LeVar Burton is most familiar to Star Trek fans for his portrayal of Commander Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but the actor is also an accomplished director, most recently having directed several episodes of Enterprise, and now is set to direct a full-length feature film.

Entitled "Blizzard," the film is an independent feature, telling the story of a young girl who strikes up a friendship with one of Santa's reindeer, the titular "Blizzard."

"This movie is about the greatest gift of all — the gift of selfless love," Burton was quoted by The Hollywood Reporter. "It's about the power of friends and how important it is to get back up again when you fall down."

The family film will also be a mixture of CGI and live-action, and the cast will include a number of Star Trek alums.

Voicing the role of Blizzard the reindeer is Burton's fellow TNG castmate, Whoopi Goldberg ("Guinan"). Joining Goldberg in the cast is Christopher Plummer (General Chang in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country") as Santa Claus.

J. Miles Dale and Leif Bristow are producing the film, with executive producers Ralph Winter and Robert Schwartz. Winter was an associate producer on "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock," a producer on the aforementioned "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country," and an executive producer on "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" and "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier."

Shooting is scheduled to begin February 18 in Toronto and Quebec City, and while no domestic distributor has been finalized, the goal is for a holiday 2002 release.

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