By Naiia Lajoie GLASS HALF FIL   Imagine a fascistic republic whose sole goal is to expand its autocracy in order to exert influence. Through a longstanding campaign of propaganda, indoctrination, bribery, and extortion, they rally impressionable recruits in order to execute said directive, utilizing whatever means necessary. Now toss in interstellar bounty hunters, arachnid-like aliens, and Dr. Evil-esque “frickin’ laser beams”. While the former may have sounded like an encapsulation of government in 2020, the latter betrays that it is actually the setting for Escape Velocity, a science fiction–action/adventure half-hour series in the making. The brainchild of the trio who brought you Terrordactyl in 2016, director Don Bitters and producers Christopher Jennings & Eric Edmonds, has been in development for a few years and is set in space. Taking place in a world that has expanded past humanity’s grasp a la The Fifth Element or Serenity, the character dynamic mimics old western chase films like 3:10 to Yuma or True Grit amid a Star Wars or Alien-like realm. As the series’ website expounds, “Escape Velocity is a sci-fi adventure series with each season consisting of 8 half-hour episodes. Set in the distant future, somewhere in the outer reaches of the known universe… Lee (Daniel Mills), a down on his luck interstellar bounty hunter, and his crew risks it all to capture Canis (Naiia Lajoie), the most wanted criminal in the Galaxy, who has an ulterior mission of her own. They’re forced to work together to survive an intergalactic plot greater than a simple bounty.” And yes, you read that correctly – I play Canis Teumessian. Director & Virtual Production Supervisor Don Bitters is a Chicagoan, self-described as “cinema-forged” and the founder of the award-winning Los Angeles-based visual effects, production, and graphics company 3rd Films....... Read more on Full Issue!