JMS Speaks (again)

[Wizz]

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">The jollies I'm getting right now is that it looks like DVD is for real....</font>

Yeah, it's real...I was holding off saying anything until WB or someone else could announce it, but since it's come up here via the captioning institute...yeah, as noted, it's real.

Season One will be out in a boxed set this Fall, and they're going to be including at minimum two commentaries from me, probably on Signs and Portents and Chrysalis (it's a matter of how much time and energy I can give to it given that there's no fees involved and I'm in the midst of Jeremiah), and if possible, Babylon Squared, maybe Sky Full of Stars. They'd also like to film an on-camera intro by me (but I guess folks will buy it anyway, even with that particular horror included).

They're pulling together a lot of stuff on this release so that there are plenty of extras this time around, now that the value of the DVDs has been shown by the first release
..

jms
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<font color="red">Have they decided on aspect ratio?
</font>

Widescreen.

jms
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<font color="red">Any chance of comentaries by any of the other writers? Or some of the cast or crew?</font>

They're currently investigating all possibililties.

jms
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<font color="red">What about the sound? Will they make me happy (and my neighbors mad) and give me Babylon 5 in Dolby Digital 5.1?</font>

The sound is being remastered to 5.1.


jms
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<font color="red">My question: True widescreen? The DVD of "The Gathering" and "In the Beginning" that we have is cropped at the top and bottom. I.e. - there are bits that are missing. I don't want the episodes with things missing. But if it is *true* widescreen, I'm there!</font>

The only things that I'm aware of that were cropped in those were the CGI and composite scenes, since we can't go back and re-render all that stuff.

jms

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(all message content (c) 2002 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)
</font>

[Wizz]

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">I wonder: is there money for writers in DVD releases like this, some kind of residual? Is there a residual for any of the original production people, the actors, directors, producers?</font>

Writers, actors and directors get residuals on DVDs based on the VHS residuals formula which was put into place a number of years ago before the videotape boom and the Writers Guild didn't think there was any money in it. Consequently, the studios got a deal wherein basically the writers get something on the order of a penny a copy (or nothing, since it's based on net profits).

The guild, gotta love 'em....

jms
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<font color="red">Are other companies (such as Fox) paying people to do DVD commentaries? If so, it seems stupid that Warners doesn't do this, since they are part of that big AOL Time-Warner mega-corporation & should have the money.</font>

Many do, some don't, there's no industry standard on this. It's just one of those things, I'm not (too) bugged about it.

jms

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2002 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

[Wizz]

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">Thanks for the cool story. Midnight Nation is my personal favorive of your comic stories, being that it was more mystical, and less super-hero. The series had an early peak with issue #4, then just built steadily until issues #11 and #12. Wow, what incredible emotional impact #12 had.

Great job!

Can you tell your fans if there has been any interest in adapting Midnight Nation for TV or the big screen? Sometimes when I was reading it, I envisioned Robert Patrick as David Grey, and someone like Jennifer Lopez or Christina Ricci as Laurel. I know that's a pipe dream, but I would think there would be genuine interest from the film industry for Midnight Nation. Have you had any offers?</font>

Thanks. Midnight Nation is probably my favorite comics work to date because there's a lot in it that I consider personal, it's a personal kind of story in many ways. Even I can't read the last few pages, knowing what went before, without losing it.

There have been some inquiries about optioning MN, but I've deliberately held off listening to anything until the story was complete. I wanted nothing to get in the way of just telling this story. Now that it's done, I'll be happy to listen. It was a long journey and a hard write, but I think it was, and is, one of the more worthwhile things I'e done lately.

jms
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<font color="red">The "previews of coming attractions" [Jeremiah] showed that next week is a repeat. Already?</font>

It's a repeat of "Tripwire," one of our better episodes, mainly because Odyssey 5 debuts that week and it's a two-hour slot. So they could either air a new episode at 11:30 or 12, or a repeat in that timeslot. I figured a repeat was preferable, particularly since that one sets up a lot of what's in the two-parter.

What's left at this point is "Out of the Ashes," "A Means to an End," and the two-part season finale, "Things Left Unsaid," the last of which airs July 19th (the website info on dates is not correct).

jms

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2002 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)
</font>

[Wizz]

<font face="georia"><font color="red">Midnight Nation soars above just about everything that I have ever read or seen... B5 included.
It is a triumph of words and art; an utterly flawless story.</font>

Thank you. It's a story that I'm inestimably proud of; I still can't get through the last issue without falling apart, for some reason it just hits me hard. It's a very personal story for me, and there's a lot of me in the characters and what they're working through.

<font color="red">You wrote (or said) a couple of years ago that you will not reach your prime for at least "10 years." Reading that, then, it was hard to imagine that you could ever top B5. I was thinking in terms of the majesty of th e B5 story... Even with all it's flaws what could top it? And in short order you gave us Midnight Nation. </font>

It came out far better than I could've hoped, and it's definitely my favorite prose work to date. To compare it with B5, I dunno, that's kind of in a separate category from everything else. It's the old comparins apples and woodchucks thing.

BTW, two asides (and I'm putting this here because I generally am not posting as much while my hand goes through therapy, I'm trying to do only the typing I absolutely *have* to do)....

On the DVDs, last I heard they'll be out around mid-November, with the whole first season at about a hundred bucks. I did the commentaries on Signs and Portents and Chrysalis, and an on-camera intro and interview. They've also done new interviews with Rick Biggs, Claudia, John Iacovelli, John Copeland, Stephen Furst, Jerry Doyle and others. So it should be a pretty big deal overall, much better than the movie dvd.

Item two, just for the humor of it...when we finished B5, all the sets were demolished, no bits and pieces of it remain...with one exception, and it's a doozy. The last remaining set piece from not only the B5 series, but from the set of Babylon 4. An absolute rarity. I mention this because I just saw it come up on ebay (I'd handed it off as a souvenir some time ago). I especially liked the final line, where it said that the seller could not be held responsible for temporal abnormalities that make the buyer's house disapper mysteriously....

Funny stuff.

jms
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<font color="red"> I missed out on Midnight Nation (haven't read comics in a long time now), and I noticed that there doesn't seem to be a trade paperback of it. Is tracking down the comics one by one the only way to read it? Are there plans for a book at some point, now that the series is done?</font>

Yup. The whole thing will be out in one volume in September. Which is probably the best way to read the thing.

And Spidey 42 comes out today, about 3 weeks after the last one as we continue to catch up.

jms

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2002 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

[Wizz]

<font color="red">Now *wait* a minute. That means that we're getting the episodes, *and* extras, for about the same per-time price as the movie disc.
Anyone else here feeling gypped?</font>

The movies were limited in number, these are going to be printed in much larger amounts, the more you do, the more you can bring down the price.

<font color="red">Wait a second. Parts of B5 showed up on Crusade, though--and all of *those* sets were put into storage. So did they have to rebuild the sets for Crusade? (Especially since the "Value Judgements" script had a set that was supposed to be a redress of one of the B5 corridors...) And are those still around?</font>

No. Most of the B5 sets were scrapped after we finished production, in large measure because they'd just gotten trashed over 5 years of shooting, and because WB didn't want to pay to store tens of thousands of cubic feet of sets for a show that was done. (This is par for the course on all series, btw.)

We saved a small number of the B5 sets for Crusade (part of the zocalo, some conference rooms, a couple of quarters and a hallway, that's about it) since we were going to be going back and forth to B5. But when Crusade went down, those sets were also elimated, as were the sets for Rangers.

This may seem like a bigger deal than it is; TV sets are not like feature film sets, they are made from lesser grade lumber, and they're not finished to the same degree because TV is more forgiving visually. You can get away with things that will appear on a small set that you could never get away with on a big screen.

If someone said "Okay, do a new season of (fill in the name of the show)," the costs of building new sets would be probably about the same as if we'd stored all those tens of thousands of feet of old set for X number of years, and which would also have endured more wear and tear through the fold-and-hold process. Why pay all that money to get old sets when you can pay the same amount and get new ones?

jms
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<font color="red">Fantastic! I will be buying that B5 boxed-set once it comes out. Nice to know that there will be commentaries from the cast, too.</font>

One error. Apparently Claudia had agreed to do the interview, then canceled at the last minute.

jms

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<font color="red">This just *has* to be a gag.</font>

I don't make jokes about things like this.

jms
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<font color="red">She cancelled at the last minute for her appearance at the final AgamemCon,too. I hope this isn't becoming a pattern for Claudia.</font>

Agamemcon, I believe, was June 8th. The cancellation was yesterday, Wednesday, June 26th. Just in the interests of accuracy.

jms

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2002 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

[Wizz]

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">Will there be trade paperbacks made out of your Spideys, or have some already been made?</font>

Yeah, one's already out, and I think another one's coming up fast. There's also a hardcover collection putting my stuff in with others as a kind of best-of thing.

jms

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2002 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)</font>

[Wizz]

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">from the Forbidden Plane web site concerning a signing they had a few days back:

"Forbidden Planet International and James Marsters would like to thank the legions of fans who turned up to see him at the Leeds and Manchester stores.

"While the vast majority of you seemed to have a great time (James Marsters thoroughly enjoyed it also), there have been a few complaints levelled [sic] at one of the officials present at both events.

"FPI would like to state that the gentleman in question is in no way affiliated with the company. Please accept apologies on behalf of FPI and James Marsters for any incident that may have marred either event. FPI would like to assure our customers that this kind of thing will not happen again."

Care to guess which con-running studio break-in artist in question is being referred to as "The Gentleman"? </font>

You have GOT to be kidding me. Cooney again?

What the hell happened, anyway? Give.

jms

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<font color="red">12 issues later [Midnight Nation]
What a story, absolutely amazing, thought provoking, moving....</font>

Thanks muchly.

<font color="red">Is your work at marvel going to be solely within their universe and exisiting characters (Spidey is great too) or will you have the chance to craft some more stand alone work like Midnight Nation again?</font>

I have a three-pronged deal: stories with established characters in the Marven Universe, reviving dormant characters in the MU as well as creating new characters there, and creating wholly new characters in a non-MU situation allowing me to do pretty much anything I want.

Well, that's not absolutely accurate...when Kevin Smith came on board, he asked to be given dibs on bringing MJ and Peter together again, if and when that decision should be made. So in terms of that aspect, all I can do is kind of play around the edges a bit, the ball is well and truly in Kevin's court, he's the only one who can resolve and bring them together if that is the way Marvel wants to go.

I was gonna bring 'em together again shortly, because it was my intent to get them apart only for a while, but at this point it'll be an if/when situation between Marvel and Kevin.

jms
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<font color="red">Showtime has previously stated that they are not as swayed by Nielsen ratings as non-pay networks. Should we start writing letters begging them to renew Jeremiah? What can we fans do to help?</font>

Mainly put the word out to other fans to check the show out, especially over the next 3 weeks, which includes the season finale. I'll probably be doing a general note about this shortly, but basically...it'd be great to get the word out to the whole B5 fan community to check out these last three episodes, 'cause we end on a hell of a note. It's all a matter of the numbers.

jms

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2002 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

[Baze]

Yo Wizz! So- Brian Cooney and some cock-up over signing in the UK. Was any more info forthcoming? I went to a convention run by this bloke a couple of weekends ago, and although it was OK it left a bit to be desired. Some folks were running around with a petition of complaint about not getting enough autographs, stuff like that.
What's the connection? How does JMS know this guy?More information, please!

[Wizz]

Baze,
I don't know much more than what was in that cryptic note from the newsgroup. And, didn't know much about the fuss before. What I do know is that JMS used to attend con's in the UK in the past, but hasn't been out amongst the folk in the last two years very much due to lots of work at home (paraphrasing). I'll see if I can't dig up some more info...

[Wizz]

<font face="georgia">You have GOT to be kidding me. Cooney again?

<font color="red">Darn. You guessed :-)</font>

What the hell happened, anyway? Give.
<font color="red">
Well, details are a little sketchy at the moment, but apparently he was doing his usual "once the guests have done the con, peddle them around a few signings to get some more dosh" trick, and for some reason didn't like the way the crowd in front of the Forbidden Planet shops was arranged.

In his usual subtle manner, he ended up shouting, and pushing & shoving people around. From what I am told, he "lost it" to the extent that it was borderline assault.

Which is what, I imagine, has prompted the rapid apology on the FP website and the promise that it'll never happen again.

The dossier grows just that little bit thicker. A few more incidents like this and I'll be able to produce my first million-seller book. Alternatively, I could just let Michael Moore loose on him! <grin!>

</font>
So, Baze...can you explain the phrase above "...get some more dosh"? I'm not familiar with it.

Wizz