The Man from Earth: Holocene
The Man from Earth: Holocene is an American science fiction drama film directed by Richard Schenkman and written by Richard Schenkman and Emerson Bixby, based on characters created by Bixby's father, science fiction writer Jerome Bixby. It is a sequel to the film The Man from Earth (2007). David Lee Smith returns as the "John Oldman" character, the protagonist from the original film, although going by a different name.[1] The marketing of the film was notable for leveraging a full spectrum of both conventional and "pirate" channels to maximize visibility and distribution.[2]
The Man from Earth: Holocene | |
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Promotional poster | |
Directed by | Richard Schenkman |
Produced by | Emerson Bixby
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Written by | Emerson Bixby
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Starring | |
Music by | Mark Hinton Stewart |
Cinematography | Bobby K. Richardson |
Release date |
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Country | United States |
Language | English |
Plot
The plot focuses on university professor John Oldman, now calling himself John Young, who is secretly a Cro-Magnon man (or Magdalenian caveman) who has survived for more than 14,000 years. However, despite all those years of immortality, John has found that he has begun to age and he no longer heals as quickly as he used to. Meanwhile, four of his students have begun to suspect the truth about him and contact Art Jenkins, whose career fell apart after publishing a book about John's story.
Cast
- David Lee Smith as John Oldman/John Young
- William Katt as Dr. Art Jenkins
- Vanessa Williams as Carolyn
- Michael Dorn as Dr. Gil Parker
- Sterling Knight as Philip
- Brittany Curran as Tara
- Carlos Knight as Liko
- Akemi Look as Isabel
- John Billingsley as Harry
Production
In 2013, Schenkman expressed the motivations behind the production of the film:
"People have been asking for this since the first movie became a viral phenomenon. Over the years, I've spent time developing this property with the ultimate goal of creating a long-form series. I've had a lot of help from a number of really talented people, and stunning support from fans all over the world. It's been a long road, but now that we're about to start shooting, I could not be more excited."[1]
From 1 to 16 June 2016, principal photography for the film took place.[3] Editing was completed on 21 September 2016.[4] The producers have stated on Facebook that it could be the first in a series.
Release and P2P distribution
On 16 January 2018, the creators themselves uploaded this film to The Pirate Bay for completely legal download.[2]
Other partners have included MovieSaints.com (effective as of 19 January 2018),[5] where fans were able pay to see the film but would receive a full refund if they did not enjoy it.[6]
The film has also been made available on Vimeo, but the version seen by pirates is slightly different, in that it includes an opening greeting from Schenkman in which he asks for donations from people who enjoyed the film.
References
- McNary, Dave (2016-05-27). "Vanessa Williams, Sterling Knight Join 'Man From Earth' Sequel". Variety. Retrieved 2017-03-28.
- Andy (2018-01-16). "The Man from Earth Sequel 'Pirated' on The Pirate Bay – By Its Creators". torrentfreak.com. Archived from the original on 2018-01-16. Retrieved 2018-03-31.
- "Jerome Bixby's The Man From Earth". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
- "Man From Earth". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
- "Man from Earth: Holocene". MovieSaints. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
- "Discover amazing movies from around the world. Get a refund if you don't like a film". MovieSaints. Retrieved 2018-01-31.