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.

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Links

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

THE USS COPERNICUS and the Enterprise in Star Trek: Phase II's 'Blood and Fire.'

The second part of “Blood and Fire,” Star Trek: Phase II‘s newest episode, is scheduled for wide release on the Internet on Friday, Nov. 20, according to the Phase II Web site.

“Blood and Fire” was written by Blue Seraph’s Carlos Pedraza with noted scifi author David Gerrold, who wrote the original script for Star Trek: The Next Generation in the late 1980s. Principal photography was in June 2007. Part 1 was released in December 2008. Both parts feature stunning visual effects by Blue Seraph partner Joël Bellucci of Bellucci Designs.

Read more about “Blood and Fire, Part 1,” and watch a clip from that episode.

THE BRIDGE of the U.S.S. Enterprise comes under attack in “Blood and Fire, Part 1,” written by Carlos Pedraza.

Pursued and damaged by repeated Klingon attacks, the crew of the Enterprise responds to the distress call from a Federation research vessel. In a matter of hours, that ship and crew will be consumed by a nearby star while the crew of the Enterprise faces a mysterious horror that threatens both ships.

BLOOD AND FIRE, PART 1Carlos Pedraza adapted this acclaimed, controversial and never-produced Star Trek: The Next Generation script by David Gerrold into this two-part episode for the award-winning Web series, Star Trek: Phase II. Guest-starring Evan Fowler and introducing Bobby Rice as the Captain’s nephew, Ensign Peter Kirk, Part 1 of “Blood and Fire” breaks new ground for the Star Trek franchise, introducing the first openly gay characters in the original series’ history.

UPDATE Part 2 of “Blood and Fire” is scheduled for release Friday, Nov. 20, according to the Star Trek: Phase II Web site. More information.

Watch a clip from “Blood and Fire”

The 52-minute “Blood and Fire, Part 1,” directed by “Trouble with Tribbles” creator David Gerrold, was released in 2008 and is available online at the Star Trek: Phase II Web site. Part 2 is scheduled for release in late 2009.