First World released to DVD. Sales to benefit the SETI Institute and the National Space Society.

April 9, 2009 - PRLog -- Mark Lund, producer and writer of the 25-minute sci-fi short film First World, is pleased to announce that First World has been released to DVD by Seattle, Washington based IndieFlix, a distributor of independent films.

Screened at over 20 science fiction conventions in the United States, Australia, India, Japan, Ireland and the United Kingdom, First World is set in the year 2018 and is a fictional account of what NASA discovered and covered up during the Apollo space program. The secret is now unraveling on the eve of the next space race to the Moon between China and the United States with the world bracing itself for the dramatic outcome.  

"I am delighted that the short film version of First World has been able to reach this distribution achievement through IndieFlix," said Lund. "The DVD packaging was designed by the film's director Adam Starr and is a great visual representation of the film itself."

DVD sales will benefit both the SETI Institute of Mountain View, CA, and the National Space Society (NSS) in Washington, DC, which will each receive $1 from every First World DVD sold through IndieFlix (http://www.indieflix.com/Films/FirstWorld).

"One of my goals when developing First World, was to be able to give back to those institutions that have either inspired my story or are dedicated to space development," said Lund. "The SETI Institute and the National Space Society are two dynamic and pivotal organizations representing our quest for understanding the universe and our desire to expand our presence in it."

Founded in 1984, the SETI Institute's (http://www.seti.org) mission is to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe. The SETI Institute is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to scientific research, education and public outreach. The Institute comprises three centers, the Center for SETI Research, the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe and the Center for Education and Public Outreach.

The Institute employs over 150 scientists, educators and support staff. Dr. Jill Tarter leads the Center for SETI Research as Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI. Dr. Frank Drake is the director of the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe.

Donations received from DVD sales will benefit TeamSETI.

The National Space Society (http://www.nss.org) is an independent, educational, grassroots, non-profit organization dedicated to the creation of a spacefaring civilization. Founded as the National Space Institute (1974) and L5 Society (1975), which merged to form NSS in 1987, NSS is widely acknowledged as the preeminent citizen's voice on space. NSS has over 12 thousand members (and more supporters) and over 50 chapters in the United States and around the world.

The society also publishes Ad Astra magazine, an award-winning periodical chronicling the most important developments in space.

NSS's annual conference brings together NSS leaders and members with leading managers, engineers, scientists, educators and businessmen from civilian, military, commercial, entrepreneurial and grassroots advocacy space sectors (2009 conference May 28-31, Orlando, FL).

"As I continue discussions with producing partners on the production of the feature length version of First World, we are also actively working on developing a web series as a prequel to the First World story," Lund said. "This will give us an opportunity to not only expand the story but to develop a substantive digital following in this exciting medium."

First World's official web site can be found at www.firstworldmovie.com with links to pages on IMDB, MySpace and Facebook. The First World DVD through IndieFlix retails for $5.97.

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First World is a 2007 25 minute short sci-fi film written and produced by Mark Lund, based on the feature length screenplay of the same name also written by Lund. The purpose of the short is to develop interest in producing the feature length version.