Rumors of Gatecon’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. By me it would seem. I’ve been told that Gatecon is far from dead, having split into two different incarnations – Gatecon U.K. and Timeless Destinations (here in Vancouver) – way back when and developing separate entities ever since. So, apparently, with a 2008 con planned for Vancouver, Gatecon is alive and well. Hurray! But Timeless Destinations (now The Timeless Gathering of Etc.) has found the going rough. Boo! The truth is, I’m a little confused but I trust that when I arrive for the event, someone will be on hand to tell me where to stand and in which direction to face. That’s all I ask.
Well, back at it. Today’s prep schedule looked like this:
1400: Concept Meeting for Atl. Ep. #414 “The Kindred Pt. 1”
1530: Art Department Meeting for Atl. Ep. #414 “The Kindred Pt. 1”
1630: Costume Meeting for Atl Ep. #414 “The Kindred Pt. 1”
1715: Props Meeting for Atl. Ep. #414 “The Kindred Pt. 1”
The morning was mercifully free and clear, allowing the writers plenty of time to debrief one another on our respective vacations. We watched the director’s cut of Spoils of War (I’m so glad I ate my breakfast before sitting down to watch that wraith birthing scene), then gave/got notes on The Kindred Pt. 1 (just a few page notes and a suggestion for a Caldwell scene), which took us to lunch. On the menu today: coconut prawn, barbecued steak, veggie daal, coca cola wings, and bumble berry pie (“What’s a bumble berry?“Paul asked. I enlightened him: “Pie crust, bees, and LOTS of sugar.”).
The concept meeting was fabulous – as far as concept meetings go. First A.D. Bill Mizel was at his curmudgeony best, leading us through the narrative masterpiece, occasionally stopping to interject his misgivings about fire gags, background extras, and the confusing misuse of the term “CG wraith” which it turns out does NOT stand for Computer Generated.
The Art Department meeting was rescheduled to tomorrow morning and the Props meeting moved up. As usual, Evil Kenny did the honors promising knives, bantos rods, and plenty of bling.
We took a break so that I could sign off on the new opening credit sequence (everyone else had already given Zoic the thumbs up), and then it was back to the boardroom for the Costume meeting. Val brought in photos of Rachel modeling Teyla’s new off-world outfit. Unfortunately, the lighting downstairs is terrible and made the long coat look like a garish pink and purple crocodile skin. “Geez,”he muttered, “this looks like something David Arquette would wear!” But I’m pleased to say that, by meeting’s end, we’d got it all sorted out.
Preparations for Comic Con are still ongoing. Last I heard, Jewel may be making an appearance as well which is great news. Martin Wood also dropped by my office to tell me Orson Scott Card will be putting in an appearance at the con. Who knows, maybe he’ll be at the Sci Fi/Entertainment Weakly party.
Between all of the first-day-back madness, I did manage to get some mailing done (PG15, your package is on its way) and did find time to unpack the gift awaiting me: one plush pug compliments of Kath from Baltimore. Thanks Kat from Baltimore.
Mailbag –
Patricia writes: “Glad to see you read “The Road”. What did you think of it?”
Answer: It reminded me a lot of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents which I liked a lot.
Zabadoo writes: “1.)Will we ever see Jack O’Neill retire? 2.)Are there any plans to bring Maybourne back into the picture in any of the SG-1 movies? 3.)Are we going to see any crazy awesome x-302/wraith dart fights in the near future? 4.)Do the Asurans have small ships like Wraith darts or X-302’s?”
Answers: 1) Not any time soon. 2) Not at present. 3) That remains to be seen. 4) Possibly.
Keirberos writes: “Are there any projects you’ve worked on over the years and looked back on as being decidedly odd? The kind that might leave SG fans blinking a few times as your name pops up?”
Answer: Paul and I wrote a couple of episodes for a show called The Lost World. I remember reading years ago that producers of the show had planned a third season of the show, a third season which would be comprised of “the best of seasons one and two”. I found that to be a very interesting marketing spin. I didn’t hear anything about a season four, but I suspect it was comprised of “the best of season three and whatever was leftover from season’s one and two”.
Desertrose writes: “I don’t understand how you people, TPTB of Stargate, don’t love all the characters you write for and were created by you equally. Everybody always says Rodney McKay is their favorite (…) know other show creators/producers/writers who love all the characters they’ve created equally, show respect to every one of them (…) Maybe you people could bond with producers of other shows to see how it’s done.”
Answer: Um, someone asked me who MY WIFE’s favorite character was. She said Rodney McKay. But thanks for playing.
Anonymous #1 writes: “Have tried to talk to him about my concerns and why you can’t write like that, but the considered answer I received was summed up as “Everybody else does it”…”
Answer: I think it may be best if he just finds out for himself. It will be a humbling but very valuable experience.
Anonymous #2 writes: “ I had a question about how much leeway, in terms of time, do you give a guest star to be able arrange their schedule in order to be in an episode?”
Answer: We try to be as flexible as possible given the fairly tight production schedule we have to work with. In instances where the actor will simply be unavailable to us, we rewrite the script.
Cel writes: “Are you a big HP fan?”
Answer: I wouldn’t classify myself as a “big fan”. I read the previous books in the series, so I’ll be reading the last when it’s released.
Siba writes: “Who bestows the titles upon the episodes? Who has the last word??
and: Do you watch Sanctuary?”
Answer: The writer comes up with the title for the episode he is writing. Occasionally, if he has a hard time, we all chip in. And – haven’t seen it.
Anonymous #3 writes: “Will this change Rodney’s relationship with Katie?”
Answer: Rodney’s relationship with Kate will evolve in season four.
Uber writes: “I apologize for causing you problems on your blog. I enjoy confronting people who I see as being fairly rude with a reasoned response, seasoned with a little snark…”
Answer: No apology necessary. I try to include a variety of opinions on my blog but all too often it’s a slippery slope. Fans criticize characters causing other fans to criticize the critics causing the critics to criticize a certain fan base causing members of that fan base to criticize members of the other fan base causing members of the other fan base to criticize certain posters causing certain posters to defend themselves and take shots at their critics who take shots back. After a while, it just gets tiresome so I ended up deleting a bunch of posts making up part of that general debate.
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