F O R I M M E D I A T E R E L E A S E
Philip K. Dick�s Gospel
SACRAMENTO, CA, February 20, 2000 � In 1974, Philip K. Dick met God. Or
did he? Independent film-makers Mark Steensland and Andy Massagli are
asking that question in their documentary, The Gospel According to
Philip K. Dick.
Perhaps best known as the author whose novel Do Androids Dream of
Electric Sheep? served as the source for the movie Blade Runner, Philip
K. Dick, who died in 1982 following a series of strokes, left behind a
legacy of more than 250 short stories and novels, reams of
correspondence and an 8,000 page self-examination he called The Exegesis
in which he attempted to explain the mystical experiences which form the
heart of Steensland and Massagli�s film. "The last thing we wanted to
do," says Steensland, whose directorial debut, The Last Way Out, is due
for release in May, "was to make the kind of boring biographical
documentary which started with Dick�s birth in 1928 and ended with his
death in 1982. What�s unique about this guy is these experiences he
had. So we�re talking to people who knew him before, during and after
all that stuff to see what we can find out."
When pre-production started in November, 1999, the first thing the
film-makers did was research whether anyone else had made such a film.
Unbelievably, the answer was no. Sort of. "The only program we could
find was an hour-long piece made for the BBC a few years back," says
Massagli, "but that was it. We knew the time was right."
Currently shooting throughout the Bay Area and Southern California, a
daily production diary including behind-the-scenes photos can be found
at www.philipkdick.com. Steensland and Massagli hope to finish the
project by April in order to capitalize on the publicity surrounding two
high-profile films based on Philip K. Dick stories: Impostor, starring
Gary Sinise, due for release August 4 from Dimension, and Minority
Report, starring Tom Cruise and directed by Steven Spielberg. "Everyone
knows Blade Runner and Total Recall," says Steensland, "we�re hoping to
open a lot of eyes to the mind behind it all."
For more information, contact Unit Publicist Kristine Arnold at
916.930.9235 or tkopro@cwia.com