Finalists Named in Galaxy-wide Search for Sci-Fi’s Next Leading Man

Space Command, the retro science fiction franchise created by Writer-Producer-Director Marc Scott Zicree (The Twilight Zone Companion, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Babylon 5) has announced the finalists for the leading role in its first feature film production. The five actors were selected from among thousands of submissions, resulting in 1,200 auditions posted to YouTube by hopefuls from around the world. All five actors will come to Los Angeles to read lines with some of the other cast members, which include major actors from Lost, Falling Skies, Star Trek Voyager, Deep Space Nine, Babylon 5, Buffy, X-Files, Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy and more.




The finalists for the role of Commander Matt Kemmer are as follows:

Blaine Gray
Sarah Maraffino
Aaron Massey
Mike Reeping
James Ryen

The auditions submitted by each finalist can be viewed by visiting the Space Command website:
http://spacecommandmovie.com/finalists-commander-kemmer/

“We’ll be watching everything during the read-throughs,” explained Executive Producer Elaine Zicree – a veteran of the New York stage and a film producer in her own right – who, along with her husband Marc and digital film pioneer Neil Johnson (Humanity’s End, Alien Armageddon), will make the final casting decision. “When they’re in town, many factors are critical for evaluation: from how they do when the cameras are rolling, to how they interact with the other actors between takes.”

With so many auditions submitted for consideration, the producers of Space Command could easily have been overwhelmed. But the Zicrees and Johnson, together with their team of Industry professionals, winnowed the videos down to approximately 150 that were the cream of the crop. The Zicrees then watched these videos again and settled on 17 finalists for their backers to vote on via the Space Command website. (3,000 individuals recently funded Space Command on Kickstarter to the tune of $221,000 – setting a Kickstarter speed record.)

The end result was very satisfying. “I was really impressed with the overall quality of the auditions,” said Mr. Johnson. “When I heard how many auditions we had at first, I wondered how long it would take us to find the good stuff – but everyone worked together as a team and things went quite smoothly.”

A New Approach
“Our approach for finding the lead character in our feature symbolizes the departure Space Command has taken from business-as-usual in Hollywood,” explains Mr. Zicree. “For generations everything took a lot of money, and the studios and networks called the shots. We’re redefining the rules.”

Space Command’s first feature is currently in pre-production and is slated to start shooting in April 2013. Additionally, three more Space Command features are planned to shoot in 2013, utilizing many of the same sets, props, costumes and actors. The first Space Command releases are slated for the fourth quarter of 2013.