Intro
A talented team helmed by award-winning producer Sky Conway, including actor fan favorites such as Casper Van Dien and Walter Koenig, plan to embark on a television pilot this year for John E. Stith’s MANHATTAN TRANSFER, the Tor Books novel about the kidnapping of Manhattan by aliens.
We asked John to write a series of short pieces to chronicle this thirty-year journey.
Here is part eight.
Final Funding, In the Beginning
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More hurdles are behind us now, and the TV pilot for MANHATTAN TRANSFER seems closer than ever to happening.
Atomic Video and Skyrocket Pictures have solidified the cast list. A director is in place. Partial funding has already been secured. The script is ready. A special effects team is standing ready. Liftoff seems imminent.
The cast. This fantastic lineup of actors is on board. Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers, All American), Doug Jones (Hellboy, The Shape of Water), John Billingsley (The Man from Earth, The Orville), Tim Russ (Star Trek: Voyager, Samantha Who?), Walter Koenig (Star Trek, InAlienable), Dominic Keating (Star Trek: Enterprise, The Host), Eve Mauro (Cypher, Dystopia), Robert Funaro (The Sopranos, Ray Donovan), Bonnie Gordon (Star Trek: Prodigy), Abigail Zoe Lewis (Better Call Saul), Rico E. Anderson (Truth Be Told, S.W.A.T.), Madison Russ (Star Trek: Renegades), Chalet Lizette Brannan (Dystopia, Camp Twilight), Derek Maki (Alien Planet, Instant Dads), Shawn Ian Hardee (Darkridge), and Crystal Conway (Star Trek: Renegades). What a terrific list. Each of these individuals would be worth a column or series of columns to celebrate their accomplishments, but my space and time here is limited.
Just an aside, since most of those folks are already well known to the audience. As sad as it is, I still run into the occasional person who hasn’t discovered the SF film The Man From Earth. While you’re waiting for MT to air, do yourself a favor and look for TMFE. An impromptu retirement party triggers some wonderful discussions and remarkable confessions. Aside from being loads of fun, it’s a great example of a contained film, the holy grail of low-budget filmmakers. A handful of actors in a room and hardly anyone dies. But very compelling.
- Enough about actors. For now.
To wrangle this immensely talented team, the producers have brought on board a director whose films have hit the top of the Netflix charts recently. Shaun Paul Piccinino directed The Island, That’s Amor, Heroes with Issues, and much more. Here’s a recent profile on him. https://boldjourney.com/meet-shaun-paul-piccinino/
This month, the producers organized a live stream event in which Casper Van Dien, Bonnie Gordon, and Shaun Paul Piccinino all talked about their excitement for the upcoming MANHATTAN TRANSFER production, their experiences in and around Manhattan, and a wide range of acting and directing anecdotes. Very fun stuff. The discussion was captured and saved on YouTube and can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCEeFBePO2Y .
So what’s next? Partial funding is already in place, and the producers are going to attempt to raise the balance with crowdfunding. That obviously has an element of risk, but they’ve done this several times with increasing budgets, so there is good evidence to believe this is really going to happen.
The BackerKit push will begin on April 2 with a live stream launch around midday in the US, time to be announced. The BackerKit landing page is here https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/c06a3191-e2b8-405b-bee1-9049d2fc6aed/landing . They make it easy to sign up for progress reports.
Another good place to find out more about the project is thee Atomic Video Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/AtomicProduction . They have profiles of the actors and director, signup information, and links.
I’ve been guardedly optimistic about seeing MANHATTAN TRANSFER on the screen, guardedly because this has taken such a long time. But after watching the enthusiasm that came across in the live stream, not just enthusiasm for MT, but enthusiasm for making movies, creating for the fans, and having a blast together on a fun project, I’m letting myself believe this is really it.
To be continued.
Copyright © 2024 by John E. Stith
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John E. Stith is the author of REDSHIFT RENDEZVOUS, a Nebula Award nominee, MANHATTAN TRANSFER, and numerous other novels and short stories. His works with Ace Books and Tor Books have been bought by the Science Fiction Book Club, optioned for film, and translated into many languages. He has optioned feature-film screenplays and has sold to television (Star Trek). Find him at www.neverend.com. His latest novellas are TINY TIME MACHINE and TINY TIME MACHINE 2: RETURN OF THE FATHER, and TINY TIME MACHINE 3: MOTHER OF INVENTION from Amazing Stories. His latest novel is PUSHBACK, a mystery-suspense novel. and a finalist for the Daphne Du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. In late 2024, look for his new SF novel, DISAVOWED, from Amazing Stories.
To be on John’s list of occasional writing updates, visit http://eepurl.com/bGL4kj.
John’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/john.e.stith
The Facebook page for the streaming series is https://www.facebook.com/AtomicProduction .
This story so far:
Part 1 In the Beginning https://amazingstories.com/2023/11/manhattan-transfer-the-motion-picture-in-the-beginning/
Part 2 The Idea https://amazingstories.com/2023/11/manhattan-transfer-the-idea-part-ii/
Part 3 The First Offer https://amazingstories.com/2023/11/manhattan-transfer-story-03-the-first-offer/
Part 4 Clouds Forming https://amazingstories.com/2023/12/manhattan-transfer-story-04-clouds-forming/
Part 5 Neverending Saga https://amazingstories.com/2023/12/manhattan-transfer-story-05-neverending-saga/
Part 6 The First Sky Conway Chapter https://amazingstories.com/2023/12/manhattan-transfer-story-05-neverending-saga-2/
Part 7 Sky Conway Development Gets Underway https://amazingstories.com/2024/01/manhattan-transfer-story-07-sky-conway-development-gets-underway/
Part 8 Final Funding, In the Beginning https://amazingstories.com/2024/03/manhattan-transfer-story-07-sky-conway-development-gets-underway-2/
