Peek into the Future with Fresh FUTURESTATES Predictions

Forecast future events and explore the predictions left by others on the FUTURESTATES Predict-O-Meter.

Find your shades … it’s getting bright around here!

The producers of FUTURESTATES have launched brand new predictions … think of these as “forward stories” (as opposed to “back”). Just fire up the Predict-O-Meter and take a walk down Premonition Lane to see what’s ahead.

And that’s not all…Check back on the FUTURESTATES site  in the weeks to come to cast your vote in our Predict-O-Meter poll, where you get to vote on which prediction is most likely to come true and find out how you can join a live online event with the winning filmmaker.

Don’t get left in the past! Follow FUTURESTATES on Twitter and Facebook.  Watch the trailer after the jump >>
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Tags: future, FUTURESTATES, online, PBS, predict-o-meter, predictions, science fiction, shorts, SXSW, twilight zone

FUTURESTATES Premieres Second Season at SXSW

Original online series explores America — 20, 30, 50 years from today

If you were given a glimpse into the future, would it change the way you live today? Now in its second season, the FUTURESTATES series offers a collection of 10 fictional shorts that explore possible future scenarios through the lens of today’s global realities.

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Tags: future, FUTURESTATES, sci fi, science fiction, SXSW

FUTURESTATES to Premiere Second Season at SXSW

SERIES EXPLORES AMERICA — 20, 30, 50 YEARS FROM TODAY

If you were given a glimpse into the future, would it change the way you live today? Now in its second season, the FUTURESTATES series offers a collection of 10 fictional shorts that explore possible future scenarios through the lens of today’s global realities.

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Tags: america, future, FUTURESTATES, sci fi, science fiction, twilight zone

ITVS screens FUTURESTATES in San Francisco

FUTURESTATES, ITVS’s new online fictional series, explores many of today’s complex social issues by imagining how they play out in the world of tomorrow. ITVS and media partner Next American City Magazine recently hosted a special invite-only, sneak-preview screening and panel discussion for FUTURESTATES at the Jellyfish Gallery in San Francisco. Panelist Tanu Sankalia, Assistant Professor of Art and Architecture at the University of San Francisco gives a recap of the event and his thoughts on the series.

FUTURESTATES panelists Piero Scaruffi and Tanu Sankalia. Photo: Sarah Kramer

ITVS and Next American City co-hosted a screening of two films from the FUTURESTATES series that explored the socio-economic and spatial future of the human condition within what can be called a hyper-privatized political order.

Silver Sling, by Tze Chun, poignantly narrates the plight of transnational migrant workers trapped within a future of corporate economic hegemony, where the human body is reduced to an object of exchange value, and interpersonal contact is exiled to hand-held video phones.

Tent City, by Aldo Velasco, reflects on the American dream gone awry where economic crisis seen through the phenomenon of foreclosure eviscerates the lives of suburban American families. The end of the film brings home the real plight of millions in the developing world consigned to the tragic reality of refugee camps, forewarning of the possibility of a deeply dark and dystopic future gripping our very own lives.

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Tags: future, FUTURESTATES, San Francisco, science fiction

In the News: The Latest on ITVS Programs

Principal Edward Tom of the Bronx Center for Science & Mathematics discusses his decision to leave a lucrative job at Saks Fifth Avenue to become a teacher and make a difference in the lives of disadvantaged students in Whatever It Takes on Independent Lens.
Watch now >>

“…[The FUTURESTATES episode Plastic Bag] from Ramin Bahrani (Chop Shop, Goodbye Solo) featuring the mad/brilliant German director as the voice of a fluttering bag is just too good to miss.”
Read full review >>

“[FUTURESTATE's Plastic Bag] is a really endearing film. I was not expecting to care about a tattered piece of plastic with handles, but by the end of it, I did.”
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“As she explored the family’s secrets, [filmmaker Monika Navarro of Lost Souls (Animas Perdidas)], edited them into a film that reflects the frailties of every American family.”
Read full review >>

Tags: education, future, immigration, National Geographic, Ramin Bahrani

At AFI Digifest with Programming Manager Karim Ahmad

Matthew Meschery, director of Digital Initiatives, and Karim Ahmad, programming manager, present the new FUTURESTATES iPhone application.

Last week, on the heels of the announcement about FUTURESTATES, a new online fictional series by ITVS, I had the pleasure of previewing the series and one of its key distribution and promotional tools at this year’s AFI Digifest. This was part of AFI’s Digital Content Lab, an incubation program where content makers and technical innovators collaborate to create new media projects. For ITVS, it was our first-ever iPhone application.

This is the third year ITVS has collaborated, and this time, we really sought to break new ground. FUTURESTATES is about the future––each episode presents a different filmmaker’s vision of the not-too-distant future, allowing them to use speculative and science fiction to comment on current events. We were determined to match this content with technical innovation in our distribution approach. That’s how we got the idea of the FUTURESTATES iPhone application.

To go from the basic concept to the presentation of the prototype took us less than two months, due solely to the talent and resourcefulness of the team AFI put together for us. We worked with iPhone app developers Omnilogic Systems, based out of Saskatoon Saskatchewan (that’s right, Saskatoon) and new media guru Garnet Hertz. We started with the basics––full episodes from the series as well as behind the scenes photos and videos streaming to your iPhone––because after all, the future is content accessible anywhere on-demand.

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Tags: AFI, fiction, future, iPhone