On the plus side, she was referred to several times after this incident, unlike Jadzia who disappeared from reality when Ezri got the symbiont.
Ziyal
- Thread starter Sparkle Fabulosa
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On the plus side, she was referred to several times after this incident, unlike Jadzia who disappeared from reality when Ezri got the symbiont.
What? Ezri talked about her a lot, especially with Worf. And Julian.
Penumbra?
What about it?
You hear and see Jadzia. That's far more than Ziyal.
A bit hard to show when the actress you'd like to show won't allow her image to be used.
The picture you mean? They thought about pixelating it but that would have been too conspicuous.
Citation?
I was being sarcastic.
Behr attempted to bring het back for the finale. Farrell refused using any image of Jadzia.
I didn't know that. Thanks for the info.
However, what I don't get is that she had a say on the matter. After all, she had been paid for the acting and it wasn't her property anymore.
Any idea why?
I can't imagine. Maybe she hated them for some reason.
Farrell has never addressed it as far as I know,so her motivations are unknown. There's some theories about her agent and a contract that came more from the world of modelling than television, but I won't repeat them because I haven't seen a source for such theories.
What is known is that Farrell's agent asked for days of pay for a part that would take but a few minutes to film. The episode was not only over-budget, but the studio was pressuring everyone to cut more from the cost. The producers decided they couldn't take her on. On that note, the agent threatened action against the studio if they used Farrell's image in any way.
I doubt there was any animosity from the producers: she was still invited to the series wrap party.
Thanks for the info! Weird. Also sad. I think I almost took Jadzia for granted while she was on the show.
Yes, even Dukat was sorry he killed her.
Not true at all, the use of an actors image outside of the actual episode they appeared in is extensively regulated by SAG, and you have to get permission from the actor and and pay them.
There are really complicated rules governing use of the actors image just in a "previously on" segment, much less the actual episode itself. You can use clips from elsewhere in that same SEASON for a previously-on segment without having to pay the actors extra, but if you are using a clip from a previous season and the actor is not in the episode already (and thus already getting paid), you MUST get them to sign a release and pay them. The union mandates you have to pay at least one day rate minimum for it, so at the time that was probably around $700. The actor doesn't have to agree and can insist on a higher payment, but in practice I've never heard of this happening. Everyone just signs the paper and takes the $700, because it's just found money and why not?
There's also some kind of season premiere exception, so it was fine to use her clip in the previously-on in "Image In The Sand", and then that's where it ends. To use her in the previouslies in "Shadows & Symbols" without her permission is a HUGE deal (or maybe they used a still photo image of her in S&S and that's what I'm thinking of? But same rules apply)
Honestly, for that to get ON THE AIR before they realized they had not gotten Terry Farrell to sign a release is just beyond stunning to me. The incompetence and/or disrespect that requires from the production is immense. I once witnessed a similar situation on a show I was on, and it was the only multiple firing I ever witnessed -- any crew who were at all connected to the mishap were axed. It's an unambiguous violation of union rules, and that triggers all the studio lawyers swooping in, it becomes a huge pain in the ass that everybody has to devote too much time to damage-controlling -- and all because some dumb paper didn't get signed in advance -- so heads must roll.
And for it to then happen AGAIN later in the season, when they used her audio in "Penumbra" and AGAIN put it on the air without her getting to sign a release -- that is even further beyond insane to me! How were they not watching that like a hawk, after what happened at the beginning of the season?
It legitimately gets me heated because of all the years I spent doing it myself -- it's true professional malpractice on the part of the casting & production people who would have been involved in this, just an infuriating level of incompetence from them.
And I can go on a whole other thing about how similarly outrageous it is to offer Farrell a part in the finale, and then think it's reasonable to offer her a low rate because it's only a day. Full stop: when the series regular comes back for another appearance after leaving the show, it does not matter if they are there for 2 hours or 8 days, you pay them what their episode rate was when they left the show. That is what every actors and every agents completely standard, reasonable expectation would be. That's what fair is in this situation.
If that is NOT what you offering, you better be crawling up to them on your hands and knees BEGGING for a favor.
The fact that they apparently had this attitude that she should be happy to do it for some bargain rate because it's only a few hours is just obnoxious, especially given the disrespect shown her throughout that season, and it's all really revealing for me about why she wanted to leave the show in the first place.
Edit: heh, I got so carried away I forgot this was a Ziyal thread! But she might be another good example of similarly disrespectful attitudes towards the actresses, if Melanie Smith really did find out she was getting killed off by overhearing it in the makeup trailer. Killing off established characters always merits some kind of thoughtful reach out to the performer to let them know and cushion the blow.
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Well, it was the studio who circumscribed what they could pay for anything. Like I said, they were actively trying to cut things out of the episode in order to bring down the budget (as per RDM).
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