Jamie Anderson, the son of Gerry Anderson, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund Gemini Force One, a new science fiction series created by his father shortly before his death.
Gemini Force One follows the story of a secret organisation involved in rescues and averting disasters and terrorist events – exciting stories for both the young and young at heart.
Initially to be a series of books, the concept and story of which were originally written by Gerry Anderson MBE, who colleagues, fans and journalists have described as the UK’s answer to Walt Disney or George Lucas.
The Gerry Anderson Estate’s long term aim for Gemini Force One is to publish the book series, and then turn it into a film or television series, which was Gerry’s ultimate goal for the concept.
Gerry began writing Gemini Force One in 2008, but was unable to complete the first book due to rapidly worsening Alzheimer’s Disease, which stopped him working in 2012, before his untimely death in December 2012. Gerry’s younger son, Jamie, has enlisted best-selling author MG Harris to complete the first book in the way that his father would have wanted, and will be raising money to selfpublish GF1 using the crowd funding platform Kickstarter.
The funding campaign launches today, Thursday 5th September, at www.gerryanderson.co.uk/GF1
The first GF1 book will be released to Kickstarter backers in April 2014, with a full launch in August 2014 – to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Anderson’s iconic Thunderbirds TV series, which entered production in August 1964.
Explaining the reasons for using Kickstarter, Jamie says he feels that it is vital to be absolutely faithful to his father’s vision of GF1. He understands that Gerry Anderson fans know and love the great man’s work, and that they will want him to keep GF1 as true as possible to the original vision – and that this can only be achieved if they reach their funding goal.
The money will be used to:
- Have a first run printed
- Fulfill backer rewards
- Pay MG Harris (The Anderson Estate’s author of choice) to complete the book
- Pay a cover designer
- Record an audio version
- Pay for marketing and advertising to make people aware of the book’s existence
Jamie also has a number of longer-term goals in mind, which will allow for things like translation of the book into other languages; vehicles to be designed by Andrew Probert (whose credits include Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica) and Dominic Lavery (New Captain Scarlet, James Bond, Event Horizon); and the beginning of serious development towards a film or TV series.
The books series will be written by best-selling author MG Harris, whose works include the highly acclaimed The Joshua Files series. “She is also a huge sci-fi buff and a lifelong Gerry Anderson fan,” says Jamie.
“Of all the authors that Jamie spoke to about this project, she is the one who most understood what Gerry Anderson concepts were all about, and how to keep it as close to possible to the original idea.”
MG Harris will be using Gerry Anderson’s notes and audio recordings to help to complete the book in the way Gerry wanted, the concept – developed and written by him between 2008 and 2011, with some additions in 2012. As his Alzheimer’s disease worsened, he was less and less able to make solid progress on the first book.
As this was one of Gerry’s final projects, Jamie feels the project is an important one and wants to see it reach both his numerous existing fans, and a whole new generation of young fans.
“Many people may not be aware that Gerry lost control of the majority of his shows in the 1960s and 1970s, and so he never really benefited financially from the cult status that his creations reached,” says Jamie. “There are many thousands of fans who will enjoy this fantastic new Anderson creation, and a successful Kickstarter funding campaign will enable us to make GF1 a brilliant and fitting tribute to my father’s memory.”
• To back the project, visit: www.kickstarter.com/projects/1717674777/gerry-andersons-gemini-force-one
• For more about this project, visit www.anderson-entertainment.co.uk; and www.gerryanderson.co.uk/GF1; or follow the project on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GerryAndersonOfficial or on Twitter: www.twitter.com/GerryAndersonTV
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Featured News, Other Worlds, Science Fiction, Television
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