Managed to finish up my rewrite of episode #5 in the nick of time this morning, forwarding my draft to Trevor (who, in turn, ensured it was delivered to my writing partner, Paul, on set) and gathering up the necessary documents (drafts and notes) for my next rewrite before joining Director Bruce McDonald and the rest of the gang on another location scout for episode #2, 12 Hours…
From there it was back to the office where I gathered my things, headed back home for a quick dinner, then onto casting – reviewing auditions for over a dozen roles, then coordinating my selects with Bruce. Taking the night off to finish reading volume 1 of Astonishing X-Men, reviewing more artwork and tweaking the solicitation text for my upcoming SF comic book series (Dark Matter), and preparing the numbers for the “next phase”.
Tomorrow, I start the rewrite of Paul’s rewrite of Carl’s rewrite of his own script. As we head into production, it’s no longer a not-so-simple matter of implementing the various notes (four broadcasters + two “producers”) but ensuring the scripts board properly (within the number of budgeted shooting days) and come in a little under pattern (to help off-set the costs of the pilot which, as pilots are wont to do, is going to be OVER pattern). It’s a huge juggling act as we try to do this for the first eight scripts we have and beyond (as we come up with a game plan for the back of the season). Making things easier for us (And by “us”, I’m referring to the show runners, those charged with the task of making sure the scripts are great and every aspect of the episodes meets or exceeds all expectations at every level, on time and on budget, regardless of the challenges we may face, under penalty of ritual seppuku – or the show business equivalent. Namely, Paul, Alexander, and myself) are the smart, dedicated, and incredibly talented individuals who head up and operate in the various departments, from costumes to casting, production design to locations, stunts to post-production, and everything in between. Most of whom you’ll be meeting on this blog over the course of the next few months. A huge thanks to everyone working 24/7 at the production offices and on set! And a special thanks to Sue, Andy, Stephen, and Chris Vane and the rest of the cast and guest stars who have been nothing short of amazing.
As with any production, once you start rolling, it becomes much easier to identify the obstacles and encumbrances that may slow things down or keep the machine from running as efficiently as possible. We’ve already zeroed in on a couple of those hindrances and will soon have them addressed.
And after that, it’ll be smooooooth sailing!
Don’t know how you do it all, Joe. 😉
@Shirt’n’Tie: What a nice read, well done!
hmmm…the bar looks like it has possibilities.
Not so sure I’d be interested in the bathroom facilities either..it looks eeeuuww!
Hope you get some rest.
~still loves sam/jack. still wants confirmation~
[/leaves room]
Hi Joe:
Just thought I’d share this comic with you since you enjoy this sort of thing :http://www.xkcd.com/
Patricia
Belated congratulations to the SGU VFX team on the well-deserved Emmy nomination!
And now for random story time: I was working on a crossword puzzle on the bus home from work today. I’d just written in “wraith” as part of an answer, when the guy sitting next to me says, “Ah, Stargate fan?”
He apparently was a fan of our pale long-haired friends. Das, I thought of you immediately. 🙂
– KB
P.S. and a complete non sequitur: I must say that so far “Carmageddon” has failed to deliver. Here I am, half a mile from the closed 405 freeway, and
there’s no traffic backed up, no cars horns blaring, no drivers screaming at each other. In fact, it’s a hell of a lot quieter than it is on an ordinary Friday night in L.A. There do seem to be a few more helicopters than normal, but for a refreshing change they’re not police helicopters. Just news helicopters trying to find a crisis in the calm.
reading this just made my head spin. I can only imagine what it is like to be there in it all. Just take one day at a time. remember to breathe.
Speaking of sam/jack…@ Shirt’n’tie, ditto what Deni said.
Very nice!! Glad things are coming together for the shooting.
I looke forward to smooth saling myself. Eight days until we leave for the West Coast.
@Shirt n Tie—Nicely done!! My husband and I had a similar experience when we met several SG-1 stars. Turns out Don Davis was from the same area of Missouri as his dad. They had a nice time talking about that.
Joe, have a great day!!!!
Congrats to the SGU VFX team on their Emmy nomination!, Hope they win, great work, LDP is funny.
@Shirt’n’tie, nice story about RDA. liked your powers whiskey one as well.
@maggiemayday, feel better soon,ouch.
Brendan has nice eyes and, I like Bruce’s hat.
Joe remember to get some rest, long haul ahead of you, more healthy bento boxes, yeah.
Have a great Saturday.
Shirt’n’tie: Great article! I really loved reading it.
Mr. M.: have a great and relaxing weekend!
Hi, I had a couple of SGU questions for the mailbag, as I noticed it was open again a few posts back:
– The story arc between ‘Faith’ and ‘Incursion Part 3’, regarding the ‘Eden’ planet and TJ leaving her daughter there was absolutely incredible-one of the most emotional scenes I’ve seen on tv, nevermind Stargate alone. Obviously later we found that Destiny was behind her ‘OOBE’ and those who stayed behind on Eden didn’t really survive. The way it was left before we discovered that was brilliant because you truly didn’t know what to think (I was thinking while watching how amazing the writing was). Were you at all tempted to leave that arc open ended?
– Cancellations. I’m not into all the legal details, but when a show is cancelled, is it not possible to be picked up by another network? I know (ironically) WWE constantly jump around networks. I live in the UK so my knowledge of how it works there is limited, but from what I understand the only reason syfy didnt like SGU’s ratings is because of poor scheduling. Would it not then be easy to point that out pitching to another network, or is there another reason that couldn’t happen (SG IP held by syfy?)? I still find it unconscionable that something as incredible as SGU’s second season wouldn’t be picked up again by syfy, never mind anywhere else.
@Shirt n Tie: i just read your meeting rda (and amanda) blog entry… was lovely!! 🙂
amanda’s my idol, so i know what it’s like to have the person not only meet your heart’s desires, but exceed them!
So here is what happened with me. They gave me a third option: A PICC line insert into my basilic vein and threaded to my heart and 10 days of intravenous antibiotics which I can administer to myself at home. This is the first picture of what my arm looked like:
http://yfrog.com/kfyky3j After day 1 antibiotics. Prior to it, it was dark red the whole area of pen outline, like a sunburn.
http://yfrog.com/kkfyu2j This is the PICC line insertion. Arm is a little swollen (the good arm).
http://yfrog.com/keartwj This is my antibiotic — looks more like a Christmas tree ornament or something you’d see on SGU.
http://yfrog.com/klfrt6j This is my infected arm day 2 after antibiotics. Looking better, but knot at crease of arm the size of a cherry tomato.
The small spot on my right forehand is almost completely resolved, but it was about the size of a dime.
@maggiemayday Hope this finds you out of the hospital. Gotta be careful with those cats, too.
@Deni I hope this finds you feeling better.
@TammyDixon I love Falling Skies.
Thanks for sharing how much work, love, pain and sacrifices people make to create great works of art. I know I’m looking forward to seeing this show a great deal and will appreciate it even more knowing everything that went into creating it.
Hey Joe, glad Transporter and Dark Matter are going well. Can’t wait to check them out!
Are you enjoying Astonishing X-Men? I started volume four last night and it has been really really good. Joss Whedon is a genius.
Good read as usual! The bathroom/cellar is class!