Ridley Scott has announced that he’s planning a web-series of 5-10 minute short film, set in the world of Blade Runner. While that’s enough to get a lot of people salivating, there is a catch. It’s being produced by Scott’s commercials arm, RSA Films, which doesn’t own any right to the novella ‘Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep’, which Blade Runner was based on.
As a result the series, titled Purefold, won’t be able to use any of the specific ideas or character from the film. The first episodes are due to appear later in the summer and should be set about two years into the future (which is distinctly before the LA 2019 setting of Blade Runner). The series is also designed to be interactive, and will be taking story suggestions through the social networking site, Friendfeed. The makers are also looking to bring in advertiser whose billboard and products will be featured in the series.
Interestingly the episodes will be released under a Creative Commons Licence, which would allow fans to take episodes and re-edit, change, add to or repurpose the content. It’s believed its the first time a Hollywood director has embraced this form of licence.
While we’re still a bit sceptical, anything Blade Runner is worth a look, so we’ll let you know more as the project develops.