Hey, remember that episode of Atlantis where the team encounters a civilization of children living in a village located within some mysterious neutralizing field that renders technology inoperable? Well, switch out “village” for “my office”, substitute “a civilization of children” for “me”, and swap “technology” for “my wireless internet connection” and you have a pretty fair approximation of what I have to put with on a daily basis. I get in every morning, turn on my laptop, and it’s always a crapshoot as to whether or not I’ll be able to get online. Sometimes I’ll be able to check my email, sometimes I won’t. Sometimes I’ll be able to log onto my blog, sometimes I won’t. Sometimes I’ll be able to surf the net for information I‘ll need to finish a script or self-diagnose myself, sometimes I won’t, and sometimes I will but only at a glacier-like pace (So, I guess, in some ways it’s more like that episode of SG-1 where the team traps the human form replicators in a stasis field where time flows like temporal molasses). Interestingly enough, my next door neighbor and writing partner Paul experiences no such problems. It could be because this mysterious Bermuda Triangle-esque no-fly-wifi zone is limited to my office alone. Or it could be because he eschews the wireless option in favor of a direct wired connection. Alas, not an option for me since an expert visited my office several years ago and informed me I had a defective dongle (It’s not something I like to talk about).
Not even the usually reliable tech-savvy Lawren Bancroft-Wilson was able to remedy the problem and, as a result, I find myself wandering the corridors of the production offices every late afternoon in search of a signal. Occasionally, if there are emails to be sent, I’ll simply grab a seat across from our Executive Producer’s assistant, Ashleigh, and appropriate half of her work space, reading aloud my missives as I type them out and boisterously commenting on the hilarious cute animal videos my co-workers send my way (“Hey, that dog is riding a bike!”). In many ways, it’s like that episode of Atlantis where Sheppard is stranded on the planet with that wraith who wants to kill him except that instead of a planet it’s Ashleigh’s office, and instead of a wraith and Sheppard it’s Ashleigh and me, and instead of her wanting to kill me…no, that part stays pretty much the same.
Anyhoo, while I’m wandering about in search of a wireless internet connection, the rest of the production seems to be rolling along…
Will Waring is directing Brian J. Smith (Lt. Scott) and Justin Louis (Col. Young) over on Stage 2 (set codename: Hoth).
Director Andy Mikita is over on Stage 4 taking a wandering camera tour of the Destiny set.
Robert Cooper is working on his producer’s cut of Earth and is awaiting notes on his brilliant script for Time as his prep week approaches.
Brad Wright shifts gears after putting out both Darkness and Light, looking to hammer down the story for episode 13.
My writing partner Paul continues work on Divided. According to him, there’s a lot of story and he fears the script may go long. Which would be par for the course.
Carl Binder will be assuming revision duties on Faith, episode 12.
Oh, and I found the time to do another pass on that Atlantis movie script. I wanted to have another go at the Beckett-Teyla scene but was sidetracked by a new script, an impromptu writer’s meeting, lunch (priorities, yes?), and an all new, all tight producer’s cut of Air I and II. That Destiny is a mighty cool-looking ship.
Finally, a reminder to Producer John G. Lenic, who has been with the franchise since The Children of the Gods pilot, will be taking your questions, so if you want to ask him anything about his 10 years on SG-1, 5 years on Atlantis, 2 SG-1 movies, or his time on Universe, start posting…
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