Joseph Mallozzi's Blog, page 406

November 19, 2014: Introducing Dark Matter Art Director Kim Zaharko!

One of the most notoriously elusive member of the Dark Matter production team is Kim Zaharko.  For days, rumors abounded of a supremely talented Art Director frequenting the lower offices, coordinating the design and construction of our awesome sets.  There had been sightings but no visual confirmations.  Intrigued, I set out to get photographic proof of her existence.  After numerous failed attempts, I was finally able to snap the above pic during an Art Department meeting which I attended, disguised as an innocuous photocopier.  Note the discerning eyes for detail, the tell-tale look of seasoned professionalism, the the keen sense of fashion!

Now note her exceptional handiwork…

Coming along nicely, no?

Tomorrow, I’m New York-bound for the day.  Out at 6:00 a.m.; back at 11:00 p.m! I’m tired already.

Tagged: Dark Matter

November 19, 2014: Introducing Dark Matter Production Designer Ian Brock!

The first time I’d ever heard about Production Designer Ian Brock was several months ago when I was having dinner with a fellow producer.  We were discussing production challenges and the benefits of hiring talented people capable of making efficient use of often limited resources when my dining companion suddenly sat back and informed me: “Ian Brock!  He’s a genius!”.

Genius?  “That’s a mighty big word,”I remember thinking.  According to my associate, he was not only incredibly good at production design, he was incredibly good at production design without going over budget.  “But GENIUS?”I asked.

“His work,”I was assured, “is efficient but visually stunning.”

And that’s something I can now personally attest to.  With the help of his Art Department team and the construction department, Ian’s vision for our ship, The Raza, is rapidly taking shape.  And it’s looking mighty awesome…

Ian heads up the Art Department meeting

Photo c/o (stolen from) Trevor Finn.

Yep.  Genius!

Tagged: Dark Matter

November 18, 2014: Notes! Notes! And notes!

Executive Producer Jay Firestone has had it up to HERE with us.

Today, Paul and I sat down with fellow Dark Matter Executive Producer (and President of Prodigy Pictures) Jay Firestone for a marathon notes session.  Well, it was only three scripts, so not so much a marathon as it was, say, a 5k sustained jog through episodes #101 through #103.  And, I’m pleased to report, a good time was had by all.  Oh, sure, there were a few disagreements.  A couple of impassioned arguments.  And, at one point, (apparently) I almost jumped out of my seat.  But, in the end, it was a productive meeting and I have no doubt that all three scripts will be the better for it.  Jay flagged some murky moments in need of clarification, had some great suggestions related to character motivations, relationships, and arcs, and even offered up some pretty good dialogue tweaks.  No absurd requests or annoyingly illogical proposals or demands for reams of exposition to ensure that even a trained chimp can follow the story.

If all of our future notes sessions go this smoothly, I may actually look forward to attending them – instead of hiding under my desk and hoping people will simply lose interest and move on to more pressing matters.

Tomorrow = round #2 (eposes #104 to #106)!

Tagged: Dark Matter, Dark Matter Executive Producer, Executive Producer Jay Firestone, Jay Firestone, President of Prodigy Pictures

November 17, 2014: Welcome to the gun (sword and miscellaneous weapons) show!

My writing partner, Paul, got in yesterday for what should be a big week.  We’ve got budget meetings tomorrow, script meetings with Jay Tuesday and Wednesday, and a whirlwind trip to the SyFy offices in New York that will see us flying out early Friday morning and flying back later that night.  Today, we sat down with (well, actually, we all stood but you know what I mean) the Art Department, Costumes, and Props.  In the case of the latter, it was all about the guns, guns, guns!  And some swords and miscellaneous weaponry…

A veritable smorgasbord of firepower!

So we’re looking to use replicas of established guns as the base models for the futuristic sidearms and ordnance our crew – and everyone from Galactic Authority officers to Corporate Guards – will be packing.  Both Three and Six will wield big-ass guns and carry chunky holstered handgun variants (something along the lines of what you see bottom left).  One, Two and Four will go with sleeker shooters.  Holster options range from hip and leg to shoulder and back.

Yo, Slashy McStabberson!

Apparently the longer swords are your go-to blades if you’re looking to decapitate someone – but you already knew that.  Four, our resident swordsman, would be adept with all four sheathed varieties – so we’ll keep all four in his quarters so that he can always have a choice.

And this lovely medieval pruning knife can be yours…if the price is right!

The ship’s training room will house a variety of weapons, from simple training staffs to more exotic blades.  Here, Property Master Victoria Klein shows off a little something from her personal collection.

Trevor gets mouthy with Alison.  She responds in kind.

Our Props Buyer’s (Susan Woorts) shopping list will include: milk, eggs, cheese, and a half dozen fresh Berettas.

Testing Alison’s reflexes.  Her rubber training sword is no match for my steel!

And you thought today was fun!  I can’t wait for tomorrow’s two hour script note session!

Tagged: Dark Matter, science fiction, Science Fiction Television, scifi, scifi television, SF, SF television

November 16, 2014: Life in Toronto in Pictures!

The return of my bento box breakfast.  Peanut butter oatmeal with cherries and burnt white chocolate for dessert.

My every-chilly girlfriend.

Almost 16-year old Jelly, already in the Christmas spirit.

Jelly sleeps off her walkies.

Akemi’s latest passion = popcorn!

And, apparently, knitting!

Well, at least her ears are warm.

Getting together with the gang for some Sunday football over some wings and nachos: Trevor Finn, Robert C. Cooper, and Alex Levine.

Oh, my.  My Snow Monkeys are about to move on to a 7-4 record, and 2nd place in our Fantasy Football League.  I smell championship!

November 15, 2014: My Top 12 Hong Kong Movie Nite Favorites!

Way back when I was living in Montreal, I would attend something called Hong Kong Movie Nite.  It was a weekly tradition, hosted by my buddy Nigel, that saw us gather at his place for wings, Jamaican takeout, Jack Daniels, occasional cigars, and screenings of some of the most bad-ass and weirdly wonderful offerings from the Hong Kong film industry.  This was before Hollywood discovered John Woo and Jet Li, before Chow Yun-Fat had become a global star, before Quentin Tarantino had “borrowed” elements of Ringo Lam’s City on Fire for his first modest kick at the cinematic bucket, a movie called Reservoir Dogs.  Paul and I would swing by from work and take in double, sometimes triple features with the likes of Supa, Champion, Flipski, and Sushiman – big boys, mostly of Carribbean descent, who were as fun and furious as the movies themselves.

I miss the Movie Nite Crew.  And all those testosterone-fueled action flicks that have, in time, become classics of Asian cinema.

Reflecting back over the countless films we watched, I’d have to say that these were my Top 12 favorites…

12. LOVE ON DELIVERY

This delightfully ludicrous romantic comedy was my introduction to funny man Stephen Chow – who makes several appearances on this list.

11. NAKED KILLER

A gloriously over-the-top entry in the Girls with Guns sub-genre that became an instant cult classic.

10. A BETTER TOMORROW

The movie that made uber-cool Chow Yun-Fat a superstar.

9. RIKI-OH: THE STORY OF RICKY

Cartoon ultra-violence reigns supreme in this near future actioner, probably the craziest movie I’ve ever seen.

8. THE BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR

Romance, tragedy, fantasy, and plenty of swordplay.  A beautiful film.

7. KUNG FU HUSTLE

Nobody mixes action and comedy like Stephen Chow.

6. FROM BEIJING WITH LOVE

And here he takes a turn as the Hong Kong’s 007 in this James Bond spoof with a definitive Asian twist.

5. INFERNAL AFFAIRS

Adapted by Hollywood, practically scene for scene, as the Oscar-winning The Departed.

 

4. FIST OF LEGEND

Jet Li at his bad-ass best.

3. HARDBOILED

One of my very first forays into Asian cinema, this one remains one of my very favorites.  The action sequences are so exquisitely choreographed that my brain was buzzing for hours after our initial screening.

2. SHAOLIN SOCCER

Stephen Chow is at the top of his game here, playing a master of kung-fu who enlists the help of his fellow Shoalin monks to form a soccer team,  one that incorporates martial arts into the beautiful game – with hilarious results.  One of my very favorite comedies ever.

1. THE KILLER

A ruthless assassin attempts to make amends for a past mistake in this cinematic classic.

Tagged: favorite Hong Kong movies, Hong Kong film, Hong Kong movies

November 14, 2014: Tomfoolery and horseplay on set!

It’s all fun and games until an Executive Producer gets hurt.  And that’s what almost happened today when I was visiting set to check in on the construction of our bridge and corridor sets, and the walnut finish customized jacuzzi for my office. As usual, I was accompanied by Executive Producers’ Assistant Alison Hepburn and Story Editor/Script Coordinator Trevor Finn who are always on hand in case of public emergencies (ie. fending off the undead and giving me the opportunity to flee in the event of a zombie attack; double-anchoring me should a tornado set down in the neighbourhood, etc.).  I mean, sure, they’ve got their “official job descriptions”, but my safety and well-being is at the top of their priority list.  So imagine my surprise this afternoon when I was strolling through set and I slipped on a patch of sawdust.  As I felt my feet slide out from underneath me, I fully expected to feel the reassuring/supportive hands of Alison Hepburn at my back, averting certain disaster.  But it turned out I had to avert my own disaster.  No, instead of Alison sweeping in to the rescue, I had to windmill my arms as my right foot streaked forward like I was sliding into second base, capturing my weight on my shaky left foot.  I glanced back to see how close Alison had come to missing me – only to discover she hadn’t kept the requisite two paces behind me.  Instead, I found her thus -

Happily snapping away, totally oblivious to the catastrophe forestalled.  I mean, seriously!  I had to catch myself!  What’s next?  Will I have to hole-punch my own photocopies?  Throw out my own recyclables?  Be expected to chew my own lunch?!!

Anyway, I consulted the hidden camera I had placed on set to catch construction personnel taking unauthorized bathroom breaks and came across these snaps:

I mean, honestly.  This is a place of work, not tomfoolery and horseplay.  While they’re running around set, drilling holes in load-bearing hat stands and generally not catching me, fellow Executive Producer Vanessa Piazza and I are hard at work prepping the show and testing the structural integrity of a four can high-rise -

Which may seem like tomfoolery and horseplay but is actual important research for an upcoming episode of the show.

I mean – come on!

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Tagged: Dark Matter

November 13, 2014: C-c-c-c-c-cold!

I woke up this morning and it was snowing.

Snowing!!!

And the temperature has dropped about 20 degrees in a day.

It’s so cold that Akemi refuses to go out.  She has vowed to never leave our apartment until spring.

I feel terribly, for her and for the dogs, especially Lulu and her super-sensitive paws.  As much as it pains me to do so, I think we’re going to have to pick up doggy boots.  Yes, we’ve become THOSE people.

So, hey, we did that live stream Skype audition session the other day and, as expected, it went poorly.  As Trevor pointed out, for an application software that specializes in video chats, Skype video quality is surprisingly…um, what’s the word? Oh, yeah.  Shit.  And I feel “shit” is really too kind a description of the picture and audio quality we had to sit through – this despite upping to unlimited bandwidth. The video was so choppy I felt like  I was playing Mario Bros. on my Commodore 64.  If any of you have stock in Skype, I advise you to sell now.  We ended up switching to FaceTime and things went much more smoothly after that.  So, to break down the pros of each application:

Facetime: Better video and audio quality, easier to use.

Skype: Only one syllable and perhaps easier to pronounce.

Our trusty Story Editor/Script Coordinator/Annoying Noisy Lunch Chewer Trevor Finn alerted me to the following big news story:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/astronomers-discover-planet-identical-to-earth-wit,37437/

Amazing, no?

In other science-related news, I’m sure you’re all aware by now that the Philae probe scored a bullseye landing.  At some point, I suspect, they will trigger the charge that will disport the asteroid’s earth-bound trajectory, saving our planet from certain doom.

November 12, 2014: Akemi popcorn fun!

I’ll be in a casting session for most of the day so, today, I hand things over to Akemi and her very first popcorn-making experience…

Tagged: making popcorn, popcorn

November 11, 2014: Dark Matter prep continues! Ever closer on the casting! We’re scriptwriting machines! The ship is taking shape!

Two down, one to go.  The Toronto and Vancouver second round casting sessions are in the books and only the L.A. session remains.  Be Vanessa and I won’t be able to attend, we’re going to live stream it to the production offices.  Theoretically anyway.  I imagine it’ll be sort of like those interactive video conferences that look so cool in the movies but never quite work out the way you want them to in real life, with participants dropping out, losing audio, losing video, the whole punctuated by the background caterwaul of children or dogs in desperate need of feeding.  Still, we’re going to give it the ole college try (let’s say more Devry than Harvard).  Festivities get underway at noon PST, which means we’ll be watching well into the twilight hours.  Guess we’ll be ordering pizza!

The plan is to have our selects, Top 3 for each of the seven roles, by early next week.  And that’s when the decision-making will get REALLY tough…

Paul delivered his first draft of episode #10, the first part of our late season two-parter.  He promises to have #11 to us before his weekend arrival – which means I’ll be able to do my pass on #12 (already written) have that out by early next week.  Leaving us with…only the grand (season one) finale to write.  Or, rather, finish since I’m already 15 pages in.

Meanwhile, no rest for our awesome construction crew who have been working their little tool belts off -

Right this way, step right up…

On our way to the bridge.

The crew of The Raza = Alison Hepburn and Trevor Finn. 

The bridge in its infancy.

Corridor going one way.

And the other.

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Tagged: Dark Matter, science fiction, Science Fiction Television, scifi, scifi television, SF, SF television