Joseph Mallozzi's Blog, page 284

March 5, 2018: The Battle of the Black Gate Approaches, Stargate Fans!

LOOK OUT!

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Kicking off today’s blog entry with a terrific article about the #DriveToRevive, what we’re trying to accomplish, and what Stargate means to fans:

A Fan Movement Wants To Bring Stargate Back To TV

The same article contains links to some terrific interviews:

One with Master Bra’tac – 10 Questions With Tony Amendola

Another with Dr. Carson Beckett – 10 Questions With Paul McGillion

BTW – On the heels of our International test drive, I wanted to give a shout-out to a our Top 3 Tweeters!

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Yeah!  That’s the kind of enthusiasm we need!

Please continue to spread the word.  These upcoming tweet-storms will be our Battle of the Black Gate/Battle of the Morannon!

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We need all hands on deck this Friday night!  And again on Saturday night!

After that, we leave it to MGM.  So, if there was ever time for you to step up in support of Stargate, that time is now!

This Friday night in North America, and Saturday night internationally, let’s LIGHT IT UP!

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P.S. Thanks to Tom Gardiner and the gang at @StargateNow for the amazing gifs!

March 4, 2018: Thank you, Stargate International Fans! Stargate A Besoin De Vous! Creating Destiny’s nexus controls!

Another day, another successful tweet-fest run-thru.  Here are the stats from yesterday’s event…

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Although we had more contributors, we had fewer tweets and a smaller reach, but that can be attributed to a number of things: the lack of influencers, a few miscues, and, of course, soccer (aka football).  There were more than a few instances where participants used the wrong hashtag, more than one hashtag, or, in some cases, no hashtag at all – but that’s okay because the whole point of the test-drive was to shake off the rust, work out the kinks, and educate everyone on how it works.  And, now that we’re all on the same page, we’re going to BLOW UP twitter next weekend.  Specifically…

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Friday, March 9th at 6:00 p.m. PST/9:00 EST and again –

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Saturday, March 10th at 7:00 p.m. GMT.

The first is for Stargate fans in North America, the second for Stargate fans in the rest of the world BUT if you can make both, we’d love to see ya.  (Incidentally, I will be participating in  both but don’t let that guilt you into feeling you should as well.  I mean, sure, the Stargate we know and love is at risk of being wiped away with a single reboot, but play it by ear and see how it goes.)

(No pressure.)

(Really.)

What’s the deal with this campaign and what’s at stake?  Well, check out this awesome video by Didi Chandouidoui, “Stargate A Besoin De Vous” (Stargate Needs You), the greatest pitch for why you should step up and help.  If you speak French, I’m sure you’ll agree.  If not – trust me, it’s pretty amazing.

 

Hey, check this out.  The creation and building of the SGU nexus console (via confracto):

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The concept design by James Robbins.

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The model.

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Molded plastic.

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Painting and aging.

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The finished product.

Alrighty.  Starting tomorrow, I start reaching out to some old friends in the hopes they have time to pop in and say hi during the upcoming tweet-storms.

You never know who’ll be dropping by, so make sure to circle the dates!

March 3, 2018: Congratulations, Stargate fans! One more test-drive to go!

Well, last night’s #TestTheDrive campaign went very well.  Here’s how we did in that hour…

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Trendsmap

Almost 35k tweets in an hour.  Fantastic.  I think we can work on those replies, making more of an effort to engage with our fellow tweeters, but overall this is amazing for a dry run.  Almost everyone was fantastic at following the one hashtag rule with only about 1% of participants tweeting out more than one.

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We got a big boost from some influencers lead by Stargate’s Michael Shanks, and Dark Matter’s Zoie Palmer and Alex Mallari Jr.  Majorie Liu, Rachel Caine, Peter Williams, Simone Bailly, Jeff Teravainen, Corin Nemec, Mika McKinnon,  Patrick Gilmore, Mike Dopud, and David Nykl were instrumental were a big part of yesterday’s tweet storm that saw us trending in both the U.S. and Canada.  As were you all, especially these three, our top tweeters…

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Wow!  In fact, we continued trending in Canada into the week hours of this morning.  Congrats and thanks to all, and in particular the @StargateNow and @StargateNow_EU teams.   If you missed it, here’s an interview with two of our frontline stars, Kelli Zielinski and Tom Gardiner –

Meet Two Fans Behind the StargateNow Movement

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Alright!  Now that we’ve sufficiently recharged, let’s get ready to do it all over again with our international fans in less than an hour!

A rules refresher…

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Make sure you’re following @StargateNow and @Stargate_EU as they’ll be releasing the secret hashtag 15 minutes before the tweet-storm.

See you there!

March 2, 2018: Tonight’s the Night! Join us for the Stargate Tweet-Storm Rehearsal!

Have plans tonight?  Well, cancel them!  Unless, of course, said plans involve tonight’s scheduled tweet-storm in which case uncancel them because we need you online as we test the engines on the #DriveToRevive!

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Are you a fan of Stargate: SG-1, Atlantis and/or Universe?

Its memorable characters?  Carter?  McKay?  That sassy little alien Hermoid?

Its momentous moments?  Daniel Jackson’s ascension?  Atlantis’s rise?  That time Universe’s Dale Volker tried to educate Scott and Greer on the distinction between a rambutan and a longan?

Its amazing ships?  Destiny?  The Daedalus?  Sam and Jack?

Well then join us tonight as we take our first big step in our campaign to let MGM know fans want a fourth in-canon series created by Brad Wright and Robert Cooper, a new series that offers a fresh start for new viewers while paying tribute to what came before, instead of…

THE DREADED REBOOT

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Artist rendition of reboot wiping out 17 years of television history

Ready to blow up the internet on this test run?  Great!  Here’s what you need to know…

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So simple even a monkey (specifically, one of those infinite monkeys working on duplicating the complete works of William Shakespeare) could do it!

By the way, loving the selections for your Top 5 Stargate Episodes To Be Blasted Into Space With.  I’ll reveal my top five, in no particular order, as part of tonight’s tweet-storm.

Make sure you’re following @StargateNow and see you tonight!

March 1, 2018: Stargate news and revving up for tomorrow’s revive rehearsal!

Hey, speak of the devil!

Former (and future?) Stargate television series co-creator/writer/showrunner Robert C. Cooper casts his upcoming miniseries.  Joining him on Unspeakable, none other than fellow Stargate alum Michael Shanks –

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sarah-wayne-callies-michael-shanks-join-tainted-blood-scandal-miniseries-unspeakable-1089817

Also on board for Unspeakable is former Stargate writer-Executive Producer Carl “The Truth” Binder –

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(Carl Binder – file photo)

Meanwhile, former SGU veteran Brian J. Smith scores yet another gig:

‘L.A. Confidential’: Brian J. Smith To Star In CBS Drama Pilot

Congratulations, all!

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Who’s ready for tomorrow #DriveToRevive rehearsal tweet-storm?  This is a great opportunity for first-timers to get a lay of the land while allowing veteran tweeters an opportunity to shake off the rust.  We’re laying down the hammer at 9 p.m. Eastern/6 p.m. pacific.

A rulers refresher:

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Otherwise feel free to bring your friends and wear whatever you like.  There is no dress code!

I’ve already got my outfit picked out…

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“If you could go back in time and change anything about your “Stargate” career, what would you change and why? (Bonus points for detailing your method of time travel.)”  Learn my answer to this question and many more (well, nine more) here:

10 Questions with Joseph Mallozzi

Now, I have a question for fandom: You’re about to blast off on an intergalactic mission and are permitted to bring along 5 episodes from the entire Stargate franchise to kill time between here and BoRG-58.  Which 5 episodes are you choosing and why?

Finally, one of the questions I’m most often asked by Stargate fans is: “What is the message hidden in the cosmic microwave background radiation?  What was the universe trying to tell us?”  Well, okay.  Here it is, but don’t tell Brad I told you…

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February 28, 2018: The Stargate Initiative Gaining Steam and Best Comic Book Covers of the Week!

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Less than 10 days out from our scheduled tweet-storm, the Stargate Initiative is gaining steam!  The @StargateNow twitter account is inching towards 9k followers with a number of familiar faces boarding the drive including: @MichaelShanks, @dhewlett, @martingero, @cpbinder, @Ivonbartok, @redTamsen, @JeffTeravainen, @dopudmike, @Ayisha_Issa, @PatrickGilmore, @mikamckinnon, @marksavela, @PeterKelamis, @MichaelMoreci, @MichaelWelchAct, @SamMaggs, @actualApophis, @ranthonylemke, @SuanneBraun, @cliffsimon, @PaulyMcGillion, @imcorinnemec, @SimoneBaily, @AlexMallariJr.  And we still have over a week to go!

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We’ll be doing a trial run in preparation for next week’s tweet-storm.  Join us Friday, March 2nd (fans in America) and Saturday, March 3rd (international fans) at the above times.   We’ve got you covered!  (Thanks for the assist, Kelli and Irena)

Onto our weekly feature: My favorite comic book covers of the week…

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Actionverse: Stray #6 (cover art by Mitch Ballard, Wilson Ramos Jr.)

Love the use of negative space in this take on the classic “Superhero No More” cover.  Bonus points for working a dog into the walkaway.

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Avengers #682 (cover art by Mark Brooks)

Incredible color  detail, and use of depth in this gorgeous frame worthy art piece.

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Captain Marvel #129 (cover art by Phil Noto)

I’m a sucker for alternate reality stories and this cover leaves me all sorts of intrigued.

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Deadpool #295 (cover art by Mike Hawthorne)

One of the things I love about Deadpool is that he’s so damn over the top – an attitude that often translates to his covers.  Like this one, for instance.

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Gasolina #6 (cover art by Mat Lopes, Niko Walter)

I have no idea what’s going on here – the shoes, the gun, that squid sitting atop the soccer ball – but I love the composition and colors.

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Galaktikon #5 (cover art by Marissa Louise, Steve Mannion)

As a longtime scifi fan, I’m always charmed by these classic SF conceits.

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Glitterbomb vol. 2: The Fame Game (cover art by Djibril Morissette-Phan)

Horrific and brutal but undeniably beautiful.

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Doom Patrol/JLA Special #1 (cover art by Marissa Louise, Clay Mann)

Doom Patrol battles the Justice League in a giant bowl of milk while the Milk Man looks on.  What’s not to love?

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Rich Veitch’s The One #1 (cover art by Rick Veitch)

Love the playfulness of this one as well.

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Saga #49 (cover art by Fiona Staples)

49 issues in and Saga remains one of the most fiercely creative comics out there.  The series covers are equally imaginative.

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Strangers In Paradise XXV #2 (cover art by Terry Moore)

I’ve been a longtime fan of Terry Moore’s work, and this is the latest in a long line of terrific (and, in this case, subtly unnerving) covers.

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Teen Titans #17 (cover art by Dan Mora)

I always enjoy seeing super beings laid low by mundanities or the harsh realities faced by your average (dare I say it?) Joe.  Still, it make you wonder: Are they leaving the furniture?

What do you think?

February 27, 2018: Stargate Tweet-Storm 2018 – The Dress Rehearsal!

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Like The A-Team’s Hannibal Smith, I love it when a plan comes together.  And this one is coming along nicely.  No need to construct gas pump flamethrowers or figure out a way to modify a wood chipper into a cabbage launcher.  All you need to do is head on over to twitter and follow @StargateNow.  Less than two weeks out from our back-to-back Stargate tweet storms and the official twitter home of the #DriveToRevive campaign already has 8500 followers.   Let’s try to make it 10k by this weekend.

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As we ready for the next Friday’s double event, the StargateInitiative is going to do a little dry run.  This Friday, March 2nd at 9 p.m. EST, 6 p.m. EST, we’re going to do a little pre-tweetstorm to show everyone how it’s done.  Swing on by and take part in the run-through.  Connect with fellow fans.  Check out some awesome Stargate-related pics, gifs, videos, and stories!

A refresher on The Rules of the Tweet-Storm:

#1: FOLLOW – Make sure you’re following @StargateNow

#2: CHECK IN – Approximately 15 minutes before the appointed time, @StargateNow will be revealing that night’s unique hashtag.  This hashtag should appear in all of your tweets.

#3: BE PROMPT – Start tweeting at the appointed time, but not before as it diminishes our efforts at trending.

#4: USE THE DEDICATED HASHTAG – Make sure your tweet includes that night’s dedicated hashtag.

#5: ONLY USE THAT ONE HASHTAG – For some reason, tweets with more than one hashtag don’t count toward trending so be sure to only use the hashtag of the night.

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Hey, is it just me or has there been an increase in Stargate articles and interviews over the past week or so?  Click the links to check them out:

The IO9 Guide to Stargate

Brad Wright On Stargate Movies, Origins, And SGU’s Final Moments

Stargate Fans Prepare To Push For Franchise Expansion

Four Ways Stargate Could Return To Long-Form T.V.

Stargate Fans Plan Massive Social Media Campaign to Launch New Series

On Discute De L’Avenir De La Franchise Stargate

Stargate‘s Legacy: “Midway”

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P.S. Thanks to @okdontpanic for the beautiful banners!

February 26, 2018: Save the date Stargate fans!

In less than two weeks, we’ll be blowing up the internet with a good old-fashioned tweet-storm.  Actually, two.

Friday, March 9th at 6:00 p.m. PST/9:00 p.m. EST – for North American fans

Saturday, March 10th at 7:00 p.m. GMT – for International fans.

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Of course (and preferably), you can show up for both events – but I don’t want to impose.

All we need is an hour of your time…but if you want to stick around and make a night of it, let’s do it!

When we orchestrated our last tweet-fest in support of Dark Matter, the turnout was pretty insane.  Here are the stats from that September 15th event:

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Them’s huge numbers – and we did that with a core group of some 7000 Dark Matter fans following the @DarkMatterFTL account.  Today, with 11 days to go, the @StargateNow campaign account already has 8 000 followers.

I have no doubt we will be making one hell of an impression.

We’ll be following the lead of the Dark Matter campaign which followed the lead of the Longmire campaign which followed the lead of the Fringe campaign that demonstrated the power of fandom by channeling their voices on a dedicated platform (twitter) for an appointed time (see above).

A few rules that will help maximize our message:

#1: FOLLOW – Make sure you’re following @StargateNow

#2: CHECK IN – Approximately 15 minutes before the appointed time, @StargateNow will be revealing that night’s unique hashtag.  This hashtag should appear in all of your tweets.  In the case of Dark Matter, for instance, one of the hashtag we used was #RockTheRaza.

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#3: BE PROMPT – Start tweeting at the appointed time, but not before as it diminishes our efforts at trending.

#4: USE THE DEDICATED HASHTAG – Make sure your tweet includes that night’s dedicated hashtag.

#5: ONLY USE THAT ONE HASHTAG – For some reason, tweets with more than one hashtag don’t count toward trending so be sure to only use the hashtag of the night.

Okay, got it?

Annnnnd break!

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I’m off to start going through my hard drives for those behind-the-scene set pics!

As always, thanks to Tom Gardiner (@Thogar) for all the fantastic gifs.

I take my leave of you now, fandom.  Until tomorrow…

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February 25, 2018: SciFi Fandoms United!

Stargate was a fantastic 12-year experience for me.  I learned a lot from showrunners Brad Wright and Robert Cooper, the cast, the crew, and fandom. Among the greatest takeaways from my time on the show is this oft-repeated (by me) nugget: “Fans tune in for the hook, but they stay for the characters”.  To that, I would add the importance of family, something that is at the core of all three Stargates.  On SG-1, it’s team SG-1.  On Atlantis, it’s the Atlantis Expedition. And on Universe, it’s the crew of the Destiny.  They may be very different personalities, have totally different outlooks, and disagree at times, but despite all the challenges they face, they are family – to each other and to fans around the world.  Looking back, it was no coincidence that one of the final scenes I wrote for Stargate was the farewell dinner scene for Stargate: Universe in which Eli toasts his fellow crew while likening them to family members (Rush, of course, drawing comparisons to “the crazy uncle”).  It was also no coincidence that this very concept was at the heart of my show, Dark Matter.  The crew of The Raza are family.  Like SG-1 and the Atlantis Expedition and the Destiny crew, they alway find a way to come together and have each other’s backs.

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This sense of family was ever-present behind-the-scenes on all four productions. And obvious in the support and love these show continue to receive from their many fans.  So when we rallied to fight for Dark Matter following its cancellation by Syfy, that sense of family was evident throughout the campaign with hashtags like #WeCarryEachOther and #DarkMatterFamily.  Stargate fans came out to support Dark Matter fans and I’m heartened to see Dark Matter fans now joining this campaign to support Stargate fans.  [I’m also seeing a lot of Dark Matter fans checking out Stargate for the first time and vice-versa which makes me very happy.  If you’ve yet to cross-sample, might I suggest Dark Matter fans check out Stargate: SG-1 Season 4, Episode 6 “Window of Opportunity” and Stargate fans check out Dark Matter Season 3, Episode 4 “All The Time In The World”.  You’ll love the parallels.].

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Stargate fans, Dark Matter fans, hell, scifi fans in general are family.  We know the difference between a goa’uld and a tok’ra, a ha’tak and a mothership, O’Neill with two L’s as opposed to one.  We know that TWO is Portia is Rebecca, and SIX is Griffin Jones is Kal Varrick, and THREE named his big gun Bubba and his sidearms Lulu and Pip but didn’t name his knife because what do you think he is, psycho? We know to Keep Looking Up, that Crackers Don’t Matter, and that Han Shot First. We have each others backs. #WeCarryEachOther

And we’re about to send one helluva message.

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Trust me, we are closer to a fourth in-canon Stargate series than ever before!

Tomorrow, finally, I’ll give you the details of how we’re going to pull this off – exactly what we’re going to do and when.

In the meantime, if you haven’t already done so, head on over to twitter and follow @StargateNow and yours truly.  If you’re not yet on twitter, fear not.  It’s easy. Just go to the twitter home page, sign up, then come back here and click on the above links to be taken to the aforementioned accounts.  Click the “follow”  button and you’ll be automatically dialed in and updated on the latest developments on the campaign front along with Stargate-related pics, gifs, vids, commentaries, and more than a few surprises.

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February 24, 2018: Here’s the Game Plan, Stargate Fans! StargateNow!

With the release of Stargate: Origins on the Stargate Command platform, MGM has taken the first steps towards exploring fan interest in further Stargate adventures.  However, as the first couple of SG:O episodes rolled out, I wondered if there was another way to gauge fan support for a potential new series.  There are many, MANY international fans who aren’t able to access Stargate Command to show their love.  There are also a lot of North American fans who may not be able to afford a subscription or are simply wary of shelling out this early in the process. I get it.  And, for these reasons, I looked for an alternate means of letting MGM know how much support Stargate still enjoys, not only in North America but internationally as well, not simply among paid subscribers but possible viewers who, for whatever reasons, cannot or choose not to subscribe at the moment. Some way to bring together Stargate fans scattered across the globe and throughout the internet in a focused campaign that gives them a unified voice on a dedicated platform at an appointed time.

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A unified voice speaks loudest of all while a dedicated platform and time allows fandom to make the most noise in a concentrated and quantifiable burst.  Social media has become a crucial component of a show’s success, offering studios accessible and immediate statistics on fan engagement.  Letter writing campaigns are a thing of the past.  Today’s fan campaigns are fought online.  NBC’s Timeless is a good, recent example of online fandom making noise and getting results for their favorite show.  Perhaps the greatest precedent though is what was achieved by fans of Longmire who took to twitter, made plenty of NOISE, got noticed, and secured an additional three seasons of their favorite show.  Longmire fans were smart, disciplined, and spoke in a unified voice on a dedicated platform at dedicated times.  We are going to take a page from their successful campaign (Thanks, Longmire fans, for showing us how it’s done). 

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Two weeks from now, we will gather on twitter at an appointed time, tag MGM, and get Stargate trending.  Big-time.  We’ll have two major events – one for North American fans, another for international fans.  We’re splitting them up in order to maximize participation and ensure we get the largest turnout for both.  All you have to do is show up on twitter at the appointed time, on the appointed day, and interact with us for an hour or so.  Tell us what Stargate means to you, maybe what you’d like to see in a new Brad Wright/Robert Cooper series.  Share your favorite characters, episodes, moments.  @StargateNow, the official voice for the #DriveToRevive, will be posting concept art from all three shows: SG-1, Atlantis, and Universe.  I’ll be offering up behind the scene photos and videos from my time on the franchise.  And who knows what familiar faces may be dropping by to say hi.  It’ll be little effort but a whole lot of fun.

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If this all sounds familiar – yes, it’s very similar to the campaign we waged in support of Dark Matter.  Alas, while the tweetstorms in support of DM were statistically huge (I still have people in the industry remark on our impressive showing), they, unfortunately, failed to convince Syfy.  But there’s a key difference between that campaign and the one we’re about to launch: MGM really does care.

They care about their shows and the people who produce them.

They care about science fiction.

And, most importantly, they care about their fans.

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MGM WANTS to give you a new Stargate series.  They WANT Stargate to succeed. They just need to know you’re out there and willing to support them when the time comes.

Let’s do this!

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P.S. Thanks to @Thogar and co. for the gifs!