Time flies when you’re having fun – or when you’re not prepping that script until September, meaning you don’t have to finish your first draft until well after your return from hiatus. On the bright side, I finished the Tease and it’s a pretty damn good one, the kind the network loves: Jeopardy! Jeopardy! Jeopardy! This is going to be one of those episodes (like Malice and Cloverdale) that will be mostly shot on location, meaning there’ll be no ducking back up to the office for a quick break between set-ups. Guess I’ll be bringing my work – and chocolate – with me. Also, bug spray may not be a bad idea. I’m sure the experience will not be unlike that fab week I spent with Will Waring on the set of SGA’s Harmony all the way over at Widgeon Park – except that, in this case, the location under discussion is a much more manageable fifteen minutes or so drive from the studio. Hmmm. I’m thinking that for my next script, I might set the episode in a middle-class suburban home. One with a fairly extensive and somewhat bizarre liquor collection. And four dogs, specifically three pugs and a french bulldog. I could wake up five minutes before the first blocking, throw on a bathrobe (note to self: purchase a bathrobe), come downstairs for first team, head back upstairs for a shower and shave, come back downstairs whenever they’re ready to shoot the scene, then head back upstairs and watch my favorite morning shows (note to self: have favorite morning shows) until they’re reading to move on. Catering could serve lunch right out of my kitchen and, best of all, this time, I can’t get in trouble for walking around in my underwear. It’ll be win-win-win!
In and around the offices…
Terrific review of Masked, that forthcoming superhero anthology I keep talking about, over at io9: http://io9.com/5583647/the-book-that-anybody-who-writes-superhero-stuff-must-read. The collection is edited by none other than blog favorite Lou Anders and features contributions from a wonderful array of writers from the worlds of comic books (ie. Matthew Sturges, Bill Willingham, Gail Simone), novels (ie. Marjorie M. Liu, Ian McDonald, Stephen Baxter), and television (ie. Paul Cornell and even yours truly). Thanks to Morjana and Nadine for the heads up.
Coincidentally, Masked is our September Book of the Month Club pick – so if you’re thinking of picking it up:
The second installment in our Q&A with an already-on-vacation Louis Ferreira. Here, Louis offers up his thoughts on the flawed Colonel Young…
Finish up House of Suns and start organizing your thoughts! The July Book of the Month Club discussion begins on Monday.
Mailbag:
Zoomeister writes: “1.) Have you seen these?
http://forum.gateworld.net/threads/69538-Sgt.-Hunter-Riley-Discussion-Appreciation-(-SGU)
http://forum.gateworld.net/threads/75513-Riley-and-Brody-21-and-24
See? Riley has fans.”
Answer: Oh, we’ll well aware of the fact. It’s nice to see there’s support for not only the main cast, but our wonderfully talented supporting players as well.
Zoomeister writes: “2.) Have you seen this, BTW?
http://io9.com/5565598/how-to-save-stargate-universe-season-2
Pretty interesting. What’s your take on it?”
Answer: Some I agree with; some I don’t; some we’re already working on in season 2. We’re definitely “fleshing out the main characters” (and those “side characters” as well) in the show’s second season and, with that, demonstrating that these people are far from perfect. And, as Brad already alluded to in a recent interview, we will be taking advantage of the gritty realism to go to some pretty dark places in the coming season. There’ll be plenty of “crazy” to go around in SGU’s second year and, yes, many of those questions will be answered or, at the very least, explanations will be hinted at as we use them to build some bigger arcs. We’ll be doing more exploring and more adventuring, both on and off Destiny. I don’t agree that we need to kill off the cook or “this guy” to raise the stakes or convey a sense of loss. Anyone remember Senator Armstrong or Sgt. Spencer or Franklin? More exploration? Check. More monsters? Oh, yeah. Check. More of that back half of season one humor. Also check. Lose the music montages. Nyet. Meredith may not like them, but I love ’em. They offer a nice, succinct way of wrapping up the episode’s various storylines and furthering ongoing character arcs.
Zoomeister also writes: “Will you have an alien join the cast (and no, I don’t mean a Jaffa, Tok’ra or Lucien Alliance member)?”
Answer: Great idea. All we’ll need is an extra 3 million dollars an episode and we can work one of those blue aliens into the show as a recurring crew member, maybe the new cook.
PG15 writes: “I’m glad to hear that Brad is having talks with MGM about Revolution. That’s a good start. I wonder what the impetus for these talks were (unless they’ve been happening since the beginning), and why that’s not happening with Extinction?”
Answer: As I mentioned previously, Brad is co-writing and Exec. Producing Revolution, not Extinction.
E writes: “Can we expect some AU SGU stories to come? I’m dying to see what would have become of the character had they not gotten stranded on the Destiny.”
Answer: Hmmm. Wouldn’t that be interesting…
Juergen writes: ”
1. I believe SG-1 Movie will be produced soon. Hope, Hope, Hope! You guys had a lot of time now. Did you have improved some things from time to time or is the script untouched for long time?
2. Assuming the next stargate movie works fine and MGM wants more stuff. Do you think, it is possible, that we will see an entirely Stand-Alone-Movie with new characters and new stories? A new series is often a risk. But making a movie with a completed story would maybe safe money (new characters) and gives the chance to reinvent the Franchise. I want to see more about Stargate. Why no movie with from the perspective of the Jaffa, Tokra, any other people. A complete detached story. I thought long about it. That’s the kind of way, I would go. Hope, sometime we will see such a movie.
3. Does the SGC still exist or is the Stargate being moved to Homeworld Command?
4. If it has been moved….has this to do with Atlantis staying on Earth?
5. The moon base, which Sam speaks about in Continuum…Are we going to see it in the next movie? Has the Earth Gate beeing moved to the moon?”
Answers: 1. Paul and I haven’t revisited the script since submitting it some time ago.
2. No. When we move ahead with the movies, the first one up will be Revolution, featuring SG-1.
3. More on that in Stargate: Revolution.
4. Not necessarily.
5. Stay tuned.
Daniel writes: “1) Will we learn more about the Lucien Alliance in future episodes? I’m curious to know if it’s only this group led by Kiva that is pursuing Destiny or if it’s an obsession for the whole Alliance?
2) In the Writer’s room have you pinned down what Destiny can and can’t do, in order too stop each Writer adding something new every script to solve a plot point until there is nothing it can’t do.
3) Given the tight running time every episode has too keep too, and the shows aim to treat the audience with more respect was there any talk of dropping the “previously” segments? Or is it something the network simply won’t let you drop?”
Answers: Hey, Daniel, thanks for the insightful comments. And welcome to the blog.
1) We will definitely be learning more about the Lucian Alliance in season two.
2) We are all on the same page with regard to what the ship can and can’t do. In fact, all the writers are present when a story is broken, ensuring a consistency in series logic.
3) Given the somewhat serialized nature of the show, I think it’s a good idea dedicated a little time to catching potential first-time viewers up on what has come before.
Ponytail writes: “Would you ever consider doing a sort of live Q&A with someone on your blog. Lets say one evening you let us ask this person questions (in your comments section) and they answer them right away (in your comments section). You could have rules like, only one question per person per 1/2 hour or something like that, and every 10 minutes or so, you post everything so far. That sounds like fun to me! Can we, can we!”
Answer: It’s possible but unlikely. The whole point of doing the Q&A’s the way I do (gathering the questions, sending them off, then giving the guest how ever much time they need to get back to me) is to ensure the process is a painless as possible for those taking part.
dasNdanger writes: “If you get a lot of good feedback from your story, do you think you might try to tackle a novel?”
Answer: I’ve been kicking around an idea for a novel. It’s just a matter of finding the time to sit down and write it.
SG-UNIVERSE writes: “Can we see a SGU trailer 2.0 in Comic Con 2010 ?”
Answer: You will.
PG15 also writes: “1. Are all the Season 2 episode slots filled at this point?
2. In your opinion, would you say Season 2 is more serialized than season 1, or less serialized?”
Answers: 201: Intervention, 202: Aftermath, 203: Awakening, 204: Pathogen, 205: Cloverdale, 206: Trial and Error, 207: The Greater Good, 208: Malice, 209: Visitation, 210: Resurgence, 211: Deliverance, 212: Twin Destinies, 213: Alliances, 214: Hope, 215: Seizure, 216: The Hunt, 217: (Rob’s script), 218: (Carl’s script), 219: Blockade, 220: Gauntlet. Yep. All we need are a couple of titles.
2. I’d say it’s about the same as season 1 although there will be a much bigger build in some of the individual story arcs, particularly in the front half.
Chevron7 writes: “Do you mind if I borrow your photos for a little project I’m working on?”
Answer: Sure, knock yourself out.
… would look great with my orange flip-flop 😀 8)
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