"Battlestar Galactica" Wins 2009 TCA Program of the Year Award

DMN Newswire--2009-10-1--NewTek Inc, manufacturer of industry-leading 3D animation and video products, congratulated "Battlestar Galactica" as the recipient of the 2009 Television Critics Association (TCA) Award for Program of the Year. The program, which relied on NewTek LightWave 3D to create award-winning visual effects, was recognized at the 25th annual TCA Awards in Los Angeles after its final season.

"NewTek commends the creators and artists of 'Battlestar Galactica'. These visual effects artists are longtime members of the LightWave community," said Jay Roth, president, 3D division, NewTek Inc. "The program leaves behind a rich history of advancements in storyline, structure and visual effects, as well as unforgettable characters and performances. It will be missed by fans everywhere."

NewTek LightWave 3D combines a state-of-the-art renderer with powerful, intuitive modeling and animation tools. Tools that may cost extra in other professional 3D applications are part of the product package, including unlimited render nodes, hard-body and soft-body dynamics, hair, fur, cloth simulation and more. LightWave is enjoyed worldwide as a complete 3D production solution for visual effects in television, film, broadcast graphics, games, visualization, print and Web.

"Battlestar Galactica" has won Emmy Awards for visual effects in 2008 and 2007, as well as a Visual Effects Society (VES) award for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series earlier this year.

About NewTek Inc.

Benefiting producers and artists with its cost-effective and groundbreaking technologies, NewTek Inc. is a leader in portable live production, video editing, 3D animation and special effects tools, including LightWave 3D, the TriCaster product line and 3PLAY. NewTek has won numerous industry accolades, including two Emmy Awards. NewTek products have been used in blockbuster films and television shows, including "The Dark Knight," "Iron Man," "300," "Hancock," "Tropic Thunder," "Battlestar Galactica," "Lost," "Fringe" and more. Clients include: Fox News, BBC, NHL, NBA Development League, MTV, VH1, the Steve Harvey Radio Show, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). NewTek is privately owned and based in San Antonio, Texas. For more information, please visit: http://www.newtek.com/.

Star Trek Meets 'Battlestar Galactica' In Proposed Sequel

The world was starting to become a different place in 1991 when "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" was released.

Not only were fans reeling from the 1989 disaster that was "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier," but the collapse of the Soviet Union created the possibility that enemies didn't have to be enemies forever.

That mindset was brilliantly expressed by the writing team of Leonard Nimoy, Nicholas Meyer, Denny Martin Flinn (and we guess a little by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, something that has been historically disputed by Nimoy) with the Federation, and especially Capt. Kirk, having to explore the possibility that if the Klingons could not be friends, they could at least be the annoying in-laws we all have to tolerate from time to time.

Tackling real-world issues is what made the original "Star Trek" so poignant, and what attracted director J.J. Abrams into doing the 2009 movie. Now, with the setup film under his belt, there's a possibility the two writers tasked with making a followup to the blockbuster that has grossed nearly $400 million at the box office will get a chance to hit some hot-button topics in "Star Trek XII."

"The ambition for a sequel to 'Star Trek' is to make a movie that's worthy of the audience and not just another movie ... just a second movie that feels tacked on," Abrams told Geoff Boucher of the Los Angeles Times. "The first movie was so concerned with just setting up the characers -- their meeting each other and galvanizing the family -- that in many ways, a sequel will have a very different mission."

That mission will be more like what creator Gene Roddenberry put together with his 1960s

outing that included allegories to then current issues of racism, the Vietnam War and the threat of a nuclear holocaust.

"It needs to tell a story that has connection to what is familiar and what is relevant," Abrams said. "It also needs to tell it in a spectacular way that hides the machinery and in a primarily entertaining and hopefully moving story."

It had been a while since science-fiction used its role as a canvas to discuss controversial events in a non-controversial way, that is until Syfy's "Battlestar Galactica" arrived. Now it has become more important than ever for the genre to re-establish its responsibility to give future-looking

pictures of what could happen today.

"We got a lot of fan response from the first [film] and a considerable amount of critical response, and one of the things we heard was, 'Make sure the next one deals with modern-day issues,'" said Roberto Orci, who wrote the most recent Trek film with Alex Kurtzman, and who has both been tasked to scribe the sequel.

"We're trying to keep it as up-to-date and as reflective of what's going on today as possible," he said. "So that's one thing, to make it reflect the things that we are all dealing with today."

There is still very little to report about the next Trek movie except to say it's in development, but Paramount likely is eyeing a 2011 release.