Lost City Raiders

Lost City Raiders is a Sci-fi TV Movie executive produced by Rola Bauer (Golden Globe®-nominated The Company, Hades Factor, Dark Kingdom - The Dragon King), Tim Halkin (Golden Globe®-nominated The Company, Post Impact, Hades Factor) and produced by Tandem Communication. This natural disaster story was directed by Jean de Segonzac, and written by Torsten Dewi (story) and Jean de Segonzac (teleplay). The main characters, the Kubiak brothers, were played by James Brolin, Ian Somerhalder, and Jamie Thomas King.

Synopsis

After a series of cataclysmic natural disasters came 'The Rising'—a rapid melting of the polar ice caps that flooded the continents within three years. Billions died, all major coastal cities were lost, and the rest of mankind fled to the paltry 10 per cent that were left of earth's landmass. With not enough food, not enough space, and not enough hope, the new mega cities are overcrowded cages for the poor and helpless.

Those who managed to save their fortunes from The Rising, or even profited from it, live in secluded communities on the mountain tops, or on artificial islands.

But there is a third group, the last link between a past lost to oceans and an uncertain future: the Lost City Raiders. Equipped with high tech submarines, they roam the high seas, forever looking for relics and treasures that they can salvage from the dark depths.

Work

Lost City Raiders offered a great deal of challenge to our artists, and they delivered beautifully. The series of natural disasters had to look realistic and impressive, and Lumière VFX was responsible for making these shots come to life. We used a combination of live plate enhancement and recreated full CG environments.

Shots ranged from nuclear bombs exploding in high seas, the Statue of Liberty engulfed under a violent sea storm, to holographic projections of planet earth, to Paris completely submerged under water, just to name a few of the spectacular shots realized. This was done by bringing together the work of many talented artists specialized in different departments, such as: compositing, lighting, modeling, texturing, tracking, animation and FX.

Quote

We are delighted that LOST CITY RAIDERS performed so well for us," said Thomas Vitale, Executive Vice President of Programming and Original Movies at SCI FI Channel. "The exciting story and stellar cast made it an exciting addition to our week of green-themed programming. TANDEM delivered a terrific movie that was a perfect fit for our Saturday night audience."

"It was wonderful working with Thomas Vitale and his team," said Tim Halkin, TANDEM COMMUNICATIONS' Managing Director. "SCI FI reaches a very broad audience and was the ideal broadcaster for our movie. We're thrilled that so many viewers came to SCI FI Channel to check out LOST CITY RAIDERS."

Links

• http://www.sfuniverse.com/2008/11/21/sci-fi-channel-presents-lost-city-raiders

Credits

Visual Effects by Lumière VFX, Inc.