Over the weekend I finally got a chance to watch Pioneer One. It’s a half-hour drama television series with one notable exception: it’s not shown on TV. The series is available for free to download from Vodo via bittorrent networks and is being funded entirely by donations.
The series is the brainchild of the folks who produced The Lionshare which was also released on Vodo. What starts off as what seems to be a terrosist attack turns into something much stranger as a CCCP cold war relic returns to earth. And what’s in that capsule will dramatically change history. I’m not saying more than that, just watch the trailer.
PIONEER ONE “Pilot” Trailer from Pioneer One on Vimeo.
I have to say that while the quality of the series isn’t on par with something that spends more than a million dollars per episode, they do really get a lot of bang for their ($6,000) buck and they have a very interesting premise which I hesitate to call science fiction. There are parts that are a bit slow and some of the acting is lackluster. That said, I’m far more interested after watching the first episode of Pioneer One than I ever was after watching the premiere of V.
The other reason I’m keeping my eye on this is that it’s a really interesting experiment in media financing and distribution. Can you truly create a sustainable television series outside of the studio system and deliver it for free? I honestly don’t see how they’re going to make money from this, cast and crew are probably not being paid, but that may not be the point.
My hat is off to these guys for attempting this and getting some pretty great results. Click here to download and donate.
Have you seen Pioneer One? What did you think of the pilot and the distribution methods?
Tags: alternative film, bittorrent, business of filmmaking, distribution, pioneer one
