Starting this April, the Sci Fi Channel will begin producing a new series titled Sanctuary, which will be shot in the same style as 300 and Sin City. Here is the official press release:
NEW YORK - April 1, 2008 - Production begins this month on SCI FI Channel's groundbreaking new original series Sanctuary. Shot in the style of the feature films 300 and Sin City, Sanctuary is the first television series to feature live-action actors against primarily virtual sets. The 13-episode season of this one-hour drama is slated to debut this fall.
There are creatures that live among us, abnormal offshoots of evolution that live in the fringes, unseen by most. Some are dangerous, but most are benign, becoming violent only because they are threatened by an ever-encroaching world. We consider them monstrous figments of our imagination, but the beautiful, enigmatic Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping) knows that they are real. She has dedicated her life to tracking these mysterious creatures: harboring the benign ones, and protecting the world from the dangerous ones. She is joined in this quest by her fearless daughter Ashley (Emilie Ullerup), quirky tech-whiz Henry, and new recruit Will (Robin Dunne) - a brilliant young psychiatrist/profiler with a knack for finding the strange and unusual. Using their unique combination of instinct, medicine and cutting edge technology, this eclectic team must take on the creatures that lurk in the corners of our civilization.
Sanctuary, which began online as the world's first high-definition sci-fi Web series, is a live-action production shot entirely against a green screen. In this revolutionary approach to television, 90% of the sets are CGI, allowing the writers to create an expansive world un-tethered from the normal television budget restrictions.
Series creator Damian Kindler (Stargate SG-1) and producer/director Martin Wood (Stargate Atlantis) are Executive Producers and showrunners on Sanctuary. Sam Egan (Jeremiah, The Outer Limits, Masters of Science Fiction) and Tapping also serve as Executive Producers.
Sanctuary will be produced by Stage 3 Media, in association with SCI FI Channel. Tricon Films and Television are worldwide distributors of the series.
Founded in 2006, Stage 3 Media™ is a new media company boasting more than 70 years collective experience in television and film production, video game design and information technology. Stage 3 Media is based in Vancouver, British Columbia. www.stage3media.com / www.sanctuaryforall.com.
SCI FI Channel is a television network where "what if" is what's on. SCI FI fuels the imagination of viewers with original series and events, blockbuster movies and classic science fiction and fantasy programming, as well as a dynamic Web site (www.scifi.com ) and magazine. Launched in 1992, and currently in 93 million homes, SCI FI Channel is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies.