Sci-Fi Storm

I may not be at San Diego Comic-Con (did I mention that?), but I know many of the press who are: Michael Hinman at Airlock Alpha has a nice article about Jaime Murray, who played H.G. Wells on Warehouse 13 and will star in the highly-anticipated Syfy series Defiance, and the fact that if Syfy still wanted to move forward with a possible Warehouse 13 spinoff based on her character, she believes it would still be possible to work both series.

G4 gave the upcoming TV series/MMO game Defiance a lot of coverage at E3 2012…check out some of the clips below, and if you want an idea about what it is about, check out our previous coverage.
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Syfy and Trion Worlds today released an all-new trailer detailing the production of the highly-anticipated transmedia event, Defiance™. Featuring cast from the series (Grant Bowler, Julie Benz, Jaime Murray and Tony Curran) as well as members of the visionary creative teams from both the game and show, this making-of video is a first look behind the scenes in developing the most immersive entertainment experience ever produced.

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The series has begun production on the pilot in Toronto, with an eye towards an April 2013 premiere.

Syfy announced today that Defiance, it’s most ambitious “transmedia” project so far – a scripted series that crosses over with a massively-multiplayer online game – began production in Toronto, Ontario.

DefianceTM, the revolutionary transmedia event launching in Spring 2013, has commenced production on the series pilot in Toronto, ON. An unprecedented partnership between Syfy and Trion Worlds, Defiance is the first-ever convergence of television and Massive Multiplayer Online gaming, featuring an interconnected world and storylines that will co-exist on both platforms.
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Defiance continues to get cast added…Deadline reports that actresses Mia Kirshner and Fionnula Flanagan have join the cast.

Kirshner (The Vampire Diaries, The L Word) has been cast as Kenya, the “self-assured, dauntless town madam whose unvarying devotion to the town of Defiance has inexorably woven her into many of its complicated affairs.”

Flanagan (Lost, The Others) will play Nikki, the “popular ex-mayor of the town whose intrinsic expertise from her years on the job have made her a trusted mentor to her successor, Amanda (Julie Benz).”

Production is expected to start shortly in Toronto. For more information about the TV/massively-multiplayer online game crossover, see our original announcement.

Check out this teaser video for the upcoming multimedia production from Syfy and Trion Worlds, Defiance. Not only will this be an MMO shooter, but a TV series in which events will cross over.

Set in the near future, Defiance introduces players and viewers to a completely transformed planet Earth, inhabited by the disparate survivors of a universal war who endeavor to build a new society among the devastation. The game combines the intense action of a “AAA” console shooter, with the persistence, scale, and customization of an MMO, while its TV counterpart weaves the rich tapestry of the world into a series with the scope, characters, and drama of a classic sci-fi epic. Because they exist in a single universe, the show and the game will influence each other and evolve together over time, with actions in both mediums driving the overall story of Defiance.
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Syfy has announced that Graham Greene (Dances with Wolves among many roles) will join the cast of its upcoming drama series Defiance. Greene will portray Rafe McCawley, a self-made success who owns and operates the largest mine in the territory. However, Rafe’s status as the richest and most powerful human in the town of Defiance comes with a price, as he struggles to navigate both familial and political alliances in this precariously assembled new world.
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Syfy made two casting announcements today.

Syfy has inked actor Shane McRae to star in the two-hour pilot for the action thriller Rewind from BermanBraun and Universal Cable Productions. Jack Bender (Lost, Alphas) is set to direct the pilot penned by Justin Marks, who will also executive produce with Tom Spezialy, Gail Berman, Lloyd Braun and Gene Stein. Rewind is set to begin production in April 2012.

McRae attended the NYU Graduate Acting program where he received his master’s degree. Soon after, he landed his first role in the Tony Award-winning play Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out on Broadway. He was recently seen in The Help, Bad Teacher, The Adjustment Bureau and Killer Pad among others. He was also a series regular on NBC’s Four Kings. His theater credits include Fifth of July directed for Bay Street and Williamstown by Terry Kinney, Killer’s and Other Family (Rattlestick) and Richard III (Public Theatre). He’s represented by Gersh and TMT Entertainment.
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Syfy’s upcoming Defiance, a combination TV show and massive-multiplayer open world game being developed between Universal Cable Productions and Trion Worlds, has its first TV star with Grant Bowler, the New Zealander who previously appeared on True Blood, Lost, and Ugly Betty. Syfy’s president of original content Mark Stern said, “Grant’s charismatic charm and his depth as an actor make him the perfect anchor as we build the ensemble for this sweeping adventure series.”

Bowler will play Jeb Nolan, a “boomtown lawkeeper” on an Earth ravaged by war where now humans and aliens coexist, in a sort of western/sci-fi mix.

The TV pilot is being written by SF TV veteran Rockne S. O’Bannon. The game will be available on multiple platforms. No release dates have been set, but a trailer for the game is available at the official web site.

Update: From the press release:
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Defiance, and open world shooter MMO developed by Trion Worlds (who also created [asin=B002I0HIC8]RIFT[/asin]), is currently getting some behind-closed-doors demos at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, but the game itself wasn’t the big news – the big news is that the game will also tie in simultaneously with a TV series on Syfy.

Set on a future Earth, Defiance introduces players and viewers to a world where humans and aliens live together on a planet transformed by decades of conflict. The game combines the intense action of a “AAA” console shooter, with the persistence, scale, and customization of an MMO, while its TV counterpart weaves the rich tapestry of the world into a series with the scope, characters, and drama of a classic sci-fi epic. Because they exist in a single universe, the show and the game will influence each other and evolve together over time, with actions in both mediums driving the overall story of Defiance.

On the television side, the Defiance series, to be produced by Universal Cable Productions, will be penned by Rockne S. O’Bannon, a legendary sci-fi TV writer best-known for his work on Warehouse 13, Alien Nation, seaQuest DSV, and Farscape.

The game will be available for the PC, Xbox 360®, and PlayStation® 3. Release dates are not yet available, but more information will be released at the official web site when available.