The big monitor in the mess hall is adorned with a continuous cycle of images, little reminders of home world Earth: desert vistas, forests, schools of fish. And then there was this. Pictured above from left to right: ONE (Marc Bendavid), the Android (Zoie Palmer), and TWO (Melissa O'Neil). Shooting in the marauder today -…
April 29, 2015: Episode #110 rocks! Smoked meat and scotch! And, a mailbag!
Hoooleeeeeey! Just finished watching the director's cut of episode #110 and I'm still reeling. It is FANTASTIC! A huge congratulations to our stunt coordinator, John Stead, who hit this one out of the park in his first major directing gig. As I said in the email I just sent him: "Super tight, dynamic, suspenseful and,…
April 28, 2015: Time flies! We all like Vanessa! And gelato!
Time flies when you're having fun. Today marked our very last read-thru of Dark Matter's first season. Pictured above: the cast (with the exception of Zoie Palmer who was excused because she had a note from her mom), EP Vanessa Piazza, Director Andy Mikita, Line Producer Norman Denver, Consulting Producer Ivon Bartok, VFX Supervisor Lawren Bancroft-Wilson, and…
April 27, 2015: Three weeks to go before wrap on Dark Matter’s first season!
Check it out! I'm Cobra Commander! I was strolling by the costume department this afternoon when I was waylaid for a fitting. They're working on my outfit for the wrap party and wanted to make sure they had my measurements correct. I'm going to be the belle of the ball! Our final tech survey today…
April 26, 2015: Our atypical Android! More Dark Matter behind-the-scenes goodies! Mailbag!
Actor Anthony Lemke (Dark Matter's Three), forwarded me a terrific podcast about gendered robots and stereotypes. The participants point out that female androids tend to be sexualized entities while their male counterparts are usually powerful forces. http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-april-24-2015-1.3047057/ex-machina-s-portrayal-of-gendered-robot-perpetuates-stereotypes-1.3047064 It's an interesting listen and it made me think of our ship's android, played by the awesome Zoie Palmer,…
April 25, 2015: Toronto’s Most Overrated Restaurants! And a few that live up to the hype!
Let me save you the trouble... 6. Montecito Not bad, but not particularly good either. 5. Wahlburgers Three different visits yielded three thoroughly underwhelming, overpriced burgers. 4. Momofuku Uninspired Asian inspired fare. Why would you serve fried chicken with caviar? And "because you can" isn't a good answer. 3. Ruby Watchco With the exception of…
April 24, 2015: Aches! Pains! Production! And excruciatingly late lunches!
I think I may have pulled my heart muscle. Seriously. I suspect I may have done it during a recent frenzied coughing fit. During the day, I feel fine but at night, it feels as though I did two hundred left handed one-arm push-ups before bed. Also feel a wicked headache coming on, the type…
April 23, 2015: Less than a month to go!
Sympathy pains! Not a day after I was feeling after my habanero-caffeine upset, my girl Jelly is feeling under the weather. Apparently, she's been alternately sleepy since she woke up - which is me on a normal day. Hey, look at what the Dark Matter art department got! A 3D printer, perfect for making scale models…
April 22, 2015: From vampire to zombie on less than two hours!
If yesterday's late night insomnia gave me the taste of the vampire life, today's sleep-deprived shambling no doubt approximated the daily travails of your average zombie. It started promisingly enough with dinner at Wilbur's Mexicana where I was joined by my long-time nemesis and occasional writing partner, Tara Yelland. The Wilbur in Wilbur's Mexciana is…
April 21, 2015: I’m so busy, I don’t have time to title this blog entry!
I had the afterburners on today, casting, getting a new scene out, prepping episodes #112 and #1113, discussing the upcoming VFX show and tell, organizing the concept sketches for the visual roll-out, providing notes on the preliminary ship sounds. A dinner break with my friend Tara Yelland (Follow her here - https://twitter.com/t_yelland - but be warned:…
April 20, 2015: On tidbits, teasers, and a mailbag!
Duck for cover! We've got a whirlwind four weeks of production left on Dark Matter's first season. After tonight, it's 10 episodes down; 3 to go! The finish line is in sight! And, once all is said and done (well, in reality, with edits and mixes and ideas for season 2 percolating, it's never REALLY done),…
April 19, 2015: Akemi’s birthday weekend! The pictorial play by play!
This weekend, we celebrated Akemi's birthday in the traditional way with a couples massage, sushi, and the annual purchasing of the sunglasses to replace the lost sunglasses I purchased the previous year. Back at it tomorrow as production continues on Dark Matter's first season. Our final day of episode #110 with our stunt coordinator John Stead at…
April 18, 2015: Name our fandom!
Star Trek has its trekkies, Firefly the browncoats, and the various Stargates their gaters (not gateheads as wiki would have you believe). So, I figure that now, less than two months out from our world premiere, is as good a time as any to come up with a name for our Dark Matter fandom. First, the show... "The crew of a…
April 17, 2015: Behind the scenes on your new favorite show – Dark Matter! And a Jelly update!
Because you asked, extra nicely, here's a picture of Dark Matter's Commander Truffault of the Mikkei Combine (Torri Higginson) standing alongside ONE (Marc Bendavid). Wait. Is that the mess hall? What is she doing onboard the ship? Consulting Producer Ivon Bartok was looking a little piqued so we placed him in quarantine. Nighty night to our brave little…
April 16, 2015: Scenes from the set of Dark Matter!
Another day, another off-ship location. This one a little harder to get into than your average space station. What's in the big weird box? On Set Key Props Lisa Amaral Wright shows off another mystery box - with some inspired gak. Anthony Lemke (Dark Matter's THREE) rolls in from his second job as a refrigerator repairman.…