By Karen Moul

At last week’s digital press tour, Syfy executives Dave Howe, Alan Seiffert, and Craig Engler discussed the network’s plans to diversify across multiple entertainment platforms. It’s all part of Syfy Ventures, the network's business development and enterprise unit that focuses on next generation brand extension, including both media and non-media properties.

In a panel with journalists, Howe described the Syfy's plans "to create 24/7 immersive, dynamic storytelling experiences so that we can create transmedia IP characters and stories that can live on any platform, not just the cable linear TV platform." What does that mean to Syfy fans? How about gaming, apparel, and even a new channel for kids?

Syfy’s gaming projects are already well underway, with a close eye on storytelling. “In the gaming space,” said Seiffert, “we've really focused on what possible stories are out there that can really satisfy the needs of our audience but also still offer content in a very unique way. And in a way that is very appropriate for Syfy.”

First up is a two-hour TV movie (and perhaps an eventual series) based on THQ's Red Faction, the popular first-person shooter set on Mars. "Red Faction was a great shoot-'em-up -- it's a really exciting console game,” said Sieffert. “What's unique about it is the movie and hopefully the series will actually live between the last game and the next game. So it becomes part of the overall mythology.”

Down the road, Syfy looks forward to an online browser game based on Battlestar Galactica, which is set to debut in December. Also in the works is a partnership with game developer Trion World to create an online game that would also become a Syfy TV series.

Future plans also call for Syfy to reach out to kids ages 8 to 12 across multiple platforms. "Kids aren't just watching TV," said Seiffert. "They're not just engaging in playing toys. And they're not just online. They're doing all of that. So…we're not going to approach it just as another television show. Absolutely, there will be TV...but there also will be gaming. There will be toys. There will be a pretty massive and exciting online world. The idea is let's bring these stories, let's bring these experiences in a meaningful way across platforms because that's where kids are."

Finally, the executives discussed Syfy's efforts to reach out to female fans through branded apparel, jewelry, and other gear. More information about that is available in the next article.

For more details on Syfy Ventures, read the complete panel transcript below.

Syfy's original series, Eureka, first premiered in the summer of 2006, and by the following year became Syfy's (at the time SCI FI) most watched series. The series focuses on the small town of geniuses called Eureka, where mayhem always ensues. Sheriff Jack Carter (Colin Ferguson) tries to keep the town together with the help of Deputy Jo Lupo (Erica Cerra), Dr. Allison Blake (Salli Richardson-Whitfield), Henry Deacon (Joe Morton), Douglas Fargo (Neil Grayston), and other members of the town. The fourth season centers around the fact that after traveling to 1946, the five characters, along with Dr. Trevor Grant (James Callis), return to find things completely different from when they left it, with Fargo now in charge of Global Dynamics.

Another original series, Warehouse 13, centers on a top-secret storage facility and the Secret Service agents, Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) and Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly), and their friends that run it. Their job is to find artifacts that have supernatural (or sometimes mundane) powers and return them to the warehouse. They are led by their boss Artie Nielsen (Saul Rubinek), the warehouse caretaker, and joined by agent-in-training Claudia Donovan, played by Allison Scagliotti.

This season, Syfy's two most popular shows ran crossover episodes -- the first on Warehouse 13, when Fargo travels to the warehouse to assist with an update of their computer systems. Later, Claudia visits Eureka (where the "purple goo" used in the warehouse is manufactured) when objects from 1946 start appearing in the present.

Both series will be airing special Christmas themed episodes on Tuesday, December 7th. Eureka will air at 9pm ET/PT followed by Warehouse 13 at 10pm ET/PT. Official press releases for both Eureka and Warehouse 13 are available.

Neil Grayston has appeared on television in the past on various series such as Smallville and Supernatural. He had reoccuring roles in the series Edgemont and Wonderfalls, as well as starred in Godiva, for which he was nominated for a Leo Award (Canada). Besides playing the role of Fargo, Grayston also is the voice of S.A.R.A.H, the artificial intelligence that runs the sheriff's household, on Eureka.

Allison Scagliotti began acting at eleven with her role in the pilot America's Most Terrible Things. She has previously appeared in series such as ER, One Tree Hill, and CSI, but is probably best known for her work on Nickelodeon's Drake & Josh. Scagliotti also won an award at the BendFilm Festival for her work in Redemption Maddie (AFI). She will also be starring in the upcoming film Losers Take All, to be released next year.

Grayston and Scagliotti sat down to talk to the digital media about their series and the upcoming holiday episodes during a press tour in Orlando, Florida last Monday.

Syfy's original series Sanctuary returned this Friday, with the start of its all-new 20-episode season. The third season premiere continued where last season left off with the Sanctuary team trying to reach Kali and prevent catastrophe. The series stars Amanda Tapping as Dr. Helen Magnus, Robin Dunne as Dr. Will Zimmerman, Agam Darshi as Kate Freelander, Ryan Robbins as Henry Foss, and Christopher Heyerdahl as John Druitt and "Biggie." This season will also feature an episode arc with guest star Polly Walker (Caprica, Rome).

Sanctuary shoots almost entirely on green screen and has phenominal visual effects which were previously nominated for an Emmy Award in 2008.

Robin Dunne is known for previously appearing on television series such as Dawson's Creek, Dead Like Me, CSI: Miami, and NCIS. He has also been part of movies such as The Skulls II, American Psycho II, and Beyond Sherwood Forest.

Dunne as well as Syfy executives Erika Kennair and Mark Stern sat down with the media on Monday at the Syfy Digital Press Tour in Orlando, Florida to discuss this groundbreaking series.

By Karen Moul

SyFy’s hit series Caprica returns with new episodes this week! An unexpected highlight of season 1 has been Sasha Roiz’s portrayal of Sam Adama, strongman for the Ha’la’tha crime syndicate and uncle to future Battlestar Galactica Admiral William Adama. The first nine episodes left fans wanting more of the happily-married hit man, and we’re told that season 1.5 will reveal more of Sam’s backstory and the events that have made him the most complex gangster in all the Twelve Colonies.

Recently, Sasha Roiz made time to speak with us about the new season.

Eric Roberts began acting at age 5 in a local theater company. He studied drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London at age 17. Two years later he continued his schooling in the American Academy in New York. Roberts started his television career over 35 years ago in soap operas such as Another World. Since then his career flourished and he has appeared in many movies, such as The Dark Knight and The Expendables. He has also appeared in television series, such as the Starz series Crash, Heroes, and The Young and the Restless.

Declan O'Brien has directed multiple films, including Rock Monster, Monster Ark, Cyclops, and the thriller Wrong Turn 3. He served as writer on the first two and also for other movies such as The Snake King. He was also the executive producer for the television series Call of the Wild as well as Alice Upside Down, a movie he also wrote the story for.

Roberts and O'Brien sat down to talk to the digital media about their adventure working on Sharktopus for Syfy.

Eddie McClintock is known for his humor on Syfy's Warehouse 13, but he has been in the business for awhile and was first a wrestler and a production assistant before he became an actor. He has starred in the television series Holding the Baby and Stark Raving Mad. He has worked on various other series, such as House, Desperate Housewives, and Bones, and appeared in films such as The Sweetest Thing and Full Frontal.

Saul Rubinek started his career early as a child actor in theater and radio in Canada. He has a long accomplished resume in acting spanning over forty years. He has worked on television in series such as Frasier, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Stargate SG-1, with even a small role on the popular series Lost. He has appeared in movies such as Unforgiven with Clint Eastwood, True Romance, and The Family Man. Rubinek has also served as director on a few movies, including Jerry and Tom, which he also produced and acted in.

On Warehouse 13 Eddie McClintock plays Pete Lattimer, who once worked for the secret service, who now works at the top-secret warehouse finding and returning strange artifacts. Saul Rubinek plays Artie Nielson, the caretaker of the warehouse, and Pete's boss.

The two sat down with the digital media to discuss Warehouse 13 and its second season finale, airing tonight at 9/8 central on Syfy.

CCH Pounder is probably best known for her role of Claudette Wyms on FX's The Shield, but has appeared in many popular television shows such as The X-Files, ER, and Millennium, and more recently The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Pounder has also been in films such as Face/Off, Orphan, and James Cameron's Avatar. She has also appeared on Broadway in Open Admissions.

Recently Pounder joined the cast of Warehouse 13 where she plays the mysterious Mrs. Frederic.

On September 13th, Pounder sat down with media outlets to talk about her role on the series.

Nadia Dajani was drawn into acting early in life. She attended the High School of Music and Art and the British Theatre Association School. She is known for movie roles such as Flirting with Disaster and Sidwalks of New York. She starred in the television show Ned and Stacy as Amanda Moyer for two seasons, and she has also appeared in other series such as Sex and the City, Ugly Betty, and of course plays the part of Tina on Showtime's The Big C. She also writes, produces, and stars in her own web series Caught Off Base with Nadia.

Dajani sat down in an exclusive interview with Jamie Ruby of Sci Fi Vision and MediaBlvd and to discuss life and her role on The Big C.

Josh Gates is a world traveling explorer. He is also a scuba diver and a photographer. These have taken him to over 75 countries spanning the globe. Gates holds degrees in both archaeology and drama, and has been inducted into The Explorers Club, a global organization for the advancement of exploration and field research.

Gates is currently the lead investigator and producer of Destination Truth, where he gets to put is expertise to the test. The show follows him around the globe as he investigates stories of the unexplained. Destination Truth, now in its fourth season, airs Thursdays at 9/8 central on Syfy.

Gates sat down for an interview on September 2nd with the online media, which both Sci-Fi Vision and Media Blvd. attended.