lurkers-guide/ftp/CompuServe/cs95-04

FROM 4/11/95 to 4/30/95


"But imagine what Joe could do if he had access to our nation's defense
budget."

I dunno...that's one hell of a lot of Ring Ding Jrs.

								       jms


I mentioned this elsewhere, but I figured I'd note it here as
well......  In a few days we will begin shooting the final episode of
season two: "The Fall of Night."  In terms of action, this is the
biggest thing we've ever attempted.  Where normally our scripts have
50-80 scenes/shots (as noted in numerical sluglines), this one has 134;
of which 64 are EFX shots, some in combinations.  To understand the
weight of that, there were 60 EFX shots in the entire two-hour pilot.
In addition, this has more and more *complex* CGI than the first 13
episodes of our first season put TOGETHER.  Nothing on quite this scale
has ever been attempted in series TV before, and the irony is that the
major part of this covers only a few minutes in the fourth act.

This stuff is going to involve every one of our EFX divisions,
compositing, makeup, prosthetics, costuming, practical effects, mattes,
CGI; the visual EFX meeting was the biggest we've ever had, and
everyone's both sober and excited.  Because there are only two options
when you go for something this substantial: either you're going to do
something truly amazing, or you're going to massively fall on your
face.  For our EFX people, this is kinda like boarding the wildest ride
at Magic Mountain and leaving off your seatbelt on a dare...it's one
hell of a ride, but boy is it dangerous.

But as Ron Thornton pointed out: no guts, no glory.

This is also going to be a Janet Greek-directed episode, who for
various reasons was only available to do our first episode prior to
this, but she's kind of our good luck charm, and we wanted someone
who's  done as much for us as she has to come in here and helm
this...because it could probably break a less experienced (on B5)
director.

One last item, unrelated: the month of May is a good one for final
conversions.  We're going to have some of our strongest episodes during
that month, and the first one up in May (second new episode) makes for
a very good recap/introduction to the show for newbies.  Starting with
that one, we're going balls-to-the-wall on the arc from that point on
through the rest of the season, with only one exception, which is a
very intense episode but in a different way.

Up through "The Coming of Shadows" we were still warming up; with CoS
we really hit our stride on the show, and now we're going flat-out from
here on out.  We stop for nobody.

								       jms


[What does "our demographics remain extremely good" mean?]

Ratings tell you how many people are watching your show.  Demographics
tell you *who* is watching your show: age, gender, income, that sort of
thing.  And B5's demographics are quite stellar; we attract a bright,
educated, high-class sort of audience.

Why none of them ever show up here is anyone's guess.


			       jm(it's a joke, I swear, it's a joke)s


[In a recently published viewing figures for week ending April 2 in
Britain, B5 was in Channel 4's top 30 shows. It hit #27 with 2.07
million viewers.]

That's good to know, thanks.

								       jms

Delenn *was* to be a male in the pilot.  We changed the one "he" in a
voice-over to "she," and left her voice as was, rather than changing
it.  I just wasn't happy with the voice- change.

								       jms

[I'd like to see just how the fighters get from the docking port
opening back to the cobra bays.]


In "Survivors," we showed the furies being lowered down into the bays
for recharge, then replacement into the hangar.

								       jms


[What's the difference between Earth Alliance, Earth Force, and Earth
Dome?]

Earth Alliance is the government that encompasses all the colonies
we've settled, other protectorates, plus Earth.

Earthforce is the military arm of the Earth Alliance.

Earthdome is the seat of EA government, located in Geneva.

								       jms


[ *How* is Earthdome in Geneva? Its an obvious place for a world
capital, but last time I was there (10 yrs ago) there wouldn't have
been room for even a small parliament-type building - except in the
lake. <g>]

Amazing what a few wrecking balls and an absolute disdain for matters
historical can do for urban renewal....

								       jms

[Those of us that follow B-5 closely would like to know if anything
might be in the planning stage.  All of us are asking for information
about anyone who might have one of these <fake Big Bang> Jackets.]

Thanks.  This is a real problem, but I don't feel comfortable making
fans feel responsible for tracking down and reporting this stuff; I
don't think it's appropriate to ask that, or expect that.

For my part, while the pirated jackets, patches and other material are
real issues for us, oddly enough the one I'm most troubled by are the
posters, made from B5 artwork.  The posters say that all profits go to
"Project Starfury," a supposed charity *that does not exist*.  The idea
that people are buying these things, believing they were supporting B5
and/or a charitable cause, when it wasn't true, just burns the hell out
of me.

I understand there are currently discussions between cast members and
some other fan- run cons in the midwest, so with luck there may be some
more apperances in that area.

								       jms


There have been long and agonizing discussions about the whole Big Bang
issue in- house.  The greatest concern is with the realization, made
after the prior announcement, that many people had bought
non-refundable airline tickets, and might be unable to secure refunds
for VIP tickets.  Several of the cast  members, though very concerned
about how the con was being run, were equally concerned about the fans
who might get burned.  We've talked about this at length over the last
week or so, and though the concerns remain, they feel that it's
important to do all they can to make sure that the interests of the
fans are protected.

Personally, I share with many of them these grave concerns.  They know
the risks, but have decided to go in, in order to show their open
concern for the fans.  Because those involved with this convention have
infringed our copyrights and otherwise misled us, Babylonian
Productions cannot in any way sanction the convention, and because of
our concerns, will not provide any support in any way because, frankly,
it's been misused before, and we cannot risk this happening again.
Consequently, I will not and can not attend, as that would amount to an
endorsement by B5.  The actors are free agents, and can take this
chance independently; they are not representatives of the company.

We have outlined to them steps to take to protect their interests, and
those of the fans.  I have to say that I'm amazed and stunned by their
willingness to take a chance on something that has already burned many
of us here, and to do so for the sake of those attending.  Most casts
wouldn't do this.  I *very* much hope that those involved with this
convention fully understand the degree to which they are on probation
and keep everything above-board, because we're going to be watching
with *extreme* attention.

Though I cannot take part in Big Bang, I am currently concluding
discussions with Chicago ComicCon to appear there a week later, at my
own expense, no fees, for any Chicago B5 viewers who might want to say
hello.

								   jms


     (This post may be copied freely to other services.)


[What your usual requirments are to attend cons?  I work with
InConJunction in Indianapolis.  I would like to sugest you to the Chair
as a GoH at a future InCon.]

Whatever your usual GoH's get is probably more than fine; the main
determining factor is time and schedule.

								       jms


[At the time, I was wondering why you were lurking around the edges of
things (during the discussions, and afterwards) with a highly
suspicious look in your eye.]

I was kind of hoping that my expression at the Planet Hollywood thing
didn't betray what was going on behind the scenes; it appears I was
wrong. My sense is that the audience (stage, film, gathering) should
never have to know what's going on behind the scenes, it should just go
well, no excuses.

The worst of it was during the teaser, when not one word of the show
could be heard, and I was in the back, yelling at the sound guy, then
the general manager, to fix it, that fans had paid good money to come
here and see this episode, and by god they were GOING to see it or
somebody was going to be minus a limb.  And later, the nonsense with no
microphone being available, and everybody having to shout to be heard
over the music from the rest of the club, and fans on the fringe not
being able to hear *anything*...I was furious beyond the telling.  But
I always tried to cover it up when approached, because that's my
problem, not the fans' problem, and they deserved the best night
possible.  Next time I'll work harder at curbing my face.

								       jms

The information you were told does not touch reality at any two
contiguous points.  "Tom claims that he merely sold (the jackets) 9
days earlier than he was authorized...(and) insisted that he had
approval to sell them just 9 days later."

This is, flatly, a lie.  No license agreement whatsoever had been
entered into between him and Warners.  No meetings had taken place
between those two.  No authorization of ANY kind had been given.
Warners was not even aware of the jackets until it came out that he was
selling them.

"Tom also claims that he showed JMS all of the artwork/patches he
prepared and claimed witnesses to support his contention."

True.  We provided him with artwork to make sample patches for THE DEMO
ONLY, which he said he was going to show to Warner Bros. as indication
of the promised quality of the final product.  He showed them to me,
and I repeated to him that these were ONLY for the demo, nothing else.
He agreed, and made quite a big deal out of the fact that he was
keeping them secret, showing no one else.  They were not for sale, he
agreed.  And, subsequently, sold them.

Re: fines and charges...Warners is still investigating the problem, and
may very well bring further charges.

"(Tom) gave me the name and phone number of the person in charge of the
Star Fury project who would (allegedly) confirm where the proceeds
would go."

I would be very interested in knowing who this person is, because there
IS no Starfury project.  If someone says he is involved with any such
project, this person is either directly lying, misinformed, or engaging
in deliberate fraud.  Where the money was going is one issue currently
being investigated; the other is stating that there WAS a Project
Starfury, and putting this information on posters, to make it look like
a charitable function, when no such entity existed, or had been
approved.

If you have this information, please give it to me so that I can pass
it along to Warner Bros. Legal Affairs.  We have now heard from several
people who have been told about this supposed "Project Starfury," and
who have donated resources for it, even as late as last week, without
ever being told that this does not exist.

There is no such thing as Tom's side of the story, given that the
issues at hand are matters of record.  No agreement whatsoever existed
between Warners and his company at ANY time.  Ever.  Never entered
into, never negotiated, never even had a MEETING with Warner Bros.  If
he says he had approval, let him produce the document, because there is
always a signed document giving approval.  It's that simple.  Major
studios don't just say over the phone, "Oh, sure, Tom, go ahead, we'll
get the paperwork on this later."  Deals are signed, and exchanged.

So either Tom can produce this document, or he can't.  If he can't,
he's lying.  This is a simple equation.

								     jms

We were approached by CMC about Project Starfury, and they had spoken
with Louise Kleba about this as well.  The notion of building a working
Starfury was appealing, but we wanted to know exactly what was being
discussed.

In Chicago, in a meeting, Louise talked about the technical aspects,
then Tom got into the financial aspects, which were *very* fuzzy and
very unclear.  What sounded on the one hand as a scientific endeavor
suddenly was being presented as a money-making venture for CMC, making
rides.  There was no really clear plan of action, and at that meeting,
I said that this was all very interesting, but it didn't all add up.  I
emphasized that before anyone could endorse this project, we would have
to receive a *detailed* business plan.  We had come there under the
assumption that we were looking at a scientific exploration of the
issue; what we left with was the sense that this was going to be a
private, money-making venture.  Either way, it was made ABSOLUTELY
clear that there was no deal in place, that there were some real
concerns, and this was a very problematic issue.

(Louise, btw, is a separate issue; she and her associates would like to
see a Starfury someday, but my sense is that they were kind of taken
advantage of in this.)

Next thing I knew, I get a fraudulent poster in my hands with a
notation on the thing saying ALL PROFITS GO TO PROJECT STARFURY.
Again, at that point there was no such project, there IS no such
project, and you cannot legally promote a private venture as a
charitable cause.

I'm sure that Louise and her associates in the space program will
continue to promote the idea of a working Starfury, but that is totally
separate and apart from CMC's "Project Starfury," which doesn't exist.

								       jms

[I just got a catalog from 800-TREKKER today. Are their B5 t-shirts and
caps licensed?]

I believe that that material is licensed, yes.

								       jms

Last episode's going great.  We wrap tomorrow afternoon.  (We shot an
extra day for the first time because there's *so* much heavy EFX work
in this thing.)

								       jms

[So, with "There all the Honor Lies," is Sheridan on his way down the
well, or is he still teetering precipitously on the edge?]

Sheridan really starts down the well in about two more weeks.

								       jms