Meet "LVJ Encounters"

We're delighted to be able to share with you a new, exciting addition to the LVJ universe that we hope you'll really enjoy, the LVJ webshow provisionally entitled LVJ Encounters.

When we created the story for the feature film LVJ we always imagined a much bigger timeline than that covered by the events of the movie. We have since been looking for a way to expand the film into another medium and continue these story lines, looking at other characters in the secret government agency, SABER, around the world. A comic/graphic novel series had always been planned and now we are about to add a webshow.

"Encounters" is set a number of years after the events of the feature film and follows the adventures of a group of new recruits to SABER, the multi-national ultra secret government agency tasked with confronting a hostile alien threat.  It features many of the main characters from the feature as well as some new faces and offers the opportunity to learn more about their backstories before the main movie. We won't be giving anything away and spoiling the film but the extra information you learn should make watching the film even more enjoyable as you'll know far more about the characters than a casual viewer of the film would.

Hopefully it will feel a little like following a TV series and then watching the movie adaption of the series, except in this case you won't have to wait several years for the show to make it to the big screen. In fact you won't have to wait at all, the plan is to release the webshow at regular intervals leading right up to the release of the main film.

What will the show be like?

The exact format of the show is still being decided but it is likely that it will consist of a first season of around 10 episodes, each about 5 minutes in length, and packed full of sci-fi action, interesting characters and stories. Each episode will build up the tension of the story, posing some questions and answering others and all culminating in a tense end of season finale that will resolve the storyline of the first season but pose another new cliffhanger which will then be resolved by watching the movie.  In fact throughout the season there will be references to events and situations that occur in the movie so hopefully you will continue on the journey with us and watch the film to learn more. The intention is to release the film very shortly after the broadcast of the webshow season finale so you won't have to wait long to see how it all turns out.

How can I see more ?

The best of all is that it won't cost anything to start following the world of LVJ. The webshow will be released on the internet free of charge at regular intervals leading up to the release of the film. In addition to the free release, as the individual episodes combine to tell one complete story, roughly one hour in length, we will be releasing the entire season as a digital download and DVD available to purchase with the release of the film. This version will be a higher resolution version of the free download and will also have a lot of extra content and bonuses attached to it. More details on the actual release will appear here closer to the start date.

Want to get involved ?

The show is being developed right now and we hope to start shooting in late Summer 2010 . We'll be posting all the details here on the website as we start to assemble cast and crew and there will be plenty of opportunities to get involved. So if you want to join the team, whether you fancy being an extra or a member of crew, get in touch. We'd love to hear from you and it should be a great experience.

What's next ?

The plan for developing the LVJ story doesn't stop there. Hopefully if audiences enjoy the comic, webshow and of course the film we intend to continue telling the story. A second season of the webshow is planned to start after the release of the film and there are bigger plans beyond that but you'll have to wait a little while for those. What we can say is that one of the exciting options we are currently exploring is the possibility of shooting international versions of the webshow. The first season deals mainly with the agents based in London and occasionally the US. In the same way that shows like CSI developed spin offs in other locations we are currently talking with filmmakers worldwide who are looking at ways of continuing the LVJ story. It could be that in the not to distant future we might have shows looking at the work of agents around the globe in shows such as SABER New York and SABER Australia amongst other places so watch this space.