The two movies, GENE RODDENBERRY’S STARPOINT ACADEMY and GENE RODDENBERRY’S CHAR, are concepts created by Roddenberry prior to his death in 1991. The movies will be executive produced by his widow, Majel Barrett Roddenberry, along with Eric Gardner, chairman of Panacea Entertainment, and Karen Corbin, former senior vice-president of programming and development for Tribune Entertainment.

Howard Jonas, chairman of IDT Media, stated, “This is exciting. Acquiring two stories by Gene Roddenberry is like finding long lost unpublished manuscripts of Shakespeare or Hemingway in an old trunk in the attic. Now a new generation of fans will be able to experience what no generation has before: Gene Roddenberry’s visions on the big screen in 3-D.”

“Gene and I had often discussed the wonderful possibilities available in storytelling for these younger audiences,” said Majel Roddenberry. “These projects will bring alive his positive vision of science, exploration and adventure to a new generation.”

STARPOINT ACADEMY takes places on Starpoint Pharos, an artificial planet that houses emissaries of peace from every galaxy. Against the cosmic United Nations-style backdrop, a group of teenagers are recruited to be part of the Astari Rangers. CHAR is the story of a girl, raised in a normal 24th century Earth environment, who discovers that she is in fact an intergalactic princess who has been robbed of her birthright.

IDT Media will keep Roddenberry fans informed of production concepts and schedules through their website, www.starpointacademy.net, which will be launched in the coming weeks.

For the full press release, visit this page.