Producers of Web Series Sanctuary Challenge Fans

Sanctuary, the online science fiction series starring Stargate’s Amanda Tapping, recently completed its first ‘season’ of eight webisodes and left fans eager for more. The show ended on a cliffhanger that saw the titular institution overrun by Keepers of the Dead and at least two of the lead characters possibly dead. Production on new webisodes is scheduled to begin later this year. Fans won’t have to wait to see how the writers resolve things, though. The series’ producers have challenged viewers to do that.

"We are currently still in the development phase for the second cycle of Sanctuary," co-producer Damian Kindler said in an e-mail posted on the series’ website. "We plan on going back into production sometime in the late fall 2007 to shoot another TEN HOURS of the series. But before we do that, we want to know what happens next. YOU will help us decide that. We want you, the dedicated fan/viewer, to put on your writer’s chapeau and hit us with your best shot. Tell us how this little conundrum gets solved. We’ll take the best ideas and make ‘em work."

Kindler’s challenge to Sanctuary fans to resolve the season-ending cliffhanger is an initiative to get viewers involved in the production of the show. Details of how ideas can be submitted have yet to be been finalized and will appear on the show’s website, www.sanctuaryforall.com. Chosen storylines will be used in the next batch of webisodes, which are scheduled to appear in 2008. In the meantime, Stage 3 Media intends to expand the Sanctuary universe by producing games and an online comic.

Sanctuary stars Amanda Tapping (Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis) as Dr. Helen Magnus, a 157-year old scientist who studies bizarre creatures that are feared and rejected by society. In the series’ first cycle of webisodes, these include a young boy from Eastern Europe with a deadly extra appendage and the Morrigan, a trio of women from the age of King Arthur who have the power to suck out men’s souls. Sanctuary also features Robin Dunne (Dawson’s Creek, The Big Hit, Species 3) as psychiatrist Will Zimmerman, and Emilie Ullerup (Battlestar Galactica, Blood Ties) as Ashley, the gung-ho daughter of Magnus and Montague John Druitt. The real life Druitt was suspected of being Jack the Ripper. In Sanctuary Druitt, (played by Christopher Heyerdahl), was once engaged to Magnus.

Sanctuary was produced and filmed in Vancouver, Canada, by Stage 3 Media. The first cycle of webisodes were broadcast direct to the internet in a pay-to-download format. The show was filmed in high definition and mostly against green screens. It has earned a place in the 2008 edition of Guinness World Records for having the Highest Budget for a Direct-to-Web Broadcast. The show mixes elements of Supernatural, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dr. Who and The X-Files and features spectacular Gothic and modern production design and impressive computer graphics. Stage 3 Media’s effects team is led by co-producer Ron Martin (Marvel Nemesis, Softimage) and the lead production designer is Todd Van Hulzen (The Girl With The Pearl Earring).