Upcoming: The Space Police

I got an exclusive chance to sit down recently with J McClain and talk about his upcoming project for EVE_NT, 'Space Police'. Space Police is a mockumentary, following the adventures of the titular force as they try to keep order in New Eden. Though no set date has been given for a premiere, McClain gave some insight into what we can expect.

“I had just come back from FanFest and I was memeing into the reality the whole being the Official Director of the Space Police while I was on the o7 show,” McClain told me. “So, I got to talking to some people about doing, maybe, just a funny video for the Director of Space Police thing; and then, then it kind of snowballed from there and turned into a whole web series that’s expanding and hopefully going to include a lot more people from the community who do streaming and video type media.”

The hope seems to be being realised, with a truly stellar cast coming together and an overall team of more than a dozen; a number that has more than doubled since I interviewed McClain. “It’s still picking up speed” appears to have been an accurate appraisal. With so many people on board, the help of EVE_NT on the production side of things, and even the help of CCP themselves in pulling assets together, Space Police seems to be an exciting prospect.

Things are still in the early days, and with so much still to be put in place it is no surprise that McClain was as yet unable to pin down things like series and episode length- but we can expect a fairly short first series as the team behind it test the waters, with talk of low double digits for episode count, and episode times a little less. “As we get more people who have more experience, and as I get more experience myself, the videos might be able to run a bit longer,” McClain said on the potential of the series beyond its first run.

In front of the camera, we’ve got some familiar faces joining the project, and will be seeing them within their spaceships. McClain’s vision will be putting the stars right into the action with a fusion of techniques and sources from cinematic shots of in game action, to live action footage of the cast. Space Police is an ambitious web series; but with the talented team behind it, McClain is hopeful.

The ranks of the eponymous force will be full of familiar names to the EVE community, headed of course by McClain himself, reprising his character as the overconfident Official Director. Manic Velocity will be proving his acting chops as the straight man of the piece, while Lysus will be the team’s flying ace. Away from the front lines, Dirk MacGirk is joining the team as an angry desk sergeant, while JEFFRAIDER provides the voice of the ship’s AI. Rounding out the main cast, Reload will be joining as a rookie officer. Rahne has also been confirmed for an unknown but recurring role.

Behind the scenes, as he seems to be in so many things, Elise Randolph joins the diverse writing team, while Raiden Harmann and Ned Thomas join as filming coordinator and sound expert respectively. Of course, no police force is complete without its livery- and as they set out towards the lawless expanses of low and null, the Space Police will be adorned with everybody's favourite Gallente ship skins.

If any of this sounds like something you’d like to get involved in, then you can! The team is still growing, and if you have any ideas, skills or talents you want to contribute, get in touch with J McClain in-game or on Twitter. With more developments on the way, keep watching EVE_NT for future looks behind the scenes and news on what’s to come as we eagerly await what Space Police has in store.