THE BIG BUZZ: SLINGERS-Selling Sci-Fi Sizzle

Okay folks, a few days ago during the PLANET GRIFFIN WEEKEND EDTION, I posted a Vimeo clip for a sci-fi show called SLINGERS, coming from a small UK production house known as Sleepy Dog. Slingers is a smashgenre of OCEAN'S 11, COWBOY BEBOP, FIREFLY, and M*A*S*H; making the buzz on this sci-fi property '... one of the hottest tickets since the arrival of Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrams!'

This show does not exist. Yet.

The video clip is actually a Sizzle Reel (A two minute pitch to network investors to build show potential. If successful, it moves into production) the production house scraped together using independent investments in hopes of taking it to the next level. So far, the interest has been well received in the U.K., but upon releasing the clip online, the America response is taking off faster than a runaway freight train! Writer/Creator Mike Sizemore explains the Slingers plot like this:

2263 A.D. After surviving mankind's first interplanetary war, humanity is now confined into an area of the universe known as Enclosed Space, seeing as how the way back to Earth is blocked off by an impassable barrier--- inadvertently created by mankind's efforts to defeat it's alien enemy. The title of the show derives from the ragtag crew of thieves flying an experimental spacecraft capable of 'slinging' itself to any point in space, making it (theoretically) the only craft able to return home. In reality, the crew utilizes the ship to pull off a series of high tech, high risk heists in an attempt to get payback on members within the post war hierarchy.
The De Facto leader of this group, former Spec Ops soldier DOMINIC 'DM' MONROE (played by the stoic SEAN PERTWEE), is determined to get home regardless of the outcome!

Enemies to make and Laws to break... So be it if it means saying goodbye to Enclosed Space!

Sizemore further emphasizes that the sci-fi elements are merely the trappings of the genre. The real story has more in common with the style and feel of classic heist movies and the heyday of Sinatra's Rat Pack, making for an exciting and visually stunning cocktail that easily puts this conceptual show above most of the 'pap' that passes for sci-fi! He's already written an overall story arc that, if successful, would run well into 3 seasons, allowing for full development of the characters, much like the already classic BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.

So far, the Sizzle Reel has won over critics and investors during the recent MIPCOM distributors show (the Comic Con for new show pitches to the networks), allowing enough buzz to move into Pre-production and filming of the Pilot. Depending on who picks up the show, the first season of Slingers may hit boob tube screens by Fall 2010 or Spring 2011. With the blogosphere already hailing it as 'the Next Big Thing', it now falls to the studios who may or may not give this show the shot it deserves... Which would suck, cuz' I personally think this project ROCKS!
This is PLANET GRIFFIN and THE BIG BUZZ!

Death From The Rooftops: Assassins' Creed Part 2

PLANET GRIFFIN Presents the continuing tale of Assassins' Creed. Wow! You cannot miss this one!

The Dangerous Postman: Assassins' Creed Pt. 3

Sometimes, in an effort to deliver a letter, you've gotta kill a whole lotta people! The plot DEFINITELY thickens here!

Thieves In Space And The Swinging 60's

PLANET GRIFFIN WEEKEND EDITION asks the question:

If COWBOY BEBOP and OCEAN'S ELEVEN were to cross paths, what would it look like? Not since FIREFLY has space ever looked this cool!

Back In The Badlands: Banlieue 13-Ultimatum

PLANET GRIFFIN, the badass pirate blogcast, returns with a sequel to smile about! Back in 2004, Luc Besson capitalized on the french parkour craze with BANLIEUE 13 (Banlieue being french for 'neighborhood'- retitled DISTRICT 13 for American audiences), and created a cult sensation for the straight-to-DVD market. Watching the likes of DAVID BELLE (one of the founders of the parkour sport) and CYRIL RAFFAELLI (a poor man's version of Jason Statham) jump cars, scale walls, and whip ass a la' Jackie Chan was a great change of pace to a genre beginning to run out of steam.

BANLIEUE 13: ULTIMATUM picks up 2 years after the events of the first film, the walled district (think ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK. Period) is still rife with violent drug cartels and killers. The local government, still looking for an excuse, is secretly instigating civil unrest behind the walls; looking to eradicate the notorious banlieue's once and for all... Which brings back elite police agent Damien (Cyril Raffaelli) and reformed vigilante Leito (David Belle) to save the 2 million denizens contained within.

Recently released theatrically to French screens, it will see American shores (VOD in January/Theaters in Feburary) in 2010 through MAGNET and the 6 Shooter Film Series.

The InHuman Distance

As we approach the end of 2009, no other news story can even come close to the events that took place here in North Carolina less than a month ago...

... It revolved around 5 year old SHANIYA DAVIS.

The autopsy report stated the cause of death was asphyxiation--- it also states that the child was raped. Some reports state that the mother, Antoinette Nicole Davis (currently charged with human trafficking and child abuse involving prostitution), gave the child to Mario Andrette McNeill (first degree rape/murder/kidnapping) to settle up drug debts. This local story captured world attention (SHAQUILLE O'NEAL himself paid the bill for the funeral cost), and left no heart untouched... I assumed the worst was over.

I was wrong.

International News wire confirmed 3 days ago that a mother in Tokyo was arrested for selling her ONE YEAR OLD daughter to an unemployed 46yr. old man for sexual acts... Acts that she was present for, citing that "...the child was too small to be left alone..." The mother also claimed that she needed money--- "I was having difficulty with living costs". Police also discovered evidence of other pornographic images in the man's home, suggesting that the infant may not have been the first...

I cannot, and I mean CANNOT, fathom what motivates people to sink to such levels of depravity. As a parent, I'm terrifyingly aware that my children must face far more horrors, both subtle AND straightforward, than I did in my time. You know what's scarier than being afraid for the babies...?

...Being more afraid of what you're capable of when faced with such a situation... And while this may sound like some sociopathic rant, I'm absolutely convinced that there is not ONE parent out there who wouldn't agree. The days grow shorter, the times get harder, and the inhuman distance between sanity and madness is dangerously closer than you think... In this case, it's as simple a difference as looking into a child's eyes and seeing the potential of what could be, versus looking into the lifeless eyes of what could've been--- cut short by someone who couldn't realize their own.

So, to all you parents out there, I say knuckle yourselves up and stand strong as stone for your children, even as the world continues to chisel and chip away at you. Remember that the strength of the inhuman distance lies in our indifference and inaction. Lets teach our little ones how to widen the gap. Shaniya and the others would thank us for it.

Ten Minutes Into The Future

PLANET GRIFFIN, the pirate blogsite where underground designs dwell, returns to broadcast depth as we enter that special time of the year where the holiday hits just keep on coming! While many dreamed gastric dreams of turkey and dismal retail sales, I spent my holiday caught between punching a timeclock and fulfilling dreams of another sort--- and the current results are fantastic! In an impromptu photo shoot, I couldn't help but offer up a peek into what PLANET GRIFFIN has planned for the new year... FIERCEWEAR (in it's prototype phase), for example, is a little something in anticipation of the release of the upcoming FIERCE CREATURES OGN... I swear, between the ART NINJA STUDIO and myself, the future is so bright, I'll wear my sunglasses at night! Nuff said for now... Gotta get back to work!
Special thanks to The Boriqua for the pics and convincing me that I shouldn't freeze up in front of the camera.