Shaal Mayan
Regular
Who could not like to dream it is simply the best.
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To Dream in the City of Sorrows...
- Thread starter Maagic
- Start date
kin_of_zathras
Regular
From the LG:
One thing I can mention now, since it's nearly finished: see, I have this real problem with nepotism. Specifically...I hate it. As a result, I make people I know work twice as hard. The closer the tie, the more the person has to work to prove him or herself.
Kathryn Drennan, my Spousal Overunit, is also a writer, and has written for many other shows, primarily in animation, but with some forays into other areas. (She was co-author on the Night Gallery series of articles I wrote for Twilight Zone Magazine, as one fr'instance, and was a producer with public televison for some time.)
Anyway, she desperately wanted to write a B5 script. But because of my feelings about nepotism, I refused to give her an assignment. (I can be a REAL pain in the ass.) Something similar happened when I was working on The Real Ghostbusters; she loved the show, and wanted to write for it. I put her through the wringer: she had to submit written premises, just like any other freelance writer, which were then sent on to the producers for final approval. They did not know of any relation between her and me; they based their approval only on the merits of the story. Period. And she ended up writing two episodes: "Egon's Dragon" and "The Man Who Never Reached Home." (The former is considered a favorite by many viewers of the show.) Only long after we finished production did the exec producers on TRGBs learn that there was a relationship there; it was all based on the quality of the work.
But in the case of B5, I *am* the exec producer, so it became more difficult. At first I said simply no. Finally, I set into place a number of conditions/provisions. NOT because she wouldn't do a great script, but only because I don't like the look of nepotism; I hate it, and I hate the way this town operates on the principles of nepotism. The conditions were that she had to write the script completely on spec, no assignment; not a spec outline, which is shorter, but a spec *script*. It would then have to pass muster in-house; if even one person thought it wasn't up to snuff, it got deep sixed. And revisions would not be handled by me, for the most part; she would have to work with Larry, who has a reputation (as Katherine Lawrence can attest) to not pulling his punches. No favoritism. Then the script would have to pass muster with Warners. IF, after all that, the script was approved, then it would be bought, and not a moment before. If anywhere along the line it didn't meet one of those criteria...then it would be a 50 page learning experience and nothing more.
Well, I'm pleased to say that it *did* pass muster with everyone, and "By Any Means Necessary" is now over halfway through production, with a number of people -- including Michael O'Hare -- saying it's their favorite so far, mainly for very odd reasons. The premise is one that ST would never, EVER do, which is one thing I like about it; it also shows us more on the inner workings of B5, the blue-collar types who keep the whole place operational...and what happens when that falls apart. The B story gets into a confrontation between G'Kar and Londo when Londo interferes in an important Narn religious observation.
Now compare this to Piller who let his son write for Voyager
One thing I can mention now, since it's nearly finished: see, I have this real problem with nepotism. Specifically...I hate it. As a result, I make people I know work twice as hard. The closer the tie, the more the person has to work to prove him or herself.
Kathryn Drennan, my Spousal Overunit, is also a writer, and has written for many other shows, primarily in animation, but with some forays into other areas. (She was co-author on the Night Gallery series of articles I wrote for Twilight Zone Magazine, as one fr'instance, and was a producer with public televison for some time.)
Anyway, she desperately wanted to write a B5 script. But because of my feelings about nepotism, I refused to give her an assignment. (I can be a REAL pain in the ass.) Something similar happened when I was working on The Real Ghostbusters; she loved the show, and wanted to write for it. I put her through the wringer: she had to submit written premises, just like any other freelance writer, which were then sent on to the producers for final approval. They did not know of any relation between her and me; they based their approval only on the merits of the story. Period. And she ended up writing two episodes: "Egon's Dragon" and "The Man Who Never Reached Home." (The former is considered a favorite by many viewers of the show.) Only long after we finished production did the exec producers on TRGBs learn that there was a relationship there; it was all based on the quality of the work.
But in the case of B5, I *am* the exec producer, so it became more difficult. At first I said simply no. Finally, I set into place a number of conditions/provisions. NOT because she wouldn't do a great script, but only because I don't like the look of nepotism; I hate it, and I hate the way this town operates on the principles of nepotism. The conditions were that she had to write the script completely on spec, no assignment; not a spec outline, which is shorter, but a spec *script*. It would then have to pass muster in-house; if even one person thought it wasn't up to snuff, it got deep sixed. And revisions would not be handled by me, for the most part; she would have to work with Larry, who has a reputation (as Katherine Lawrence can attest) to not pulling his punches. No favoritism. Then the script would have to pass muster with Warners. IF, after all that, the script was approved, then it would be bought, and not a moment before. If anywhere along the line it didn't meet one of those criteria...then it would be a 50 page learning experience and nothing more.
Well, I'm pleased to say that it *did* pass muster with everyone, and "By Any Means Necessary" is now over halfway through production, with a number of people -- including Michael O'Hare -- saying it's their favorite so far, mainly for very odd reasons. The premise is one that ST would never, EVER do, which is one thing I like about it; it also shows us more on the inner workings of B5, the blue-collar types who keep the whole place operational...and what happens when that falls apart. The B story gets into a confrontation between G'Kar and Londo when Londo interferes in an important Narn religious observation.
Now compare this to Piller who let his son write for Voyager
hypatia
Regular
I am glad he actually thought about what it would look like. Well, perhaps I was wrong.
I still think the "B5 universe" was made very pale by these fill-in and follow-up books. And then I hear young adults complaining when they are forced to read a book for school that is not based on a television show or a comic book.
There is just so much more out there. And, IMHO, better literature out there. Some of it isn't even science fiction.
I still think the "B5 universe" was made very pale by these fill-in and follow-up books. And then I hear young adults complaining when they are forced to read a book for school that is not based on a television show or a comic book.
There is just so much more out there. And, IMHO, better literature out there. Some of it isn't even science fiction.
KoshFan
Regular
Tragically yes. Seventy pages have gone by and I
a) wasn't sure exactly when it was taking place
b) hadn't met any of the characters I knew (having never seen Crusade I'm not counting Galen, and Elric was only in the one episode)
c) Morden had shown up, but he didn't seem to be doing anything
d) I couldn't fit the world they were living on into the B5 universe (what tech level were they at? Where were they? Why, if the technomages were so cool, did they appear only once in the episodes?)
e) Kosh made a nice appearance at the beginning and then disappeared entirely.
And I needed to get on to other things, as I recall. So I stopped reading. A bit of a shame, I suppose, and perhaps I should have given it a shot, but it just wasn't making sense.
KoshN
Super Moderator
70 pages? They were still on Soom. The convocation wasn't even over yet.
Yet.
Didn't you wonder why Morden was there?
That's spelled out/described in the book. It's a fairly low tech, world.
Kosh makes several appearances.
You need to stick with it. Taking notes is a good idea (so you can keep the relationships straight). e.g. Who's in "The Circle" (the ruling body), and whose apprentices are whose, stuff like that. Just stick with it, take some notes and use your imagination. I envisioned Elizar as looking like Ian Nottingham from Witchblade.
Can't you get Crusade to watch?
I had no trouble at all following the Technomage Trilogy (or any of the trilogy books except for the first Psi Corps book). Jeanne's descriptions and seeing all of B5 and Crusade made it easy for me to envision the Technomage novels as a movie playing in my mind.
Shaal Mayan
Regular
Not to much differance in the old one except for being bright.
Joseph DeMartino
Moderator
The old cover was a badly composed and badly executed painting. This one is a vast improvement.
Regards,
Joe
Regards,
Joe
KoshN
Super Moderator
Goodness... I'm glad I've got the old copy. This one is much too.. colourful!
The Shadow Within cover was a vast improvement over the previous version. This one would benefit quite a bit from somewhat less aggressive colours.
Well, it may serve to attract more attention on a crowded bookshelf.
Kribu
Administrator
You know, I've found that the ones that attract my attention in crowded bookshelves are the ones with the more modest covers.
Completely black, or completely white, or completely grey for example. They stand out so beautifully among the horrid, loud, aggressive, kitschy covers.
But I know I'm in the minority with this.
Completely black, or completely white, or completely grey for example. They stand out so beautifully among the horrid, loud, aggressive, kitschy covers.
But I know I'm in the minority with this.
Joseph DeMartino
Moderator
Given the different effects things like inks, card stocks, etc. have on the appearance of printed material, the final cover on the book may be much more muted than this computer image of the artwork suggests.
Regards,
Joe
Regards,
Joe
