A Cold War relic
returns amid fears of terrorism but turns out to be a forgotten Soviet space
mission. What it brings back will have implications for the entire world.
Today on Far Future Horizons it gives us great pleasure to
present the first two episodes of the fabulous SciFi web series Pioneer One (2010) produced by Josh
Bernhard and Bracey Smith. It is a series that has been entirely funded through
donations, and is the first series created for and released on Bit Torrent
networks.
Pioneer One is a
serialized drama produced and distributed online through VODO and the DISCO
network. Downloaded more than 3,730,000 times since May 2012 and winner for
Best Drama Pilot at the 2010 New York Television Festival, the show is
independently produced and financed by viewer donations. The pilot episode was
filmed on a budget of $6,000, raised in advance using Kickstarter. The series
itself was released under a Creative Commons license and is distributed for
free in collaboration with VODO, as with Bernhard's previous independent film
The Lionshare, over the Internet including peer-to-peer networks. So far, six
episodes have been produced. Production of the rest of the season is funded
through direct donations from the fan base.
The plot that surrounds the entire series involves a mysterious spaceship entering the Earth's atmosphere, triggering a massive response
from the American government. Since the ship has spread radiation over hundreds
of miles of rural Montana, officials are quick to bring up the possibility of a
terrorist attack, specifically the detonation of a dirty bomb, however, that
idea is discarded subtly by the leading investigator, asking the rhetorical
question "Who would launch an attack on Montana?".
Debris is found in Canada, where an investigation of
the crash discovers a live human being in a Soviet space suit. Federal agents
working for the American Department of Homeland Security get involved,
receiving permission from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to operate in Canada. The man
is in an unstable condition and his initial blood work shows signs of severe
cancer, with his doctors proclaiming him too badly injured to transport. A note
handwritten in Russian found at the crash site says that the man is the child
of cosmonauts living at a base on Mars. Not believing the note and wanting to
announce a Department of Homeland Security success to the press, the American DHS
orders Agent Taylor to bring the man back to the
United States
as a suspected terrorist, despite his severe condition. Believing the note
could be true, Taylor
ignores his orders and destroys the permission from the RCMP, forcing his team
to stay on site.