This morning, Anderson Entertainment announced the launch of Firestorm on the crowd-funding platform Kickstarter. Fans of iconic Gerry Anderson shows like Space: 1999, Stingray, Captain Scarlet, UFO and Thunderbirds are being give then opportunity to back the project to help fund the pilot episode in return for special limited edition rewards from props and collector edition DVDs, to set visits and film credits.

Firestorm is a Gerry Anderson concept that was originally produced and released by a Japanese company as an anime series across Japan and South East Asia in 2003. This new version of the Gerry Anderson concept has been redeveloped from Gerry's original synopsis and story outline documents.

Once funding from the Kickstarter campaign has been successfully raised, a pilot episode will be made with a new filming technique called 'Ultramarionation', the next stage in evolution from the famous 'Supermarionation' technique of Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet, using a combination of puppetry, practical effects, physical props and sets, and model miniatures.

Developing Firestorm ready to be filmed in Ultramarionation has been an absolute joy. Film-making methods like practical effects, the expert use of miniatures and puppetry were pioneered by the incredibly talented teams at AP Films and Century 21 on shows like Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Space: 1999 and Thunderbirds and it will be my pleasure to bring them back to the screen for a 21st century audience.Jamie Anderson, Managing Director of Anderson Entertainment

The campaign is aiming to raise a minimum of £49,000 to produce a 5-8 minute minisode introducing some of the characters and storyline elements of the series. It also features various 'stretch goals', so if more money is raised, it will allow for further development of characters and storyline, introducing further scenes and explosions up to a 22 minute pilot episode if £135,000 is raised and a full 45 minute feature episode if £342,000 is raised.

As Mr Anderson sums it up, "It's my hope that generations of Gerry Anderson fans from all over the world will join us for this project on Kickstarter and help us bring the UK's own Walt Disney's next project - Firestorm - to TV screens in the very near future!"

Jamie Anderson will be talking more about Firestorm at Scifi Wales in 2015, and further information about the project can be seen now at www.gerryanderson.co.uk/firestorm.