[B5JMS] ATTN JMS: Pitching TV Series (B5, and in general)

[b5jms-admin at cs.columbia.edu]

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From: "Douglas Nicol" <Douglasnicol at btinternet.com>
Date: 19 Feb 2001 11:18:58 -0700
Lines: 37


Jms at B5 <jmsatb5 at aol.com> wrote in message
news:20010219012009.15885.00001719 at ng-fo1.aol.com...
> They were given the pilot screenplay for The Gathering, an extensive
series
> treatment with sample stories covering most of the first season, with
notes on
> where the series would go, and lots of sample artwork on the station and
the
> characters.
>
> With some exceptions, it was very close to what became the B5 writer's
bible,
> which was available for a while via thestation.com.
>
>
>  jms
>
> (jmsatb5 at aol.com)
> (all message content (c) 2001 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
> permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
> and don't send me story ideas)
>
Joe

This might sound a little bit naive, but what was to stop any network
ripping off your hard thought-up work, and altering a few minor details,
then touting it as their own show.
I've heard some rumours that this is what happened with DS9, but I'm not
sure whether to believe them.
Obviously if another network uses your plots, characters etc it can be a
blatant copy, but sometimes things can be more subtle.

Douglas Nicol




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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 19 Feb 2001 16:18:04 -0700
Lines: 38

>This might sound a little bit naive, but what was to stop any network
>ripping off your hard thought-up work, and altering a few minor details,
>then touting it as their own show.

Absolutely nothing.  It happens a lot.  It happened to Roddenberry when he
pitched ST and a lot of that material ended up being used to make Lost in
Space.

When the Abyss was in development, at least two other studios rushed forward
with similar underwater movies to capitalize on it and co-opt any PR for their
own purposes.

>I've heard some rumours that this is what happened with DS9, but I'm not
>sure whether to believe them.

There's little question in my mind that the suits at Paramount wanted to co-opt
what we were doing with B5.  I know that they *resented* the show because it
was, at that time, their belief that they pretty much owned the space SF genre.

I feel that they guided the development process in order to co-opt what we were
doing.  And nothing I've heard from my sources inside the studio has given me
cause to think otherwise.

>Obviously if another network uses your plots, characters etc it can be a
>blatant copy, but sometimes things can be more subtle.

They can indeed.

 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2001 by synthetic worlds, ltd., 
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine 
and don't send me story ideas)




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