from the hollywood re****ter
'Sanctuary' in Sci Fi's world
By Nellie Andreeva and Kimberly Nordyke
Sci Fi Channel has greenlighted "Sanctuary," the first television
series to use live-action actors against virtual sets in the style of
the features "300" and "Sin City."
Sci Fi has ordered a full 13-episode season of the new scripted drama
series, which originated online as the first high-definition sci-fi
Web series.
"Sanctuary" hails from the "Stargate SG-1" trio of star Amanda
Tapping, writer-producer Damian Kindler and producer-director Martin
Wood, who are executive producing the series with Sam Egan.
Tapping stars as the enigmatic Dr. Helen Magnus who is on a quest with
her young protege, Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne), to track down, aid
and protect strange creatures that walk the earth.
Kindler created "Sanctuary," while Wood directed the webisodes
starring Tapping.
Because of Sci Fi's ties with Tapping, Kindler and Wood through the
"Stargate" franchise, the network's brass had discussed "Sanctuary"
with them even before it launched as a Web series. Talks ****fted into
high gear when the trio came back with a DVD containing two one-hour
blocks of webisodes.
"We were blown away by the level of quality they have been able to
achieve on a Web budget," Sci Fi exec vp original programming Mark
Stern said. "We loved the world they'd created, and we particularly
loved their approach, since we had been looking for a way to apply the
virtual-set CGI environment from films like '300' and 'Sin City' to a
television series."
TV networks have been trying to use CGI-generated environments on TV
series, most notably ABC's efforts with "Dinotopia." But "this is the
first time the technology is mature enough and inexpensive enough to
do it," Stern said.
"Sanctuary," which features 90% CGI sets, will be retooled for its
transition to television, including the creation of a new two-hour
premiere episode and expanding some characters. Still, a lot of the
footage from the Web series will be used, with some enhancement of the
visual effects and the CGI background to play better on the TV screen.
The cast from the Web series will remain intact.
"Sanctuary" launched on the Internet last year using a subscription
model, but many of its webisodes found their way to video-sharing
sites like YouTube.
The series, produced by Stage 3 Media in association with the Sci Fi
Channel, is slated to begin production in March. While, by most
estimates, the writers strike will be over by then, that is not a
factor for the show, whose production is strike-proof because it is
based in Canada. Sci Fi's "Stargate Atlantis" is in a similar position
and will begin filming its fifth season in a couple of weeks. Tapping,
who co-starred on that series last season, will return for several
episodes.
Sci Fi's decision to forgo a pilot and go for a straight 13-episode
series order for "Sanctuary" dovetails recent statements by NBC
Universal chief Jeff Zucker that the company's new mandate is to order
more projects straight to series. Stern called that a coincidence,
noting that the network's decision was based on the fact that execs
already had seen material from the Web series.
The international distribution of "Sanctuary" is handled by Tricon
Films and Television.
Nellie Andreeva re****ted from Los Angeles; Kimberly Nordyke re****ted
from Las Vegas.
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