New marketing campaign for Caprica: film festival screenings

SyFy has launched a new marketing campaign for Caprica. The two-hour film that was released on DVD earlier this year was screened at the San Diego Film Festival this week and it will be shown at the Woodstock Film Festival tomorrow (Oct. 2) and at the Austin Film Festival later this month, with Jeffrey Reiner and Esai Morales in attendance.

From the press release:

Syfy is launching the first phase of its innovative national marketing campaign behind the highly anticipated January 22, 2010, premiere of Caprica with screenings at the prestigious San Diego, Woodstock and Austin Film Festivals.

Humanity's storyline takes completely new twists with Caprica, which follows two rival families and their patriarchs Daniel Graystone (Eric Stoltz) and Joseph Adama (Esai Morales) as they compete and thrive in the vibrant realm of the 12 Colonies, a society recognizably close to our own. This original, standalone series will feature the passion, intrigue, political backbiting, and family conflict in an omnipotent society that is at the height of its blind power and gloryand, unknowingly, on the brink of its fall. Caprica also stars Paula Malcomson (Amanda Graystone), Polly Walker (Sister Clarice Willow), Magda Apanowicz (Lacy) and Alessandra Torresani (Zoe Graystone).

Said Blake Callaway, Vice President, Brand Marketing, Syfy: As heir to the rich legacy of Battlestar Galactica, Caprica is more than a new television series. With its pedigree of talent, cinematic look, feel and design along with the intelligence of the programs vision and provocative story lines, Caprica is a natural fit for a film festival. Reflecting the unique way were planning on marketing the series, San Diego, Woodstock and Austin Film Festivals are great platforms to kick off the Caprica marketing campaign.

Caprica Film Festival Screenings

San Diego Film Festival on Saturday, September 26.

At Woodstock Film Festival, celebrating its 10th anniversary, Friday, October 2, and Sunday, October 4.

Caprica Producer/Director Jeffrey Reiner and star Esai Morales will attend the Austin Film Festival Saturday, October 24 screening as well as participate on panels.

Caprica is from Universal Cable Productions and is executive produced by Ronald D. Moore, David Eick and Jane Espenson. Jonas Pate serves as co-executive producer and director. Jeffrey Reiner (Friday Night Lights) directed the pilot.

New interview with Bear McCreary, from Examiner

Examiner talked to Bear McCreary recently. The full interview is here, some quotes below:

Regarding your latest release, Caprica, it sounds to me more emotive and character-centric than the Battlestar scores, which are very atmospheric, encapsulating all the action and drama of the environment.

Well, Caprica has a much smaller cast, and that cast can essentially be divided into two families – The Adamas and the Graystones. So I wrote two themes, one for each family, and they serve as the thematic thread that ties the Caprica score together. Battlestar, as you mentioned, tends to be attached to arcs, subplots, and sometimes thematic ideas. There are also themes for every single character on the show, and there are at least 50 of those alone, not that they all get used all the time. So Caprica was a very different approach.

Was it difficult at all to pull back from the expansiveness of Battlestar and hone in on this smaller story?

It was a bit of a relief, honestly. If the producers wanted Caprica to sound bigger, I might have died. The Battlestar score has reached a point where it is so unwieldy and massive, in terms of the amount of instruments in it, the style it encapsulates. It’s difficult to work with this language, and Caprica was like a breath of fresh air. I got a small chamber-sized orchestra together, and I was able to fall back on just writing, technique, and ideas, and the spectacle of the score wasn’t part of it.

Did you approach it more as a classic drama than as a sci-fi epic?

Well, I don’t approach anything as a sci-fi epic. I look at everything from a dramatic standpoint. Battlestar is certainly no exception to that. There are more family-drama storylines happening in Caprica, and Battlestar certainly does have its share of big, sci-fi plots that are not solely character based. But I have to admit that I try to ignore them, from a musical standpoint. What can one do to write science fiction music in the first place? I write narrative music. So, in that regard, it wasn’t any different than doing Battlestar. But I think the biggest difference was the ensemble, which was much more traditional, more contained, and much more classical. And the signature instruments like the ethnic drums, Middle Eastern flutes, and whatnot that are all over Battlestar, only make sporadic appearances throughout Caprica.

Something I found puzzling, given your credentials, was that in the press surrounding Caprica’s development, you weren’t even originally considered to do the score. I read something about the director having conversations and you were eventually suggested. What happened there?

Well, they honestly wanted a very different sound. And the director, Jeffrey Reiner, who had never previously worked on Battlestar, came in to direct Caprica, and wanted to go in a completely different direction. He didn’t want to re-create Battlestar… none of us did. So, I wasn’t an obvious choice, because I WAS the guy who did Battlestar. I had a meeting with Jeff, and we realized immediately that we were both on the same page about how the music should be. In fact, we had an incredible relationship artistically; he and I really got along, so it worked out for the best. But no, I wasn’t the obvious first choice. But like I said, the producers were concerned; they wanted something different, so I had to prove that I could deliver it.

How often do you have to go back to the drawing board and do rewrites for something that doesn’t work for you or the director?

In my entire career working on Battlestar and Caprica, I have only ever done one rewrite. It was in one of the very first episodes of Season 1, and I’ve never done one since. That’s for two reasons: one, the producers and I have worked together for a really long time and we see eye-to-eye. Generally I know what they want, and they trust my instincts. And two, there’s no time for rewrites. I had to write the entire score for Caprica in nine days. So I was just churning out cues as fast as humanly possible. I turned out between five to eight minutes of music for nine days straight, and on the tenth day, I was in front of the orchestra conducting it. So we definitely make revisions, tweaks – Jeff and I worked together on it very closely. But as far as going back and rewriting something from scratch; there was no time for that.

Caprica feature-length pilot to premiere on DVD on April 21

Caprica, the highly anticipated prequel to Battlestar Galactica, will enjoy its world premiere exclusively on DVD on April 21, 2009 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. In a groundbreaking move sure to delight fans of the long-running television phenomenon, the feature-length prequel will be available on DVD as a limited-edition uncut and unrated version before the series' broadcast premiere on the SCI FI Channel in 2010.

Caprica is executive produced by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick (Battlestar Galactica) and Remi Aubuchon (24). Exclusive bonus features that take viewers behind the scenes of the creation of Caprica make this DVD a landmark event for any fan of Battlestar Galactica. The film will also be available at selected online destinations for digital download transactions.

As Battlestar Galactica wraps its gripping final season on SCI FI on March 20, 2009, Caprica begins a brand new epic saga that continues the franchise's commitment to thought-provoking storytelling and extraordinary characters. Set over 50 years before the events of Battlestar Galactica, Caprica is a world at the peak of its power, grappling with new science and technologies and the issues they create. The series will star Golden Globe nominee Eric Stoltz (Mask, Pulp Fiction), Esai Morales (Jericho, NYPD Blue), Paula Malcomson (Deadwood, ER) and Golden Globe nominee Polly Walker (Cane, Rome) in a story laced with passion, intrigue and family conflict.

"We are thrilled to take the groundbreaking step of offering the world-premiere of the Caprica feature-length extended pilot episode on DVD prior to the new series' television debut," said Hilary Hoffman, Senior Vice President, Brand and Digital Marketing for Universal Studios Home Entertainment. "This innovative distribution model will serve to satisfy Battlestar Galactica fans' appetites for a new content while building excitement for the franchise's next great adventure."

"Ever since fans first caught wind of the Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica, they have been eagerly following its development," said Mark Stern, Executive Vice President, Original Programming for SCI FI & Co-Head Original Content, Universal Cable Productions. "We wanted to give them a chance to see the pilot in its original form and experience the prequel to the BSG story while that series' finale was still ringing in their ears. It also affords the creative team an unprecedented chance to get viewers feedback before production on the Caprica series begins this summer."

"If Battlestar Galactica offered us a way to shatter the conventions of space opera, Caprica will be a show which will challenge the conventions of science fiction storytelling as a whole," said Ronald D. Moore, Executive Producer/Writer.

"Part sweeping soap, part meditation on the dangerous moral ramifications of artificial intelligence, this is a truly unique opportunity to continue telling stories which will be as daring and shocking as the best of Galactica -- and yet will be altogether different from Galactica," said David Eick, Executive Producer.

Universal Cable Productions will begin production on the Caprica series in the summer of 2009 in Vancouver for a 2010 television premiere on the SCI FI Channel. The DVD of Caprica is priced at $26.98 S.R.P. Preorder close is March 3, 2009.

BONUS FEATURES:

• Feature Commentary with Director Jeffrey Reiner and Executive Producer/Writer Ronald D. Moore and Executive Producer David Eick
• Deleted Scenes
• Video Blogs

o What the Frak is Caprica?
o The Director's Process
o The V Club
o The Birth of a Cylon

SYNOPSIS

Set 50 years before Battlestar Galactica, Caprica follows two rival families and their patriarchs - Daniel Graystone (Eric Stoltz) and Joseph Adama (Esai Morales) - as they compete and thrive in the vibrant world of the 12 Colonies, a society recognizably close to our own. Enmeshed in the burgeoning technology of artificial intelligence and robotics that will eventually lead to the creation of the Cylons, the two houses go toe-to-toe blending action with corporate conspiracy and sexual politics.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Street Date: April 21, 2009

Pre-Order Close: March 3, 2009

Copyright: 2009 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Price: $26.98

Selection Number: 61109037

Running Time: 1 Hour 33 Minutes

Layers: Dual Layer

Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1

Rating: Not rated.

Languages/Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

www.CapricaDVD.com

Two additional Caprica scripts ordered

Sci Fi has ordered two more Caprica scripts, reports Maureen Ryan at Chicago Tribune, citing a source close to the show.

The writers who will work on the two additional scripts are Battlestar Galactica and Caprica creator Ron Moore, Galactica writers Michael Angeli and Mark Verheiden, and writers’ assistant Ryan Mottesheard, the article continues.

There is no official word yet that Caprica will go to series, but more news on the status of the prequel is expected to come at the TCAs on July 20, when Sci Fi will hold a presentation of the show.

Jeff Reiner (Friday Night Lights), who directed the Caprica pilot, might be in attendance at the event.