Space Adventure Surpasses One Million Downloads

By Rhonda on March 7th, 2012

The first episode of L5, an independent, crowdfunded, hard science fiction miniseries passed an impressive one million downloads on Vodo in less than two weeks from its release.

The team of Director Stanley Von Medvey, writer Tom Ptasinski, Studio Hemogoblin and endless hours by post production volunteers came together to create a high production value, captivating science fiction on a micro budget of 15,000.

In the first segment, after spending twenty years searching for a new home to save humanity from a dying earth, the crew of the spaceship Argo emerges from hyperspace and discover to their horror they have been thrown 200 years into the future. They find no signs of life on earth. The only clue to the mystery is an enormous colony called L5. Argo Commander Dr. Richard Adams and ship’s surgeon, Rod Lewis explore L5 and are shocked by what they find.

L5 is an amazing testament to the power that science fiction fans and community have when they band together and create the shows they want to see, rather than being at the mercy of big studios and untimely show cancellations. Two Kickstarter campaigns and an IndieGoGo funder for the score brought in the necessary cash. Sets and props were home constructed and costumes created with the steady support of family, and Chicago area art and business community.

Check out the L5 Facebook group for discussions and updates. Watch the trailer and download episode one for free on VOD in partnership with Torrent. Drop them a dollar or more to help produce future segments when you like what you see.

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Comments

4 Comments

Cameron Mulder says:

March 7, 2012 at 4:11 pm

This is one of the most impressed web productions i have ever seen and MUCH BETTER than most Scifi you see on TV. I highly encourage everyone to go download the film. If you like PLEASE send in a donation. I think we all want to see more.

Justine says:

March 29, 2012 at 3:58 pm

, and whether you want to read nojsiidted chapters from early drafts. As glimpses into an alternative ‘2001 , one that Kubrick might have filmed, it’s priceless; as entertainment, it’s less interesting. Like the other hard sci-fi’ writers, Clarke is best at the science bits, and a short segment from an alternative finale, one in which the four surviving Discovery crewmembers explore a deep hole in the side of Iapetus (although, oddly, it’s only referred to as Jupiter V’ perhaps they hadn’t named it yet), is fascinating. The talky bits were never his strong point, though, and the pre-flight glimpses at Earth in the year 2001 are full of people not so much conversing, as delivering little scientific monologues at each other. As with everything else Clarke has written, none of the characters have any actual character although it’s possible that this is hyper-realism as, let’s face it, most people in the real world are bland, dull and interchangeable, especially when they’re at work, and Clarke’s characters are always at work. Disappointingly, HAL doesn’t appear at all. The other main strand personifies the monolith in the form of Clindar, a tall, noble alien who comes across as an insufferably self-righteous riff on Klaatu from The Day the Earth Stood Still’. One shudders to think how camp the film would have been if this had been filmed. And there are a couple of descriptions of alien landscapes and societies which are quite evocative but have a habit of repeating themselves.There’s a reprint of The Sentinel’ as well, but if you’re going to the trouble of ordering this from Amazon (it took about a month for them to find and post it to sodden, freezing, miserable London, which wasn’t much slower than a normal order) you’ve probably read that already. In summary, then, if you’re reading this you’re either buzzing with curiosity or you’re me, and if you’re a fan of the film, the book, or Clarke it’s essential. You’ll probably buy it, read it once, and never read it again, though.

Reply

Michael Daugherty says:

March 7, 2012 at 3:53 pm

This is an amazing show, and I can’t wait to see the next episode!

Chad Burns says:

March 7, 2012 at 8:35 am

Hey Look! Me in a spacesuit! I am so glad people are liking what we did with L5. I hope we get to continue it…but at this point that is up to you folks and whether you feel we are worthy of a donation. Feel free to ask us anything (L5 related.) on the Facebook group.

Cameron Mulder says:

March 7, 2012 at 4:11 pm

This is one of the most impressed web productions i have ever seen and MUCH BETTER than most Scifi you see on TV. I highly encourage everyone to go download the film. If you like PLEASE send in a donation. I think we all want to see more.

- Justine says:
  
  March 29, 2012 at 3:58 pm
  
  , and whether you want to read nojsiidted chapters from early drafts. As glimpses into an alternative ‘2001 , one that Kubrick might have filmed, it’s priceless; as entertainment, it’s less interesting. Like the other hard sci-fi’ writers, Clarke is best at the science bits, and a short segment from an alternative finale, one in which the four surviving Discovery crewmembers explore a deep hole in the side of Iapetus (although, oddly, it’s only referred to as Jupiter V’ perhaps they hadn’t named it yet), is fascinating. The talky bits were never his strong point, though, and the pre-flight glimpses at Earth in the year 2001 are full of people not so much conversing, as delivering little scientific monologues at each other. As with everything else Clarke has written, none of the characters have any actual character although it’s possible that this is hyper-realism as, let’s face it, most people in the real world are bland, dull and interchangeable, especially when they’re at work, and Clarke’s characters are always at work. Disappointingly, HAL doesn’t appear at all. The other main strand personifies the monolith in the form of Clindar, a tall, noble alien who comes across as an insufferably self-righteous riff on Klaatu from The Day the Earth Stood Still’. One shudders to think how camp the film would have been if this had been filmed. And there are a couple of descriptions of alien landscapes and societies which are quite evocative but have a habit of repeating themselves.There’s a reprint of The Sentinel’ as well, but if you’re going to the trouble of ordering this from Amazon (it took about a month for them to find and post it to sodden, freezing, miserable London, which wasn’t much slower than a normal order) you’ve probably read that already. In summary, then, if you’re reading this you’re either buzzing with curiosity or you’re me, and if you’re a fan of the film, the book, or Clarke it’s essential. You’ll probably buy it, read it once, and never read it again, though.
  
Michael Daugherty says:

March 7, 2012 at 3:53 pm

This is an amazing show, and I can’t wait to see the next episode!

Chad Burns says:

March 7, 2012 at 8:35 am

Hey Look! Me in a spacesuit! I am so glad people are liking what we did with L5. I hope we get to continue it…but at this point that is up to you folks and whether you feel we are worthy of a donation. Feel free to ask us anything (L5 related.) on the Facebook group.

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