It's all over but the crying (as my dad used to say). Despite a valiant effort, and an impressive win in their last week of regular season play, it looks like my Snow Monkeys will come up one game short in their bid to grab that last playoff spot. There were a lot of missed…
December 3, 2016: Introducing…Suji!
Yesterday was the day! Akemi and I went down to Toronto's Union Station to meet the newest member of the family - Suji (aka Sujiko), who comes to us all the way from Portland, Oregon via The Pacific Pug Rescue. Akemi saw little Suji (formerly Suzie) on their website a few weeks back and instantly…
December 2, 2016: Dark Matter Season 3 – Day 11 of 91! Quiz Ian Brock!
Pictured above: Production Designer Ian Brock - mastermind of the Dark Matter art department and everything from The Raza's to Hyperion-8 to the Ishida Research Facility...and so much more. Under Ian's guidance, our art department has been tearing it up (figuratively speaking) in season 3 and, with so much going on, I thought it would be the…
December 1, 2016: Dark Matter Season 3 – Day 10 of 91!
We are wrapped(ish!) on Episode 304 and have started production on Episode 301. By the time New Year's rolls around, we'll have three episodes in the can(ish!). Today, we were shooting in the bridge and the infirmary - while prep continued on Episode 302. AND we got a pizza truck! While I was outside perusing the…
November 30, 2016: Dark Matter Season 3 – Day 9 of 91!
Day 9 of 91! Holy crap! We're practically 10% done on Dark Matter's third season. And I'm not yet 50% done on its scripts. Help me, Obi-Wan. You're my only hope! When I'm not writing scripts (or eating or sleeping), I'm in prep meetings for Episode 302 with director Bruce Mcdonald et al. Today, we enjoyed the…
November 29, 2016: Dark Matter Season 3 – Day 8 of 91!
What does an Executive Producer do? Well, in the case of Jay Firestone, he sells a show, puts together the financing, then helps craft the creative. Director Ron Murphy getting it done in the infirmary. Jesse stands in for the upright stand and monitors. Temperature control in the containment chamber. Inoculation tool of the future.…
November 28, 2016: Dark Matter Season 3 – Day 7 of 91!
Today, we started prep on Episode 302! Director Bruce McDonald is back in the saddle - flanked by desperadoes Chris Binney and Robbie David. Production Designer Ian Brock gives us a guided tour of the new sets-in-progress. Bruce hangs out in the tech room (and possible future cargo hold?). You shall not pass!!! Our "heavenly"…
November 27, 2016: Sunday monkeys, pugs, and ghostly images!
Holy Macaroni! Is this possible? Could this be? The faintest glimmer of hope on my fantasy football horizon? Could my cellar-dwelling Snow Monkeys actually win this week and, alongside Ivon Bartok's Running Dead, be in a position to sneak into the playoffs next week with a win (coupled with a win by the Running Dead,…
November 26, 2016: Scripts! Saturday! A New You (and by You I mean Me)!
What a difference a script makes. I practically wrote Episode 304 over the course of a weekend, blazing through an astounding 32 pages in a single day! Compare this to the script I'm presently writing which has progressed at a somewhat less blistering rate of a page a day. In all fairness though, Episode 304…
November 25, 2016: Dark Matter Season 3 – Day 6 of 91!
One week down, eighteen to go! We are blazing through production on Dark Matter's third season - which is both exhilarating and terrifying considering there are still plenty of scripts still to be written. Thank goodness for weekends, the Christmas holidays and, later this season when we're up against it, the hours between 10 p.m. and 5…
November 24, 2016: Dark Matter Season 3 – Day 5 of 91!
This entry marks ten straight years of uninterrupted daily blogging. I celebrated today by going in to work! The only thing Akemi loves more than baking is baking for the Dark Matter crew. This morning, it was breakfast rum cake with butter rum glaze. First blocking! Our finished "not clock". An moment of reflection before the…
November 23, 2016: Dark Matter Season 3 – Day 4 of 91!
PRODUCTION BEGINS ON DARK MATTER’S THIRD SEASON Following the season 2 finale that saw the crew of The Raza scattered and presumed dead, Dark Matter’s third season opens a compelling new chapter of the spellbinding series. Joining the cast this season are Ayisha Issa (12 Monkeys) as Solara Shockley, Mishka Thébaud (Bitten) as Adrian Maro…
November 22, 2016: Dark Matter Season 3 – Day 3 of 91!
Yes! As many of you pointed out in the comment section, yesterday's post marked the 10 year anniversary of this blog. As I wrote on that very first day back on November 21st of 2007: "Here I sit, watching the battery recharge on my new HD camera (less than an hour to go!), making final…
November 21, 2016: Dark Matter Season 3 – Day 2 of 92!
Today's unwieldy dialogue dump: "One of the anti-matter transducer feeds was compromised by an impairment in one of the particle accelerators." And you'll never guess who delivers the line. In a show's first season, the cast walks on eggshells, eager to please. In a show's second season, they become more relaxed and eager to collaborate.…
November 20, 2016: We’re adopting!
It might probably come as a surprise to many of you, but Akemi and I have been thinking about it for a while now. I'm not getting any younger, we have a lot of love to give and the time just felt right. And so, after much consideration, we submitted an adoption application and held our breath.…