The testing is over. The props, sets, scenes and characters are complete and the roles are filled with some wonderfully talented actors.

The production pipeline is in place and firing on all cylinders at this point. A lot can happen between now and the finish but I am extremely grateful to all the voice actors that took the time to look into this project and I wish to thank a handful of very special people:

• Dulci of the Wolf and Dulci Hour for helping me get this project started and for numerous mentions on her web radio show.
• Kinte Fergerson for putting the right people in the right places.
• Squirrelygirl for enduring a never ending "look at this" and "see what I've done" stream of stills, clips and screentests.
• DL Watson for being available for abuse whenever needed.
   

This has been a long time in coming but its finally happening. The main reason its happening is the fact that my schedule opened up due to a project being cancelled which allows me to spend my extra time on this series. Normally I would just take another job in the rotation but decided to skip out of work for awhile and concentrate on this series to get the first episode out which leads me to another question I've been asked recently:

Which episode is this? I've heard you say first and I've read where its the second. What gives????

Ok.. to me in my working draft it was the second episode as I counted the pilot as the first episode but I have been reminded by some of my more close minded freelance colleagues that it is actually Episode 1 since apparently some don't count the pilot as an episode! Well... I could've gone a whole lifetime without that information but since I had to endure a schooling about it then I will pass it on to you.

So Episode 1 (2 or wtf) is in full production and God willing (but the creek is rising) there will be a lot done and hopefully completed before my next contract starts up and the freetime disappears.

The spurs are on pardner... so lets animate!

All of the roles are now filled and some lines are already in!

Between the Second Lifers, TMUnderground and the machinima community these roles were promptly filled by the masterful work of the casting director Kinte.

Production is now beginning on new segments of the next episode!

Thanks everyone!

The Outland is a machinima about life in the outland areas of known space that centers on a particular incident that sets off an investigation and a chain of events leading to an unusual ending. 

The Liberty Security Forces (LSF) are charged with keeping the peace and protecting the inhabitants of the Outland... an area on the fringe of known space that is sometimes fraught with danger and tragedy.

The Strazi are a powerful and brutal enemy that lie beyond the charted areas of the Outland and a longtime foe of the LSF and the Outlanders. Their last invasion was turned back on what was initially believed to be heroic actions on the part of the LSF and a handful of Outlander civilians only to be found out later that the Strazi simply gave up the battle and vanished back into the void they came from. Why they just disappeared remains a mystery as they were winning every battle and wearing down the defenses of the LSF while decimating its fleet. 

Since that time, over a generation ago, the border areas with Strazi space have been continually monitored by the LSF with a series of manned observation posts. The duty on the posts were highly sought after by adventure seeking service members but eventually became a dull and boring assignment as time wore on. The trepidation felt by the survivors of the earlier attacks eventually led to apathy in most Outlanders and a generation that had never known the brutality and strength of the Strazi were serving in the LSF.

Patrols became routine. The edge that surviving a terrible war gives society and its warriors  was all but gone.  Complacency overtook  most segments of Outland society. Technological advances in the sensors used to monitor the Outland border along with newer and more powerful weapons gave a feeling of superiority and , some said, a false sense of security.

Population areas of the major planets became dense and inviting targets of people going about their daily lives with little thought to what lay just beyond the border of known space. Most senior officers of the LSF fought in the last engagement and remembered their foe well. Steely warriors would break down in a sweat thinking of how they barely survived those encounters and no one in the senior command or non-commissioned officer corps could remember a single victory over the Strazi. They would never forget and vowed to do all they could to keep the LSF an effective fighting force that learned from its past and wouldn't fold and run after a series of defeats should their neighbor ever come calling again.

To the general public... safety was the concern of the LSF and they seemed to be doing a fine job of it. Religious orders booked tours of the border area for their members. Schools did much the same and the Outland became a tourist destination. To most Outland inhabitants life was good and there was little reason to worry.

Until the incident at Freeport 7 when everything changed.

Various test scenes from The Outland to prove out conceptual work in the script.