brennen
/
lurkers-guide


								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