31.Oct.08
Posted in News, Press Watch at 5:48 am by DeeKayP
Happy Halloween!
If you’re a fan of ghosts and Amanda Tapping, you might still want to tune in to the Sci Fi Channel tonight, even though Stargate Atlantis and Sanctuary won’t be showing new episodes. Tapping joins Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, known to Sci Fi fans as the Ghost Hunters, at the historic Fort Delaware in Delaware City, Delaware. According to Sci Fi Wire, “Thousands of prisoners of war died there during the Civil War, and the Ghost Hunters captured several paranormal activites on camera during their previous investigation, which aired in June.”
The special visit will be broadcast live for seven hours from 7 PM to 2 AM tonight. There will be a chance for the audience to interact with the team online at their Ghost Hunters Live! website.
To read more about the special event, visit SCI FI WIRE: Hunters Prepare To Go Live.
And tune in next Friday, November 7, at 9 PM for the next new episode of Atlantis: “The Prodigal”.
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29.Oct.08
Posted in Atlantis, News, SG-1 at 6:05 pm by DeeKayP
Stargate Atlantis executive producer Joseph Mallozzi has just reported in his weblog, “The beat sheet for the SGA movie is in Paul [Mullie]’s hands and he has promised to work on it this weekend and put it out on Monday.” Mallozzi also reported earlier this month, “Carl [Binder] put out a preliminary beat sheet for the next SG-1 movie and will, no doubt, be expecting notes in the coming days.”
What exactly is a beat sheet? One of Mallozzi’s readers asked that very question back in February this year, so Mallozzi answered it in his “mail bag”: “A beat sheet is a general breakdown of an episode’s key moments. It can be something as simple as = Act 1: 1. The team arrives off-world and discovers the device, 2. Back on Atlantis, the device is triggered, 3. The Atlantis personnel start acting funny, 4. Everyone wakes up to discover they’ve changed gender. End of Act 1.”
What follows the beat sheet could be a revision or an outline: “The outline, on the other hand, is a fleshed-out, scene by scene breakdown of the episode.”
The process went something like this for an Atlantis episode: “Although the scripts are written individually, the formation of the story and its various beats are a team effort. Someone will pitch out a story, we’ll offer suggestions, then that person will go off and work on a beat sheet. We’ll all weigh in with our suggestions, then they may go off and flesh out the beat sheet into a proper working outline. From there, after another round of input, it’s off to script.”
Several years ago, Mallozzi published a “Production Diary” for Solutions that stepped through the production process. His current weblog is an even more detailed reference for the day-to-day procedures of producing a season of episodes (but also includes Mallozzi’s other non-Stargate subjects of interest).
Because the Atlantis movie was originally conceived as a two-part episode to follow the events from Season Five’s finale, “Enemy at the Gate”, it will probably adhere to similar production steps, but in Mallozzi’s words, “…the difference being that we’ll be able to tell our story on a much bigger, visual effects-laden, character-centered canvas.” The yet-to-be-titled movie is scheduled to be filmed in the late spring or early summer next year and then make its broadcast premiere on the Sci Fi Channel following the first ten episodes of Stargate Universe—possibly in the fall of 2009—before being distributed on DVD by MGM.
The third SG-1 movie has not yet been officially announced, however. If it follows the same production path as its two predecessors, it will be released directly to DVD. According to Mallozzi, “If all goes as planned, we should be filming both the SGA movie and the third SG-1 around the same time next year.”
Visit Solutions’ SG-1 Movies and Atlantis Movies pages for updates on the development of these two movies.
The following entries in Mallozzi’s blog were references for this article:
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28.Oct.08
Posted in News, Universe at 3:05 pm by michelle
Some tantalizing but not-so-revealing updates from Sci Fi Wire:
Sci Fi Wire Exclusive Stargate Universe Updates
SCI FI Wire has gotten a bunch of exclusive updates about SCI FI Channel’s new show Stargate Universe, including the news that executive producers Brad Wright and Robert Cooper are planning on delivering a first draft of the pilot script by the end of the year.
In other exclusive news:
–We’re told that work on the script started after a major creative meeting last month between SCI FI executives and representatives from the show’s producer, MGM, where the two companies discussed and agreed on the overall creative direction of the show.
–We learned this week that producers have already pitched some initial episode ideas and that preliminary concept art was Fed-Exed from MGM offices in Vancouver, Canada, to SCI FI’s development team in Los Angeles.
–MGM and SCI FI have already begun batting around casting ideas for Universe, although they haven’t shared information about what the roles will be or which actors are being considered. Yet.
What we know about Universe is that it’s executive-produced by Wright and Cooper, who also executive-produced Universe’s predecessor series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis.
SCI FI Wire previously posted exclusive images of the show’s concept art.
Stargate Universe centers on a simple reconnaissance mission that turns into a never-ending quest as a new crew of Stargate explorers gates onto the Destiny, an Ancient ship that is unable to return to Earth. They will travel to the far reaches of the universe, encountering new races, enemies and adventures.
SCI FI Channel plans to begin production of the show in early 2009 and debut it next summer with a two-hour premiere. –Patrick Lee, News Editor
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26.Oct.08
Posted in Atlantis at 7:29 am by DeeKayP
Season Five of Stargate Atlantis will return to the Sci Fi Channel on November 7, but in the meantime, there are a few interviews you can watch and read in which Atlantis stars Joe Flanigan, David Hewlett, and Robert Picardo and co-showrunner Joseph Mallozzi make observations about what’s going on this season.
WARNING: Those who are adverse to spoilers should probably avoid the rest of this article.
MGM’s Official Stargate website has three video interviews:
Mallozzi’s interview with SFX Magazine has been excerpted in an article by David Bentley for the Coventry Telegraph in which the executive producer reveals that there will be “love, loss, betrayal, revenge, secrets revealed, exhilarating victories and crushing defeats”—and a “significant character death”—this season!
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25.Oct.08
Posted in Atlantis, News, Press Watch, SG-1, Universe at 6:46 am by DeeKayP
In Reading a Show’s Life: Many Factors Weigh into Deciding the Fate of a Popular Series, Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn of Multichannel News talked with Sci Fi president Dave Howe about building the Stargate franchise:
THE SPIN FACTOR
Creating a spinoff of a series can certainly help bolster a franchise’s longevity. For its part, Showtime has tapped Chaiken for an untitled L Word spinoff, in which the character of Alice Pieszecki (played by actress Leisha Hailey) moves on.
“I was especially interested because the way the challenge came to me was, ‘Let’s do a very different show,’ and that’s what makes me think it might actually work,” Chaiken said. “Often an audience, particularly fans of a show, will wind up being disappointed that the new show isn’t the old show. But when you’re doing something completely different, you can side-step some of those expectations.”
Another key is having a really strong creative vision, said Tomassi Lindman. “And having strong writers and strong producers, the people who are going to bring those great ideas and fresh storylines that keep a show going season after season,” she added.
Such a strong vision led Sci Fi to give the green light to executive producer Ronald Moore’s Caprica, the prequel to Battlestar Galactica; and to co-executive producers Brad [Wright] and Robert Cooper’s Stargate: Universe, the third series in the long-running Stargate franchise.
“This was a creative call to move Stargate Atlantis into [made-for-television] movies and then to launch Stargate: Universe,” said Sci Fi president Dave Howe. “Stargate SG-1 went 10 years; Stargate Atlantis is now in its fifth season; and the producers looked at the stories and how it played out and how many more iterations of that story felt right and we totally agreed with them.
“Stargate Atlantis had been great, but it was now time to think about the next chapter.”
The holy grail in terms of media and entertainment these days is franchise-building, according to Howe.
“We’re focused on it. Hollywood theatrical movies are focused on it, the level of investment that is required to develop and launch a series is, from a marketing perspective, huge,” he said. “The difficulty in terms of breaking out and attracting and sustaining that audience, if you can create something that is franchise-able, then the business model is much more powerful and much more long-term, and so much more consistent and viable, and that’s the business we’re all in.”
Sci Fi Channel currently shows reruns of Stargate SG-1, but didn’t have a say in the production of the previous SG-1 movies. This may change with the production of the third SG-1 movie, currently being penned by Brad Wright and Carl Binder. According to Thomas Vitale, senior VP of programming and original movies at Sci Fi, the network is “very interested in partnering with MGM to do additional SG-1 movies as well, and we’re talking about it.” If Sci Fi partners with MGM for the third movie, then the movie will most likely premiere on the channel before being distributed on DVD by MGM.
This is the type of arrangement that Sci Fi has with MGM to produce the first Atlantis movie, being written by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie. The script is still in its early stages, and filming the movie is set to start in the late spring or early summer, according to Amanda Tapping. Both the SG-1 movie and the SGA movie will be filmed at or around the same time, allowing crossover possibilities for Tapping, Michael Shanks, and Christopher Judge. Sci Fi plans to air the movie after the first half of Stargate Universe has premiered. This would put the movie’s debut in the last quarter of 2009.
In the meantime, episodes in the final season of Stargate Atlantis continue to premiere on Fridays at 9 pm Eastern (with a repeat at 11 pm). The next episode to be shown is “The Prodigal” on November 7, as the Sci Fi Channel is planning a large Halloween celebration next Friday, October 31, with their Ghost Hunters.
Stargate Universe is currently casting, building their sets, and outlining episode scripts. Co-creators and co-showrunners Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper will be joined by creative consultants Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, who also plan to write a few scripts. Filming will start in February 2009 and the two-hour pilot will premiere on the Sci Fi Channel in the summer of 2009.
Stargate Worlds, the MMORPG, is also moving along, having just started closed beta on October 15, and is scheduled for release in early 2009.
Keep up with the Stargate franchise here at Solutions and in our Stargate Wiki, which is updated with production and spoiler information for the television and movie series.
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24.Oct.08
Posted in Atlantis at 7:29 am by DeeKayP
You’ve heard the saying “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions,” and tonight’s episode of Stargate Atlantis, “Inquisition”, shows how some humans of the Pegasus Galaxy perceive that the Atlantis Expedition poses more of a threat than a hope to their civilizations in their fight against the Wraith. The Expedition’s presence in the galaxy for the last five years has definitely been felt, but some of their good intentions to help the less-advantaged and preyed-upon have in actuality caused great harm. Some of the surviving human civilizations have formed a Coalition to bring the Expedition to trial and to answer for their deeds.
At first it all seems innocuous enough; the Coalition contacts the Expedition and requests Sheppard meet with them to discuss the Wraith situation. Woolsey sends Sheppard’s team with the belief that they were called in to help this group of humans, but once Sheppard’s team arrives, they are placed under arrest and charged with “crimes against the people of the galaxy.” The Coalition Council, comprised of three representatives, charges that the Expedition has been “making unilateral decisions that affect the lives of millions without consultation and without accountability.”
Once Woolsey learns of his team’s predicament through an informant, he immediately places himself before the Council to argue in the Expedition’s defense. This is the exact kind of situation for which Woolsey has trained his entire life: he is a man of law. Will his arguments win over the Council or are there other factors of which he is not aware? Will there be Hell to pay if the Expedition is removed as humanity’s most technologically advanced military power in the galaxy?
“Inquisition” was written by script coordinator Alex Levine. He’s contributed story ideas in the past (SG-1’s “Dominion” and SGA’s “The Queen”), but this is the “first dramatic live-action script” he’s written. “Here’s what I have to tell you about writing for television,” Levine relates in his scifi.com blog. “It’s tough. And even though the show you’re going to see this week, Inquisition, is a clip show, that didn’t make it any easier to write. You see, there’s a particular aspect of writing clip shows that’s extra tough, and that is the part where they move in and out of the clips. Of course Paul Mullie, who did the re-write and produced the episode, has lots of clip show experience, but this was my first attempt. And writing specs and other scripts didn’t prepare me one bit. So let’s just say it was a great learning experience.
“At the end of the day, the writing staff was very kind. They met with me on my first draft, gave me notes and some time to re-write the script. I did another draft too on another round of notes. In the writing I found some things about the characters and the story that worked well; other stuff was discarded. There’s certainly some of my writing in the finished product, but I must credit Paul Mullie and the writing staff with much of the episode’s success. And my experience is not unlike other first time writers of any show. Stargate is no exception.
“The coolest part of the show, which is always why people watch clip shows, is that you’ll get to see pretty much every cool space battle we’ve done. There’s also great acting in this one – keep your eyes open for the character of Myrus (the Council Liaison), who is played by my real life brother, Tobias Slezak (different last name). He did a great job.”
“Inquisition” premieres tonight at 9 pm Eastern on the Sci Fi Channel. There is a repeat at 11 pm.
Preview Videos – Beware of Spoilers! -
Solutions Coverage –
[Image from MGM.]
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Posted in News, Universe at 5:40 am by DeeKayP
If you’re wondering what the inside of the Destiny will look like, visit SCI FI WIRE: Exclusive: Stargate Universe Concept Art! to see the first pieces of concept art for the interior of “the shuttle bridge”, a “corridor hub”, “the airlock door”, and “an Ancient console”.
Stargate Universe will be making its debut on the Sci Fi Channel with a two-hour pilot in the summer of 2009. Pre-production is currently in full swing as co-creators Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper have already pitched at least six of the first episodes to the Atlantis writing team (it is still uncertain how many of them will be joining the SGU writing team, but Joseph Mallozzi said that he and his writing partner Paul Mullie will probably be writing a few scripts). Casting is still in progress and the set for Destiny is being built in the FX Stage at Bridge Studios. Principal photography is due to begin in early February 2009.
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22.Oct.08
Posted in News at 7:05 pm by michelle
We’re sad to report that Stargate Atlantis won none of the non-acting awards for which it was nominated, as announced in the results from tonight’s Gemini Awards ceremony. The awards went instead to Di Heart of Di Matter (Make-up), The Tudors (Visual Effects), and Durham County (Writing). The award for best actress, the category for which Jewel Staite was nominated, will be announced at the awards gala on November 28. Jewel is up against an actress from The Tudors (gala nominations listed here), which seems to be a favorite of the awards committee this year.
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Posted in Atlantis, News, Press Watch at 5:10 am by DeeKayP
Alan McCullough (photo by Joseph Mallozzi)
Tonight, the Drama, Variety & Comedy Gala for the 23rd Annual Gemini Awards will be held in Toronto, and Stargate Atlantis writer Alan McCullough will find out if he has won for his nomination in the Best Writing in a Dramatic Series category for the Season Four episode “Tabula Rasa”.
McCullough was interviewed by his hometown Edmonton Journal about his career change from actor to writer and about his nomination. “It’s an honour,” McCullough told Isabelle Gallant for the Journal. “I feel privileged to be in the company of the other shows that are nominated. You know, you try not to put much stock into these things, but at the same time, it’s exciting.”
McCullough’s “Tabula Rasa” is up against stories for Durham County, Murdoch Mysteries, ReGenesis, and The Tudors. “The Geminis celebrate excellence in Canadian English-language television,” according to their website.
Other Stargate nominees include Best Achievement in Make-Up: Todd Masters, Leah Ehman for “The Last Man”; Best Visual Effects: Mark Savela, Marco Checa Garcia, Sebastian Greece, Shannon Gurney, Paul Hegg, Brandon Hines, Jesus Lavin, Nikolas Slotiuk, Toby Taplin, Ray Van Steenwyk for “Adrift”; and Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role: Jewel Staite for “Missing”.
To read McCullough’s interview, visit Edmonton Journal: Career turn works out for the best: Gemini nod affirms local screenwriter chose well.
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19.Oct.08
Posted in Atlantis, News, Press Watch at 5:46 am by DeeKayP
MGM’s Official Stargate website has a few features concerning the making of Stargate Atlantis’s mid-season two-parter, “First Contact” and “The Lost Tribe”.
The two-parter was written by Martin Gero, and he got to do some directing in second unit with Michael Shanks and David Hewlett. Gero was interviewed by MGM’s Sharon Gosling about how the writers wanted to get Dr. Daniel Jackson back to Atlantis. Gero said, “It was definitely something that I had wanted to do for quite some time, and was finally afforded the opportunity to do. My favorite Daniel stories were always the ones where he was on the treasure hunt, with puzzles and figuring out this and that. We hadn’t done that in forever.”
Michael Shanks talks more about Dr. Daniel Jackson’s return in the video interview Dr. Daniel Jackson Returns to Atlantis. Shanks seemed thrilled to reprise his role after nearly a year away from the Stargate sets and stated, “I’m always up to coming back to the Stargate universe.”
Gero, Shanks, stunt coordinator James Bamford, who played an armored alien, and Keith Arbuthnot, model maker, give a brief overview about the development of the suits “with a secret inside” in the video Designing the “New” Alien in “First Contact”.
The fifth and final season of Stargate Atlantis continues to debut new episodes on the Sci Fi Channel on Fridays at 9pm (with a repeat at 11pm). Coming up next will be Alex Levine’s “Inquisition”.
[Image from MGM.]
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