Browncoats: Redemption – A Fan Film based on Joss Whedon’s Firefly

Remember Dream On? Were you, like me, mesmerized by Neil Patrick Harris’ face and the unbelievably smart, witty direction? You can blame those cramps in your sides on the legendary Joss Whedon, writer-director extraordinaire, who was invited by Ryan Murphy to direct the entire episode. He’s applied these directing chops to several other television series, like Dollhouse, Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, and Firefly. I’m posting today to tell you about the amazing world of Firefly you may or may not be missing out on. If you’re into Glee, Sci-Fi, westerns, Nathan Fillon, or heck, if all you have is an appreciation for good writing, you’ll fall in love with Firefly just like I did.

About a week ago, I decided to take a leap of faith and watch all 14 episodes of the oddball sci-fi entity that was Firefly. Being used to light-hearted shows like Glee, I expected it to be far outside my TV comfort zone. No questions asked, it was love at first Netflix Instant Play. If you give it a chance like I did, this show will make you laugh, cry, fall in love, and just generally blow your mind. If you do decide to watch it though, I advise you to have hankies on standby, because this show will make you weep.

Why am I telling you this? Well, because you love Glee. And if you love Glee, you’ll love Firefly. And if you love Firefly, you’ll be absolutely shocked and appalled when you learn that this magnificent series was cancelled in 2002, after only one season and a follow-up movie. God knows why, but this show’s time came far too soon. It left behind a sad but dedicated cult following, who tried several times to bring the series back to life, each time ending in failure. However, this doesn’t mean that Firefly will ever go off the radar.

What Gleeks are to Glee, Browncoats are to Firefly. The show’s loyal fans dubbed themselves after the underdog army of Firefly’s alternate universe.

Several fan movies have spawned based around the worlds of Star Trek and Star Wars, but very few from Whedon’s Firefly. That’s about to change. A new movie about the ‘verse called Browncoats: Redemption is currently in post production. All proceeds of the movie go to charity. By supporting these fan movies, we can help to keep the underdog Firefly - and Joss’ vision – alive.

The following is an excerpt from the Browncoats: Redemption electronic press kit:

BROWNCOATS: REDEMPTION is the sequel to Serenity, a full length feature film produced by space western adventure following the Firefly TV series in the same genre.

BROWNCOATS: REDEMPTION is a charity project created to raise funds for five charities through our love of the Firefly/Serenity Universe, created by Joss Whedon. The charities we’ve chosen to support are those supported or created by the cast and crew of Firefly/Serenity. What’s amazing to realize is that actors of the show we love are just as passionate about helping others as the fans are. We are prepared to accomplish the impossible: Create a direct to DVD, feature-length film set in Joss Whedon‟s Firefly-Serenity universe with all proceeds going to those five charities.

The film was made by the fans for the fans, but we view this as an independent film. We had fans of Firefly travel from all over the United States to volunteer their time as extras and a variety of supportive roles in the film’s production. Without them, this film would not exist and yet, this film will only be successful with continued help and support from this dedicated fanbase. However, we believe that we‟ve created a strong enough film with high production values that will also allow it to stand independently. We feel that the highest quality film we can make will do the greatest amount of good for the charities we support and perhaps even allow us to reach new Browncoats.

-Michael Dougherty

The official premiere of the movie will be at Dragon-Con, September 3-6.

So, you’re interested. You might just make a donation and get the DVD. But what can you do in the meantime?

1) Follow the movie on Facebook and Twitter.

2) Visit browncoatsmovie.com. They post updates and news about the movie, as well as behind-the-scenes videos and podcasts for everything you could possibly need to know about Browncoats: Redemption.

3) Film yourself saying “I am a Browncoat” and send it to the movie’s Youtube page. Do this and you may be featured on the DVD. Here’s an example!

4) Make a donation, and you’ll not only recieve a t-shirt, but you’ll have your name in the credits. Then you can say “OH HEY THAT’S ME!” in front of hundreds of people at DragonCon, and they will all stare with awe and admiration at how trendy you are.