Press Release - May 20, 2000
PHILIP K. DICK DOCUMENTARY TO WORLD PREMIERE IN NEW YORK CITY
Promoters from the Sci-Fi Channel, America's premiere source for science-fiction news and entertainment, have invited film-makers Mark Steensland and Andy Massagli to debut their documentary feature, The Gospel According to Philip K. Dick, at the Sci-Fi Film Festival. The event, to be held at multiple venues in New York City, is currently scheduled to run August 3 - 6, 2000. In addition to the debut of Gospel, the program will also include screenings of classic science-fiction films and an installation of sci-fi shorts. "We're terrifically honored to be a part of this landmark event," said the film's director, Mark Steensland, "and we look forward to introducing a whole new generation to Philip K. Dick's incredible and unique body of work."
Philip K. Dick, who died in 1982 following a series of strokes, left behind a legacy of more than fifty novels, five volumes of short stories, reams of correspondence, and an 8,000 page self-examination he called his Exegesis explaining, he hoped, the mystical experiences which form the heart of the Steensland/Massagli film and a great deal of Dick's own later fiction. Surprisingly, given the growing interest in Philip K. Dick, no biographical film about him has been made prior to The Gospel According to Philip K. Dick. "The only program we could find was an hour-long piece made by the BBC a few years back," said co-producer Andy Massagli, "but that was it. So we knew the time was right."
Representatives from the Sci-Fi Channel first contacted the film-makers through philipkdick.com, the web-site where a diary, behind-the-scenes photos and updated news and information related to the documentary have been running since production began in February.
The philipkdick.com web site also contains information on past films based on Philip K. Dick's fiction, such as Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Screamers, as well as on Impostor and the upcoming Tom Cruise/Steven Spielberg production of Minority Report. In addition, the site contains reviews, artwork, literary criticism, original fiction, streaming media programs, biography, and bibliography. Message boards, email lists, and online book ordering make the web site a focus for the community of Philip K. Dick's fans. Founded in November, 1998 by Jason Koornick, philipkdick.com has grown into a true web community, tied together by the contributors and developers passion for science fiction and non-commercial aspects of the web.