Ron Moore, David Weddle and Bradley Thompson will be taking part in a Sci Fi Museum panel about "The Writing of BSG" in Seattle on September 5.
Presented in cooperation with EMP Museum, this panel discusses the writing of the award-winning drama. Notable writers/producers David Weddle and Bradley Thompson (Battlestar Galactica, CSI, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Falling Skies) weigh in. -- Bumbershoot, via Battlestar blog
Fort McCoy with Eric Stoltz will be shown at the Rhode Island International Film Festival on August 11. Details & tickets here.
Tons of updates today, most of them from Comic-Con.
Let's start with Sasha Roiz - he makes his first appearance on Warehouse 13 tomorrow (Monday, 9/8c, Syfy).
CP24 has a recent video interview with him and he also did a Q&A with the press that is finally up on several sites. I think Starry Mag has the least edited version of it. The interview is mostly about Warehouse 13, but he also talks about his other new projects and Caprica. Snippets:
Airlock Alpha has the first report from the Battlestar panel at Comic-Con. Richard Hatch, Kevin Grazier, Michael Nankin and Lili Bordan were there, and Michael Taylor had to skip because of surgery. Get better soon, Michael Taylor.
Here is what is happening with Blood and Chrome:
The pilot is not expected to be completed until at least October, especially since the sets were extremely minimal, Bordan said. Hatch told the crowd that Syfy plans to air "Blood & Chrome" as a movie event first, and a backdoor pilot, similar to what was done with "Caprica." It looks like the network is not spending the money to do a miniseries, like it did with "Battlestar Galactica."
Also, unless there was a misunderstanding at the panel, they are/were exploring the possibility of showing it in 3D. Read the whole article for more details.
Jane Espenson has announced the new project she has been working on with Alessandra Torresani, Brad Bell (Cheeks) and Sean Hemeon, in an interview with CliqueClack. Yes, it's Husbands, a web series about "two guys, a newly dating couple, who celebrate a new marriage equality law in Vegas and wake up married." A couple of snippets from the interview:
KM: What do you hope to become of Husbands in the long run? If it simply stays as a free series on the web, will that satisfy not only you but the actors?
JE: Honestly, I would love to see Husbands turn into a network television show. I’m loving the freedom that we’re enjoying as we put it together ourselves, but there’s something about it that feels so accessible — it’s Ab Fab, Dharma and Greg, Will and Grace … it feels to me like it has the broad appeal of so many network shows that I’ve enjoyed, and I’d thrill to see it get the loving care that — right now — only a big broadcast network can afford. If it stayed online, that would be fun too, because it would continue to be our little dream show that we could follow wherever the story takes us. (...)
What do you have planned at Comic-Con this year to show off the new series?
We have a projected launch date in September, so we’re going to be going down to just start getting people talking. The cast and I will be there — so thats me and Brad Bell, aka “Cheeks”, and Alessandra Torresani, and Sean Hemeon. We’re going to be signing and giving away special “wedding invitations” that direct people to our site where they can find more information about the show, and some backstage peeks and hints. And thus the groundswell begins!
For updates and to see the first official promo pic for the show, visit the blog on the Husbandsofficial site.
Alessandra Torresani (who will be at Comic-Con next week) has a new project in the works with Jane Espenson and Go Cheeks Go that will be announced on July 20. For a sneak peek, go here and, for possible clues, scroll down to Jane's new Torchwood interview.
If you're going to Comic-Con, check this out:
Battlestar Galactica "So Say We All!" Gathering
Join ANOVOS as we celebrate BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and its fandom! We are planning a large group photo shoot and "So Say We All" event! All BSG fans are invited to join — and you are encouraged to wear your ANOVOS gear (Double Tanks, BDUs, Duty Blues)! Even if you don't have any ANOVOS BSG gear, bring your fan made outfits or just bring yourself!
We want EVERYONE to be involved with this event, so spread the word. Those frakkin' toasters are even welcome!
Oh, and if you can't be at SDCC, do not worry... we're going to UStream the whole event!
Bear McCrearytweets that he will be scoring Knights of Badassdom, the new fantasy/horror/comedy (see FB page) directed by Joe Lynch, with Summer Glau, Peter Dinklage, Ryan Kwanten, Steve Zahn and Dani Pudi starring.
Tons of clips in today's update, so keep scrolling till you see Patton Oswalt. ;)
The second part of the interview The Gaming Liberty did with Bear McCreary has been posted (hit the link for the whole thing). No updates on Blood and Chrome after all. Here are a couple of quotes about Caprica & BSG (note - he is working on an *extended* Caprica soundtrack):
Battlestar will have a panel at this year's Comic-Con. Coming Soon has the announcement:
Thursday, July 21
11:45-12:45 Battlestar: So Say We All— Richard Hatch hosts a panel and fan discussion of the Battlestar Galactica universe, politics, and philosophy. Richard (Tom Zarek, Capt Apollo), Michael Taylor (Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, Blood and Chrome), Dr Kevin Grazier (BG science consultant), and surprise guests for this exciting round table and Q&A session. Room 6BCF
Torchwood: Miracle Day finally kicks off tonight at 10 pm ET on Starz, then tomorrow at 9 pm on Space in Canada, and on Thursday, July 14 on BBC One in the UK. Here is the premise for the new season:
One day, nobody dies. All across the world, nobody dies. And then the next day, and the next, and the next, people keep aging – they get hurt and sick – but they never die. The result: a population boom, overnight.
With all the extra people, resources are finite. It's said that in four months' time, the human race will cease to be viable. But this can't be a natural event – someone's got to be behind it. It's a race against time as CIA. agent Rex Matheson investigates a global conspiracy. The answers lie within an old, secret British institute. As Rex keeps asking "What is Torchwood?" he's drawn into a world of adventure, and a threat to change what it means to be human, forever.
Teresa Jusino has a new interview with Jane Espenson (done via Twitter) over at Tor.com. Snippet below, hit the link for the rest.
Tell us a little about your favorite episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day that you’ve written and why it stands out for you?
Fave I did write: ep 5 or 7. Can’t decide. 5 has an amazing dark story and 7 is sweeping and special. Russell helped both turn out great.
What’s your favorite episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day that you didn’t write? Why?
I haven’t seen all the ones I didn’t write. They just send you your own. But I did see ep 2, written by Doris Egan - Fantastic, tense.
Describe what Russell T. Davies is like to work with.
Russell is positive and bubbly. He’s always saying Hooray, and meaning it. At the same time, not afraid to make you dig deep. Love him!
TV Guide has an interview with the writers and cast. Here is a snippet:
Espenson says that balance of real fun and real stakes is what makes Torchwood unique. "It has that same thing I adored about Buffy, the light-heartedness, that sense that sci-fi doesn't have to mean the turgid space opera sort of thing, which everyone thinks sci-fi is even though it almost never is that," she says. "Sci-fi doesn't have to be grim. There's humor in Torchwood even though the stakes are sky-high. It's takes risks and tries different things, like the episode set in WWII where Jack meets the other Jack — what other show is doing that? Daring, romantic, tragic, epic... the first three seasons were extraordinary and different and so not American. It was so its own thing and such an eye-opener for an American viewer. Like, oh, here's a different kind of hero."
The first installment of Torchwood: Web of Lies, the animated companion series to Miracle Day, co-written by Espenson, is available on iTunes. The teaser is on YouTube. Here is how the web series relates to the show:
What happened to Jack and Gwen on that "missing day" back in 2007 - the day that neither remembers? Is it possible that a young, paranoid conspiracy theorist actually stumbled into the chilling truth and what it means for Miracle Day? The ONLY place to find out is in "Torchwood: Web of Lies."
Torchwood: Web of Lies is written by HUGO award winner Jane Espenson and Ryan Scott and Executive Produced by Russell T Davies.
This first FREE download gives you Episode 1 of Torchwood: Web of Lies. Then watch Torchwood: Miracle Day every week and return to the app the DAY AFTER for an opportunity to get a new episode of Web of Lies. Every episode includes more original story told through motion graphics AND new gameplay, culminating in a thrilling interactive finale in Episode 10.
And a couple of teasers for the season four premiere.
Today's round of updates will be in three parts, mostly because I've been unable to post for about a week and tons of stuff happened since the last update.
Let's start with Caprica.
Season 1.5 was released on DVD in the UK this week. You can get it on Amazon.co.uk.
If you're in the UK, you should also check out PlaybackTV on Facebook. They are giving away prizes (Vol. 2 DVD, script signed by the cast, a mug used on the show and a BSG signed poster) and posting exclusive clips from the DVD on their wall.
The complete season one will be released on DVD and on Blu-ray in France on October 25.
No word yet if it will be a region-free release, but someone at Spoiler TV points out that all seasons of Battlestar have been released on region-free discs in France, so it's a possibility. (Granted, BSG did get released on Blu-ray in the U.S. so it might be a remote possibility.)
Either way, eyes on Amazon.fr and let's wait and see.
Some excellent news about the season one soundtrack -- Bear McCrearytweeted last week that he was in the studio recording it. Follow him on Twitter for updates as they come.
Also frakking awesome: if you watched NASA's Atlantis launch today, you may have heard Bear's music seeing the shuttle off on its final mission.
Emmy-nominated composer Bear McCreary, known for his television scores, has composed a fanfare specifically to commemorate the final space shuttle flight. After composing four seasons of music for a television show set in space, creating music inspired by a historic NASA mission was a natural fit. The composition will be played first on Friday morning at the NASA launch TweetUp. -- NASA
Writing music for “Battlestar Galactica” and “Caprica,” I have set music to some incredible events in outer space. I’ve accompanied spaceships and nebulae, black holes and supernovas. However, these cosmic phenomena shared one thing in common: they were all fiction. But, this week, I am deeply honored that my music will now provide an emotional backdrop for a space event that is very real indeed: the final NASA Shuttle Launch in United States history.
My original composition, “Fanfare for STS-135,” will premiere this Friday morning (July 8th) at the NASA launch TweetUp event, and will also be heard by the crowds throughout the other locations at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. If you aren’t among the lucky spectators, the fanfare may turn up on NASA TV and the official website as well. A downloadable recording of “Fanfare for STS-135″ is planned for the fall.
Inspired specifically by this launch, the fanfare recording was produced by myself, actor / filmmaker Seth Green and director / writer Michael Dougherty. Seth and Michael’s enthusiasm and support was instrumental in bringing this piece to life.
Mashable has the video and photos from the launch. You can hear a quick preview of the score on Yfrog.
A new interview with Bear showed up at The Gaming Liberty. It's mostly about his work on Battlestar and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Snippet:
Retroplayer - With Battlestar Galactica and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles you were working on an already established mythologies. Because of this were you given less creative input on the kind of sound both shows wanted?
Bear - It’s interesting because on those two series you mentioned I had a pre-existing franchise to deal with and in each series I dealt with it very differently. With BSG there was no specific sound that the producers really wanted and a lot of this was done when we did the mini-series which was scored by Richard Gibbs and I was working on that assisting him. But what happened was they knew they didn’t want the Stu Phillips original score from the 70s, the original Battlestar sound. They didn’t want that, they didn’t want Star Wars, they didn’t want Star Trek. The producers liked some taiko drums and some other ethnic instrumentation which sort of set us down this path. When I took over the series -when it became a series- I continued to explore this idea using instrumentation from all over the world. I brought in Gaelic music, I brought in more Middle Eastern drums, African drums and I brought in some very authentic taiko ensembles. I was doing this but in the back of my mind I kept thinking that it would be nice to acknowledge what Stu Phillips done in the original series because I thought that the music he had done was immortal. I mean, I really think that there’s a new BSG series because Stu Phillips wrote such memorable music for the old one. I think it’s what made the original series stick in the publics subconscious for 30 years.
So, I was looking for places to do it and I had to be really subtle about it at first. In season two there was a place to quote his theme and I did so. I actually worked with Stu, went over to his house, spent a lot of time with him, got to know him and got to borrow his scores and his orchestrations and made sure that when I did acknowledge his music I was doing it accurately and respectfully. Then in season four there were places where I didn’t just use it as a homage or a subtle wink at the audience but use it in the real score. In fact at the closing moments of the final episode where we actually see the Battlestar Galactica where there was this beautiful shot with no dialogue over it I knew this would be one of the most important musical moments I would have in the entire series. The thing that need to be there, the theme that needed to go there was the Stu Phillips theme, not mine. So I put it there and it got a big response and many fans cite that as one of their favourite moments. Even executive producer Ron Moore, who I did not warn I would do this, pulled me aside and said, “that was beautiful. I couldn’t believe that you did that”. It was really a great experience to be able to subtly bring that sound back in.
The second part of the interview will be posted in a few days and it might include an update on the score for Blood & Chrome.
