[B5JMS] JMS "fan favorite"

[b5jms-admin at cs.columbia.edu]

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: "Laura M. Appelbaum" <l-appelbaum at mindspring.com>
Date: 21 Mar 2001 19:27:08 -0700
Lines: 38

"Andrew Timson" <ArsenicMan33 at hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3ab91a2d$0$18897$1dc6e903 at news.corecomm.net...
> "James Bell" <jamesb at naxs.com> wrote in message
> news:3AB96269.5356B47A at naxs.com...
> > Joe,
> >
> > I wasn't clear about the B5 character you have in the script.  Is this
> > just for the movie or is it for the series as well?
> >
> > Jim
> > (hoping for a return of Lennier)
>
> But he died during the Teep War, I thought...

Yes.  In the same big blast that takes out Lyta and the PsiCorps HQ on Mars,
thus setting off the War.

More mundanely, I *SERIOUSLY* doubt it would be Lennier because of the
on-going conflict Bill Mumy had with and spoke openly about in interviews,
with jms.  Same reason you'll never see Ivanova again, or, I suspect,
Sheridan.  And certainly not Lyta.  Then too, consider that the Skiffy
Channel had $2 million to cough up for "Battlefield Earth" but didn't have
the cash to buy out "Crusade" (thank goodness, IMO) from TNT before it was
canned (and TNT in turn, didn't have the money to hire Tallman for one
episode).  In other words, we're talking a production on the cheap -- hence
the Vancouver shooting location.  This issue (money, honey)  alone, pretty
well eliminates ANY of the main characters appearing for more than a walk-on
unless they're willing to work virtually for scale, which one would hope
none of them are so hard-up for cash as to do.  But then, to quote Delenn,
"we shall see ... what we shall see."

LMA
(Who as High Priestess of Sinclair of course hopes to be wrong and see Valen
show up, but knows better.  And if I'm wrong, well, in this instance, I'd be
*thrilled* to accept a public drubbing! <G> Entil'Zha Veni!)




=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 21 Mar 2001 21:27:41 -0700
Lines: 70

There are several glaring inaccuracies in your message....

>Then too, consider that the Skiffy
>Channel had $2 million to cough up for "Battlefield Earth" but didn't have
>the cash to buy out "Crusade" (thank goodness, IMO) from TNT before it was
>canned

It's not that SFC didn't have the money, it's that the situation came up when
they had *already allocated* all of their budget for the year, and would have
to have dug into their budget for the *subsequent* year and they just couldn't
do that.  If the situation had occurred a few months earlier, it would have
been very different.

Remember also that SFC wanted B5 as well to make the deal, and TNT was asking a
heinous amount of money for the B5 reruns to *deliberately* prevent anyone from
obtaining both shows because they were afraid that Crusade would do well at SFC
and embarrass the network.  What TNT was asking to get bought out on B5 was
more than ANYbody sane would pay.

>(and TNT in turn, didn't have the money to hire Tallman for one
>episode)

Also incorrect.  When you do episodic TV, you look at the days per episode that
somebody works.  When, for instance, we had Richard Biggs do an appearance in
Crusade, it only required being there for a couple of days out of a 7 day
schedule.

It's standard in that kind of situation to look at the actor's weekly fee and
pay them for the number of days they appear.  In other words...and these are
totally bogus figures, just for ease of discussion...if Actor X gets 7,000 for
a 7 day shoot, then if you only need him on another show for 2 days, you pay
$2,000.  If you need him for the whole episode, you pay the full $7,000.

That's what we did with Richard, and what we've always done.  We offered Pat
the same kind of arrangement on Crusade; we only needed her for one day's work
on "Path of Sorrows."  She asked to receive her usual salary for a full week. 
We couldn't make that deal because it would establish a precedent that would
come back to haunt us bigtime.  
>In other words, we're talking a production on the cheap -- hence
>the Vancouver shooting location.  This issue (money, honey)  alone, pretty
>well eliminates ANY of the main characters appearing for more than a walk-on
>unless they're willing to work virtually for scale, which one would hope
>none of them are so hard-up for cash as to do. 

LOTS of shows are shooting in Vancouver, with all KINDS of budgets, so I don't
see that your slamming Vancouver as being a cheap place has anything to do with
reality.  X-Files and Millennium shot up there for years and were *massively*
expensive shows.  So right off the bat you're dealing with a false premise.

Our budget for the TV movie is absolutely in line with what's usually
spent...and if you actually knew anything about TV production, you'd know that
you don't spend the money to fly someone from LA to Vancouver, put them up, and
do all the rest...just to use that person for a walk-on.

The role, as written, is extensive and all THROUGH the movie.  So on that final
score, you're just plain wrong.

Just an advisory that one should get ones facts a bit more in line before going
around slamming on people and whole cities....

 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)