I’m well into the rewrite of Space, episode #11 of Stargate: Universe, and finally got it down to a full 46 pages from a robust 54 (and that’s down from its original 60!). Paring down the dialogue, stripping away some of the superfluous beats, but still maintaining a lot of the character beats that Rob and Co. responded to in the original version (the Boone scene, the James beats, that thing with the sock). Hope to have a nice, tight, revised draft for when everyone comes back in about a week.
Yes, that‘s right. About a week. Things are going to be very quiet at The Bridge for a while as production of the show shifts to New Mexico. Andy Mikita, who‘s already there, sent some great pics of the location gate at White Sands. Hopefully, him and the rest of the gang won’t suffer a repeat of the location scout scenario that saw their truck give out on them in the middle of nowhere, causing them to weigh the option of hiking the twelve miles back to civilization before eventually being rescued (Thank you, OnStar!). And, hopefully, I’ll be able to share those location gate pics with you in time – but, in the meantime, here’s a behind-the-scenes snap from the two-hour premiere, Air I and II – actors David Blue and Chris McDonald on the Icarus set, Stage 5.
- Actors David Blue and Christopher McDonald on the Icarus set (Stargate: Universe) – photo compliments of Lawren Bancroft-Wilson
Although the Atlantis script is back in Paul’s hand, I went over my last draft today in search of opportunities for some downtime character moments. I found a couple and, over the next couple of days, I’ll have to decide which character relationships I’m going to explore and how. I’d prefer to go with something less obvious…maybe a Sora/Jinto scene:
Sora: Thank the gods, I thought they had forgotten about me! I’ve been trapped down here for three years!
Jinto: That’s nothing. I got lost playing hide and seek four years ago and nobody even noticed I was gone.
Hey, you guys are truly inspirational. Paul and I have a pilot script we’ve been dying to go out with but haven’t on account of our continuing commitment to the Stargate franchise. Well, the other day, Shawna Buchanan (I believe it was you, Shawna) posted a comment asking whether I might be interested in writing for comics. I replied that, yes, I had an original series kicking around – that I kicked around even more after that day’s mailbag. I got in touch with my agent and floated the idea by him. His response was: “Are you psychic?” I admitted I was slightly psychic and somewhat synesthesiac (Matrix II and III taste like terrible!). He informed me that he had just had a conversation with a major comic book publisher interested in potential film and t.v. properties. Did I have a pitch prepared? Did I! I pitched out the broad strokes of the story and he seemed very excited, suggested we set up a conference call. So, sometime next week, I’ll be pitching them the idea and, if all goes well, Paul and I may be on our way to working on our very own comic book series. Unfortunately, neither Paul nor I can draw so we’d need to track down an artist. Hey, I wonder what former Stargate: Atlantis Production Designer James Robbins is doing? Oh, right. He’s working as the Production Designer for Stargate: Universe, coming up with stuff like this –
So, looking ahead to next week, I have the comic book pitch, those Atlantis scenes to write, the revised draft of Space to go over and, oh yeah, that short story to finish up. I’ve only been working on it for seven months now and it’s almost done. Also genre-specific, but not the genre you’re thinking of. I’ve got the next seven days to go over it, send it Kellie’s way, get some feedback, another couple of weeks to do the rewrite, and then it’s in my editors hands. And, if he likes it, I plan to join him and the rest of the writers of the anthology for a San Diego Comic Con appearance – in 2010.
Of course, I’d love to make an appearance at this year’s Comic Con, partly so I can say hi to all of you in person, and partly to track down those two Bowen supervillain statues (Juggernaut and The Scorpion) I missed out on when they first came out. They’ll grace my office shelves alongside the likes of Darkseid, Magneto, Apocalypse, Doctor Doom, and, perhaps, this lovely piece of artwork actor Michael Shanks seems very attached to –
Mailbag returns tomorrow with, hopefully, that long overdue visit to the Icarus set.
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