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Interviews: Ask J. Michael Straczynski What You Will
He has written for many different comic book titles including Superman and The Amazing Spider-Man, and wrote the screenplay for the Academy Award-nominated movie Changeling, but J. Michael Straczynski (jms) is probably best known as being the creator, writer, and producer of Babylon 5. Recently, jms has teamed up with the Wachowskis and Netflix to create a new original sci-fi series, Sense8, coming out in late 2014. Straczynski has agreed to take a few minutes from writing sci-fi epics in order to answer any questions you may have. As usual, ask as many as you'd like, but please, one question per post.
I've heard that to be a good writer you need to read and write several hours daily. On average how many hours do you spend reading each day? Writing? Do you have an average word count you aim to produce for each day?
My work here is dung.
As the emergence of more Philip K. Dick movies (and remakes) indicate, there's a lot of great sleeper sci-fi out there.
Who's your favorite writer that no one else seems to be enjoying?
My work here is dung.
Do you frequently brush up on physics or cosmology or some scientific field to keep your forward looking ideas sharp and in-line with current academic trends or do you simply rely on your imagination? Any academic journals you subscribe to looking for something to stimulate you into envisioning a future with an interesting twist? Is this common in the writing community or do I have the wrong image in my head?
My work here is dung.
Time travel is a sticky area in Sci-Fi stories and is so pervasive it has caught the eye of Chinese censors. Since H.G. Wells it's been a major staple of sci-fi movies and has become quite pervasive from fantasy books like Harry Potter to television series like Lost and Futurama. Even modern Sci-Fi stories like Stephen Baxter can still win awards for novels based on time travel. I'm not incredibly familiar with your work so I don't know if you've relied on time travel yet, however, I would like to hear your take on it. Is it a tired cliched mechanism that is overused or do you still find yourself thoroughly entertained with the possibilities it presents? If you wrote it, would/did you go infinite parallel universes or single universe with time travel paradox correcting crumple zones?
My work here is dung.
In your opinion is there anything we as viewers can do to get more quality sci-fi on TV and keep it there without being cancelled? It's always too expensive, takes a long time to gain a strong following and syndication, and then gets pushed out in favour of wrestling or some paranormal nonsense. We don't even have a proper sci-fi channel any more, despite there being literally hundreds of channels available.
I'd love to contribute to the funding of, say, more episodes of Stargate Universe, but at $2m/episode I just can't see how crowd funding would work.
Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions.
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SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Do you think a series like Babylon 5 could be made today? Could you please get right on that?
You've worked in television, what are the pros and cons in the deltas between Netflix and one of the big networks/cable goliaths? Do they still goad you into putting a cliff hanger at the end of the episode so the couch potato continues to veg-out and just hit 'play' on the next installment? Are you glad you don't need to plan for commercial bumps? Any dark sides to being paid by Netflix?
My work here is dung.
Babylon 5 started off very strongly, but many fans feel that the show jumped the shark after Season 3, even as it's suggested that the series story arc was planned from the start. What actually happened?
You were one of the first Hollywood writers with an online presence, hanging out in newsgroups during production of Babylon 5. My memories of that were tidbits and insights from you, along with frequent "no story submissions" reminders and threats of your departure if the story ideas didn't stop. How do you remember that experience? Was it worth the hassle? And do you view the seeming explosion of writers, directors, producers and actors on social media as a positive or negative for the industry overall?
I bought them all on DVD. I'd gladly pay again to have them in HD with redone CGI/Post production. Especially if care is taken with the sound track. No idea what that would cost to produce. ST:TNG seems to be doing well cost/profit wise; I'd like to think B5 could garner similar sales. I'd rather have it done right with your input, or not at all (a la upscaling).
Purple or green?
Big fan! I've thought for a long time about the idea of a distributed sci-fi fictional world, where people initiate and develop a universe in which their narratives, videos, propmaking, alien make-up, LARPing, what-have you can flourish, at the grassroots level, instead of the traditional top-down model where a TV show or movie initializes a world and "fans" pretend to be in the same world as their favorite stars. The Internet has made this potentially feasible as nothing before ever could have. Rather than dressing up as a Starfleet captain who never existed on the original show so you can go see Shatner, participants' contributions would be just as canonical and look just as high-tech as anyone else, and the characters they create would be as important and legitimate as anybody else's. Do you, as a sci-fi consumer as well as producer, see any potential in such an effort? Do you think there is a place for bottom-up sci-fi worlds alongside the studio film franchises and videogames?
I heard rumors a few months ago about a possible Captain Power reboot? As a writing on the original Captian Power do you have any involvement with a possible reboot or any interest in it?
Have you learned to write dialog between a man and a woman yet? Babylon 5 was painful.
Do you have any beef with the writers of The Big Bang Theory? Sheldon seems to mock/complain about Babylon 5 a lot. Did you loose a bet or something?
sudo make me a sandwich
Hey, someone else was going to do it if I didn't!
Can you list any examples of shows that have changed your approach to Science Fiction since Babylon 5 was written? For example, the latent success of Firefly showed how smaller-scale science fiction can be effective. How have you been influenced by Firefly or any other show post-B5?
My only questions is - can you please not make " Sense8" suck? At any time?
The Battle Star Galactica reboot started out great. Then at 2.5 it jumped the shark.
How not to suck:
Keep religion out of it - unless you can come up with something that's NOT Judeo-Christian Oriented or ANY other religion that we know (and that means worshiping ANY higher power [yeah, you're screwed on that part with me]).- then I may watch.
Going apeshit with aliens. Or at least humanoid looking aliens. See Arthur C. Clark for inspiration.
Frankly, you're a TV writer and you suck - until proven otherwise.
Yeah, I know - you're crying all the way to the bank.
You suck.
Trolling to egg you on (somehow) to do some great SCI-FI (NOT sy-fy - sy-fy is for fags) because I think YOU sir have it in in you. I saw some brilliance in "Babylon 5" and I want to encourage that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you got your network pimps with their fingers in your ass telling you what you need to do. I'm just saying, YOU are the creative guy here - FUCK'EM! One way or another - you can do it.
Mel Brooks did it - he's still alive and from what I've heard in the media, he's a bit of a "punk". Talk to him - he got the farting scenes and the "Nigger" scenes in Blazing Saddles after all.
Just saying.
Other than that, keep being a Golly Wieird Scy-Fy sort of marketable hack. Yes, I acknowledge you are doing what you do to work and create ( and it IS GOOD - don't get me wrong! But it can be GREAT!!) - As a techy competing with everyone else in the World, I can REALLY empathize with that!!!
_Legend of the Rangers_ was, at one point, a very promising pilot. What happened to keep the show out of production, how would history be different if it had gotten made?
And why?
There's a trend lately with TV shows writers to build mystery and suspense episode after episode without any consideration to the resolution of those arcs. The most famous instance of this is with JJ Abrams' Lost, but we saw the same thing happen to Battlestar Galactica. That's when we're even lucky enough to get a finale, often shows in danger of being cancelled will elect to end the season in a cliffhanger in an attempt to get an increased audience and help their chances of getting renewed. In contrast, with Babylon 5 you've shown great respect for the fans by coming up with a full storyline, complete with several outs in case of unexpected problems, such as actors being unable to return for one reason or another. In addition, when you thought Babylon 5 was going to get cancelled on its fourth season, you filmed the series finale to ensure we would get the full story, as much as it was possible. I truly thank you for that.
My question to you is whether you believe the type of long-term thinking into developing a good and complete story directly harms your overall numbers. After all, if Lost angered most of its viewers with the season finale, by then it doesn't matter anymore: the important thing to the bottom-line is that they were watching while the series is on. Have DVD sales helped somewhat in that people are more likely to buy the series if it's fully developed, and do studios take that into consideration in addition to Nielsen ratings? Do you have a complete story planned out for Sense8 similar to how you developed Babylon 5 and if so does working with Netflix make this process easier or harder than working with a traditional studio?
You have been one of the best known writers to interact with the community at large.
How do you feel that this has improved on your writing and character developments, and have there been any particular netizens which have caused you to stop and think about the stories your are telling in a different way or fashion than you initially thought?
(Is there anyone that you miss seeing?)
III.IIVIVIXIIVIVIIIVVIIIIXVIIIXIIIIIIIIVIIIIVVIII
Are you still working on the remake/reboot? Can you share any details (expected release date, etc..)? The original is one of my all-time favorite movies and I feel that there are very few writers/producers these days that could do it justice (possibly just you and Joss Whedon).
And now for the corollary that someone else was going to ask if I didn't.
Time to offend someone
As a former Amiga owner, I remember how excited the community was to learn that this new TV series called Babylon 5 was going to have it's visual effects developed on the NewTek Video Toaster. Many considered it a vindication of the Amiga platform as well as a milestone in the evolution of digital video. My understanding is that you moved away from this platform in later seasons because it wasn't scaling up to meet your needs.
Today desktop video is commonplace, and there are a million billion Youtube videos whose quality is only limited by the talent and time invested by the creators rather than any technological barriers. How do you feel about the progression from then till now and the role you played as an early adopter?
I was just watching my He-Man collection from 1983 (I am 12 years old) and noticed in the episode credits:
"Written by J. Michael Straczynski"
In your opinion, what makes He-Man the greatest television show in the history of the universe? Was it the great story and dialogue? Or the groundbreaking animation? Or the fact that it was the last major show to be animated in the U.S.?
Lately, I've discovered that I've actually been a fan of yours long before Babylon 5. For those not familiar,
Captain Power was short-lived but ground-breaking live action show that like Transformers, G.I.Joe, etc. was made to sell toys. Looking back at many things that helped define my childhood, this show is one of the few that somewhat stands the test of time through my adult eyes. I attribute that in large part to your high quality writing. It is generally known that a fully conceived second season would have continued telling the story if the series had not been canceled. Given the wild success of the big screen adaptations of Transformers and G.I.Joe and the recent record breaking kickstarter funded Veronica Mars movie, how do you feel about Gary Goddard's attempt at
reviving the franchise you worked on so long ago? I personally feel that as written, the characters and story lines you crafted are as relevant and compelling today as they were more than 25 years ago. But are you at all nervous about the show being "re-imagined" a la Battlestar Galactica?
Stay sentient. Don't drink bad milk.
When you visited Andreas Katsulas before he went beyond the veil; you mentioned in an interview that you told him stories of B5 that never got to be told.
Would you consider telling us here, in a post somewhere, or even a compendium; those stories? I'd love to enrich the B5 Universe.
After having just re-watched all bab5/crusade/movies in the past few weeks it's become quite clear to me that Babylon 5 seasons 1-4 had a fairly well thought out story that engaged audiences and while a few movies have filled in some unanswered questions the overall quality of everything that came after was just not there. Why do you think that is and what will be different about your upcoming project?
A side question: Will you ever revisit http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/master/eplist.html and update the episode order fully? The order specified for Crusade has many seemingly unneeded inconsistencies - especially as it relates to the relationship between Gideon and Lochley
When Heroes came out (ie, the first season) many of the plot elements reminded me of Rising Stars. The wikipedia page for your comic mentions that there were some issues to movie rights:
... but that would've been years ago. If this series with Netflix is successful, is there any chance that we might see a similar treatment with Rising Stars?
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
For it’s original shows, Netflix tends to release all of the episodes at once so viewers can “binge” on all of the shows at once. What changes does force on the writer? Does the nature of cliff hangers change since you won’t have to wait until next week?
For me, this gives a very different viewing experience. When I am left with a cliff hanger, I get to turn it over in my mind, examine alternative theories floating out on the web, etc. In short, part of the pleasure is the (forced) slow unfolding of the story.
What would you say are the most valuable things you took away from your experience as creator/head writer of "Babylon 5"? In particular, the effort to create a single, long-running storyline over five seasons? Do you think you could have done things differently to avoid the issues with actors leaving mid-show and the network threatening to cancel the final season?
Ripped (pun possibly intended) from The Lurkers Guide to Babylon 5, you stated, about Jack the Ripper:
"Actually, yes, I do have a pet theory about who the Ripper was, but I'm so embarrassed over the west end/east end typo in one of our episodes that I don't know if I'll ever have enough courage to broach it to anyone."
Do you have the courage to broach the theory now?
What was the final resolution of your "bear-bylon 5" teddy bear duel with Peter David?
Could you make sure that Ben Aaronovitch gets a decent job??
For real... the guy wrote "Remembrance of the Daleks!" I found out this week that he has to work selling books. What is up with that? He deserves a decent writing gig.
Both Firefly and Jericho put out comics after the shows were prematurely canceled to help tie up some of the dangling plot elements. Are there any chances of Jeremiah ever being continued in some other form, such as novels or comics?
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
You know you want to.
Is it going to have a long story ark over several seasons with a definite beginning, middle and end like B5 did?
I remember a few years back hearing that you were writing a screenplay for Edward Elmer Smith's the Lensman Series. What has become of that? Isn't writing for that really difficult without it being corny, old fashioned and a parody of itself?
History is so yesterday!
One of the things about Bab5 that was always fun for the hardcore SF fans was bringing back actors from classic SF television. Casting Billy Mumy (Lost in Space) as Lennier and Walter Koenig as Alfred Bester (a personal fav) were entertaining beyond the performances they delivered. Are there any cool casting choices about Sense8 that you have planned or can dish on?
Why did they cancel Firefly? It was such a great show!
1) First off, thank you for such fun works as Babylon 5 and Jeremiah. I am excited about thew new series. Is there any chance we could see some old friends (Claudia Christian, Jerry Doyle, Walter Koenig) as guests in the new series?
2) At present there are zero dedicated "space" based television series in production. About the closest we get is the occasional Doctor Who. Why do you think there is a dearth of such series right now? It seems like the timing is perfect to do a show that focus' on colonizing Mars.
I feel that such a show could help bolster support for the flailing space program, and further the new commercial ventures. What role do you see space faring science fictions shows having on humanity's progress?
dump NBC / comcast from sci-fi channel / go premium maybe $5 /mo with the chiller channel.
Do you see any future in the Babylon 5 universe, you do you feel that you have milked it to death.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
The Babylon 5 cast has lost several members - many younger than expected
- Andreas Katsulas
- Tim Choate
- Richard Biggs
- Jeff Conaway
- Michael O'Hare
It's even been referred to as the "Curse of Babylon 5". Can you share a favorite memory of each from your time on Babylon? Or perhaps, the scene that most epitomizes each character/actor?
Many readers are attracted to science fiction literature by their attempts to answer the Big Questions like "why are we here?", 'what is out there?", "where are we going?". Especially in the novels written in the decades after WWII. On the other hand many movies are obsessed with action- spaceships, superpower fights and so on. They dont really exercise our brains. Some go even as far to suggest that philosophical science fiction is essentially unfilmable, especially if you want to make a profit. How can you put more provocative ideas into scifi movies and shows?
Why are so many SciFi shows about the life of military officers? I enjoy SciFi, but I'm through with ranks, military discipline, honour and all that crap. Can't there be more shows about space-faring civil society?
Is there any potential to continue making content in the B5 universe and perhaps producing the stories you've already written or are any potential initiatives dead? I understand getting WB to budge along with funding is a RPITA. I also respect your opinion that no one can replace the actors that have passed away and any future content with those characters wouldn't include the characters on screen. /Big B5 fan. I'm a bigger fan of it than Star Trek or Star Wars.
The trailers for the World War Z movie suggest that it is radically different from the source material. Most obviously that would be things such as the whole fast vs slow zombie deal but perhaps more importantly the focus appears to have turned on a single globetrotting protagonist in the thick of the action. What was your original vision for the script and why do you think it has turned out the way it has?
Let's keep it going.
With B5, the story arc was written ahead of time with things happening in the past being vetted out in the future. This was one of the most enjoyable aspects of that series was the time taken to write the story out season to season ahead of time. Can something like that be done today? Will Sense8 be written like this? Also much like in He-Man and B5, will you reintroduce the delicacy, Spoo?
Babylon 5 was great on many levels, but I enjoyed the most for its well-thought-out story and as an example of true science fiction. It contained many elements that were based much more in fact than in fantasy, something that was rare for its time, and even more rare today. What research and/or advisers did you have to go on when writing/producing for the show? What do you foresee for the future of science fiction television (or streaming or online) content in terms of using real-world science?
And thank you again for Babylon 5. :)
Will we ever see Babylon 5 remastered in high definition (or even 4K) similar to Star Trek: The Next Generation? How much would you need to raise on KickStarter to make this possible?
Any sufficiently unpopular but cohesive argument is indistinguishable from trolling.
A while back you did a bunch of issues of The Brave and The Bold. I have to say, all of them were outstanding and brought some unusual/forgotten characters to the fore.
Were there any DC characters that you had wished you had the opportunity to tackle?
Wearing pants should always be optional.
... where you're actually open to reading a stranger's spec screenplay and providing potentially life-changing feedback? The predictable answer would of course be no.
The problem with an ordinary Sci-Fi is that the viewer is left without much real meaning for complex on-screen ideas being conveyed, especially if such concepts are not properly developed. And even if they are, the non-geek doesn't have a reference point to put the minds imaginative centers to work with the ideas and interactions.
In B5 we see telepaths putting their fingers to the temples, squinting and even making "jedi" type hand genstures. Even though we see great plot setups for story-lines following the telepaths, that area was left rather somewhat untouched. How limited is audience interactivity/associability with these types of non-visual concepts on screen? The second part of the question is: Do you feel there are other/better ways to story-tell an interaction with a telepath? Maybe make their tell-tail a bit more musical? And lastly, does this difficulty make story-telling telepathic interactions overly burdensome or inviable?
The vorlon speaking was always over "music" and the screams when sighting a "shadow vessel" are possible starting points for the concept; it would have made perfect sense to show the similarity/parallel of the lesser telepaths to their "makers/engineers".
Overall, B5 is a great example of how a Sci-Fi should be done. I love the socio/political scenarios and the incorporation of religion and belief. I really liked the religious parallel made with sightings of Kosh. I didn't like the soul hunter, especially because the only attempt to create a dynamic character out of one was never followed up. The entire concept just plays with the idea of a soul existing, possibly as a being semi-tangible in an effort not to lose the audience with the concept. The presence of such a being does not further the character or plot development in any way.
The biggest change I would have made is to have the Shadows as only a different clan of Vorlon. They didn't need to be a different race of alien. They only need to be powerful ideal extremists. In that way, the possibilities of mending a rift can be more profound than them just agreeing to disagree and then accepting they are not needed anymore.
This covers the same ground as a previously submitted question, but I seem to have some information that poster does not or at least failed to mention that might make this a (hopefully) better choice.
I read that you were working on a prequel to "Forbidden Planet" which really excited me because I think that the movie is still one of the all time great SciFi movies. I respect your work and I know that you would treat the subject with the respect it deserves. I read that you had a screenplay but it got leaked on the internet and after that the whole project seems to have just disappeared. Is there any realistic hope of ever seeing this project or did the leak kill it?
I recently got through the whole Babylon 5+Crusade+B5 movies video content and thankfully managed to get some of the books (which greatly expand the universe and answer many questions) and it got me thinking, as a writer what makes you prefer Hollywood/comic book writing which is fraught with production delays, messed up business heads, actor problems and editorial headaches over directly writing your stories into novels and having them adapted with some degree of screenplay control? Is it the satisfaction of crafting the audiovisual identity of your stories yourself or is there more to it? Also, thanks for making some of the best sci-fi of all time (educational too: the B5 pilot taught me the word ambassador when I was a kid, got me through a test back then).
Okay, so I just watched two of the major space battle scenes on my new LG 3DTV, which has the ability to convert on the fly....just wow.
But boy would i love to see a "true" conversion. Is there any possibility of this for a Blu-ray edition. It seems to me that it'd be easy to do, and we'd really only need it on the space scenes. The rest could flat.
Have you considered doing a Kickstarter to resurrect Crusade with your own artistic vision?
Also, do you think the whole space station trope has played itself out between Babylon 5 and Deep Space 9, or do you think there's room for other stories out there?
!#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.
Your new series is a collaboration with the Wachowskis. Is there artistic friction there? Do your styles clash, or mesh? Are they fun people?
Everything is better with chainsaws.
I think Sheldon's hate of Babylon 5 is a way for the writer's to pimp a show that wasn't as mainstream recongized. And give it some recognition.
Are there any plans to resurrect the Babylon 5 successor series 'Crusade'?
The Amarri pray for god, the Caldari pray for profit. the Gallente pray for peace, but the Minmatar pray their ships hol
By that, of course, I mean the dream Sheridan had on the Stribe ship in "All Alone in the Night".
A lot of the imagery was explained later on, but a couple of things still feel unsettled.
* What was up with the birds on Garibaldi and Ivanova's shoulders?
* Who was "the man in between?"
A lot of old discussion seem to have settled on it being Justin, the Shadow agent who refers to himself as "A middle man."
I always thought it might have referred to Lorien, who finds Sheridan "Between 'tick' and 'tock'", and needed someone like Sheridan to put an end to the cycle once and for all.
You've worked in TV, film, and comics. Ever thought about adding a video game to that?
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
By some strange fate, I have been re-watching B5 pretty much non-stop for the past week. Burning through Season 4 at the moment. I find the rise of the fascist state one of the stronger themes in B5; those that do not understand history, etc. I think of B5 as a warning, an object lesson in how a free society can be subverted. Hard to watch Fox news or listen to the Tea Party without thinking of B5. How do YOU feel about this bit of history repeating itself, and do you think we can beat it?
There was a rumor going around before JJ Abrams was announced to be helming the reboot of the Star Trek franchise that you were in the running for that role. Whether that's true or not, if you have been chosen for that particular spot, what would you have done to reboot the Trek universe? Thanks!
In the last 15 years we've seen a number of science-fiction shows - that offered tremendous promise - being cancelled early on by studios... not least of which, surely, has to be Crusade.
At the risk of asking you a multi-part question :-
Is the process of "natural selection" working right in the "new TV show" arena? What, if anything, would you like to see change?
Thinking of shows [by any writer] that have ended prematurely, are there any that you would really like to see get another chance? Which ones, and why?
At the risk of asking you to become forever rooted in the Bablyon 5 Universe, one of the most fascinating characters and back-stories has to be that of Galen the Techno-Mage, particularly for those who have read this trilogy by Jeanne Cavelos.
Would you ever be tempted to write a series based on the TechnoMages and in particular about Galen's own post-Shadow-War story? If the answer to this question is "Yes", would you be tempted to go to Kickstarter for funding? [Hint, hint...]
Purple or green?
Zip and then buckle, or buckle and then zip?
Wanna talk socks?
With a machine!
You know, if I throw in a Fixed-width font, this thread feels just like I'm back in the good old days of rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.
So, returning to the subject of D*cks...
Does it piss you off or bum you out that they keep dogging and putting down Babylon 5 on the show "Big Bang Theory?"
Before J. J. Abrams was given the reins to Star Trek, you had expressed interest in doing something with the franchise. Can you give us an idea of the direction you might have taken it or some of the things you would have done?
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
Netflix is unlikely to charge your production for "a set burning down in Botswana". What other advantages are there to working with them? Disadvantages?
It was really terrific to see your cameo in "Thor", and even better to see you get screenplay credits, and all the more delightful given that it was such a fun movie. Will the partnership with Marvel continue? [ Would you like it to? ]
Hint: I'd love to see you write/direct/produce a new Hulk movie starring Mark Ruffalo... I think his personal style, the character, and your writing would be an eclectic mix. Would an opportunity like that tempt you?
And related to that: Assuming no constraints regarding rights, what classic (or not so classic) science fiction stories would you like to adapt as movies or TV series?
Q: What does the "B." in Benoit B. Mandelbrot stand for? A: Benoit B. Mandelbrot
Hi Michael, Thanks for listening. For some time now, I have had an idea floating around in my head for the proverbial "Great Sci-fi Story" and while I'd be the first to say that I don't have a snowball's chance on Mercury to ever have it published, it has occurred to me that it MAY make a reasonably decent treatment for either a comic or a TV series. MAY is the operative word here.. Now, assuming that I actually have something to offer the hard bleak world that is waiting for me, where do I start?? There are horror stories about folks submitting concepts that get stolen etc, but I'm sure that there are some valid and honorable ways to have your ideas at least glanced at by someone that knows what they are doing. I'm quite willing to sink or swim and have no delusions of grandeur, so rejection would not bother me, it would motivate me to improve my craft. But with no idea who to approach or how, it is inevitable that I will always remain a frustrated wordsmith. To be clear, I'm not looking for you to help me directly, just asking if you can cover the basics of getting started. You obviously started somewhere, can you tell us how it works? Cheers.
"If the only tool that you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." Donny Rumsfeld
Bab5 more or less pioneered CGI on the small screen. The Wachowskis did some groundbreaking visual work in the Matrix.
When you sat down to design the production, what was the talk like when it came to special effects? How much of all your relevant past experience is being used. Are there any new/exciting/groundbreaking things the team will be trying out?
UTF-8: There and Back Again
Dear JMS,
I used to be an avide collector of comics. Than the 90's happened. You had to buy 20 comics to get one story and sometimes 3 different versions of the same comic. The real reason I stopped reading comics. Life is to busy for me to get to a comic shop and consistently buy a comic series.
When I heard you were writing for Spider-Man, Thor and others. I was excited. Ironically, when I went to Marvel for their online versions. And of course, at the time, none of yours were available.
Why aren't comic companies making every comic available to readers at reasonable rates. Some of us enjoy a good comic series but are really no longer interested in collecting.
Reaching people now in this fragmented techno-gadget friendly world where smartphone, iPad, tablet, YouTube and television portals all offer some form of access to a story that's unfolding in their world, what impact has this development had upon your creative approach to storytelling?
Is there any chance that B5 fans will ever get insight into what you actually had planned with Crusade after the Drakh plague was cured? I know it was something to do with Earth wanting left over Shadow technology, but did you have anything specific in mind? Did you have an outline for each year?
And similarly, will we ever find out who or what The Hand were about (in Legend of the Rangers)?
And, not a question, but a big "thank you" for B5. I'm taking a friend through it for the first time and we're currently mid-way through season four. She's now totally hooked and has borrowed my season one DVD box set to see it again now she understands some of where it's going.
You owe us an ending, Sir!
Hi
With babylon 5 hitting 20 yrs, will you have any events in the pacific northwest?
thanks
B5 went through a shaky period with its off-again on-again fifth season due to a change of networks. What I'm asking about, however, is the trend of popular cable programs to adopt irregular and seemingly bizzare scheduling practices. Every few months it seemed like The Sopranos was taking another year off. Later, Battlestar Galactica was just as bad, leaving fans to wonder when they'd ever get to see a new episode again or even what season they were watching.
Do you think that kind of scheduling can hurt a program? I know more than a few people who swore off both of those shows after they started to mess around with the scheduling. I stuck with them, but was tempted to jump ship myself on numerous occasions. It's an extremely aggravating practice that, to me, tells the audience that they don't matter. Do you have any thoughts on the need, or lack thereof, for a consistent and predictable schedule?
And who do you trust?
Thank you for writing these comics!
Most Respectfully Yours Mark Allyn Bellingham, Washington
You've written a lot for new writers, including a book dedicated to writing scripts and numerous additional materials in things like the Babylon 5 script books. That said, it's unlikely you have said everything you think new writers need to hear, as those are usually context or lesson specific. Here's an open forum: if there is one thing that writers trying to launch careers should no, either about the writing process, the pitching process, the production process, or any other aspect of the writing industry that hasn't come out in your previous publications, what would it be?
- W. Blaine Dowler
http://www.bureau42.com
Does anyone at Marvel care about how they are decimating their flagship character under Joe Quasada's reign?
My father and I were huge fans of B5 and loved its concept of finite serialization. Since that time, I've found that many new TV shows attempt to at least follow the same philosophy (BSG, for example) and have proven that the quality of writing stays higher for a much longer period of time when there is a concrete end to reach. How do you feel about your role in the acceptance by networks and fans of such shows?
What are the worst Mashups you have ever seen?
Is a great story so compelling that the line blurs and people fall in love with the puppets and ignore the puppet master?
Confused,
Rusty.
When B5 characters were supposed be in "space" there was always something that seemed to make the characters belong where they were. Since then shows have largely been doing less with more. B5 had CGI zooms that turned into actors on a set. It had sets with CGI (through a view screen) where the set dominated on screen without getting in the way of where the CGI action was focused. More recent Shows felt largely like a set with a disconnected CGI mixed in to remind the viewers that it is happening in space.
What do think the foundation for this disconnect between actors and set is and where have shows gone awry?
As Game of Thrones demonstrates, a decent production budget combined with modern movie/effects technology makes it possible to create truly lavish looking and intelligent TV series that were previously impossible to do convincingly. I have been thinking, wouldn't it be great if some of the best modern intelligent SF books / book series got such a treatment? Technically, it should be feasible. For example, imagine a TV series about the Simmons' Hyperion series, or the Reynolds' Revelation Space series, or Hamilton's Commonwealth and The Void series. These books could not be properly filmed in the runtime of a movie, they would need a TV series for their richness to shine. Sorry to take so long to come to the point: my question is whether you think that there is a realistic possiblity & appetite for such dense books to be adapted? I ask because, with a few exceptions, most SF that I see on TV tend to be simpler, lighter fare.
How would the B5 arc been different if Andrea Thompson had wished to remain as Talia Winters?
- Would Ivanova have been revealed as the mole/control [instead of Talia]?
- Would Lyta have become such a strong telepath or would Andrea's gift from her lover Jason made her the stronger one? That is, was the reintroduction of Lyta part of the arc or an adaptation?
Like a good neighbor, fsck is there
I know you've said that you show the cards beforehand. As you've talked to B5 fans over the years, what percentage realize that the mid-series shocker of Valen's true identity was actually revealed [cleverly disguised] in the pilot episode?
Like a good neighbor, fsck is there
... and it has been, masterfully. But would you consider a re-imagining of B5 under any circumstances? Just as most of us felt uncomfortable with replacing the actors who originally played Kirk and Spock, I cannot easily imagine anyone else playing G'Kar and the other roles whose actors we've lost. But would the actors themselves have wanted the story to go on, potentially catch fire with a larger audience as Star Trek seems to have done? Imagine B5 produced as an HBO series, with the production quality of Game of Thrones. Or a series of films produced in partnership with the Wachowskis. Have to believe all those who've gone before would want something that amazing to happen, if it were in the cards. Your work deserves that production value, and so does the memory of those who labored on B5's original incarnation.
When will we learn the truth about Ivanova being in league with the raiders?
Thank you for your work on Babylon 5. Although written in an early Internet and pre-911 era, it held up well, to me, on a recent viewing and seemed to resonate with how we have reacted to events since then. Also, damn you (with all due respect) for your work on Babylon 5. You raised the bar very high. Also, "Sleeping in Light" still makes me teary.
Do you feel that technology changes society and people, or do we retain core human weaknesses and strengths? I feel that Babylon 5 suggests that people in the future are still rather like us in the contemporary, but is this a storytelling conceit to appeal to us as an audience?
Please!
For me you basically invented the genre of the audience being able to communicate with the producers/writers of a show, which is now far more common... for me it made TV very interactive and I of course I still remember you answering a question I asked (that's for another day)...
Do you know of any earlier examples of this that influenced you to "engage" with the audience?
http://www.hawknest.com/
Today in new media hmmm I mean social media, it's very popular to "engage" the audience, something you did exceedingly well.. You basically went out and found your audience... It was heroic and it made the experience that much more awesome, that we could ask you questions and they were answered. I asked about how the Narn had defeated the Shadows and even though that was a major turning point of plot you still answered, "That would be telling..."
My question is today's humans 25 like to think that they invented everything in media that is social; can you give us any examples where you feel a TV show is or isn't doing a good job with audience "engagement" and any tips or suggestions on how to do correctly?
http://www.hawknest.com/
Is there any chance of making any of the Babylon 5 Trilogy books into mini series or a full season of a show. If not do you have any more plans on expanding the B5 universe?
Is there any chance of seeing the B5 episodes remastered? Modern rendering, even on consumer hardware would hugely improve the visual effects. This would go beyond a simple re-issuing of the show in HD / 4K, and I imagine the models and renders could be time-consuming -- but there are fans who'd definitely contribute to make this a reality.
Even a modest cluster could deliver a vast improvement over the show's original visuals.
Hey, JMS,
When will you be doing the JMS show at Worldcon again?
And about new projects, what are the chances of films of, say, Vernor Vinge, or William Gibson, or Walter Jon Williams, or maybe Lois McMaster Bujold (I can really see the series of Miles Vorkosigan adventures....) Or how about Eric Flint's 1632 universe?
mark