Utopia Planitia Season 1
Minneapolis, Minnesota | Series
Sci-Fi, Thriller
We've begun production on this sci-fi web series to be distributed for free on Seeka TV starting June 13, 2019. Blood and sweat can take us only so far, so now we need your help to complete our first season.
Utopia Planitia Season 1
Minneapolis, Minnesota | Series
Sci-Fi, Thriller
1 Campaigns | Minnesota, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $12,645 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
103 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
We've begun production on this sci-fi web series to be distributed for free on Seeka TV starting June 13, 2019. Blood and sweat can take us only so far, so now we need your help to complete our first season.
In Partnership With
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Utopia Planitia is a science-fiction take on a quote from Milton's Paradise Lost:
"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven."
THE STORY
Utopia Planitia is a dystopian sci-fi web series that begins as a simple murder/mystery.
The series opens in a dive-bar in the refugee sector of the Utopia Planitia Colony on Mars. One of our three protagonists, Cala Rodriguez, has agreed to meet some anonymous whistle blower in this unlikely location. His only message: investigate a mysterious photo on a data chip.
The next day, Cala's whistle blower is found dead of "natural causes" and she finds herself the target of an assassin's gun.
Cala isn't the only person investigating this death. Utopia Planitia company investigator Phoebe Nott has strong misgivings about the "natural causes" ruling. And the colony's sheriff is finding too many coincidences around the death that just don't add up.
If the story were just about this lone murder, we'd have the basis for a great thriller. But underneath the covers, Utopia Planitia is also an epic dystopian sci-fi series that draws inspiration from Milton's Paradise Lost. This epic narrative explores the fall of Earth, the rise of Mars, and the inevitable conflict between Heaven and Hell. But which world is Paradise and which is Hell?
We'll never get to explore those larger themes, however, if we don't get season 1 off the ground!
A still from our in-progress pilot episode, "Pandæmonium".
STRETCH GOALS
No matter how much we raise, the producer and director George Reese will not receive a dime. All money goes to equipment rental, locations, insurance, and paying regular cast and crew a standard, ultra-low budget rate. All of these professionals have agreed to join this project out of a passion for the story and their craft with no guarantees that they will see a dime for their labors.
With our $12,500 base goal, the regular cast and crew will receive 1/2 a standard ultra-low budget rate and we will be able to complete only the base 5-episode season 1. We will have to scrap all exterior scenes and do only minimal special effects.
We actually have scripts for 10 episodes, and there's a lot of good stuff we can do with episode #5 if we raise extra money for costumes and special effects. So, here are our stretch goals:
- With $15,000, we can include the exterior scenes and show you a vision of Mars 100 years from now.
- With $25,000, we can really do some cool things with episode 5 (avoiding spoilers here!) and all of the regular cast and crew will receive full ultra-low budget rates.
- With $35,000, we'll be able to complete an additional 2 episodes and have a budget for marketing the series once it is done.
A still from our in-progress pilot episode, "Pandæmonium".
THE CHARACTERS
As with any great epic story line, we have an large cast of interesting characters. Here's a look at the characters and the actors who will be playing those roles.
CALA RODRIGUEZ [imdb]
Cala Rodriguez is an investigative reporter for the only news outlet on Mars. Like all "native" Martians, she was conceived in a test-tube and assigned to the parents who raised her. Her ambition is to do real, hard-hitting journalism. When a story finally confronts her, it will put her relationships and her life at risk.
SHERIFF DAR PALLAS [imdb]
Dar Pallas was a rising star within the Utopia Planitia Corporation executive ranks, but the politics and workload combined with his wife's suicide made him leave for the easier job of "small town sheriff". He's a man of few words who avoids controversy, but he's a formidable force once engaged.
PHOEBE NOTT [imdb]
Phoebe Nott is an investigator for the Utopia Planitia Corporation. Her job is to investigate any issues involving company executives. What that really means, however, is that she is supposed to cover up indiscretions and make sure the company isn't embroiled in controversy. A murder will test her loyalties and teach her who her true friends are.
OLANDA TIGUE [imdb]
Olanda Tigue is Cala's girlfriend and a researcher for the same news organization where Cala works. She's naive, headstrong, and the best researcher in the colony. She wants to marry Cala but is worried Cala's foot-dragging will result in the colony forcing her to marry through an arranged match.
NEIL GEIGER [imdb]
Neil Geiger is the son of Trinity Geiger, the brilliant founder of Utopia Planitia Corporation and the Utopia Planitia Colony. Most of his executives view him as a vacuous and soulless product of nepotism, but he has a treasure chest secrets that would make their skin crawl.
Z [imdb]
No one outside the Utopia Planitia Corporation has seen Z, the VP of Intelligence, since she left Earth as part of the company exodus in 2081. In fact, most colonists don't know that there is a VP of Intelligence. She's the only person who knew Neil on Earth, and thus the only person who knows many of the secrets he holds.
WALLACE HEDRICK [imdb]
Wallace Hedrick is the Utopia Planitia Vice President of Internal Security. Wallace is very much a “law and order” type who believes in the ideals of the colony. He has a strong sense of dislike for the refugees as they violate his sense of order. Still, he prefers his problems out of sight and out of mind rather than tackling them head on.
HANA CHANDRA [imdb]
Hana Chandra is the Vice President of External Security for the colony. Hana is literally a rocket scientist. Her job is to make sure nothing from Earth threatens the colony. Like all children of Mars, she has no idea who her biological parents are, but she's harboring a desire to identify hers.
AKIKO WILDER [imdb]
Akiko Wilder is new and very ambitious Vice President of Terraforming for the Utopia Planitia Colony. She's a brilliant scientist who idolizes the colony founder, Trinity Geiger. Though she's married via an arranged colony marriage, she has a close relationship with the refugee sector bar owner, Gotzon Ochoa.
MAX NOTT [imdb]
Max Nott is husband to Phoebe Nott. Like many marriages in the colony, theirs is an arranged marriage. His fathers escaped Earth very early and were the first refugees. They were accepted into the colony and, as a result, Max has a fierce loyalty to the company. In spite of his fathers being refugees, he has a strong dislike for the refugees on Mars.
JEREMY REYES [imdb]
Jeremy Reyes is the retiring Vice President of Terraforming for Utopia Planitia Colony. Someone has been sending him information, but he has no idea where it's coming from. He wants to ignore it and enjoy his retirement, but he can't. He decides to contact a reporter and make it her problem.
ENOLA REYES [imdb]
Enola Reyes is wife to Jeremy Reyes. Both born on Earth, they have a marriage based in love with two adult children. Enola, however, is entirely unaware of the secret Jeremy is keeping until tragedy strikes.
TRINITY GEIGER [imdb]
Trinity Geiger is the most brilliant inventor in human history. She is Edison and Musk combined. Her invention of climate control systems literally saved Earth and made possible the terraforming of Mars. She is the founder of both the Utopia Planitia Corporation and the Utopia Planitia Colony.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Camera Fees
Costs $4,050
We're shooting the series using anamorphic lenses. They are very expenses lenses at $500/day.
Make-up Artist Kit Fee
Costs $500
The cost for doing make-up is a direct, out of pocket expense for our MUA.
Location & Insurance
Costs $1,000
We often have to pay for permits or other rights to shoot at a given location.
Sound Kit
Costs $1,500
Expenses for sound kit and other sound rental.
Music Rights & Musicians
Costs $2,700
Episode scoring, the creation of an original theme song, and other music rights.
Wardrobe
Costs $2,750
Creating a wardrobe for the future doesn't come cheap. We need to create new styles for Mars.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Utopia Planitia is being produced by Imaginary Productions, the private production company of director George Reese. Much of the team has worked together on a number of works both through Imaginary Productions and other efforts.
WRITER/PRODUCER/DIRECTOR [imdb]
Utopia Planitia is a story created by award-winning screenwriter George Reese. George Reese is a filmmaker and entrepreneur who has directed short films such as Therapy for the Unlawful and produced nearly a dozen web series. He is co-founder of the online streaming platform Seeka TV and the founder of the Minnesota WebFest.
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY [imdb]
Ben Enke is a cinematographer with work spanning short films, feature films, music videos, web series, commercials, and more. He has worked with George Reese on both Reconquista and Therapy for the Unlawful and served as Director of Photography on features such as Miles Between Us and Dark Cloud.
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR [imdb]
In her day job, Maud Greenhoe is an addiction/family therapist, amazing story lines,"names have been changed to protect the innocent". She has worked on short films like Therapy for the Unlawful and is currently deep into her own project, Adventures with Maud. Two adventures are produced, featured on You Tube, with more to follow.
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR [imdb]
A longtime lover of the arts, Bethany Langham-Jones is a female writer/producer/director in the Twin Cities area. As a child, she relished being the weird kid that enjoyed watching all the BTS footage for every film she could get her hands on. Upon discovering the extended editions of the Lord of the Rings series and realizing that she had just watched several hours of footage without blinking an eye, she knew that filmmaking was what she was meant to do. Prior web series credits include Kidnapped: The True Story of How I Made America Great Again. She is also currently working on her own feature film, Out of the Eater.
WARDROBE [imdb]
Barb Portinga has been making her living solely via her varied costume skills since graduating from Augsburg College in 1990. With an emphasis on education, she is the resident designer at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, Anoka Ramsey Community College and Roseville Area High School. Her design work has been seen throughout Midwest theater and in music videos and film. Barb is the proprietor of Portable Costumes.
MAKEUP ARTIST [imdb]
Lisa Colburn is a makeup artist and cosplayer from St. Paul, MN. Originally inspired by bringing fantasy characters to life, she followed her creativity and passion to creating makeup looks for haunted houses and films. During the day, she works as an attorney, and in October, she can be found creating terrifying characters for the Haunted Basement in Northeast Minneapolis.
PRODUCTION AND POST-PRODUCTION SOUND [imdb]
Andrew Macht founded AM Productions after graduating from the Institute of Production and Recording. He has preformed many roles which includes dialogue editor, sound mixer, sound designer, and audio supervisor; guiding and teaching others in his field.
COMPOSER [imdb]
Charlie McCarron is a musical storyteller and sonic experimenter. His first major work was a three-disc concept album, The Mystery of Grey Matters, about a young boy coming to terms with his schizophrenic tendencies. With twenty self-produced albums under his belt, Charlie often approaches composition as a record producer does: building the journey layer by layer. This obsession with musical layering has drawn Charlie to the orchestra as a compositional palette. His orchestral works often involve intricately woven melodies and rhythms, with the aim of giving each instrument a unique and fun role to play.
LOCATION MANAGER [imdb]
Jasmine Navy has worked as a screenwriter and script/continuity supervisor since 2012 after wearing many different hats on set. She has experience both in front of and behind the camera, including both elements on the short film Therapy for the Unlawful.
SCRIPT SUPERVISOR - Amber Bellair
GAFFER/SPECIAL EFFECTS - Billy Straub
ASSISTANT CAMERA - Tim Schrader
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Utopia Planitia is a science-fiction take on a quote from Milton's Paradise Lost:
"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven."
THE STORY
Utopia Planitia is a dystopian sci-fi web series that begins as a simple murder/mystery.
The series opens in a dive-bar in the refugee sector of the Utopia Planitia Colony on Mars. One of our three protagonists, Cala Rodriguez, has agreed to meet some anonymous whistle blower in this unlikely location. His only message: investigate a mysterious photo on a data chip.
The next day, Cala's whistle blower is found dead of "natural causes" and she finds herself the target of an assassin's gun.
Cala isn't the only person investigating this death. Utopia Planitia company investigator Phoebe Nott has strong misgivings about the "natural causes" ruling. And the colony's sheriff is finding too many coincidences around the death that just don't add up.
If the story were just about this lone murder, we'd have the basis for a great thriller. But underneath the covers, Utopia Planitia is also an epic dystopian sci-fi series that draws inspiration from Milton's Paradise Lost. This epic narrative explores the fall of Earth, the rise of Mars, and the inevitable conflict between Heaven and Hell. But which world is Paradise and which is Hell?
We'll never get to explore those larger themes, however, if we don't get season 1 off the ground!
A still from our in-progress pilot episode, "Pandæmonium".
STRETCH GOALS
No matter how much we raise, the producer and director George Reese will not receive a dime. All money goes to equipment rental, locations, insurance, and paying regular cast and crew a standard, ultra-low budget rate. All of these professionals have agreed to join this project out of a passion for the story and their craft with no guarantees that they will see a dime for their labors.
With our $12,500 base goal, the regular cast and crew will receive 1/2 a standard ultra-low budget rate and we will be able to complete only the base 5-episode season 1. We will have to scrap all exterior scenes and do only minimal special effects.
We actually have scripts for 10 episodes, and there's a lot of good stuff we can do with episode #5 if we raise extra money for costumes and special effects. So, here are our stretch goals:
- With $15,000, we can include the exterior scenes and show you a vision of Mars 100 years from now.
- With $25,000, we can really do some cool things with episode 5 (avoiding spoilers here!) and all of the regular cast and crew will receive full ultra-low budget rates.
- With $35,000, we'll be able to complete an additional 2 episodes and have a budget for marketing the series once it is done.
A still from our in-progress pilot episode, "Pandæmonium".
THE CHARACTERS
As with any great epic story line, we have an large cast of interesting characters. Here's a look at the characters and the actors who will be playing those roles.
CALA RODRIGUEZ [imdb]
Cala Rodriguez is an investigative reporter for the only news outlet on Mars. Like all "native" Martians, she was conceived in a test-tube and assigned to the parents who raised her. Her ambition is to do real, hard-hitting journalism. When a story finally confronts her, it will put her relationships and her life at risk.
SHERIFF DAR PALLAS [imdb]
Dar Pallas was a rising star within the Utopia Planitia Corporation executive ranks, but the politics and workload combined with his wife's suicide made him leave for the easier job of "small town sheriff". He's a man of few words who avoids controversy, but he's a formidable force once engaged.
PHOEBE NOTT [imdb]
Phoebe Nott is an investigator for the Utopia Planitia Corporation. Her job is to investigate any issues involving company executives. What that really means, however, is that she is supposed to cover up indiscretions and make sure the company isn't embroiled in controversy. A murder will test her loyalties and teach her who her true friends are.
OLANDA TIGUE [imdb]
Olanda Tigue is Cala's girlfriend and a researcher for the same news organization where Cala works. She's naive, headstrong, and the best researcher in the colony. She wants to marry Cala but is worried Cala's foot-dragging will result in the colony forcing her to marry through an arranged match.
NEIL GEIGER [imdb]
Neil Geiger is the son of Trinity Geiger, the brilliant founder of Utopia Planitia Corporation and the Utopia Planitia Colony. Most of his executives view him as a vacuous and soulless product of nepotism, but he has a treasure chest secrets that would make their skin crawl.
Z [imdb]
No one outside the Utopia Planitia Corporation has seen Z, the VP of Intelligence, since she left Earth as part of the company exodus in 2081. In fact, most colonists don't know that there is a VP of Intelligence. She's the only person who knew Neil on Earth, and thus the only person who knows many of the secrets he holds.
WALLACE HEDRICK [imdb]
Wallace Hedrick is the Utopia Planitia Vice President of Internal Security. Wallace is very much a “law and order” type who believes in the ideals of the colony. He has a strong sense of dislike for the refugees as they violate his sense of order. Still, he prefers his problems out of sight and out of mind rather than tackling them head on.
HANA CHANDRA [imdb]
Hana Chandra is the Vice President of External Security for the colony. Hana is literally a rocket scientist. Her job is to make sure nothing from Earth threatens the colony. Like all children of Mars, she has no idea who her biological parents are, but she's harboring a desire to identify hers.
AKIKO WILDER [imdb]
Akiko Wilder is new and very ambitious Vice President of Terraforming for the Utopia Planitia Colony. She's a brilliant scientist who idolizes the colony founder, Trinity Geiger. Though she's married via an arranged colony marriage, she has a close relationship with the refugee sector bar owner, Gotzon Ochoa.
MAX NOTT [imdb]
Max Nott is husband to Phoebe Nott. Like many marriages in the colony, theirs is an arranged marriage. His fathers escaped Earth very early and were the first refugees. They were accepted into the colony and, as a result, Max has a fierce loyalty to the company. In spite of his fathers being refugees, he has a strong dislike for the refugees on Mars.
JEREMY REYES [imdb]
Jeremy Reyes is the retiring Vice President of Terraforming for Utopia Planitia Colony. Someone has been sending him information, but he has no idea where it's coming from. He wants to ignore it and enjoy his retirement, but he can't. He decides to contact a reporter and make it her problem.
ENOLA REYES [imdb]
Enola Reyes is wife to Jeremy Reyes. Both born on Earth, they have a marriage based in love with two adult children. Enola, however, is entirely unaware of the secret Jeremy is keeping until tragedy strikes.
TRINITY GEIGER [imdb]
Trinity Geiger is the most brilliant inventor in human history. She is Edison and Musk combined. Her invention of climate control systems literally saved Earth and made possible the terraforming of Mars. She is the founder of both the Utopia Planitia Corporation and the Utopia Planitia Colony.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Camera Fees
Costs $4,050
We're shooting the series using anamorphic lenses. They are very expenses lenses at $500/day.
Make-up Artist Kit Fee
Costs $500
The cost for doing make-up is a direct, out of pocket expense for our MUA.
Location & Insurance
Costs $1,000
We often have to pay for permits or other rights to shoot at a given location.
Sound Kit
Costs $1,500
Expenses for sound kit and other sound rental.
Music Rights & Musicians
Costs $2,700
Episode scoring, the creation of an original theme song, and other music rights.
Wardrobe
Costs $2,750
Creating a wardrobe for the future doesn't come cheap. We need to create new styles for Mars.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Utopia Planitia is being produced by Imaginary Productions, the private production company of director George Reese. Much of the team has worked together on a number of works both through Imaginary Productions and other efforts.
WRITER/PRODUCER/DIRECTOR [imdb]
Utopia Planitia is a story created by award-winning screenwriter George Reese. George Reese is a filmmaker and entrepreneur who has directed short films such as Therapy for the Unlawful and produced nearly a dozen web series. He is co-founder of the online streaming platform Seeka TV and the founder of the Minnesota WebFest.
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY [imdb]
Ben Enke is a cinematographer with work spanning short films, feature films, music videos, web series, commercials, and more. He has worked with George Reese on both Reconquista and Therapy for the Unlawful and served as Director of Photography on features such as Miles Between Us and Dark Cloud.
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR [imdb]
In her day job, Maud Greenhoe is an addiction/family therapist, amazing story lines,"names have been changed to protect the innocent". She has worked on short films like Therapy for the Unlawful and is currently deep into her own project, Adventures with Maud. Two adventures are produced, featured on You Tube, with more to follow.
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR [imdb]
A longtime lover of the arts, Bethany Langham-Jones is a female writer/producer/director in the Twin Cities area. As a child, she relished being the weird kid that enjoyed watching all the BTS footage for every film she could get her hands on. Upon discovering the extended editions of the Lord of the Rings series and realizing that she had just watched several hours of footage without blinking an eye, she knew that filmmaking was what she was meant to do. Prior web series credits include Kidnapped: The True Story of How I Made America Great Again. She is also currently working on her own feature film, Out of the Eater.
WARDROBE [imdb]
Barb Portinga has been making her living solely via her varied costume skills since graduating from Augsburg College in 1990. With an emphasis on education, she is the resident designer at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, Anoka Ramsey Community College and Roseville Area High School. Her design work has been seen throughout Midwest theater and in music videos and film. Barb is the proprietor of Portable Costumes.
MAKEUP ARTIST [imdb]
Lisa Colburn is a makeup artist and cosplayer from St. Paul, MN. Originally inspired by bringing fantasy characters to life, she followed her creativity and passion to creating makeup looks for haunted houses and films. During the day, she works as an attorney, and in October, she can be found creating terrifying characters for the Haunted Basement in Northeast Minneapolis.
PRODUCTION AND POST-PRODUCTION SOUND [imdb]
Andrew Macht founded AM Productions after graduating from the Institute of Production and Recording. He has preformed many roles which includes dialogue editor, sound mixer, sound designer, and audio supervisor; guiding and teaching others in his field.
COMPOSER [imdb]
Charlie McCarron is a musical storyteller and sonic experimenter. His first major work was a three-disc concept album, The Mystery of Grey Matters, about a young boy coming to terms with his schizophrenic tendencies. With twenty self-produced albums under his belt, Charlie often approaches composition as a record producer does: building the journey layer by layer. This obsession with musical layering has drawn Charlie to the orchestra as a compositional palette. His orchestral works often involve intricately woven melodies and rhythms, with the aim of giving each instrument a unique and fun role to play.
LOCATION MANAGER [imdb]
Jasmine Navy has worked as a screenwriter and script/continuity supervisor since 2012 after wearing many different hats on set. She has experience both in front of and behind the camera, including both elements on the short film Therapy for the Unlawful.
SCRIPT SUPERVISOR - Amber Bellair
GAFFER/SPECIAL EFFECTS - Billy Straub
ASSISTANT CAMERA - Tim Schrader