[B5JMS] Babylon 5 Scripts Site Nearly Ready, And More!

Wed Oct 26 04:37:06 EDT 2005

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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 13:39:14 +0000 (UTC)
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First, an advance word to those who are looking on...as noted here
earlier, all of the B5 scripts that I wrote are going to be published
in book form via www.babylon5scripts.com (a clever and inventive
title), and I just had it confirmed to me that the site will be going
on line right around the 28th of this month, give or take a day or so.

There will be 14 volumes, containing all the episodic scripts that I
wrote, plus "In the Beginning" (in the 14th) and in volume 1 the
ORIGINAL 1989 version of "The Gathering" that was used to sell the show
but which was massively changed prior to production, which features
different characters and gave Kosh a life-mate named Velana.

The 15th volume will be given without charge to those who pick up all
14 volumes...even the shipping charges will be covered.  That volume
will contain the lost Soul Hunter script (well, not lost, I recalled it
because I'd unwittingly written a Star Trek style script instead of a
B5 style script), a never-before-seen draft of Midnight on the Firing
Line written a YEAR before we got the go-ahead for the series to show
WB how the series would work, which is *massively* different (and a bit
more surreal) from what was filmed...the original B5 series bible...the
5 year arc overview given to WB before we started filming season one to
show how the series would work (and which followed Sinclair's character
all through those five years on B5)...and the script used in the
now-famous (or infamous) practical joke played on Andreas and Peter
which had G'Kar changing genders and ending up in bed with Londo.

Each volume also has an original introduction from me, and a lengthy
discussion of each episode, averaging about 40 pages per book, with a
lot of behind the scenes information never revealed before, along with
what went into the writing and producing.

There will also be a collection of B&W photos from my private
collection taken behind the scenes, which have never been seen by
anyone before.  (Some books will have more photos than others,
depending on how often I made it to set that week.)

As noted before, for the first week or so after each new volume is
released, they'll be knocking ten bucks off the price of each volume to
reward the B5 community for keeping an eye on this.  And yes, they do
ship internationally.

Moving on to other topics for a moment....

The same week, the 26th, will also see the publcation of issue one of
"The Book of Lost Souls," the new comic I'm doing with Colleen Doran,
and published by Marvel.  This book is not like anything I've ever
written before (the closest would be Midnight Nation), and it's
definitely not like anything else Marvel is doing, and it's just
gorgeous to look at (and not bad to read, either).  No spandex, no
costumes...a kind of modern dark fantasy, very adult, sometimes very
dark but ultimately hopeful...and best of all, it has a talking cat
named Mystery who is modeled after Buddy the Miracle Cat, so really,
how can you go wrong?

Finally...and I almost hate to type these words for fear of jinxing
anything...but in addition to the network project in development, I've
been offered show-runner on another series which should, if all goes
according to plan start shooting up in Vancouver in the spring.  That's
all I can say about it for now, except that I've accepted the offer and
we're now concluding negotiations.  More on this as it develops.

jms

(message content (c) 2005
Synthetic Worlds, Ltd.
Reprint permission specifically
denied to SFX magazine)

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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2005 08:14:36 +0000 (UTC)
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BTW, in reply to a bunch of private emails I've gotten from folks like
gdeste at comcast.net asking about shipping charges on orders locally and
overseas...I sent an email to inquire, and the fees for shipping are as
low as $4 for US, as low as $6 for Canada, and as low as $7 everywhere
else (depending on how fast one wants it to arrive).

jms

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From: "KoshN" <macthevorlon at yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2005 17:08:23 +0000 (UTC)
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Ever consider writing the rest of the Crusade scripts and publishing
them this way, maybe one season per book?  You could even make Season 1
the way you'd like to have done it (minus the TNT notes), *or* if
that's too much work, just finish Season 1 using the 13 existing
episodes as-is.  The latter would only require 9 or 10 additional
scripts (3 of which are already done, assuming you can get Fiona's
"Value Judgements" into the set).

That way, you can get around TNT and WB, and tell the story the way you
want to tell it, and we fans can get the story and imagine it based
upon what we got to see in the Crusade (i.e. visualizing those
characters).  It'd be almost as good as having it on TV.

Hey, it's a way for you to tell the story, and a way for us fans to
read it, and they can't stop you from selling your scripts, right?  Who
knows, maybe if somebody notices the sales, they might wake up and
smell the coffee.  Yeah, I know there wouldn't be enough $ return for
your time investment, and the prestige wouldn't be there (wouldn't look
good selling new scripts directly to the fans, I guess.), but maybe you
could give it a shot by just doing Season 1 and seeing how it goes???

Just a thought. <shrug>  Trying to think of SOME way for us fans to get
the Crusade story.  You were just getting on a roll with those
characters, and then blammo, we hit the wall.  Too many good series
have ended this way, because of pinheads at networks.  I'd like to see
one or two worthy ones get finished, storywise (e.g. Crusade, and
Brimstone).

KoshN

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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com
Date: Wed, 26 Oct 2005 01:18:09 +0000 (UTC)
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KoshN wrote:
> Ever consider writing the rest of the Crusade scripts and publishing
> them this way, maybe one season per book?  You could even make Season 1
> the way you'd like to have done it (minus the TNT notes), *or* if
> that's too much work, just finish Season 1 using the 13 existing
> episodes as-is.  The latter would only require 9 or 10 additional
> scripts (3 of which are already done, assuming you can get Fiona's
> "Value Judgements" into the set).
>
> That way, you can get around TNT and WB, and tell the story the way you
> want to tell it, and we fans can get the story and imagine it based
> upon what we got to see in the Crusade (i.e. visualizing those
> characters).  It'd be almost as good as having it on TV.
>
> Hey, it's a way for you to tell the story, and a way for us fans to
> read it, and they can't stop you from selling your scripts, right?

Actually, they could...writing new material would require a license
from WB.  Existing scripts are a different matter.  Also, I wouldn't
write scripts unless I knew they were going to be produced, otherwise
there's no point to the script format, prose is better for that...but
again, that would require a license, and I don't think WB would go with
that.

BTW, I mis-spoke myself in an earlier note...I meant to say that volume
15 has the alternate "Sky Full of Stars" script, not "Midnight on the
Firing Line."  I had a senior moment....

jms