reported by Brian Scott, CyberScreenwriter.com

BloodSpell, the "punk fantasy" Web series, spawns its own feature film after more than 100,000 viewers. In 2006, Web animation viewers watched as beautiful swordswomen battled on a pyrotechnic chess board. A gladiator with a steam-powered arm fled an army of wraiths. A sorcerer and an angel fought atop a cliff overlooking a fantasy city.

This was BloodSpell, the animated epic released online last year. Now, the series has spawned an 84-minute feature film.

"BloodSpell was conceived as a feature film" says Hugh Hancock, BloodSpell's Executive Producer and author of 'Machinima for Dummies'. "We talked to conventional filmmakers who told us it would cost GBP3 million to make. I couldn't fund it myself and wasn't likely to get that sort of funding for my first feature film, so I decided to make it another way."

Hancock and his team labored for three years producing BloodSpell as a 15-episode series released every two weeks during 2006, creating the visuals by adapting computer game Neverwinter Nights, supported by the developers.

They worked unpaid, with GBP6,000 budget, supported by consultancy work.

But the result was worth it - coverage on the BBC, The Guardian, and USA Today, and praise from influential media figures.

Matt Hanson, author of "The End of Celluloid", said BloodSpell "ups the ante for the next evolutions in the discipline", whilst UK newspaper The Guardian described it as "A movie that defies most of the rules of traditional film-making." Award-winning author and Fulbright chair Cory Doctorow called BloodSpell "a pioneering and important start for a new industry".

Over 100,000 people worldwide downloaded BloodSpell, the animated series, persuading Hancock to return to his original vision: BloodSpell, the feature film.

"We re-shot the opening scenes of the series to take advantage of our experience." says Hancock "We recorded new voice, re-edited the entire film, crafted a new soundtrack. It was a lot of work!"

More than 3,000 copies of the feature film were downloaded within 24 hours of release on the 21st.

"It's a triumph of guerrilla cinematography, "said Charles Stross, Hugo award-winning writer and futurist. "If Marvel and DC Comics aren't feeling the chill wind down the back of their neck, they're asleep at the switch."

BloodSpell can be downloaded at http://www.bloodspell.com/film/list/