Claudia Christian joins Bruce Hopkins in Barrier cast

In February of this year I introduced readers of this blog to Barrier TV, a science fiction show concept proposed by New Zealand writer/producer Sheldon Whittaker. Sheldon and his team have overcome economic adversity through the past three years to not only keep their dream alive but now to bring it to the brink of fruition as a short movie (and hopefully an eventual television show as originally proposed).

In July I was able to announce that Bruce Hopkins (see his IMDB profile here) accepted the role of lead character Dante Lau earlier this year.

Now I can tell you that Claudia Christian (see her IMDB profile here) has accepted the role of Gallea Flynn. And Matthew Werkmeister (see his IMDB profile here) will be playing James Ngaio.

Set several centuries from now, Barrier follows Dante Lau and his crew as they face the challenges of the Barrier Racing League, a government-sponsored space-racing franchise intended to speed up design and production on space travel technologies.

You can follow the production’s progress at the [url=http://barriertv.blogspot.com/]Official Barrier TV Blog[/url]. We are following the developments at SF-Fandom.

I’m looking forward to seeing the movie. Good luck to Sheldon and the crew!

Bruce Hopkins joins Barrier cast

Bruce Hopkins has been acting professionally for almost 20 years. Fans of Hercules, Xena, and Power Rangers have seen him in many roles through the years. Bruce also played the Rohirric warrior Gamling in Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings”.

I interviewed Bruce in 2003 for Xenite.Org’s Lord of the Rings news. He was very polite and professional. Several of my friends have met Bruce at conventions and they all gave glowing reports about his interaction with fans.

If you’re not familiar with the Barrier production, let me share a few words about that. In 2007 New Zealand writer Sheldon Whittaker contacted Xenite.Org about a science fiction television show he was putting together. The original site no longer exists although you can see an archive copy here.

The project was looking for funding and an entry into the U.S. television market. I was so enthused I built this Barrier TV site to help promote the project.

Over the past couple of years, as the economy soured and it became obvious that traditional production channels were not going to move on the project, Sheldon used his Barrier TV Blog to keep interested fans up-to-date. The project is going forward as a made-for-Internet movie.

And recently Sheldon announced that Bruce Hopkins is joining the cast, taking on the role of Dante Lau.

You can watch the Barrier teaser trailer here to get an idea about the show.

The blog is loaded with concept art and more information about the writers and crew. Be sure to check it out and keep an eye out here and there for more news as it comes along!

Barrier TV production turning to CGI

In October 2007 I launched a special fan site on Xenite.Org for a proposed television show called Barrier. The concept is a science fiction show set in the 25th century, where a space-faring family living on a reconditioned Navy freighter is trying to make its fortune in interplanetary racing.

The official Web site has some neat concept art and several teaser trailers (you’ll need Quicktime to view them).

The production crew’s official Barrier blog has had sporadic activity over the past 14 months. They were looking for funding and a connection to develop the show for television. Of course, a lot of people want to get their shows produced and the world economy hasn’t helped independent production companies very much.

That said, last year Sheldon Whittaker (leader of the team) proposed the idea of doing a purely CGI format. He was tentative and I encouraged him to give the matter serious consideration. After all, Amanda Tapping’s rather tepid Sanctuary started out as an Internet production in 2007 before it was picked up by SciFi.

If you have an interest in independent science fiction productions, check out the Barrier TV project and drop by their blog. Give them some encouragement.

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SF-Fandom is a fan-run moderated Web discussion community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. Founded in 2001, SF-Fandom is part of the Xenite.Org Network of science fiction and fantasy Web sites.