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<html><head><title>Babylon 5 Behind the Scenes: The Creators</title><map name="toplevel"><area shape="RECT" coords="0,0,99,23" href="/lurk/universe/intro.html" alt="Universe"><area shape="RECT" coords="100,0,199,23" href="/lurk/episodes.php" alt="Episodes"><area shape="RECT" coords="200,0,299,23" href="/lurk/making/creators.html" alt="People"><area shape="RECT" coords="300,0,399,23" href="/lurk/resources/online.html" alt="Resources"><area shape="RECT" coords="400,0,499,23" href="/lurk/reference/episodes.html" alt="Encyclopedia"><area shape="RECT" coords="0,24,499,31" nohref></map>
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<p><a name="jms"><img width=80 height=100 hspace=4 align=rightsrc="/lurk/gif/chars/jms.gif"></a>The show was created by <b>J. Michael Straczynski</b> (JMS), who isexecutive producer along with Doug Netter.  It has been indevelopment since 1987.
<p>JMS has been involved with genre television for manyyears, as story editor and writer for the Twilight Zone TV series (syndicatedversion),<a href="http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/6213/index.html">Captain Power,</a>and the animated The Real Ghostbusters.  He has alsowritten for Jake and the Fatman and Murder,  She Wrote.  JMS has also hadmany published short stories, an anthology, and  two fantasy/horror novels.Until recently, he was co-host of Hour 25, a Los Angeles area science fictionradio talk show.
<p><a href="exec-prod.html"><img width=100 height=24 hspace=4 align=middlesrc="/lurk/nav/moreinfo.gif" alt="[More Info]" border=0></a><cite>What does an executive producer do?</cite>
<p><a href="/lurk/misc/jms.html"><img width=100 height=24 hspace=4 align=middlesrc="/lurk/nav/moreinfo.gif" alt="[More Info]" border=0></a><cite>What is JMS up to nowadays?</cite>
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<p><img width=80 height=100 hspace=4 align=rightsrc="/lurk/gif/chars/netter.gif"><b>Doug Netter</b> is an equal partner in Babylon 5 and has been in the businessfor a long time.  He was Executive Vice President and Chief  Operating Officer at MGM Studios from 1970-1975, where his nickname was Rattlesnake, thus Rattlesnake Productions, the production company he founded in 1978. Doug mainly handles the business side and leaves the creative work to Straczynski, which is how they first worked together on Captain Power.  Recent executive producer  credits include "Captain Power" and "The Wild West" 10-hour miniseries documentary.
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<p><img width=80 height=100 hspace=4 align=rightsrc="/lurk/gif/chars/copeland.gif"><b>John Copeland</b> is Babylon 5's producer.  Copeland has been working withNetter since 1977 and together they have produced "The Wild West" and the "Wild Times" miniseries, "Roughnecks," "The Sacketts," and the pilot for "CaptainPower," among others.<br clear=all>
<p><img width=80 height=100 hspace=4 align=rightsrc="/lurk/gif/chars/iacovelli.gif"><b>John Iacovelli</b> is the production designer, in charge of coming up withnew sets and other visual elements.  In the past, he has worked on"Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" among other films.<br clear=all>
<p><img width=80 height=100 hspace=4 align=rightsrc="/lurk/gif/chars/franke.gif"><b>Christopher Franke</b>,formerly of<a href="http://www.yahoo.com/Entertainment/Music/Artists/By_Genre/Ambient/Tangerine_Dream/">Tangerine Dream,</a>composes the show's<a href="/lurk/resources/products.html#soundtrack">soundtrack</a>and wrote the main title themes.  His film creditsinclude<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/title-exact?+=McBain">McBain,</a><a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/title-exact?+=Universal+Soldier">Universal Soldier,</a>and the miniseries<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/title-exact?+=%22Tommyknockers,+The%22+(1993)+(mini)">The Tommyknockers.</a>(Franke has released a <a href="/lurk/resources/products.html#soundtrack">soundtrack</a> album ofmusic from the first and second seasons of the show.)<br clear=all>
<p><img width=80 height=100 hspace=4 align=rightsrc="/lurk/gif/chars/ellison.gif"><a href="http://harlanellison.com/"><b>Harlan Ellison</b></a>is the conceptual consultant for the series.  He haswritten a "manifesto" for the show that explains to other writers how towrite science fiction for television and Babylon 5 in particular.  On aday-to-day basis, he has no preassigned duties (though he plans to write ascript or two) but is something of a generalist, helping refine many aspectsof the production, from writing to sets.  JMS refers to Ellison's position as"a free-roaming agent of chaos."
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<p><img width=80 height=100 hspace=4 align=rightsrc="/lurk/gif/chars/thornton.jpg"><b>Ron Thornton</b> of Foundation Imaging was in charge of the<a href="effects.html">special effects</a>through season three.  The effects won an Emmy for the pilot movie.  Thorntonhas worked on Terminator 2, the Addams Family, Captain Power, Blake's 7, DoctorWho, and other projects.
<p><a href="thornton.html"><img width=100 height=24 hspace=4 align=middlesrc="/lurk/nav/moreinfo.gif" alt="[More Info]" border=0></a><cite>An interview with Thornton.</cite>
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<p><b>Everett Burrell</b> and <b>John Vulich</b> head the make-up team at Optic Nerve studios, and won an Emmy for their work in the first season of B5.  Theyhave worked on productions such as Batman Returns, Aliens, Tales From The Crypt,Night of The Living Dead, and The Lost Boys.
<p>Well-known science fiction writers, including Ellison, David Gerrold, PeterDavid, and D.C. Fontana, are contributing scripts to the show.
<p><a href="write-direct.html"><img width=100 height=24 hspace=4 align=middlesrc="/lurk/nav/moreinfo.gif" alt="[More Info]" border=0></a><cite>A list of the show's writers and directors.</cite>
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<h5>Last update:December 21, 1995
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