Showing posts with label martin wood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label martin wood. Show all posts

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Stargate Universe / Sanctuary - Directors Guild of Canada 2010 Nominations

At the Directors Guild of Canada:

2010 DGC AWARDS

Comedian Dave Foley will host the 9th annual gala on Saturday, September 25, 2010 at the regal Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto.

Ticket sales for DGC members open Wednesday, July 7, 2010.
Ticket sales for industry open Wednesday, July 28, 2010.

2010 DGC Awards Nominations
*** nominees may be subject to change*** (include)

BEST DIRECTION - TV SERIES



Stargate Universe creators Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper

Presented by Gold Sponsor, William F. White

Adrienne Mitchell for Durham County - "Little Lost Children"
Robert C. Cooper for Stargate Universe - "Human"
Helen Shaver for The Bridge - Eps. 110
Holly Dale for Flashpoint - "Perfect Storm"


BEST TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA
Presented by Gold Sponsor, PS Production Services

Being Erica - Eps. 109 "Everything She Wants" - Jeff Woolnough (Director)

Flashpoint - "One Wrong Move" - David Frazee (Director)



Sanctuary Director Martin Wood

Sanctuary - Eps. 213 "Kali Part 2" - Martin Wood (Director), Doug Brons (Production Manager), Gordon D. MacDonald (1st Assistant Director), Eddy Hardy (2nd Assistant Director), Gisela Schulte (3rd Assistant Director), Chantelle Collett (Trainee Assistant Director), Tanner Adams (Production Assistant), Amanda Eglisson (Production Assistant), Michael McAree (Production Assistant), Bruce Brownstein (Location Manager), Heather Vedan (Location Manager), Scott Walden (Location Manager), Stephen Sangster (Assistant Location Manager), Terry Brooks (Location Scout), Doug John White (Location Scout)

The Bridge - Eps. 110 - Helen Shaver (Director)

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Sanctuary - Some Shows: Video: Daily Planet covers SANCTUARY on the Discovery Channel

Courtesy of Some Shows:

Daily Planet covers SANCTUARY on the Discovery Channel.

An all-new and revolutionary direct to internet webisode based series starring Amanda Tapping and Robin Dunne. The series uses video game production technology to generate entire sets VIRTUALLY in 360 degrees – adding hundreds of hours to post-production while opening heretofore unexplored potential in the genre of INTERACTIVE television(esque) entertainment. Here’s to the future of consumer driven media!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Sanctuary - Ottawa Citizen: Sci-fi show finds Sanctuary in Vancouver

At the Ottawa Citizen (Canada):

(Please follow the link for the complete article.)

Sci-fi show finds Sanctuary in Vancouver

By Katherine Monk, Canwest News Service June 11, 2010

VANCOUVER - Ian Tracey's face is black, blue and bloody, but he's not getting any love from a stone-faced Amanda Tapping. Dressed in black leathers and knee-high boots, the veteran actor is getting tough with this alien brand of Cybil - an "abnormal" with multiple personalities - because, well, the survival of humanity depends on it.

Welcome to the Vancouver set of Sanctuary - "the little show that could."

A special-effects and character-driven series recently picked up for its third season by Canadian and US networks, Sanctuary is just the latest Sci-Fi skein to call Vancouver home - carrying on a legacy forged nearly 20 years ago with the birth of X-Files and the eventual installation of the Stargate spin-off family.

... Sanctuary airs in Canada on Space, and in the US on SyFy. Sanctuary Season 2 is available on DVD June 15.

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Sunday, May 23, 2010

Sanctuary - Syfy: Schedule for May 24 - 27 '10

Courtesy of Syfy's schedulebot:

SANCTUARY - Syfy Schedule for week May 24 - 27, 2010

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Robin Dunne as Will Zimmerman

5/24/2010 02:00A PAVOR NACTURNUS



Amanda Tapping and Paul McGillion

5/25/2010 01:00A KALI - PART I - Guest stars include Callum Blue, Paul McGillion, Robert Lawrenson and Terry Chen. Written by Alan McCullough and directed by Martin Wood.



5/25/2010 02:00A KALI - PART II - Guest stars include Callum Blue, Paul McGillion, Terry Chen, Shaker Paleja, Sahar Biniaz, Balinder Johal and Vibhor Mathur. Written by Alan McCullough and directed by Martin Wood.

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Christine Chatelain, Robin Dunne, Peter Wingfield, Christopher Heyerdahl
and Amanda Tapping

5/25/2010 03:00A REVELATIONS - PART 2 - Guest stars include Jonathon Young, Lynda Boyd, Peter Wingfield, Christine Chatelain and Alex Diakun.



Jonathon Young


5/26/2010 02:00A SLEEPERS - Guest stars include Ryan Kennedy, Jonathon Young and Chad Rook.



Christopher Heyerdahl

5/27/2010 02:00A HAUNTED - Written by Damian Kindler and directed by Peter DeLuise.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Sanctuary - Syfy (US): SciFi Friday Marathon May 21 '10

From Syfy's schedulebot:

SANCTUARY SEASON TWO MARATHON on Syfy (US) Friday, May 21, 2010

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Colin Cunningham and Amanda Tapping

08:00A FRAGMENTS - Guest stars include Anne Marie DeLuise and Colin Cunningham.

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Robin Dunne and Erica Cerra

09:00A VERITAS - Guest stars include Erica Cerra, Colin Lawrence and Robert Lawrenson. Directed by Amanda Tapping.

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Robin Dunne and Amanda Tapping

10:00A NEXT TUESDAY



Michael Shanks and Amanda Tapping

11:00A PENANCE - Guest stars include Michael Shanks and Aleks Paunovic. Written by Alan McCullough.

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Jonathon Young

12:00P SLEEPERS - Guest stars include Ryan Kennedy, Jonathon Young and Chad Rook.

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Christopher Heyerdahl

1:00P HAUNTED - Written by Damian Kindler and directed by Peter DeLuise.

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Amanda Tapping and Paul McGillion

2:00P KALI - PART I - Guest stars include Callum Blue, Paul McGillion, Robert Lawrenson and Terry Chen. Written by Alan McCullough and directed by Martin Wood.

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Robin Dunne

3:00P KALI - PART II - Guest stars include Callum Blue, Paul McGillion, Terry Chen, Shaker Paleja, Sahar Biniaz, Balinder Johal and Vibhor Mathur. Written by Alan McCullough and directed by Martin Wood.

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Thursday, January 14, 2010

Sanctuary - TV Guide Magazine Online: Sanctuary Goes Bollywood

At TV Guide Magazine Online:

(Please follow the link for the complete article.)



Sanctuary Goes Bollywood

by Michael Logan January 14, 2010

Robin Dunne has gone toe-to-toe with witches, vampires and time-traveling serial killers in his role as forensic shrink Will Zimmerman on Sanctuary. But in the show’s January 15 season finale he will face his greatest challenge ever—dancing Bollywood style! The two-hour episode finds docile abnormals suddenly becoming violent all over the world. Will goes to Mumbai to get answers and is bitten by an abnormal spider which—long story short—may lead to global disaster. The spider’s venom has Will breaking into intense fever and spasms, speaking extensive Hindi and hallucinating an entire Bollywood musical number featuring him and 15 back up dancers.
“It was totally insane,” Dunne says. “I’m not a dancer at all—in fact, I can only do a two-step if I bite my lip long enough—so I was absolutely terrified! The whole thing was so crazy that at first I thought it was a prank. We’re always playing practical jokes on each other at the set and when I read the script I thought that’s what it was. I was really impressed at the lengths [exec producers] Martin Wood and Damian Kindler had gone to fool me—writing an entire fake story! But, to my horror, it turned out to be the real deal...”

...“Kali,” the two-part season finale of Sanctuary airs Friday, January 15, 9/8c, Syfy.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Sanctuary - Show Patrol: Amanda Tapping Answers Fans' Questions

At Chicago Now's Show Patrol (Chicago, IL):

(Please follow the link for the complete interview and q&a.)



Amanda Tapping (Helen Magnus) and Agam Darshi (Kate Freelander)


Amanda Tapping answers 'Sanctuary' fans' questions

Curt Wagner on 01.08.10

When "Sanctuary" returns for its third season in the fall, fans will be treated to 20 episodes--six more than in each of the first two seasons.
"It's a huge coup," Tapping told me Monday over the phone from Vancouver. "It's daunting, but I think we're ready for it. I'm glad the first two seasons were 13. It really gave us an opportunity to find our feet and get into our groove with it on so many different levels. So 20, we're ready for it."

She and co-producers Damian Kindler and Martin Wood--the "brain trust," as she said--now have to secure funding for the season because, just as in the past, the production does not have the backing of a studio. Tapping said not being tied to a studio has advantages and disadvantages, but "we're still struggling with that..."

... @amandatapping was happy to spend extra time answering fan questions I collected from Twitter followers. Keep reading for those. Check back early next week to read what Tapping and co-star Robin Dunne have to say about the S2 finale coming Jan. 15.

A brief excerpt:

Michael Shanks guest starred this season. Any chance you'll be able to get Richard Dean Anderson or Chris Judge on? (via @morjana)
I'd love to. I'd love to try to get Carol on too. So yeah, the door's always open.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Sanctuary - Show Patrol: Amanda Tapping previews 'Haunted'

At Chicago Now's Show Patrol (Chicago, IL):

(Please follow the link for the complete article and a video preview of the episode.)



Robin Dunne (Will Zimmerman) and Amanda Tapping (Helen Magnus)

Amanda Tapping previews 'Haunted' ep of 'Sanctuary'

by Curt Wagner

on 01.06.10

So what exactly does Helen Magnus see in John Druitt, her serial-killer ex, on Syfy's "Sanctuary?"

Get ready to find out.
"I think you finally see why Helen fell in love with this man in the first place," Amanda Tapping, who plays Helen, said over the phone on Monday. "You get a hint of the depth of their love and the trust, and his passion and intelligence. He was at one point and time a gentle soul, and you can sort of see a bit of that."

In the episode, called "Haunted" and airing at 9 p.m. Friday, Druitt (Christopher Heyerdahl) becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a refugee Helen and the Sanctuary team rescued from a sinking ship off the coast of South Africa. Helen also worries that he's causing some odd happenings within the Sanctuary that have isolated the teams in pairs of two...

.. Tapping and I talked about the Jan. 15 season finale and the show's upcoming third season, which she and co-producers Martin Wood and Damian Kindler are just starting to plan. And she was more than happy to answer all of your questions, so come back over next few days.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Sanctuary - SciFi and TV Talk's Blog: Sanctuary’s Martin Wood – Season Of Change

At SciFi and TV Talk's Blog:

(Please follow the link for the complete article and numerous photos.)

Sanctuary’s Martin Wood – Season Of Change

by Steven Eramo



Martin Wood

Having honed his craft directing such Sci-Fi TV shows as Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Andromeda, Jeremiah and Earth: Final Conflict along with helping produce both Stargate series, Martin Wood has brought all those years of experience to his role as an executive producer as well as writer and director on Sanctuary. Debuting last fall on The Syfy Channel, Sanctuary began on the Internet as the story of Dr. Helen Magnus, who operates a worldwide network of facilities, or Sanctuaries, that were established to provide shelter for, and in some cases imprison, creatures called Abnormals. The series returned this past October for its second season, and while its overall premise remains the same this year, it has further grown and developed, as Wood explains.
“When we came back this year and talked about where we wanted to go with the second season, we all knew that we now had an idea of what this show could be,” recalls the director. “The direction that Damian Kindler [series creator/executive producer], Amanda Tapping [who stars as Dr. Helen Magnus and also serves as an executive producer] and I wanted to go in was to make Sanctuary bigger and better. And everyone here took that to heart and ran with it, which I think is great.

“We went through a whole range of different things as far as how we were going to start the season and what we were going to do. That included looking at a bunch of audience reactions to season one, because we wanted to react to what the viewers felt. As a result, we decided, ‘We have to shake things up a little bit.’ You know my philosophy on major characters; I always feel that they have to be expendable because the only thing that keeps a TV show alive is if its characters are in real jeopardy. If not, every time one of them gets into a dire situation, you know they’re going to come out OK on the other end...

Friday, November 20, 2009

Sanctuary - Canada: Space Channel: Contest for Autographed Scripts

At Canada's Space Channel's InnerSpace blog:

(Please follow the link for the complete blog update and a photo of Amanda, Damian and Martin.)

Sanctuary at SPACE

Pix Princss | 11/19/2009

Small disclosure: I have a total girl-crush on Amanda Tapping. Not only is she foxy and smart, but she lives and breathes sci-fi. As any one who's met her can tell you is as lovely as she seems. I kind of want her to be my big sister, but I was too shy to ask. She visited us at SPACE yesterday with her partners in crime, Sanctuary co-Creators Damian Kindler and Martin Wood. It was kind of hard to concentrate, and as you can probably tell by the frequency of the Facebook and Twitter updates, it was all kinds of awesome.

... Amanda is going to host tonight's episode of InnerSPACE tonight, discussing Eureka and the upcoming episode of Sanctuary, which she directed. Very cool!

And before I forget, the three Sanctuary creators have given us three signed scripts of 'End of Nights Pt. 1' to put into a contest! So enter now for this great chance to win some excellent Sanctuary legacy material.'

Go to the Contest Page

A brief excerpt from the rules:

To enter and to be eligible to win, entrant must be a legal resident of Canada (excluding Quebec) and be thirteen (13) years of age or older.

Limit of one (1) entry per individual per week through December 7 '09.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Sanctuary - Video: Enhanced 'End of Nights, Part 2'

Courtesy of HULU and SyFy:

Sanctuary - 'End of Nights, Part 2'

Commentary (s.2 : ep.2)|43:54|

Amanda Tapping (Helen Magnus), Damian Kindler (executive producer and writer of episode), and Martin Wood (executive producer/director) provide audio commentary for Sanctuary episode 202, "End of Nights - Part 2."



Sanctuary airs 10pm Friday on SyFy (US).

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Sanctuary - You Tube: SyFy Press Tour Videos

Courtesy of You Tube, Kenn Gold's Channel, videos of the Sanctuary press tour/panel (thank you, Kenn, for sharing!):

PART ONE



PART TWO



PART THREE



PART FOUR



PART FIVE



PART SIX



PART SEVEN




Sanctuary airs Fridays at 10pm on SyFy (US).

Friday, May 15, 2009

Sanctuary - XtremePicture: Video: Leo Awards '09 - Robin Dunne, Ryan Robbins & Martin Wood

Courtesy of Left Coast TV and XtremePicture at YouTube:

Red carpet interviews at the 2009 Leo Awards in Vancouver, Canada, include Sanctuary's Robin Dunne, Ryan Robbins and Martin Wood (at approximately the 2:00 minute mark). Towards the end of the video clip, various clips of actors accepting awards, including Amanda Tapping, Ryan Robbins and Brad Wright from Stargate.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Stargate Atlantis - MGM Stargate: Stargate Magazine 28 - Ryan Robbins Interview

At MGM Stargate:

(Please follow the link for the complete interview.)



Stargate Magazine #28 On Sale Now!


May 14, 2009

Read an interview with Ryan Robbins, (Genii Ladon Radim), featured in issue #28 of The Official Stargate SG-1/Atlantis Magazine.


A brief excerpt:

Ryan Robbins
, the actor behind Genii Ladon Radim, is incredibly grateful to Martin Wood. The Stargate: Atlantis director is single-handedly responsible for saving Ladon’s life. Were it not for Wood, the Genii scientist would never have survived to engineer Cowen’s demise, and become leader of his people. It was a close call though.
“When I first got the role, the character wasn’t supposed to survive past two episodes,” Robbins explains. “We were about to shoot the scene where Ladon gets killed and Martin goes, ‘You know what? I like you, I don’t think I’m gonna kill you. Let’s kill that guy!’ — and he pointed to a background artist. Then he said to me, ‘We’ll get you back on the show.’ Martin Wood decided to keep me around!”

Read the full interview in issue 28 of The Official Stargate SG-1/Atlantis Magazine now available at newsstands everywhere! Click here to subscribe today!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Stargate Universe - Joseph Mallozzi's Blog Update - NEW photo Michael Shanks

From Joseph Mallozzi's blog update for April 29, 2009:

(Please follow the link for the complete blog update and to view the two new photos, one including Michael Shanks, and the other of Justin Louis and director Peter DeLuise on the Destiny set in their original format.)



No - YOU! Michael Shanks back in familiar surroundings.

April 29, 2009: Simul-posting, Stargate, and the SyFy Slant.

... Today’s mailbag:

... Major D. Davis writes: “1. Will water’s events include young and Scott being stranded somewhere together?
2. Will sgu still have the normal dose of stargate action?
3. Will Martin Wood be directing universe anytime soon?
4 Will there be any crossover races in universe?
5. Have you read Fahrenheit 451 yet? If you did did you like it?
6. Which SGU character are you most interested in so far?”

Answers: 1. Sounds great. I can’t wait to see if this plays out when the episode airs.
2. Yep. Action, adventure, humor, pathos, gravitas, veritas, demi-tasse.
3. Nope. He’s busy on Sanctuary.
4. No plans to have any crossover races in the new show.
5. I have. I preferred The Martian Chronicles.
6. Like any right-minded parent who is asked to choose between their beloved children, I would say that the intensity of my love and order of favorites varies from day to day, dependent upon the show material we happen to be shooting, watching, or reading.




Peter Deluise (foreground) directs actor Justin Louis (background) on the Destiny gateroom set (Stage 4).

... Ascended Tauri writes: “How much has Mr. Scalzi been contributing the Universe progress? Has he stopped back in Vancouver since he was there originally?”

Answer: While he hasn’t been back in Vancouver, John has been reading and supplying notes on all the scripts to date.

... Narcissus writes: “The Vancouver Set Tour 2009 included a visit to the set of the U.S.S. General Hammond, does that mean it’ll make an appearance in Stargate Universe?”

Answer: It’ll certainly be making an appearance somewhere.

... Angelus writes: “It’s been said SG-U is going to be filmed like a sort of documentary. (Cloverfield style). My question is, Does that mean we’ll get lots of shaking and out of focus camera shots like what was done in the Cloverfield movie?”

Answer: No. In fact, I believe Rob made it a point of stressing that we won’t be doing a lot of shaky cam.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Stargate: Ark of Truth & Continuum - NBCUMV: US Television Premieres

At NBCUMV:



SCI FI PRESENTS U.S. TELEVISION PREMIERE OF TWO 'STARGATE' FILMS THIS SPRING

Published: February 5, 2009

Stargate: The Ark of Truth Airs March 27

Stargate: Continuum On April 3

NEW YORK – February 5, 2009 – Fans of the hit Stargate television franchise will rejoice this spring when SCI FI presents the U.S. premiere of the two highly successful films Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum. Beginning on Friday, March 27 at 9 PM/ET, get set for The Ark of Truth and then tune in on Friday, April 3 at 9 PM/ET for Continuum.

Continuing the legacy and thrilling journey of the popular Stargate SG-1 television series, Stargate: The Ark of Truth picks up after "Unending," the SG-1 series finale. Searching for an ancient weapon which could help them defeat the sinister Ori force, SG-1 discovers it may be in the Ori's own home galaxy, and the crew finds themselves fighting two powerful enemies. The film stars series favorites Amanda Tapping (2005 Saturn Award, Best Supporting TV Actress), Golden Globe® winner and three-time Emmy Award® winning actor Beau Bridges, Michael Shanks, Ben Browder, Christopher Judge, and Claudia Black. Robert C. Cooper serves as writer/director and co-executive producer along with Brad Wright. Both men are the co-creators of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis and currently serve as executive producers on Atlantis.



Stargate: Continuum, the adrenaline-driven, action adventure film, has members of SG-1 returning to a world where their history has been dramatically altered. Continuum reunites Richard Dean Anderson as Jack O'Neill, with all the series favorite crewmembers. The most northern filmed movie production in history. Stargate: Continuum features incredible visual effects, out-of-this-world battle sequences and breathtaking scenes shot on the Arctic ice. Directed by Martin Wood (Sanctuary) and written by Brad Wright, the film finds Ba'al as he travels back in time and tries to prevent the Stargate program from ever being started. The SG-1 team must somehow restore history and once again save the galaxy from oppressive domination.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Stargate - Brad Wright Answers Your Questions

At Joseph Mallozzi's blog update for January 2, 2009:

(Please follow the link for the complete LENGTHY blog update. Photos of Brad, Paul Mullie, Martin Wood and Carl Binder [and more] at the site.)



January 2, 2009: Brad Wright Answers Your Questions

Today, rather than regale you with an elaborate account of how my mother made me apply her hairdryer to the sliding back door in an effort to melt the ice that had frozen it shut so that she could clear the kitchen of hot pepper fumes and oil, I'm turning this entry over
to Brad Wright and his long-awaited Q&A session.

Now those of you who only come here for my hilarious responses to email spam and cute doggy pics could be excused for not knowing that Brad Wright co-created Stargate: SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis, and the upcoming Stargate: Universe, has acted as an Executive Producer and Showrunner on all three, written a mind-staggering number of episodes for the Stargate franchise (many of them significant and uncredited rewrites) and, perhaps most importantly, has through his generosity and infinite patience, shepherded countless eager up-and-comers through the challenging, sometimes tricky, occasionally baffling world of television production (myself among them). His writing/producing credits have included work on The Black Stallion, Neon Rider, The Outer Limits, and, of course, the following Q&A…

... Laura writes: "When you first pitched Stargate, did you every dream that it would last for 10 seasons, still continue on in movie format, and create 2 spin off series? Or, what were you initial expectations of the SG-1?"
BW: I knew we would be making 44 episodes, which was as much as I dared imagine at the time. 10 years? No. In fact, if you'd told me it would have gone that long, I would have told you I wouldn't still be here. But it's still fun, so I am.

... Jeff B. writes: "While I'm sure you're terribly busy with all things SGU at the moment, could you please give us an update as to where exactly things are with regard to the third Stargate movie?"
BW: We're making a movie. Carl Binder and I are co-writing the script. Martin [Wood] will direct. If you have a good title, let me know.

... "My question to you is, how committed are you to the movie making of SGA? If committed, how many movies are we talking if each does well, infinite?"
BW: There are so many deals that have to be in place each time, it's impossible to predict. It also depends on the success of the first one. MGM was talking about more SG-1 movies as soon as the first did well.

... FargateOne writes: "1. TV is a business. Do a space show costs a lot more than vampires, paranormal or angels stories. Is it correct to say that MGM wanted to invest money in only one space show and finally, planets were aligned to put money in SGU since Farscape ended, Star Trek ended, Firefly ended, Battlestar Galactica ended etc.? 2.This one is more a wish than a question (maybe too early to ask) but, do you have plans for Claudia Black or Ben Browder in Stargate Universe?"
BW: Yes, to the first question and no to the second.

... Platschu writes: ... "6. Can we expect new shooting locations in Universe? Or will there be more CGI created world or maybe digital sets?"
BW: Yes, and yes. We're scouting in the desert of New Mexico as I write this sentence.

... TheTrueMole writes: "Are you going to bother to produce a full length opening sequence and have SciFi cut it down later, or just stick to a 3 second title screen from the get-go?"
BW: We are planning a third option.

... Aboleyn24 writes: "The Shrine will always be one of my all time favorite episodes. For me the best scenes in SGA are the small character driven ones. That is why I love Sunday as well. The scenes between Sheppard and Rodney stand out above all else, especially the pier scene, a perfect balance of heart and humor."
BW: The pier scene was why I wanted to write the episode.

... Libkat writes: "Rumors persist that you aren't a big fan of Vala as a character. Will Claudia Black continue to have a place in the SG1 movie universe? I adore the way Vala kept the snarky side of Daniel Jackson alive after RDA left the show and CB and MS have terrific chemistry."
BW: I thought Claudia was terrific in Continuum, but Vala won't be returning in the third movie.

... Enzo Aquarius writes: "A totally out-of-the-blue question, has there been thoughts of including SG-1 characters in the pilot for Continuum? Such as how Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks were in Atlantis' pilot?"
BW: Mmmmaybe.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Sanctuary - Vancouver Sun: Route to television a labour of love and sweat

At the Vancouver Sun (Vancouver, BC, Canada):

(Please follow the link for the complete two-page article.)



Sanctuary's route to television a labour of love and sweat

Web show's producers find TV market but they're not out of the woods yet

Marke Andrews, Vancouver Sun
Published: Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Sanctuary, a Vancouver-made drama series, has broken new ground on a lot of fronts.

Originally shot for the Internet, it reinvented itself as an over-the-air television series with international sales. It raised funds through private investment, a rarity in Canada, where investment capital is almost non-existent. It was shot primarily without sets in a green-screen studio setting, the sets and background details later added digitally.

As a Web series, Sanctuary failed, not because it wasn't popular -- the eight 15-minute webisodes had four million viewers -- but because there was no revenue stream from a public used to getting Internet entertainment for free.

So the three Sanctuary executive producers -- writer Damian Kindler, actress Amanda Tapping and director Martin Wood, all veterans of the successful two Stargate TV series -- started all over again, making 13 one-hour episodes for TV, at $1.6 million per episode, funded by Vancouver-based The Beedie Group and "hundreds of thousands of dollars" of their own money.

Thus far they've earned licence fees from their main broadcasters (Sci Fi Channel in the U.S., ITV 4 in Britain, and Movie Central and The Movie Network in Canada), and will get income from DVD sales, but it may be three years before they earn their investment money back.

And they don't even know at this point -- five episodes have aired on Sci Fi Channel, with respectable viewership numbers -- if their broadcasters want a second season.
"We still believe [success] is possible," says Tapping. "We've personally taken a huge financial hit. We're not getting paid as executive producers and we've deferred our fees to try to make this property a success. But it's going to take awhile."

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Sanctuary - Paley Center for Media: Premiere Video & Photos

At the Paley Center for Media:

SCI FI Channel Premiere: Sanctuary

Photos include a very lovely group photo and the video is approximately 4 min 22secs. Includes Robin Dunne, Martin Wood, Damian Kindler and Amanda Tapping.

Screen prints from the video:



Robin Dunne (Will Zimmerman), Writer/Producer Damian Kindler, Director/Producer Martin Wood, Moderator Michael Logan (TV Guide)



Robin Dunne



Martin Wood




Damian Kindler



Amanda Tapping (Helen Magnus)

Sanctuary - Stills from 'Fata Morgana' and 'Folding Man'

From the Sanctuary For All site (please follow the links to view the photos in their original format):

Fata Morgana



Director Martin Wood, Christopher Heyerdahl as Big Foot




Ashley Magnus (Emilie Ullerup)










Folding Man




Ashley Magnus (Emilie Ullerup)



Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping)