John G. Lenic (photo by Joseph Mallozzi)
John G. Lenic has been with the Stargate franchise since December 1996, and he’s now producer for Stargate Universe, which is currently filming in Vancouver. Recently, he did two interviews that give you a peek into his career and the inner workings of the Stargate franchise.
From a filmmaking student’s perspective, check out his interview with Vancouver Film School in “Film Grad Produces ‘Stargate Universe'”.
In this interview, Lenic explains what his role as producer is: “That means that along with my showrunners, Brad Wright and Robert Cooper, I am responsible for the financial well-being of the series. That includes the budget, management of the cast and crew, making sure we can bring in the series on budget and on schedule after shooting 20 episodes per season. We spend approximately $50 million per year and employ approximately 250 people during the course of our shooting season, which runs from February until October.”
From the Stargate fan’s point of view, visit Joseph Mallozzi’s weblog entry of September 14, 2009, wherein Lenic answers fans’ questions that were submitted through the comment section and then collected by Mallozzi. In a much more personal tone, Lenic relates some of his adventures with the franchise and has a few stories to tell about others who were involved with the production over the years. Now working on SGU, he has even more to tell about this new part of the franchise.
Stargate Universe premieres on the Syfy Channel in the US and on Space Channel in Canada on Friday, October 2, at 9 PM ET. On October 6, Sky One will show the two-hour premiere at 8 PM, and on October 9, the Sci Fi Channel in Australia will show it at 8:30 PM.