First World (film)

First World
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Adam Starr
Written by	Mark Lund
Starring	Angelina Spicer Jeffrey Phillips Zebulun Huling Lindy Nettleton Marianne Phinney
Release date	May 25, 2007 (2007-05-25)
Running time	25 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

First World is a 2007 independent science fiction short film written and produced by Mark Lund and directed by Adam Starr. This 25 minute short has bypassed the traditional film festival circuit and has been distributed primarily at science fiction conventions in the United States, Japan, Australia and Great Britain. The short is based on a feature length screenplay of the same name and was primarily produced as a promotional tool to secure production of the long version of the story.

In the early 1960s NASA discovered a vast and advanced civilization on the Moon with their first space probes. While this civilization was able to shield itself from all Earth-based visual detection devices, U.S. President John F. Kennedy's speech from 1961 that declared the intent to "Put a man on the Moon and return him safely to the Earth" was not designed as a space race with the Soviet Union, but to secretly establish contact with this newly discovered civilization. This discovery was classified and false images from the Moon were transmitted during all the Apollo missions. When the Earth mission of this new civilization was discovered, political forces demanded that President Richard Nixon end manned missions to the Moon in 1972. First World commences in the year 2018 when the Chinese government announces it is making its first manned mission to the Moon within 24 hours. What does this civilization represent? Why was it covered up? Who knows about its existence? What is their mission? And what lengths will some go to protect Earth and our way of life?

Mark Lund wrote the original screenplay for First World in early 2006 when he served as a judge on Skating with Celebrities. The short was produced entirely in Massachusetts in the fall of that year with post production finishing in February 2007. Archive footage from President Kennedy and President Ronald Reagan is used in the production.