John E. Stith’s novel MANHATTAN TRANSFER (from Tor Books) tells the story of the kidnapping of Manhattan by aliens. The long tale of bringing the novel to the screen has a new chapter, taking it even closer now.
The BackerKit crowdfunding campaign just launched today. Awards include things like a Blu-ray or DVD of the production, or a day on set, or a walk-on part, or a signed copy of the novel, or an associate producer credit, or Walter Koenig’s email address, or…
Why crowdfunding? Producer Sky Conway discussed this in the launch party video (link below). He was mentored by Gene Roddenberry who at times was frustrated by seemingly arbitrary direction from studio execs. Roddenberry specifically recalled the fan-drive campaign to save STAR TREK TOS after season 2 looked to be the last season. Having ownership and control over the project can be a terrifically valuable asset. Setting up the MANHATTAN TRANSFER TV pilot to be substantially funded by fans is a huge help to the project.
If you want to join in on the fun, or just learn more, here are some links.
The launch party video from today. Starring Casper Van Dien, Walter Koenig, Bonnie Gordon, and others, along with John E. Stith. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
This MT film history is the subject of a series of short articles here on Amazing Stories. Part 1 is here. https://amazingstories.com/
And here is the BackerKit page. https://www.backerkit.com/c/
John E. Stith is the author of REDSHIFT RENDEZVOUS, a Nebula Award nominee, MANHATTAN TRANSFER, and numerous other novels and short stories. Several of 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 several feature-film screenplays, and has sold to television (Star Trek). Find him at www.neverend.com.
