go, as an equal donation, to Equality Now, Kids Need to Read, Dyslexia Foundation, the Al Wooten Jr. Heritage Center, the Marine Corps – Law Enforcement Foundation, and Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation with each DVD selling for a donation of $15.

To give you an idea of why we think this is completely viable, in September ‘07 release weekend sales figures for the Serenity Collector’s Edition DVD sold an estimated 32,396 copies. Now that’s just the Serenity Collector’s Edition. If we could accomplish that number in our total donations for the DVD we could raise $485,940. That would, roughly, be more than $80,000 for each charity. Knowing that we Browncoats like to purchase multiple copies to save, loan and watch, and that the DVDs would also be available to each of the Browncoat groups to use at conventions, events, and so on; we could do great things for the collective charities.

The premise is:

BROWNCOATS: REDEMPTION takes place three months after the events on Miranda and we find Captain Laura Matthews and the crew of Redemption unintentionally thrown into a situation that some view as the potential catalyst for the second unified rise of the Independents against the Alliance, since Unification Day. The Alliance is looking for a scape goat for Miranda while those unhappy with the Alliance are looking for a rallying cry to take action. Through all this, a secret about Laura is exposed that shakes the very core of the crew, threatening to break it up, challenge the trust that she’s earned with the Browncoats, and undo all the efforts she has put into place to keep a sense of peace in her life since the first Unification War.

So here’s how it is, we have a formal treatment available for you to read and get all colors of excited about. We’re going to start making the script publicly available after DragonCon 2008. We’ve reached out to FOX, Universal Studios, Joss’ agent at CAA, and even Mary Parent who is now at MGM. Everyone we’ve dealt with has been extremely helpful and completely blown away the stereotype of what the Hollywood experience is like. We’re in the process of procuring whatever legal permissions and licenses we need to make this a reality.

We’re also looking to present the idea of our plan and our treatment to Alan Tudyk, Jewel Staite, Morena Baccarin and Nathan Fillion at DragonCon to get their support, input and contact info for their particular charities. To be clear, we don’t want their money. They’ve done a great job for us and we really want to give something back as a thank you to them through our charitable donations.

We need several things from you. So this is your All Hands On Deck call. Beyond your support, we need your help in getting this off the ground and any thing else that your willing to offer assistance in. If you’re an actor/actress, set designer, camera operator, and whatever please let us know. Help spread this through the Browncoat network and get this done. Please email us at either steve@browncoatsredemption.com or mike@browncoatsredemption.com with any questions, comments or concerns.

Thanks,

Mike and Steve

This is one of those instances where I wish I had a single, solitary artistic bone in my body… I am a fair hand with computer modelling, but only with a craptacular, horribly-translated, barely-functional, exportable-to-nothing Japanese program (known as “DoGA” – it makes things like this). Bleh.