Vancouver post shop Rainmaker is redeveloping the ’90s animated series ReBoot as a trilogy of feature-length films, with the help of the social networking site Zeros 2 Heroes.

Paul Gertz, EVP of Rainmaker Animation, says the time is right to bring back the sci-fi series, which became the first full-length animated CGI show on television in 1994, airing on ABC, YTV and The Cartoon Network. The original ReBoot series was produced by Mainframe Entertainment, which Rainmaker bought in 2006.

‘It’s been out of the mainstream long enough now where I think it has a bit of nostalgia value, but it hasn’t been gone so long that people don’t remember the property… so it’s actually the ideal time to bring it back,’ Gertz tells Playback Daily. ReBoot follows the adventures inside a computer of Bob, Dot Matrix and Enzo, who work to protect their computerized city from viruses.

Rainmaker is collaborating with Vancouver media company Zeros 2 Heroes — a social community of comic book, film and genre fans — which will post pitches on its site developed by five undiscovered writers. Beginning Wednesday, fans visiting the site at zeros2heroes.com will be able to work with Rainmaker production teams to refine storylines, and later this month vote for the winning pitch.

‘The whole idea is to put it out to the fans and let them tell us whether we should take the property in a whole other direction in terms of storyline, or whether they want to see where the cliffhanger left off,’ Gertz explains.

Rainmaker has not determined whether the films will be produced for theatrical or direct-to-DVD release. Other details such as budget, production start date, and casting also remain to be worked out.

‘It depends on the level of interest,’ Gertz says, noting that they’re looking at new distribution platforms for the launch of ReBoot, including satellite, cable, web, and select theatrical releases. ‘We’re aiming to have something out next year,’ he adds.