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Ancanar.com is updated with new information - Lord of the Rings news - J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings

June 24, 2000 at 03:06:19

Elemental Films® has no plans to produce any of Sam Balcomb's, Raiya Corsiglia's, or Sam Nazarian’s projects. Elemental Films® is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved. Any infringements of this federally protected trademark will be pursued to the full extent of the law. Monetary damages will be assessed for any and all trademark infringements.

Elemental Films has announced a significant content update on the Web site for the upcoming "Ancanar" film.

Curious fans can now read a biography for Sam R. Balcomb, the director who has burst onto the scene of online Tolkien fandom with the upstart independent film "Ancanar". Raiya Corsiglia, the producer, has a brief introduction with the promise that a fuller biography will be available soon. If "Ancanar" proves to be the success that they hope it will, Balcomb and Corsiglia may soon become the darlings of the Tolkien Internet until something with a bigger budget shoves them aside.

Some of the questions with which Tolkien fans have pummelled the company have also been answered, sort of. Will the Elves have pointed ears, many fans asked after viewing the downloadable trailer, in which an actor was shown being fitted with prosthetic ears.

The story of "Ancanar" is basically fan fiction, set in Tolkien's world, but for the purposes of making the movie (i.e., to avoid legal complications) the names have been changed to allow the production to go forward. But the storyline is also now slyly independent of Tolkien's world. Elemental Films is forbidden to make an official Tolkien movie so they have the freedom to enrich their world with new ideas, new traditions.

Will there be sufficient appeal to Tolkien fans to keep their interest? The first acid test was the download of the Internet trailer. Various Tolkien-related Web sites have carried news about the production. The next acid test will be when a special 5-minute trailer is shown at Dragoncon in Atlanta, GA.

Dragoncon is North America's largest independent science fiction convention. More than 38,000 memberships were sold for the 1999 Dragoncon and approximantely 300 representatives of the media are expected to attend this year's convention. Elemental Films will also arrange a telephone interview with Sam Balcomb immediately after the preview is shown at the convention. The audience will be invited to ask questions through an intermediary.

Filming is scheduled to begin in the Fall and will last 3 to 4 weeks. Elemental Films has promised fans that if their distribution doesn't bring the movie to theaters near them they'll be able to purchase the movie on video. The "Ancanar" Web site will be updated periodically with news and information about the movie production and Elemental Films is implementing interactive features to help keep fans interested in the project.