Joseph Mallozzi's Blog, page 217

November 14, 2019: It’s the Stargate: Universe Greatest Episode Tournament Semifinals! And News of Note!

Semifinal action in our Stargate: Universe Greatest Episode Tournament has kicked off with season 1’s Time and season 2’s Epilogue squaring off for the right to move on to the finals.  Who’s got your vote?

Time for The #StargateUniverse Greatest Episode Tournament semifinals! #SGU #Stargate
Choose between –

— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) November 14, 2019

Head on over to twitter to weigh in.

News of note…

Aliens among us?!

Unique inventions…

Holograms you can feel?

https://phys.org/news/2019-11-sci-fi-science-lab-holograms.html

Regretting that donut?  Blame your irrational brain.

https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-neuroscience-behind-bad-decisions-20160823/

11 Biggest Questions About Dark Matter.  To which I would add a 12th: When’s that miniseries happening?

https://www.livescience.com/64113-dark-matter-mysteries.html

Hmmmm.

https://www.blogto.com/tech/2019/11/supermarket-chain-toronto-might-let-customers-pay-using-facial-recognition/

Finally, I leave you with Hip, the feature track off MAMAMOO’S latest album, reality in BLACK, that just dropped today –

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November 13, 2019: Week’s Best Comic Book Covers!

These were my favorites…

Battlepug #3 (cover art by Jason Shawn Alexander, Luis NCT)

Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda #3 (cover art by Rock He Kim)

Catwoman #17 (cover art by Alberto Varanda)

Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy (cover art by David Finch)

Hawkman #18 (cover art by Tyler Kirkham)

Justice League: Odyssey #15 (cover art by Lucio Parrillo)

Marvel Tales: Doctor Strange #1 (cover art by In-Hyuk Lee)

Morbius #1 (cover art by Ryan Brown)

New Mutants #1 (cover art by Rod Reis)

Ronin Island #8 (cover art by Giannis Milonogiannis)

Robyn Hood: Vigilante #1 (cover art by Martin Coccolo)

Robyn Hood: Vigilante #1 (cover art by Keith Garvey)

RWBY #2 (cover art by Stanley Lau)

The Batman’s Grave #2 (cover art by Jee-Hyung Lee)

The Dollhouse Family #1 (cover art by Jessica Dalva)

The Legion of Super-Heroes #1 (cover art by Ryan Sook)

Ultimate Sky Doll (cover art by Barbara Canepa, Alessandro Barbucci)

So, which were your favorites?

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November 12, 2019: Moving on to the Stargate: Universe Greatest Episode Tournament wildcard rounds! With Special Guest Star Brad Wright!

Episodes Time and Twin Destinies have advanced to the semifinals in our Stargate: Universe Greatest Episode Tournament!  Which two episodes will join them?  We’ll find out as four wildcard entries battle it out for the final two playoff spots.

It’s Air Part 1 vs Light vs Epilogue vs Gauntlet.  The top two vote-getters advance!

Head on over to twitter and cast your ballot!

The #StargateUniverse Greatest Episode Tournament wildcard round!
Which of these four episodes should move on to the semifinals to face off against Time and Twin Destinies?
The two top vote-getters advance. Cast your ballot!

— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) November 12, 2019

Oh, hey, speaking of Stargate, check out who I had dinner with last night.

Topics of discussion included Travelers, Dark Matter, showrunning, the t.v. industry, dogs, frozen shoulders, and the quality of the lone Chinese restaurant in Brad’s neighborhood.  Oh, and Stargate of course!

It was great catching up!

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Pitching!

Some writers are great at coming up with ideas.  Some are great at selling ideas.  And some are great at realizing ideas.  Very few writers are great at all three.

No one can teach you how to come up with great ideas.  And I am of the opinion that while good writers can hone their craft and become great writers, no amount of fine tuning is going to make a bad writer good.  But pitching is a skill that can be mastered and wielded to great effect.

I’ll be honest with you.  I know a lot of great writers who don’t work that much, and a lot of bad writers who do.  And most of the time, the variance in their success rates can be attributed to one thing: their ability to pitch and sell, not only their ideas, but themselves.  If you can get a buyer excited about you or your idea (hopefully, both), your chances of landing that sale dramatically improve.

So here’s some advice on developing the perfect pitch…

STRUCTURING YOUR PITCH

There are innumerable ways to structure a pitch.  I prefer a variation of the WB format…

INTRO – On the off chance the executive you’re meeting hasn’t had a chance to check out your imdb page, I would suggest kicking things off with a brief introduction – to you and the series you’re about to pitch.

THE TEASE – Set the tone and hook them with a detailed description of your pilot’s opening tease.

THE WORLD – Establish the setting.  Is it modern day New York or 18th century London?  Fantasy or far future?  Build your world!

THE CHARACTERS – Brief descriptions of your main players, a paragraph or two, followed by a couple of lines for any supporting players you deem important enough to include.

THE PILOT – Complete your summary of the show’s pilot episode.  Unlike the detailed tease, you’re going to want to broadstroke the story – and hopefully end on a great WTF?! moment that propels your series forward and, most importantly, ensures viewers are invested and curious to learn more.  In the case of Dark Matter, it’s the revelation that our amnesiac “heroes” are actually cutthroats and criminals, the worst of the worst. It’s a WTF?! moment that simultaneously shocks the audience and establishes the theme of the series moving forward.  Are people born bad or are they products of their environment?  Can people truly change?  Tune in and find out!

THE SERIES – At this point, I like to offer a summary of the series.  In a nutshell, what is it about?  What can we expect in terms of tone and themes?

SEASON 1 AND BEYOND – Having established the show, you now need to prove that it has legs and its central conceit capable of sustaining a multi-season run.  Briefly arc out your first season, major storylines and character developments.  Like your first episode, you’re going to want to end that first season on a huge turn, another big WTF?! moment that upends the status quo.  In the case of Dark Matter, the mole within their ranks is finally revealed – and the crew is captured by  the Galactic Authority.

CLOSE – You’re unlikely to make a sale in the room, but you should make it as easy as possible for them to say yes.  I always like to conclude a pitch with a bookend closing that mirrors my intro.  I remind them of my experience and why I am uniquely qualified to deliver this particular series.  This is also where I like to answer the ubiquitous “Why now?” question.  Of all the shows being pitched them, what makes this one special?

TIMING

Factoring in the pre and post pitch chats, I like to aim for a lively and memorable 30-45 minute meeting.

PITCHING DO’S

Try to land a meeting with someone as high up the food chain as possible.  You want to be pitching an exec who can green light your idea or, at very least, has the weight to champion your idea to the decision-maker.

Google-stalk the company and reps you’ll be meeting.  Use any information gleamed to better position your pitch.

Prep the hell out of your pitch.  There’s always a lot to cover, so consulting notes and reading is fine, but I’m at my best when I’m off-book and a little free-wheeling.

Get on with it already!  I prefer to keep the opening chit chat to a minimum.  A couple of minutes of introductions, and then roll right into it.

Enthusiasm is key.  And infectious.  If you truly love your project, that should come through in the pitch.

Once you’re done, follow up with a series overview (a written document that is, essentially, your fleshed-out pitch on paper with accompanying visuals if applicable) that they can review at their leisure.

PITCHING DON’T’S

Don’t be late.  Plan your drive so that you can arrive 15 minutes early.  Use that time to go over your pitch.

Don’t come across as needy.  Desperation undermines the value of your product.

Don’t go long.  The execs have probably set aside an hour to meet with you.  Get it done in 45.  Always leave them wanting more – instead of you gone.

Don’t drown them in details.  At a certain point, they’ll stop listening.

Don’t be boring.  Remember what I said about enthusiasm?

***

And – off the top of my head – that’s it.  I am tempted to add “Don’t be nervous”, but I realize that’s easier said than done.  Still, it may help to ask yourself “What’s the worst that can happen?”.  The answer: “They say no.”  So what?  Remind yourself – there are plenty of possible homes for your project and, in the end, plenty of possible projects and pitches.  Often, passing on a project will be less about the quality of your pitch as it will be all about the timing.

Which reminds me of one more.  It’s good to be able to come up with great ideas, pitch them, and realize them.  But it really helps to be lucky.

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November 10, 2019: Suji Sunday!

Spelunking…

Santa Pug is coming to town…

Lulu with…”the look”.

Lulu’s winter wear.

Deeelicious!

Suji snoozing…

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November 9, 2019: Yet another take on Stargate’s future (but, really, it’s the same take)!

Well, here are the final results of our Stargate: Universe Greatest Episode Tournament – Season 1 Face-Off…

Time advances to the semifinals.  But Air Part 1 and a couple of write-in candidates will be duking it out in the wild-card round later this week – so stay tuned!

In the meantime, head on over to twitter and vote for your favorite episode of SGU’s second season (Even though, yes, the tweet says Season 1.  Damn twitter and it’s failure to incorporate an edit function).

The #StargateUniverse Greatest Episode Tournament continues!
What was your favorite episode of @SGU's first season?
If you don't see your fave listed, reply with the episode title.

— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) November 9, 2019

So, I’m thinking end of November/first week of December for our upcoming Stargate tweetstorm.  I’ll be in Montreal the week of the 18th dogsitting sis’s pack, and will spend the time strategizing.  I think the timing will be good.  Very very good.

I’ve noted increased online discussion concerning the fate of Stargate over the past day or so.  There are those who paint a pretty bleak picture of the franchise’s future which is, honestly, very much at odds with my view.  While I can totally sympathize with fandom’s frustration and growing impatience, I must point out the absurdity in assuming MGM no longer cares about Stargate and has no interest in producing a new series.  Respectfully, that doesn’t make a lick of sense.  Rather, I strongly believe the long hiatus has everything to do with an over-abundance of caution on the part of the studio.  If they’re going to green light a new Stargate series, they need to ensure it has the best chance at success – and, in order to do that, they have to be absolutely certain about timing and creative.

Now, I can’t speak to what’s going on internally (the last time I visited the MGM offices was back in 2013), but I am pretty damn certain they have run through every possible scenario.  And, while running through these seemingly endless scenarios, I have absolutely no doubt that our last tweetstorm did serve to remind them that a strong and very passionate fanbase is still out there, ready to help launch and support a new series – one that serves as a jumping on point for new viewers while paying respect to the existing universe in which they are invested.

But one more tweetstorm might be a nice reminder.

Stay strong, Stargate fans!  Stay positive!

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November 8, 2019: Vote for your favorite SGU first season episode! And then go see Better Days!

The Stargate: Universe Greatest Episode Tournament is underway!  Head on over to twitter and cast your vote for your favorite episode the show’s first season.  If your favorite is one of the four listed, then mention it in the comments section to help it secure a tourney wildcard entry!

The #StargateUniverse Greatest Episode Tournament Begins!
What was your favorite episode of @SGU's first season?
If you don't see your fave listed, reply with the episode title.

— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) November 8, 2019

And, yes.  It’s Incursion not Incursions, but by the time I noticed I’d accidentally added the “s”, the voting had already begun.

Well, I took the day off today to catch a matinee of what turned out to be my favorite movie of 2019 – Better Days, a Chinese film that was originally banned in its homeland before having the ban reversed and going on to become a box-office hit in China.  It’s a film with tremendous heart.  Check out the trailer  –

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November 7, 2019: Look at what came in the mail!

Oooh, look at what came in the mail today.  It’s my custom wedding band (aka Sinestro ring) from SuperheroRings.com  It joins my Legion flight ring (also from Superhero Rings) as part of my burgeoning collection.

What’s next?  Undecided, but I have my eye on that red lantern ring…

This afternoon, my pre-pitch drink of choice: the extra chocolatey chocolate mocha from Hot Black Coffee.

I feel like I might write a dedicate blog entry about the art of pitching in the coming days.  If you have any questions you’d like me to field on the subject, please post them.

Alrighty.  Tomorrow, the Stargate: Universe Greatest Episode Tournament begins! What four episodes will square for the right to represent season 1?  Weigh in with your suggestions!

I think I’ll catch a matinee tomorrow.  After trying to decide between Doctor Sleep, Joker, Terminator: Dark Fate, Zombieland 2: Double Tap, It Chapter Two, Midway, and Motherless Brooklyn I have chosen to go with…none of the above.  I’ll be catching Derek Tsang’s Better Days instead. Looking forward to it.

 

 

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November 6, 2019: Week’s Best Comic Book Covers!

These were my favorites… Berserker Unbound #4 (cover art by Mike Deodato Jr.) Blade Runner 2019 #1 (cover art by Stanley Lau) Daredevil #13 (cover art by Julian Totino Tedesco) Deathstroke #49 (cover art by Skas) Future Fight Firsts: Crescent & Io #1 (cover art by In-Hyuk Lee) Niobe: She is Death #1 (cover art…

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November 5, 2019: The Stargate: Universe Greatest Episode Tournament!

Who’s up for another Stargate Greatest Episode Tournament?  We did one for SG-1 (winner = Window of Opportunity!) and another for Atlantis (winner = Rising!).  Now, we move on to Stargate: Universe. Over the next couple of days, please weigh in with your selections for the show’s top episodes.  I’ll be compiling a short list…

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