sf/f TV development news - 2013

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Julie Benz cast as female lead in Defiance!

Plus Rewind casting (lead?). Shane McRae will play

 

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

I haven't watched it, but Netflix's first original series Lilyhammer is available. Here's there description:

The mobster is played Steven Van Zandt from The Sopranos, and the rest of the cast appear to be Norwegian.

 

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

There's been speculation that viewership of Lilyhammer is pretty low.

Even for a web series, there does does need to be some motive for people to bother with it, and that description sounds like a lot of cable shows. It just doesn't jump out as something amazing and worth watching, even if I'm already a satisfied Netflix customer (which I am).

People like me aren't the people Netflix needs to worry about - they're already getting my money. They need shows that will make people become first-time subscribers, and if they can't even get current subscribers to watch something, that's not a good sign.

However, it doesn't sound that Netflix is footing the bill by itself, so as long as their investment is minimal, the viewership can be minimal too. It's a first, low-risk step for them.

However, if Netflix wants to produce shows that will make people who are not current subscribers become subscribers - and stop current unhappy subscribers from defecting - they are going to have to come up with more compelling content.

 

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Yeah, I have no interest in it whatsoever, I just wanted to mention that it's out there. They are also going to be relaunching Arrested Development eventually, and that one I am really looking forward to.

 

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

That's a better idea for them. There's a fanbase that wants more of that show, and might opt to subscribe in order to get it, and the quality is on par with what they should be going for - something equivalent to the better cable shows.

 

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Another terrific actor has been cast in an sf/f pilot! This time Gotham (which I am now starting to like better).

And kudos to them for showing some restraint and not making him Annie's "tough as nails" boss. Casting him as a Bloomberg type is much more clever.

 

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Good doesn't mean expensive. There are Broadway shows that cost a fortune and local theater that doesn't-- it doesn't mean local theater isn't worth watching. There are splashy popcorn movies that cost a quarter of a billion dollars to make, and independent movies that are made for less than a tenth of that-- they are often better than big studo productions that are designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator. The world is full of very talented independent creators-- not just writers and musicians, but actors, costumers, makeup artists and so on. You can find them everywhere from your local theater to SF conventions. There's great potential waiting to be tapped.

 

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Monsters was made for about quarter of a million and is a good movie with some big effects.

 

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Somebody needs to post a link to a sci fi internet series that's worth watching. I've sampled a few and for whatever reason, the part where they fall down is usually the acting. (Is it really that hard to find talented out of work actors willing to do a free or low paid gig?) I've never found one where I wanted to see more than five minutes. Maybe money is not the problem but then what is the problem?

I did a quick check on Netflix, which is giving that one a star rating below my usual tolerance threshold. I've learned the hard way not to ignore those ratings.

 

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

More casting for Beauty & the Beast (ABC) and Zero Hour.

 

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Does netflix still have an original pilot competition or make sci-fi movies or pilots? Last time I checked the sci-fi winners, nothing intersted me in the slightest.

For a Trek-ish fan film, Starship Potemkin is pretty cool. It's like a 70s movie version of Trek for the BBC or something but the acting is pretty good for a no budget production because they use actors from the local university acting school anf the Captain is a drama teacher himself so there is alot of raw undeveloped talent there as well as experienced actors.

 

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Are you sure it was Netflix? I googled "netflix pilot competition" and came up with nothing at least not on the first page. (Congrats, your post was #7, which is a strong indication that I shouldn't bother to search on page two. )

Amazon Studios has something similar, but for movies and not sci fi specific.

 

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Vanessa Williams joins 666 Park Avenue as Terry O'Quinn's wife.

They should be a hoot together.

Plus Revolution and Zero Hour casting.

Tim Guinee's name rang a bell...he was in Stargate, playing Adria's husband.

 

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Tim Guinee's name sparked a moment's interest in Revolution. He's pretty good. I think he was the lead in a short lived series called something like Strange New World too.

However. Inasmuch as it takes energy to make living things keep on living, as in pumping blood, etc., or simply to light up the landscape, it is hard to see how a black screen (presumably) full of dead people could be an interesting series. Perhaps they meant all forms of manmade energy disappear? Although it is hard to figure how falling water is to know when it's just being pretty scenery and when it's powering a generator.

SF fans are eager to willingly suspend disbelief, but it really isn't too much to expect the writers to help us out a little. There are levels of stupid that just are not acceptable.

 

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

They just mean all the machines that run on energy have stopped or something like that - somebody keeps perpetuating a very silly logline there.

 

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Exactly. There are a ton of independent and direct-to-DVD films that are made for that or less. Listening to the commentary tracks are great. No expensive catering on these sets. Everybody just brings pot luck.

I'm not familiar with any Sci Fi Internet series, so I can't say. But I do know that the talent is out there.

 

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Heh.

I'm not going to say it's worth watching, because I'm not a walking advertisement, but I can say that the most ambitious project I'm aware of is Trenches: http://www.youtube.com/show/trenches?feature=sh_sf_show_1_5. I can say it's at least worth a look as a case study.

 

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Thanks for the link. It's a pretty tired premise, but it's all in the execution-- I'll take a look.

 

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Thanks for the link - that's definitely the best of the sci fi webseries I've seen yet. If that were on SyFy, I'd watch it. It's no worse than that Red Dead Redemption adaptation they did.

Where is it shot anyway? Do you know how it's financed? (Solely off YouTube ads?) What does Sony have to do with it?

 

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

You're welcome. (Just a sec while I write this date down, Mar. 10, 2012, the day I knew something that Te---.) OK.

I heard about this on a board that has since folded. I don't know much really, except that it was surprisingly cheap.

Here's the official site: http://www.trenchesonline.com/.

Here's the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trenches_(Web_Series), which is minimal but does have links to articles about it. The one at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2010/01/trenches-discarded-disney-digital-projects-lands-at-sony.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+newsandbuzz+%28News+%26+Buzz%29 should answer some of your questions. The link http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jun/15/business/fi-ct-webvideo15 from that article is also relevant.