Sanctuary Goes International, Preps Season Two
By amoody
Created 03/05/2009 - 01:00
Toronto-based producer and distributor Tricon Films & Television has signed a series of major international deals for the series SANCTUARY, whilst at the same time preparing for production on season two. The show was recently commissioned for a second season by Sci Fi Channel in the U.S. and by the Space channel in Canada.
Tricon has pre-sold SANCTUARY to ITV4 in the U.K., which also had success with season one, and has inked a major deal for seasons one and two with E1 Ent. for distribution of worldwide home video. Season one has been sold to TV3 Russia and NRJ 12 in France. AXN has also snapped up the series for Central Europe, while Sci Fi will air the series internationally in Asia, Australia and Europe.
The series follows the adventures of the beautiful and enigmatic Dr. Helen Magnus, her new and somewhat reluctant protege Will Zimmerman as they track down, study and try to help the strange and often terrifying creatures that secretly populate our world.
SANCTUARY stars Amanda Tapping, Robin Dunne, Emilie Ullerup, Christopher Heyerdahl and Ryan Robbins. Helmed by some of the innovative talents behind STARGATE SG-1 and STARGATE ATLANTIS, the series creative team includes creator and writer Damian Kindler and director Martin Wood.
SANCTUARY is the first television series in North America to use the RED camera, a digital system that captures images at four times the resolution of a high-definition camera. It is also the first television series shot almost entirely on greenscreen with live-action actors using the same cutting-edge style as the feature films 300 and SIN CITY.
The result is an original graphic novel tone that blends realistic and detailed 3D backgrounds and visual effects (created by the multiple Emmy Award-nominated Anthem Visual Effects) with live-action cinematics.
The show makes the leap to television from the Internet where it began as the world's first high-definition sci-fi web series. As webisodes, SANCTUARY received nearly four million downloads and views within the first six months of being online.
