News

Network: Syfy

Episodes: Six (hour)

Seasons: One

TV show dates: December 15, 2014 -- December 17, 2014

Series status: Ended

Performers include: Tricia Helfer, Gil Bellows, Brian Van Holt, Andrea Roth, Brandon P. Bell, Jacqueline Byers, Tiffany Lonsdale, and P.J. Boudousqué.

TV show description:

This science-fiction TV show was inspired by the real-life Project Orion that was introduced under the administration of President John F. Kennedy. In the series’ alternate reality, 600 volunteers (men, women, and children) are launched into space on a century-long voyage aboard a self-sustaining ship.

Fearing that the rise of the Cold War would destroy the planet, the undercover space mission is launched. The mission’s aim is to inhabit a planet -- one that orbits Proxima Centauri -- to keep the human race alive.

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There won't be any more Ascension, at least on Syfy. The cable channel has told Deadline that, "We were very happy with Ascension as an event series, but with so much high profile development in the works, we have decided not to pursue a full series."

Airing in December 2014, Ascension follows an alternate reality in which, in 1963, President Kennedy and the government sent 600 volunteers (men, women, and children) into space on a century-long voyage aboard a self-sustaining generation ship. The cast includes Tricia Helfer, Gil Bellows, Brian Van Holt, Andrea Roth, Brandon P. Bell, Jacqueline Byers, Tiffany Lonsdale, and P.J. Boudousqué.

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Space exploration in a hot topic in Hollywood right now. Especially with Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar currently out in theaters. The SyFy Channel has a miniseries coming out called Ascension, which tells the story of a group of people who leave earth in 1963 to find a new planet that can be populated with people. The series picks up fifty years later. It definitely seems like it has basically plot idea from Interstellar, only it’s not told on such a grand scale. We’ve got two trailers for the series, as well as a detailed press release that offers up some more details on the story and who stars in the series:

In 1963, the U.S. government launched a covert space mission sending hundreds of men, women and children on a century-long voyage aboard the starship Ascension to populate a new world. Nearly 50 years into the journey, as they approach the point of no return,...

Killer Women came and went pretty fast, but Tricia Helfer’s got another series on the way and it looks far more promising. Ascension is a six-hour mini-series that goes down on a starship carrying 600 people on a mission to save the human race by populating a new world. Helfer plays Viondra Denniger, a beautiful but manipulative power broker aboard the starship Ascension. The show’s very first trailer just dropped and even though the piece is only 30 seconds long, it still offers up a fairly comprehensive sense of the Ascension’s mission as well as an effective tease of what sends it into chaos. Hit the jump to check out the Ascension trailer for yourself. The mini-series debuts on Syfy on November 24th at 9/8c and also stars Brian Van Holt, Andrea Roth, Brandon P. Bell, Tiffany Lonsdale and Pj Boudousque. Via EW. Here’s the official synopsis for Ascension: In 1963, the U.

Brad Lunders (P.J. Boudousqué) is awakened in the middle of the night by strapping figures wearing shirts reading "Staff" and is unceremoniously tossed in the back of a van with other teenage boys, all handcuffed and shivering in their pajamas. They are headed to a private juvenile "rehabilitation" facility out in the country, a place where their parents have paid former military men and their lackeys a hefty sum of money to scare their misbehaving teens straight, with physical and mental torture. This is the milieu of "Coldwater," the feature directorial debut of Vincent Grashaw, a producer and cinematographer (via festival favorite "Bellflower"). "Coldwater" teems with a boiling resentment toward the abuse of power. Eventually, that resentment will pour out in  bloody chaos, but rigid authoritarian structures prove difficult to bring down. The film is most successful when it's ruminating on the origins and cycles of...

Shedding light on important issues through the power of narrative filmmaking can be a tricky proposition. The very nature of fictional storytelling can sometimes make the issues brought to the forefront seem less worthy of inspection (i.e.: 'it's just a movie'). At the same time, calibrating a film's emotional impact to a pitch perfect balance, somewhere between ineffective and sensational, is a razor-thin tightrope walk. Coldwater, directed by Vincent Grashaw and written by Mark Penney, unfortunately stumbles at the starting gate and never fully recovers. The film begins with teenager Brad Lunders (P.J. Boudousqué) being snatched from his bedroom in the middle of the night by unknown assailants. Within a few minutes, it's made clear that these strange men have come from a juvenile reform...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Syfy is entering the zombie fray with "Z Nation," and now we know when it'll be premiering. Here's the network's full fall 2014 lineup, which also includes event series "Ascension" and another "31 Days of Halloween" in October.

If Syfy Original Movies are your thing, keep your eyes open for the likes of Dark Haul, Finders Keepers, and Mutant World.

From the Press Release:

Syfy’s 2014 Fall Programming primetime lineup will feature the series premieres of "Z Nation" on September 12 and docuseries "Town of the Living Dead" on October 7.

In addition, the Season Five return of "Haven" airs September 11 with the special 10th anniversary season of "Ghost Hunters" beginning October 8. The highly anticipated six-hour event series "Ascension," starring Tricia Helfer, kicks off November 24.

For the seventh consecutive year, Syfy will celebrate the Halloween season with nearly 600 hours of ghoulish programming during the month-long "31 Days of Halloween" (October 1-31).

September

"Haven" (Season 5 Premiere)

Returns Thursday,...

Rescue Me‘s Andrea Roth has climbed aboard Ascension, Syfy’s forthcoming six-hour limited series set in the far reaches of space, TVLine has learned exclusively.

Video Watch Trailers for Syfy’s New Dominion and Ascension Series

Additionally, Pj Boudousque (Pretty Little Liars) has joined the project, which stars Cougar Town‘s Brian Van Holt as the captain of the titular vessel, which was launched into space by the U.S. government in 1963 to populate a new world. The series picks up 50 years into the mission, as a mysterious murder causes those on board to question the true nature of their mission.

Brad (P.J. Boudousqué) is a troubled teenager who is abducted from his home in the middle of the night — but, don’t worry, his mother (Raquel Gardner) has given her consent. He is driven in a van to a reform facility located in the middle of the wilderness. At least 20 miles of harsh terrain away from the nearest town, Brad and his cohorts are completely cut off from society, one of many tactics used by the Coldwater facility to break the spirits of the inmates. Colonel Frank Reichert (James C. Burns) runs a strict military-like operation, with no room for sympathy or compassion. Fear of punishment is the main motivator in forcing the inmates to conform with society’s rules; but, because of blind trust, the Colonel is unaware of just how horrendous the punishments rendered by the Coldwater counselors can be. While the Colonel wrestles with his own personal demons,...

Brad (P.J. Boudousqué) is a troubled teenager who is abducted from his home in the middle of the night -- but, don't worry, his mother has given her consent. He is driven in a van to a reform facility located in the middle of the wilderness. Brad and his cohorts are completely cut off from society, one of many tactics used by the facility to break their spirits. Colonel Frank Reichert (James C. Burns) runs a strict military-like operation, with no room for sympathy or compassion. Fear of punishment is the main motivator to force the inmates to conform with society's rules; but, because of blind trust, the Colonel is unaware of just how horrendous the punishments rendered by his staff can be. Vincent Grashaw's directorial debut delves deeply into the horrors of youth correction facilities that rely more on torture than rehabilitation. We sat down with Vincent Grashaw,...

Imagine waking up in the middle of the night to strangers who pull you from your bed, handcuff you and put a cloth sack over your head. The last thing you hear as they toss you screaming into the back of a van is your mother saying “I love you.” This is how we meet Brad Lunders (P.J. Boudousqué). He’s a teenager mired in a life of drug dealing and other criminal acts, and after a recent incident that resulted in a death his mother has chosen an extreme option intended to keep Brad out of jail. He’s been shipped off to a “residential treatment program for troubled youths,” but while that sounds like a professional and responsibly run place, it just may be anything but. Coldwater is a beautifully acted and shot drama about troubled kids forced to grow up quickly by even more troubled adults. It’s an engaging eye-opener that moves from...

Shedding light on important issues through the power of narrative filmmaking can be a tricky proposition. The very nature of fictional storytelling can sometimes make the issues brought to the forefront seem less worthy of inspection (ie: "it's just a movie"). At the same time, calibrating a film's emotional impact to a pitch perfect balance, somewhere between ineffective and sensational, is a razor-thin tightrope walk. Coldwater, directed by Vincent Grashaw and written by Mark Penney, unfortunately stumbles at the starting gate and never fully recovers.    The film begins with teenager Brad Lunders (P.J. Boudousqué) being snatched from his bedroom in the middle of the night by unknown assailants. Within a few minutes, it's made clear that these strange men have come from a juvenile reform...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

“In Production” is a regular column which focuses on notable independent films that are currently shooting. If you would like your film to be included in this space, please send an email to nick@filmmakermagazine.com

Bellflower producer Vincent Grashaw gets into the director’s chair for Coldwater, a drama-thriller about a teenage boy who is placed in a “wilderness juvenile center” overseen by a malevolent army veteran. Produced by Grashaw, Kris Dorrance, Dave Gare and Sarah Farrand and co-written by Grashaw with Mark Penney, Coldwater was originally slated to shoot in 2004 with a different director at the helm and a high-profile cast. Now, Grashaw is directing with a cast of unknowns including P.J. Boudousque (above in an exclusive shot from the film), Chris Petrovski and Scott MacArthur. Filming throughout California, Coldwater is being produced by Gare Farrand Entertainment, Skipping Stone Entertainment and Flying Pig Productions.

Four strangers’ suicide attempts...