CHECK OUT the eScape preview at www.eScapeTheSeries.com

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 Blue Seraph’s partner company, 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,” said Feurstein. “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.”

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.

###

Links

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

WHAT IF the Right One turned out to be very, very wrong?

Love Minus Zero is a short film about a peculiar couple on the verge of breaking up and the hapless restaurant patrons who suffer the fallout as internalized tensions break free.

Writer-Director P.K. Eiselt, a graduate of UC Santa Barbara’s film program, describes the motivation behind his project:

P.K. Eiselt

THERE IS A RUSH, almost a panic, to find the “right one,” or face a destiny of being unlovable. … The threat seems more acute in the gay community, where options are limited … a sort of desperation that sets in, especially in the over-30 crowd.

Blue Seraph is now in pre-production for Love Minus Zero. P.K. has received script consultation from Carlos Pedraza (Judas Kiss, Blood and Fire). We have also been assigning crew, including Director of Photography David Berry (Blood and Fire, The Child). J.T. Tepnapa (Begging for Change, Drag Queen Heist) will be line-producing the project. Blue Seraph will also handle production meetings and casting at its Los Angeles production office. If you have any interest in contributing to Love Minus Zero, or any of our projects, please contact us.

Link

• Minus Zero Productions

WHAT IF the Right One turned out to be very, very wrong?

LOS ANGELES — Filmmaker P.K. Eiselt announced he has signed Blue Seraph Productions and its partners to produce his first short film, written and directed by him.

Blue Seraph recently expanded its services to a full production suite by partnering with other production companies around the country in order to help emerging filmmakers see their projects to completion.

P.K. Eiselt

Love Minus Zero is a short film about a peculiar couple on the verge of breaking up and the hapless restaurant patrons who suffer the fallout as internalized tensions break free.

P.K. Eiselt, a graduate of UC Santa Barbara’s film program, describes the motivation behind his project on his blog:

THERE IS A RUSH, almost a panic, to find the “right one,” or face a destiny of being unlovable. … The threat seems more acute in the gay community, where options are limited … a sort of desperation that sets in, especially in the over-30 crowd.

Blue Seraph is now in pre-production with Love Minus Zero. P.K. has received script consultation from Carlos Pedraza (Judas Kiss, Blood and Fire). We have also been assigning crew, including Director of Photography David Berry (Blood and Fire, The Child). J.T. Tepnapa (Begging for Change, Drag Queen Heist) will be line-producing the project. Blue Seraph will also handle production meetings and casting at its Los Angeles production office.

Congratulations to P.K. for finding the courage and passion to make a film again. If you have any interest in contributing to Love Minus Zero, or any of our projects, please contact us.

Link

• Minus Zero Productions http://minuszeroproductions.blogspot.com/

DESPERATE TIMES call for desperate measurements. Bobby (J.T. Tepnapa) and Jared (Dennis Garcia) work out their relationship troubles while committing robbery.

Another festival winner, Drag Queen Heist picked up Best Gay Short Film at Q-Cinema, Fort Worth’s Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival, and was a semifinalist at the NowCasting Film Festival.

Drag Queen Heist is an action-comedy about the desperate attempts by two hopeless romantics, Bobby and Jared, to make some quick cash by robbing a local bank. Jared comes up with an “infallible” plan for the pair to rob the Second Fidelity Bank … in drag.

Regrettably, Jared’s boyfriend and co-conspirator, Bobby, is anything but infallible. Each step Bobby takes is a step in the wrong direction. Watch these two as their plan unravels like a cheap weave!

Watch the Drag Queen Heist trailer

This 19-minute film, released in 2004, is available for purchase on the Begging for Shorts DVD.