Ten Thirteen News

More news about Carter's "Unique"

2012-01-09T02:13:00.000-08:00

According to Deadline.com, more than a dozen drama specs were sent to the five nets this weekend, including high-profile project by The X-Files creator Chris Carter, female-driven mystery thriller Unique.

Carter’s Unique starts off as a revenge drama about a woman’s quest to solve her husband’s murder but is subsequently vaulted into a global mythological conspiracy show that takes place in a heightened reality. The project, produced by MRC, has been getting high marks from network executives for the interactive way the script is being presented on iPads with sample scene storyboards and soundtrack.

'X-Files' Creator Chris Carter Plots Return to TV With Police Thriller

2011-10-01T11:18:00.000-07:00

X-Files creator Chris Carter is heading back to the small screen.

After several years away from Hollywood despite heavy demand, Carter has reemerged with a female-lead mystery police thriller titled Unique. The project, which is set up at Media Rights Capital, has a supernatural element to it. He is set to write and executive produce.

Carter spent nearly a decade at the helm of the David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson vehicle, which ran from 1993 to 2002. The series not only helped put host network Fox on the map but also define it as a destination for edgy, quality fare.

In addition to a rich ancillary revenue that came from DVD and merchandise, the franchise spawned two feature films, 1998's The X Files and 2008' The X Files: I Want to Believe. Last month, Anderson told an Australian morning show that there's talk of a third X-Files feature. "I hope it happens," she said. "There's talk of it."

Carter, who also created Millennium, which ran on Fox from 1996 to 1999, is repped by ICM.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Action Drama From Frank Spotnitz Is A Go At Cinemax, Melissa George To Star

2011-09-23T11:20:00.001-07:00

Melissa George has been tapped as the lead in the BBC-Cinemax spy thriller series Nemesis aka Morton, which was created by former X-Files executive producer Frank Spotnitz. BBC One commissioned eight episodes of the project back in January, with Cinemax recently coming on board. Cinemax will co-produce Nemesis with BBC and the UK’s Shine-owned production company Kudos Film and Television, in association with Big Light. In the vein of Bourne Identity, Nemesis is a suspense thriller set in the world of international espionage. It centers on a highly skilled operative (George) for an elite private intelligence firm who survives an attempt on her life that might have been orchestrated by members of her own team. Once she returns to the firm, she must perform her secretive duties without knowing who to trust and who wants her dead. In addition to writing, Spotnitz is executive producing Nemesis with Kudos’ Stephen Garrett, Jane Featherstone and Alison Jackson. S.J. Clarkson will direct the first two episodes of the series, which will start production this fall in Europe and North Africa.

A show about a butt-kicking female spy is a familiar territory for George, who co-starred on ABC’s Alias. She recently wrapped A&E’s upcoming miniseries Bag of Bones, based on Stephen King’s book, in which she co-stars opposite Pierce Brosnan. George, repped by ICM, UK agent Vic Murray and 3 Arts, also co-starred on the drama series In Treatment, which aired on Cinemax’s sister network HBO and earned her a Golden Globe nomination. Nemesis is Spotnitz’s second Cinemax series. He also co-wrote with British TV writer Richard Zadjlic the action drama Strike Back, Cinemax’s first original primetime series, which launched last month.

Source

Mark Snow's 4-Disc X-Files Set to Release in May

2011-03-27T02:47:00.000-07:00

According to X-Files News, "on May 10th, the long awaited limited edition 4 Disc Box Set of Mark Snow's amazing music from The X-Files will drop!"

Check out the full story HERE!

New project for John Shiban

2011-03-27T02:42:00.000-07:00

AMC is developing a new drama series about man’s first contact with extraterrestrial life.

John Shiban (The X-Files, Breaking Bad, The Vampire Diaries) is working on a project called The Voyage that’s in contention for a pilot pickup. The show is billed as a realistic take on First Contact with an ambitious female scientist who works with a team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as the lead character.

The project is one of several in contention at AMC, but has more buzz than some (two others are The Man With the Golden Ears, about a record executive, and The 4th Estate, about a D.C. investigative journalist.

Source: EW.com

Morton: Frank Spotnitz's new project (with Gillian Anderson?)

2011-01-13T11:28:00.000-08:00

Frank Spotnitz confirmed in his blog that BBC has commissioned his "new television series, whose working title is Morton. The series will be produced with Kudos Film and Television. More details on Morton (and its broadcast in the U.S., and around the world) in the months to come."

This from the BBC Press Office:

Meet Sam. A spy. A hunter. And herself hunted by an enemy more ruthless and determined than any she's ever known. Sam has been running from her past her entire life but when she returns to Mobius, the organisation that employs her, and begins to pursue her pursuer, she will discover the only way to escape that past... is to confront it. This is the story of a spy with a bull's eye on her back, a human target unable to trust anyone at any time, even the man she loves. She is, quite literally, running for her life. Morton is a smart, complex and contemporary spy series.

According to X-Files News, "Gillian Anderson is RUMORED to be a part of this series."

"Flying Lessons" poster

2010-11-22T08:55:00.000-08:00

Check out the official poster for Flying Lessons, a new movie produced by Chris Carter!

Flying Lessons official website: http://flyinglessonsmovie.com/

XF3 Script Underway?

2010-11-06T04:14:00.000-07:00

According to XFilesNews.com, there is a chance that X-Files 3 is finally in the works!

Go to X-Files News to read the full story!

Happy 1013

2010-10-13T08:46:00.000-07:00

GLEE’s Ryan Murphy and 24’s Howard Gordon Developing New TV Series About Phobias

2010-09-18T07:27:00.000-07:00

From Collider.com:

Ryan Murphy (co-creator, exec. producer, showrunner of Glee) and Howard Gordon (exec. producer and showrunner of 24) are teaming-up to present 20^th Century Fox with an offer it could, but most likely won’t, refuse. Both key players in two of Fox’s bigger success stories of late, the pair are developing a television drama project that is currently in negotiations to air on said studio. The show is described as a “high-concept, character-driven procedural that deals with making people face their worst fears and phobias.” Somewhere, most likely alongside an octagon, Joe Rogan is thinking to himself “been there, done that.”

For more info on the project, hit the jump.

Per Deadline, Murphy and Gordon’s project will focus on a psychiatrist and will feature “supernatural elements but will revolve around broader mysteries in the vein of The X-Files.” Considering Gordon served as a writer-producer on Chris Carter’s award-winning series, it seems as if the untitled project is already off on the right foot to achieving that particular end.

The Lone Gunmen/Harsh Realm Soundtrack

2010-08-18T01:53:00.000-07:00

You can order a new soundtrack with music from The Lone Gunmen and Harsh Realm by Mark Snow from La La Land Records.

THE LONE GUNMEN / HARSH REALM: LIMITED EDITION

LIMITED EDITION OF 2000 UNITS

Presenting the premiere release of acclaimed composer Mark Snow’s (THE X-FILES, SMALLVILLE, GHOST WHISPERER) original scores to the Chris Carter television series THE LONE GUNMEN, (spin-off of THE X-FILES), and HARSH REALM. Aside from THE LONE GUNMEN’S infectious main theme, the spin-off series allowed Snow to creatively explore a variety of styles and genres in dynamic fashion, while HARSH REALM offered him an opportunity to take his trademark atmospherics into new areas of techno-sophistication and profound emotion. Produced by Mark Snow and MV Gerhard, and mastered by James Nelson, this collection of music from two Mark Snow – Chris Carter TV collaborations is limited to 2000 units and features exclusive liner notes by Julie Kirgo.

TRACK LISTING:

LONE GUNMEN
1. THE LONE GUNMEN Main Title (0:45)
2. Empty (0:23)
3. Motiv-8 (1:37)
4. Just What We Needed (2:42)
5. Lost Causes (1:05)
6. Rectal Palpation (1:44)
7. G.I. Jimmy (2:14)
8. The Vaults (2:30)
9. Lost Puppy / Confession (3:30)
10. Elmer’s (2:28)
11. Sawsall (5:13)
12. El Palacio (1:56)
13. El Lobo (1:37)
14. Sling Blade (2:23)
15. Wool / Poly Blend (1:40)
16. Tailing (3:44)
17. Memories Of Youth (1:12)
18. THE LONE GUNMEN Theme (Alt) (0:49)

HARSH REALM
19. HARSH REALM Main Title (0:46)
20. Overlooking Tradition (1:28)
21. The Wound (2:35)
22. Love Letter (2:26)
23. Virtual Vista (1:00)
24. Chain Gang (1:45)
25. Jump Back (5:33)
26. HARSH REALM Main Title (Long) (3:22)
27. The Challenge (1:57)
28. Thirsty (2:40)
29. Trickster (3:47)
30. Two On A Switch (2:33)
31. Roadblock (3:50)
32. The Conspirators (1:22)
33. HARSH REALM Main Title (Full) (3:45)

Total Running Time: 77:42

RETAIL PRICE: $19.98

The X-Files/30 Days Of Night Update

2010-07-11T07:11:00.000-07:00

An interview with artist Tom Mandrake and first look at comic book: http://www.steveniles.com/2010/07/tom-mandrake.html

The X-Files/30 Days Of Night #1 is out July 14, 2010.

New projects of Glen Morgan, Darin Morgan and James Wong

2010-06-24T10:50:00.000-07:00

According to DreadCentral.com, James Wong will direct a movie called The Neighbor Number 13.

The Neighbor Number 13 centers around a young man who, after being traumatized as a boy due to the constant harassment of other children, seeks vengeance against his tormentors.

According to Wong, "I think we have found a very unique way to frame the story and bring a heroic twist to it that is fresh and surprising and will take audiences on a very thrilling journey."

The film, which is based on a manga series by Santa Inoue, is scheduled to begin production in late 2010, with a release set for the fall of 2011.

Also James Wong is directing and Glen Morgan and his brother Darin Morgan are producing a new TV-series called Tower Prep for Cartoon Network.

A one-hour, live-action scripted series premiering this fall, Tower Prep tells the story of a rebellious teen, Ian (Drew Van Acker), who wakes up one morning to find himself trapped at a mysterious prep school that offers no escape. He forms a secret group with CJ (Elise Gatien), Gabe (Ryan Pinkston) and Suki (Dyana Liu), intent on discovering what they're being trained for and how to escape. Tower Prep is produced by Cartoon Network Studios in association with Dolphin Entertainment. The series is executive-produced and created by Paul Dini (Lost, Batman Beyond).

Glen Morgan serves as an executive producer and a writer, Darin Morgan serves as a consulting producer and a writer. According to IMDb, James Wong directs one of the episodes.

"Secrets" UPDATE

2010-06-24T07:35:00.001-07:00

IMDbPro has more information about Chris Carter's new project, "Secrets."

Secrets

Directed by Derek Magyar
Written by Thomas Kuehl

Producers
Chris Carter ... producer
Jenny Hinkey ... producer
Mark Johnson ... producer
Thomas Kuehl ... co-producer
Derek Magyar ... producer

Cast
Rachel McCord

Other crew members
Original Music: Jesse Glick
Cinematographer: Joshua Hess
Editor: Taylor Ruecking

Production Company
Gran Via Productions

Chris Carter's "Secrets"?

2010-06-22T11:19:00.001-07:00

Chris Carter's IMDb page lists a new project called "Secrets." It seems like this project is in development so there's no information available.

Lost Finale Advice From Those Who Know: The Writers Behind the Good-byes of The X-Files, The Shield, The O.C., and St. Elsewhere

2010-05-15T04:07:00.000-07:00

There are certain things in life that only those who have experienced them can fully understand: fighting in a war, walking on the moon, and successfully wrapping up a popular serialized television drama. The TV event is especially daunting; all the accelerating hype and anticipation leaves fans convinced that the entire validity of the series retroactively rests with the decisions made in the final moments (see: those people who hate The Sopranos now). Lost executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse now face this impossible challenge, and it feels like the sanity of the Internet rests in their lap. To help them feel less alone, we called four people who can feel their fan-fearing pain: Tom Fontana (St. Elsewhere), Chris Carter (The X-Files), Shawn Ryan (The Shield), and Josh Schwartz (The O.C.), each of whom helped to craft momentous, memorable, and controversial wrap-ups to beloved shows. We asked them to reflect on their own finales, and see what advice they can give from the love and hate they received when it was all over.

CHRIS CARTER, CREATOR AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF THE X-FILES

His finale: The truth Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) have been looking for: that aliens will take over the world on December 22, 2012. The good news? Mulder and Scully end up together!
His approach: “We were mindful of all the major characters. I remember being on the set when we were shooting the finale, and there was a moment that I thought was going to be passed by, which was the final scene with the two added characters — played by Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish — and I remember talking to the director and saying, ‘This is the last time we see these characters, you've got to treat them lovingly.’ We really wanted to give everybody the most rewarding ending we could give."
His Warning: “You want to reward the fans for their fandom, if you will. I had something that I wanted to do, which would be more of a surprise and a shocking ending, but I was talked out of it by cooler heads. I think in the end, the best thing to do is reward them.”
His Advice: “Knowing how television series work, any advice I would give them now would be after the fact because they've already made up their minds … But it is an opportunity to give one of those ‘holy shit’ moments.” Read full article HERE.

X-Files/30 Days of Night Comic Book Crossover

2010-04-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

X-Files investigators Fox Mulder and Dana Scully will collide with a brand new threat this July, thanks to a new series announced at this weekend's C2E2 convention in Chicago.

Written by "30 Days of Night" co-creator Steve Niles and Adam Jones, guitarist for the band Tool, the six-issue series will send FBI Agents Mulder and Scully to Alaska just in time for the long season of darkness to take over the region। While investigating a strange murder, the pair discover (as usual) that all is not what it seems in the case.

"I'm a huge 'X-Files' fan, and when the crossover was presented to me, I lunged at the chance," said Niles. "It's actually a very good match, I think, because the vampires in '30 Days' have a real-world feel to them, they are not affected by crossed or garlic or any of the common folklore which lends itself nicely to the 'X-Files' universe."

Veteran artist Tom Mandrake ("The Spectre") will provide interior art for the series, which pairs DC's Wildstorm imprint with "30 Days" publishers IDW Publishing। Wildstorm has provided Splash Page readers with the first at the standard cover to the series, created by Andrea Sorrentino. Variant covers by Tom Mandrake and Sam Kieth ("The Maxx") will also be available.

Sources:
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2010/04/19/x-files-30-days-of-night-comic-book-crossover/
http://splashpage.mtv.com/2010/04/18/x-files-30-days-of-night-comic-first-look-mulder-scully-vs-barrow-vamps/

Speaking of "Fencewalker"...

2010-01-25T11:15:00.000-08:00

Mehcad Brooks who plays a lead role in Chris Carter's "Fencewalker" tells something about the movie.

This is what he said in the interview for www.austin360.com:

Question: Are you working on any other projects?

Mehcad Brooks: "...there's a film called "Fencewalker" that should be hopefully coming out this year, hitting the festivals. It's Chris Carter's passion project — he wrote and directed it. It's got me, Natalie Dormer, Katie Cassidy, Austin Nichols, Xzibit — great cast, really, really great cast. It's kind of like "American Beauty" meets "American History X." It's something special."

Source

Flying Lessons: trailer and photos

2010-01-23T04:50:00.000-08:00

"Flying Lessons" now has a trailer and some still photos.

Trailer is here, and photos are here.

Flying Lessons. Chris Carter's new project.

2010-01-21T13:33:00.000-08:00

From X-Files News.com:

"Flying Lessons" an independent film Executive Produced by Chris Carter is set to premiere in the Opening night and Gala of the 25th Santa Barbara International Film Festival on February 4th, 2010.

According to Film Geek Confidential:

Indie “Flying Lessons” will open the 25th Santa Barbara Film Festival, which runs Feb. 4-14.

Maggie Grace stars as a woman who’s forced to return home to face old demons and her estranged mother (Christine Lahti). Cast also includes Hal Holbrook, Cary Elwes and Jonathan Tucker.

Pic is the helming debut of thesp Derek Magyar, who noted, “The fact that we shot the entire movie in the Santa Ynez Valley makes it feel like we’ve come full circle.” Fest exec director Roger Durling said the film was brought to his attention by pic’s editor, Richard Harris. Event usually opens with a studio film, but Durling, a seven-year Santa Barbara fest vet, felt it was important to highlight a local indie. “This is the first time a homegrown film will open the festival,” he said.

Thomas Kuehl (”Glee”) scripted and co-produced. Magyar produced with Jenny Hinkey. Chris Carter and Mark Johnson exec produced.

Some news about Chris Carter's "Fencewalker"

2010-01-20T12:22:00.000-08:00

Mehcad Brooks who plays a lead role in Chris Carter's Fencewalker told mnn.com that the movie “deals with the racial dynamic of America. I would describe it as American Beauty meets American History X.”

According to mnn.com, Fencewalker hits theaters later this year.

Source: mnn.com

John Kenneth Muir interviews Chris Carter

2009-12-17T11:17:00.000-08:00

TV and movie critic John Kenneth Muir did a wide-ranging interview with Chris Carter about the past and the future of The X-Files and Millennium!

You can read the full version of interview HERE.

Glen Morgan to adapt "Gunplay" for TV

2009-11-07T11:54:00.000-08:00

Fox21 has partnered with Platinum Studios to develop a TV series based on Platinum's graphic novel "Gunplay."

"Final Destination" writer-producer Glen Morgan is on board to adapt the novel, created and written by Jorge Vega.

"Gunplay" centers on Abner Meeks, a buffalo soldier condemned to roam the Old West with a hellish curse slung at his waist: a demonic shooting iron that forces him to kill once a day or suffer soul-searing pain.

" 'Gunplay' is one of those rare combinations of fantastically created characters and wonderfully told narrative, which creates an inventive canvas from which to play," Platinum Studios chairman and CEO Scott Mitchell Rosenberg said.

Added Fox21 president Chris Carlisle, "It is a unique story of an ordinary man who must live with an extraordinary curse."

The deal was brokered by former Universal Pictures executive Randy Greenberg, CAA and the Rigberg Entertainment Group.

Platinum and Fox21 recently teamed to adapt another Platinum property, the upcoming comic book series "Indestructible Man."

The film and TV division of Platinum Studios, whose library contains more than 5,600 characters, also is developing the features "Cowboys & Aliens," "Unique," "The Witchblade," "Atlantis Rising," "The Weapon" and "Mal Chance."

Morgan's TV series credits include "The X-Files" and "Millennium."

Source

Chris Carter Reunites with “X-Files” Team for “Believe Again” Event

2009-11-04T02:49:00.000-08:00

Chris Carter, creator of “The X-Files” and “Millennium”, has just signed on to join Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pileggi, Frank Spotnitz and Rob Bowman on November 14 at the Beverly Wilshire hotel to talk all things “X-Files” for charity.

PRLog (Press Release) – Nov 03, 2009 – Series creator/writer/director Chris Carter, actress Gillian Anderson (Dana Scully), actor Mitch Pileggi (Walter Skinner), executive producer/writer Frank Spotnitz and executive producer/director Rob Bowman (currently executive producer and director on ABC’s hit "Castle") reunite at the Beverly Wilshire hotel on November 14th, 2009 at 2:00pm to talk all things “X-Files” and answer burning questions from fans (eg all those rumors about X-Files 3 and the 2012 mythology). This is a rare opportunity for fans and filmmakers alike to get behind-the-scenes scoops on the process of making this iconic television series, ask questions about the panelists’ new projects and raise money for some very worthy causes.

"The X-Files", created by Chris Carter starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, aired from 1993 to 2002 and spawned two feature films and a spin-off to date. Considered one of the most successful shows in Fox’s history, the award-winning show’s characters, theme song and slogans have a permanent place in pop culture’s history. Whether you were a fan of the mythology episodes or the monsters of the week, there is no denying that "The X-Files" made audiences ponder, gasp, laugh and hide their eyes-occasionally all at the same time.

Tickets for the Q&A event are now available at http://www.ibginc.org/tickets Proceeds from this amazing event will be donated in support of the participants’ chosen charities, including The Rape Treatment Center at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center, Off the Street Kids, Fezeka and Children of the Night.

The event will be hosted by IBG Inc. In 2008, IBG established an official non-profit campaign focusing on utilizing the power of philanthropy through the arts to benefit a wide range of charities worldwide. IBG acts as a "fundraiser facilitator" for underfunded and start-up charities that would otherwise struggle with the logistics and costs associated with event fundraising.

Event Details:

Date: November 14, 2009
Time: Q&A begins at 2:30pm with pre-event raffle scheduled at 2:15pm.
Where: Beverly Wilshire hotel, Beverly Hills
Ticket Prices: $50 for general seating
To purchase: http://www.ibginc.org/tickets

Source

Chris Carter sells his houses

2009-10-15T09:55:00.000-07:00

From Bergproperties.com:

September 28, 2009

“X-Files” creator Chris Carter stays under radar screen as he lists a 4,209-square-foot house he owns in Malibu, CA for $17.495M; also, Carter has a second home in Malibu on the market for $7.9M

Chris Carter, the writer who created the popular 1990s series “The X-Files,” has placed a 4,209-square-foot house he owns in Malibu, Calif. on the market for $17,495,000.

In a Big Time Listings exclusive, we can report on Carter’s listing of the Zumirez Drive house. We give terrific credit to Carter for somehow managing to keep his ownership of this house, which hit the market back on July 28, a secret from all of us celebrity real estate gossips for nearly two months.

Carter’s house is one that we long had had on our “to-do” list as a potential “Which celebrity’s house is this?” subject, because the house had several telltale markers of being celebrity-owned: 1) The house’s owner as shown in public records not as Carter, but rather as something called the Lucklucky Trust. As we always tell our readers, Los Angeles-area homes owned by whimsically named trusts more often than not are celebrity-owned. And 2) The seller and listing agent together decided to keep the house’s address out of the MLS. That’s sometimes — but not always — a sign that an owner is a celeb (regardless, it’s a rare move and always a sign that an owner desires lots of privacy.) We would note, however, that the money manager whose name appears on the deed for the house is *not* one of our regulars — it’s an L.A.-based money manager named A.M. Massie.

Over the weekend, however, we finally attacked this item with vigor and after a lot of work were able to deduce that the owner of the 4,209-square-foot house here is none other than Carter himself. In addition, we have learned that Carter has a second home on the same street in Malibu on the market for $7,900,000. We’ll get to that one in a moment.

First, though, let’s discuss his more expensive house that he has for sale.

Built in 2004, Carter’s house has four and a half baths, significant volume, walls of glass, wood and stone floors, “clean lines,” and “quality materials,” according to public records and listing information. The house and landscaped, 1.28-acre (or 1.29-acre, depending on which public-records database one consults) property overlook a surfing beach (appropriate for Carter, given his background as a surfer), according to public records and listing information. Outdoor features include gardens and beach access; we would caution that the house is not directly on the beach itself, but it’s darn close.

Carter (shown here with his X-Files pals David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson) clearly bought this house new, since his trust paid $3,500,000 for the land (and possibly a previous house on the property) back in 2001, according to public records.

Check out an online listing sheet for the house — complete with photos — here.

Separately, Carter has listed another house that he owns in Malibu. Public records say that that four-bedroom house measures 2,981 square feet (although the Los Angeles Times’ Ruth Ryon — in the only time she ever wrote about any of Carter’s holdings — called it 3,500 square feet back in 1999) and sits on a 1.06-acre parcel. Features in the house include a spacious great room with vaulted wood ceilings, walls of glass, an open kitchen, a media area, and a master bedroom suite with a vaulted wood ceiling, skylights, a great bathroom and a walk-in closet, according to listing information. Outdoor features on the gated property include a lap pool, a spa, a lighted tennis court, a large koi pond, lush tropical gardens and partial ownership of and easy access to Zumirez Beach, according to listing information. He purchased the home from TV executive producer Dottie Dartland in 1999, according to Ryon’s report at that time.

Below is a rundown of the other properties that Carter owns, according to public records. Get comfortable; the list is a long one:

–Another 2,679-square-foot house on Zumirez Drive, on a 1.03-acre parcel, which he purchased in 2002 for $1,413,500, according to public records. That house is right next door to the one he has on the market for $7,900,000;

–A 130.39-acre farm in Santa Ynez, Calif.;

–A condominium unit in Seaside, Oregon, which Carter purchased in 2004 for $518,000, according to public records;

–A 2,077-square-foot condominium unit in Santa Monica, Calif., which he purchased in 2004 for $1,500,000, according to public records;

–Three parcels on Hot Springs Road in Santa Barbara, Calif., each of which measure about an acre and each of which may or may not contain a house;

–and a house on three-plus acres on Jameson Lane in Santa Barbara, Calif., which Carter purchased in early 2008 for $4,600,000, according to public records.

One final, notable property note: Carter also sold a 2,019-square-foot house at 1155 Via de la Paz in Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades area to “Growing Pains” star Joanna Kerns in 2004 for $1,400,000, according to public records. (Kerns turned around and sold that house in 2006 for $1,655,000, according to public records.)

Mehcad Brooks speaks about Fencewalker

2009-10-15T09:52:00.000-07:00

Mehcad Brooks, an actor who plays a lead character in Chris Carter's Fencewalker, tells something about his character in the movie:

"The biggest challenge I’ve faced as an actor was a character named Salaam Alexander from an upcoming film entitled Fencewalker. He had an innocence about him that I lost years ago. He hadn’t seen or known the world to be quite as cold a place as it can be from time to time. Humans are so fragile. And he was hard to embody because he goes through so much in the duration of the film. Some of it was so devastating that I just had to accept the circumstances of what was happening to him and it was tough. Really tough."

Source

Bryan Cranston Brings Home Second Emmy

2009-09-22T07:05:00.000-07:00

Bryan Cranston has done it again: Breaking Bad's Emmy-winning actor picked up his second consecutive trophy as Best Actor in a Drama Series at the 61st Annual Primetime Emmy awards Sunday night. "Lee Trevino was struck by lightning twice," Cranston said, accepting the award. "Now I know how he feels."

The veteran actor faced stiff competition for the honor: Dexter's Michael C. Hall, House's Hugh Laurie, In Treatment's Gabriel Byrne, The Mentalist's Simon Baker and AMC's own Jon Hamm of Mad Men. (Click here to read more about Mad Men's Emmy wins.)

The award was Breaking Bad's second of the year, the first of which went to Lynne Willingham, who picked up the best editing trophy -- her second consecutive as well -- at the Creative Arts Emmys last week.

Source

Back To Frank Black Campaign: Important News

2009-09-15T08:39:00.000-07:00

Lance Henriksen has contacted the Back To Frank Black Campaign stuff members to inform them that he has been approached by independent investors interested in making a Millennium Movie.

There's no need to tell anyone how important this news is to us. And here's where you come in. We are so close we can almost touch this and we need to use this opportunity to generate as much publicity as we are able.

Do not stop pushing: take this news to the forums you frequent, add it to your social network profiles, share it with your friends on twitter and lets see if we can get this to go viral.

Source: BackToFrankBlack.com News

Frank Spotnitz' new projects

2009-08-14T07:14:00.000-07:00

Source: Daily Variety

Frank Spotnitz is peering into the future for his next batch of TV projects.

The "X-Files" alum has pacted with HBO to develop two drama series, both with futuristic themes.

"Humanitas" is described as being set in a time when major advances in medicine have created dilemmas for doctors and fanned fears that a devastating pandemic is imminent. Spotnitz just turned in the first draft of a script that he is exec producing along with Gavin Polone.

HBO suggested it was interested in a show with a medical-thriller theme when Spotnitz met with execs there more than a year ago. That set him off on research about the cutting edge of medicine and the ethical and moral dilemmas raised by science's ever-advancing ability to manipulate genetics, which forms the heart of the show, Spotnitz told Daily Variety.

More than one option

(Co) Daily Variety
Filmography, Year, Role
(Co) Daily Variety

"You don't have to invent much for this topic to be terrifying," he said.

The threat posed by infectious diseases -- organic and man-made -- is also staggering. "Viruses can mutate so quickly," he said. "This is a war without end."

He's also adapting for HBO a smallscreen rendition of Robert Silverberg's famed 1971 sci-fi novel "The World Inside." Book revolves around a grim vision of the future where overpopulation has run amok, and people live in carefully controlled urban centers where frustration and anger are eliminated, sex is rampant and fertility is the most prized human attribute.

Spotnitz is co-writing the "World Inside" script with Adam Rapp. Rapp and Spotnitz will exec produce along with Carolyn Strauss, Vince Gerardis and Ralph Vicinanza.

"I'm not usually attracted to dystopian stories, but the more I read this novel the more I saw its relevance to our world today."

Separately, Spotnitz is penning a pilot for FX, "Arc," based on the life of a real person involved in the covert ops world.

"It's sort of about what would happen if Jason Bourne decided to leave the spy game and try to fit into normal life," Spotnitz said. "It's a character piece and it's very reality-based."

Project hails from Tony and Ridley Scott's Scott Free Prods. and CBS Television Studios. Spotnitz is exec producing with Bazzel Baz.

Spotnitz, repped by WME, was Chris Carter's right-hand exec producer on "X-Files" for most of that show's nine-season run. More recently he's been focusing on feature projects, including a remake of 1983's "The Star Chamber" set up at 20th Century Fox. He also co-wrote last year's "X-Files: I Want to Believe" feature.

Spotnitz was the showrunner on ABC's redo of "The Night Stalker" in the 2005-06 season, and he worked alongside Michael Mann on the gritty CBS cop drama "Robbery Homicide Division" in 2002-03.

Six years ago, Spotnitz launched a website, www.biglight.com, that of late turned into a bustling social network for "X-Files" fans, among other sci-fi/fantasy fare, and a wiki about the various pics and TV series that he's worked on.

The genesis of 'Breaking Bad'

2009-08-09T10:52:00.000-07:00

A pal mentioned a news story to Vince Gilligan. It's now 'Breaking Bad.'

By Josh Gajewski
August 3, 2009
Source: LA Times

The best person to tell this story may be the man to Vince Gilligan's right. His name is Tom Schnauz, but on this day he's known as "New Guy." That is, the new guy in the writers' room of "Breaking Bad," the Emmy-nominated AMC drama about a terminally ill schoolteacher who raises money for his family's future by cooking and selling crystal methamphetamine.

Gilligan created "Breaking Bad," the drama series nominee and critical darling that pulled in an average 1.3 million viewers this season. He also worked on the script of last summer's " Hancock," a film that grossed more than $600 million worldwide.

But Schnauz knew Gilligan when the two worked in the basement of the NYU film school in the late '80s, renting out cameras to fellow students. "Occasionally, he'd do some things that were strange, would do things just to try it out," Schnauz says. "I remember him bringing golf balls into the work-study place, and he wanted to know what was inside, so he started cutting them open. Once, this white powder shot up into his eyes."

That "inquisitive but semi-warped" mind, Schnauz says, is what made Gilligan successful. "I mean, what kind of mind would come up with a show about cooking crystal meth?"

Answer: the mind of a man who grew up in Virginia but had his eyes trained on Hollywood ever since he saw " Star Wars." Many years later -- after NYU, and after Gilligan and Schnauz both wrote for "The X-Files" -- the two spoke by phone. Schnauz had just read an article about mobile meth labs. Gilligan joked that when their respective writing careers dried up, perhaps they could do the same, drive around the Southwest in an RV with a meth lab in the back.

"He called me back a week later and said, 'Remember that idea? Mind if I use that?' " Schnauz recalls. "I said, 'Of course.' I mean, I'd never think to write a story, let alone a whole TV series around the idea of a mobile meth lab. But lo and behold. . . ."

Gilligan created Walter White, an ordinary man thrust into an end-life crisis, and now here we are: in Burbank on a Tuesday, having a hamburger with the bespectacled Gilligan just down the street from his writers' room. "Frankly, I don't know why we're here," he says. "I don't even know why I bothered to pitch this show, except that I was really inspired by the idea."

After lunch, he returns to his "dream," the nondescript writers' room where the key phrase is "What if . . . ," the key ingredient is caffeine and the key goal is to surprise. The talk always revolves around how a character might be expected to react and then, how that expectation might be turned on its head.

Several hours and maybe a hundred ideas later, Gilligan is ready to adjourn. "I feel like we're close to something, something that's right in front of us," he says to the room. "There's something we still haven't thought of that would change everything. Let's open up our minds."

And so will begin another round of what-ifs.

'Fringe' plans 'X-Files' homage

2009-08-08T04:09:00.000-07:00

From Zap2It.com:

"The X-Files" is returning to the small screen.

No, don't freak out, the show isn't being remade a la "90210" or "Melrose Place." Instead, the season premiere of "Fringe" will simply include a wink -- or two -- to the show it so often gets compared to.

"Yes, it is true," showrunner Jeff Pinkner confirmed to Zap2it. "[There will be] an homage to 'X-Files.' In fact, there are at least two in the episode."

Jeff told us "Fringe" regularly pays homage to other things and people they love in more vague ways, but when it comes to "X-Files," there won't be any doubt about it. "It'll be obvious [to everyone]," he said. "Both of [the nods] are obvious."

While Jeff was hesitant to give us details on their little tributes, series star John Noble (Walter) shared that at least one of them is pictorial. Hmm...

X-Files Comics

2009-07-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

According to BigLight.com, Frank Spotnitz is at work on another original “X-Files” comic book to be co-written by Gabe Rotter, director of development at Ten Thirteen Productions and author of the novel, “Duck Duck Wally.” Look for the book to hit the stands early next year. It’s Frank’s fourth comic book since Wildstorm launched a new series of “X-Files” comics in 2008.

Check out previous issues of Frank’s “X-Files” comics.

Source: BigLight.com

Dori Carter Gives Recording of the Blind & Dyslexic a Good Read

2009-06-24T10:34:00.000-07:00

Author Dori Carter recorded her new book of short stories, We Are Rich, for Santa Barbara’s Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic. Her husband, television and film producer Chris Carter of The X-Files fame, and a group of six friends joined her in the studio to help her record the book, which will be made available to print-disabled students throughout the country.

Carter, a Montecito resident, is a former screenwriter and television producer. Her first novel, Beautiful Wasps Having Sex, published in 2000, was a Los Angeles Times bestseller.

“We’ve been anticipating doing this read for RFB&D since the book’s release in late April,” Carter said. “This is a wonderful organization that truly makes a difference in people’s lives. My friends, husband and I are pleased to help them.”

The Santa Barbara Unit of RFB&D was founded in 1976. Its 200 weekly volunteers spend more than 14,000 hours annually producing 220 audio books for students in all grades — kindergarten through graduate and professional schools. The books are then housed in the nation’s largest audio textbook library, which contains 55,000 digitally recorded titles, at the organization’s headquarters in Princeton, N.J. Audio books are available by download or CDs for schools and individuals.

You can read full article HERE.

Q&A with Michelle MacLaren

2009-05-10T09:11:00.000-07:00

Michelle MacLaren (one of the key producers of The X-Files, Harsh Realm, Night Stalker and Fencewalker) directed episode 2.09 of Vince Gilligan's Breaking Bad.

This is her interview for AMC.tv:

Q&A - Michelle MacLaren (Episode 9 Director)

The X-Files alum explains how Vince Gilligan's twisted mind transcends genre, discusses cooking meth in the big leagues and analyzes Episode 9's most important character -- the desert -- in AMCtv.com's exclusive interview.

Q: You worked with Vince Gilligan on The X-Files. Has his writing style changed much since then?

A: Not really, actually. On The X-Files, like in Breaking Bad, his episodes were always kind of out there. For example, one of the first X-Files episodes of his that I produced was called "Je Souhaite," which involved a devious genie. Another X-Files episode Vince did was filmed in a replica of the Brady Bunch house. Vince is sick and twisted, but I mean that with all the admiration in the world! If anyone else had told me what Breaking Bad was about, I would have been like, "What are you doing?" But with Vince, I was like, "Great."

Q: This episode was written as an homage to The Flight of the Phoenix. Did you try to mimic any elements from the movie in your direction?

A: I re-watched the movie to understand what the writers were going for. There was a grandiose-ness to it -- you really get the horrifying sense that they are stranded in the middle of nowhere, so I adopted that feeling. They did a nice job in the movie showing the gradual decline of the people physically, and the effect that decline has on their relationships. Will the crisis bring people together or tear them apart? The movie takes place over a longer period of time than our episode, so they were able to break the actors down dramatically. One of the guys actually freaks out and runs into the desert and dies. We weren't there long enough for that kind of drama, but we still accomplish the same thing.

Q: Your episode has a meth cooking montage -- as do several other Breaking Bad episodes. How do you keep that imagery fresh?

A: This montage was different because we wanted to show that Walt and Jesse have hit the big time. I wanted it to look impressive. I gave the montage a lot of movement because it covers several days, and it needed to show that their relationship is evolving. So the camera was constantly moving, almost like a dance. The message is that Walt and Jesse are getting really good at cooking meth, and the ultimate result is fantastic. The way we shot it gets that across. They could have been cooking apple pie! Luckily, meth is visually very interesting.

Q: How accurate is your depiction of the cooking process?

A: It's very accurate. We didn't actually make crystal, of course, but visually it's accurate. There are all these different stages to it, so we had these consultants we talked to about the right way to do it. There's the gray goo stage, the white smoke stage, the blue goo stage. We had a DEA consultant, and another consultant who I don't want to ask where he came from! I would ask him a question about how something was supposed to be done in the cooking process, and he'd say, "Hang on a second," and grab his cell and go around the corner and come back two minutes later with the answer.

Q: You once said that you've known you wanted to be a director since you were 13. What inspired that?

A: I always wanted to be in the movie business, but I didn't know exactly what I wanted to be. When I was producing on The X-Files, my grandmother passed away. My mom was going through old stuff and found a letter I'd written to my grandmother. I'd seen a movie I liked and I said, "I hope I can direct a movie like that one day." I wish I'd written down which movie! But that was my final push over edge into directing. I went out and took classes and really put myself out there. I like producing, but directing is my passion. When I direct, I finish the day and go, "that was awesome."

Q: Had you been to Albuquerque before shooting this episode?

A: I had never been to New Mexico before. I think it has some of the most beautiful light I've ever seen. I've shot a lot of deserts, but never lived in one. The desert, as beautiful as it is, helps the show's dark and depressing premise. It represents danger, death, fear, loneliness, remoteness. Walt is so alone in what he's going though, living this unbelievable lie. And that's all put in contrast to these beautiful vistas and sunsets.

Source

Book Signing in New York

2009-04-28T11:56:00.000-07:00

For 'X-Files,' the truth is still out there ... but what about a third film?

SOURCE: LA Times Blog

Liver-eating contortionist Eugene Tooms wasn’t there. Neither were the Peacock Brothers. Extraterrestrials? Nope, not a one. But even without those memorable characters of any of the other paranormal beasties, shadow-government operatives or little green men from "The X-Files," fans of the spooky franchise turned out in force last week at The Grove in Los Angeles to question and cheer X-creator Chris Carter and key writer Frank Spotnitz.

The two longtime collaborators (or is that conspirators?) were joined by Matt Hurwitz, a co-author of the lavish new book “The Complete X-Files: Behind the Series, Myths and the Movies” (Insight Editions, $49.95). The event was on the third floor of Barnes & Noble and a crowd that went into triple-digits was eager to get autographs and answers, many of which were delivered by Carter with his wry, mellow-surfer baritone.

Is Walter Skinner still infected with nanotechnology? “He’s been to the doctors a number of times.”

Is the Agent Dana Scully immortal? “It’s kind of true, if you think about it. I mean, she’ll never die. She beat cancer.”

Any plans to take "Millennium" to the big screen? “That seems to be the question all the fans want answered. Nothing has been discussed.”

Carter’s favorite episode? “Beyond the Sea” and “Home” make the short list, but, he insists, he has a lot of favorites.

When is the series going to be available on Blu-ray? “There’s a technical problem ... we just have to figure out how to solve it.”

But the pervading question of the night centered on one yearning hope: A third installment of “The X-Files” as a movie franchise, which would pick up where last year's "X-Files: I Want to Believe” left off. In an interview after the book signing, Carter was elusive ... but he did give fans a reason to believe.

Noting the lackluster commercial success of the second film, Carter said the venture was hurt by its timing. The U.S. release “was foolish, opening a week after the blockbuster hit “The Dark Knight ... it was really the worst weekend to open any movie.”

The film pulled in an anemic $21 million in the U.S., which fell short of expectations for a film that cost $30 million to make. It did go on, however, to make $47 in foreign markets. “The movie did a lot of business worldwide so, I think, it’s really up to Fox to decide,” he said.

Despite the lackluster grosses, there’s no denying the impact of the television series and its characters on pop culture. It demonstrated the potential of what the sci-fi genre could achieve on the small screen. And though recent sci-fi series like "Battlestar Galactica" (a show Carter “likes”) and "X-Files"-influenced "Fringe" have picked up the torch, Carter said crime dramas have handcuffed TV’s limited programming schedules for scripted dramas.

“When you look at what’s on television right now, there’s a little bit of science fiction, but there’s mostly cop procedurals,” said the 52-year-old Carter. “People see every episode of 'Law & Order,' and all its incarnations, so I don’t know … if you do science fiction on television it’s a little bit of a gamble sometimes.”

But, hey, if that doesn’t work, there’s always the Internet, right? "X-Files" fans have proven there’s an audience out there for all the fan content they’ve created. From fan-fiction to mash-up YouTube videos, people have taken notice. Even the actors that inspired the content, Spotnitz noted.

“You know, there’s a story that David [Duchovny] told when we were doing the movie last year,” Spotnitz said, “about how Gillian had seen a YouTube compilation of all their kisses and David saw that and said it actually affected his performance in the film because it was like reminder of the power of their relationship. So it just tells you how meaningful they are. It really is part of what the 'X-Files' is now. It’s just the way the fans re-interpret it.”

And with the release of the book -- practically an encyclopedia of “The X-Files” franchise -- fans will now have more to interpret, because as one fan said, “The truth will always be out there.”

-- Yvonne Villarreal

SHE MADE THIS: Dori Carter's new book

2009-04-28T11:53:00.000-07:00

Dori Carter's long-awaited second book, "We Are Rich," has just been published. You can check out the website for the book at http://www.doricarterbooks.com/.
Please be sure to pick up a copy!

Source: Big Light

Some Fencewalker news... sort of

2009-04-16T11:00:00.000-07:00

In her recent interview for The Warren Report, young and very talented actress Jeannine Kaspar revealed some information about Chris Carter's new movie "Fencewalker."

Jeannine said that Chris "was so humble and generous... He is incredible and powerful to be so real... He is a very neat guy."

Jeannine said that during the wrap party Chris told her "I've found you" meaning that he was the first one to notice her talent.

According to Jeannine, she is not a lead actor of "Fencewalker." "There are couple of great leads in that film," she said and then mentioned Mehcad Brooks, Katie Cassidy, Natalie Dormer and Austin Nichols.

Recently Jeannine Kaspar won Special Jury Citation of Ashland Independent Film Festival for her lead performance in an independent movie "Paper Covers Stone."

Listen full interview HERE.

X-Files comics: #6 preview

2009-04-13T12:08:00.000-07:00

Check out X-Files #6 comic book preview here --

http://www.dccomics.com/media/excerpts/11539_x.pdf

The X-Files #6 on Sale April 15, 2009.

Katie Cassidy talks about "Fencewalker"

2009-04-12T05:13:00.000-07:00

In her recent interview for Collider.com, the multi-talented actress/singer/musician Katie Cassidy spoke about the upcoming top-secret Chris Carter drama Fencewalker.

Question: What can you say about Fencewalker and working with Chris Carter (The X-Files)?

Katie: Fencewalker was really great. It was actually really challenging for me to take on that role. I can’t say much about it, but I was going through a place in my life, while I was shooting that movie. I went through a difficult time, but it’s something that needed to happen, in order to get all the colors that Chris wanted out of this girl. That needed to happen to me. It was definitely an emotional experience, but nothing that I would ever take back. Chris Carter is a great director and a great writer. The script was amazing! And, I’m so happy to have been a part of something like that. It’s going to be really great. I think that will be out at the end of the year.

Question: Is it hard to keep working on projects that are so secretive?

Katie: I hate secrets! But, it’s fun. It is secret and you can’t talk about it. I’d love to sit here and tell you all about the things that I’ve gone through. It makes it a little difficult when it comes to stuff like this because I can’t really get too in-depth with any of it, as far as the storyline goes, but it makes it exciting.

Read full interview HERE.

Dedicated to Kim Manners

2009-04-11T11:49:00.000-07:00

Ten Thirteen alunmi Vince Gilligan, John Shiban and the crew of "Breaking Bad" dedicated the fifth episode of the second season "Breakage" to the memory of their friend, Kim Manners.

Vince Gilligan re-ups at Sony TV

2009-04-07T10:22:00.000-07:00

On the heels of the early third-season renewal for his AMC series "Breaking Bad," creator/executive producer Vince Gilligan has inked a new two-year overall deal with the show's producer, Sony Pictures TV.

Under the pact, said to be worth about $4 million, Gilligan will continue on "Bad," whose first season nabbed an Emmy for star Bryan Cranston and a Peabody.

The show, which also earned Gilligan an Emmy nomination and a WGA win, is off to a strong start in its second season. The premiere drew 1.7 million viewers, up 21% from the first-season bow.

Gilligan's negotiations with Sony TV were smooth and relatively quick, a stark contrast to the six-month, headline-making drama surrounding renewal talks between Matthew Weiner -- creator/exec producer of AMC's other awards darling, "Mad Men" -- and series producer Lionsgate TV.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Frank Spotnitz Exclusive Interview for Back to Frank Black Campaign

2009-04-07T10:17:00.000-07:00

Source: Back to Frank Black Campaign

To fans of any of 1013's hit shows, Frank Spotnitz requires no introduction. It was Frank Spotnitz who, probably unwittingly, gave rise to the Back to Frank Black campaign. His prophetic prediction that 'the time is near' prompted the Millennium Fan Community to wear their hearts on their sleeves and exercise their voices on paper. Of all 1013's luminaries Frank Spotnitz is an extremely busy man, yet finds time to give back to the fans as much as he receives and this interview was no exception.

Read full interview HERE and don't forget to support Back to Frank Black campaign by writing a letter to FOX!

AMC renews Vince Gilligan's 'Breaking Bad'

2009-04-04T12:54:00.000-07:00

Four episodes into the second season of "Breaking Bad," AMC has picked up Vince Gilligan's drama series for a third cycle.

Following a well-received first season that earned the series a Peabody Award and an Emmy for star Bryan Cranston, "Breaking'" second season has garnered even more critical acclaim and commercial success.

The second-season opener of the Sony TV-produced series drew 1.7 million viewers, up 21% from the first-season premiere.

Created by Gilligan, "Breaking" stars Cranston as a high-school chemistry teacher-turned-meth manufacturer after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.

Co-starring on the series, exec produced by Gilligan and Mark Johnson, are Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, RJ Mitte, Dean Norris and Betsy Brandt.

Source

Glen Morgan adapting 'Anita Blake' books

2009-04-03T13:40:00.000-07:00

Cable network IFC is adapting a popular vampire novel as its first theatrical-length movie production.

IFC is teaming with Lionsgate for a TV movie based on the "Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter" books. The telefilm could be the basis for more Blake projects if successful.

Laurell K. Hamilton's novels, at 16 books and counting, include elements familiar to fans of "True Blood" (vampires are part of regular society) and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (tough young female fights supernatural forces). The project will be adapted by Glen Morgan ("The X-Files," "Final Destination"), who also is an executive producer with Courtney Solomon ("Dungeons & Dragons").

IFC is targeting the movie to its core base of men 18-34 and plans to air it next year.

"The popularity of the network in this demographic indicates that there is a clear demand for films that delve into provocative topics, and nothing is more classically provocative than vampire lore," said Jennifer Caserta, executive vp and GM of IFC. "Anita Blake fits perfectly with our successful original programming."

In the books, Blake is a vampire hunter with a lousy dating life who also works as a police consultant investigating supernatural crimes. She attempts to come to terms with her own abilities and navigate romantic and political relationships within the vampire community.

"Laurell has created a fascinating heroine in Anita Blake, and we quickly recognized the onscreen potential for this vivid character," said Kevin Beggs, Lionsgate president of TV programming and production. "We have an outstanding creative team and are excited to be moving forward with IFC, which will allow us to fully explore the complex world of Laurell's highly intriguing and erotically charged novels.

Source

Chris Carter in Japan

2009-03-20T12:07:00.000-07:00

According to X-Files News site, Chris Carter is on a publicity tour for The X-Files: I Want to Believe DVD and Bluray to be released on April 2nd in Japan.

He's having interviews with major magazines, radio and TV stations in Osaka and Tokio to promote the release and you can see him and his wife Dori here at the restaurant "Kurosawa" on March 17th. This is Akira Kurosawa's favorite restaurant, hence it was named after him. Chris enjoyed the Shabu-Shabu and Shochu with the Japanese FOX Home Entertaiment staff.

Source: X-Files News and Big Light Social Network.

New book signing with Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz and Matt Hurwitz

2009-03-18T07:06:00.000-07:00

According to Frank Spotnitz's Big Light Social Network news, Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz and Matt Hurwitz will be doing a book signing for The Complete X Files: Behind the Series, the Myth, and the Movies on April 22 at the Barnes and Noble in The Grove, which is located in Los Angeles. The signing will also include a Q&A event much like the one last month at Book Soup.

Thanks to Big Light Social Network administrator Alison Groves for this wonderful news!

This will be Chris Carter's first public appeareance since the X-Files: I Want to Believe promotion tour last summer. Let's hope we'll hear some news about X-Files 3, Fencewalker, Millennium and other new Chris' projects.

Tribute to Kim Manners on Supernatural

2009-03-18T06:58:00.000-07:00

The crew of Supernatural dedicated entire 4th season of the show to beloved director Kim Manners who passed away on January 25th.

You can watch their dedication at the end of episode 4.15 HERE.

Breaking Bad: 1013 Reunion

2009-03-18T06:49:00.000-07:00

1013's alumni Vince Gilligan and John Shiban (The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen writers and exec. producers) work together again. Shiban directed 5 special "webisodes" (mini-episodes) for Vince Gilligan's award-winning TV-series Breaking Bad.

One of the webisodes, called "Marie's Confessions," was wriiten by Vince Gilligan.

Watch all 5 original Breaking Bad minisodes HERE.

X-Files comics: #5 preview

2009-03-16T13:50:00.000-07:00

Check out X-Files #5 comic book preview here --

http://www.dccomics.com/media/excerpts/11365_x.pdf

X-Files #5 On Sale March 18, 2009.

Mark Snow speaks to the Italian XF fan site

2009-03-14T07:26:00.000-07:00

In his interview for the great Italian fan-site BeyondTheSea.it Mark Snow revealed that a 4 CD boxed set of the X-Files music from the episodes will be released this spring

This is the quote:

Question: Frank Spotnitz told in his blog that some of your X-Files works will be released in a new album. Could you say us something about that?

Mark Snow: In this spring, La La Land records will release a 4 CD boxed set of the X-Files music from the TV shows only. It will have all the shows that I have been nominated for plus probably pieces from episode, I'm sure some of your favorites will be included.

Judging by that statement, we can guess that the CDs will contain music from Paper Hearts, The Post Modern Prometheus, S.R. 819, Theef, and The Truth.

Read full interview here.

Vince Gilligan's interview about his work in The X-Files and Breaking Bad

2009-03-14T07:19:00.000-07:00

Source: The Futon Critic

INTERVIEW: VINCE GILLIGAN TEASES THE NEW SEASON OF "BREAKING BAD"
By Jim Halterman

AMC is on a roll with both "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad" cleaning up a multiple awards as well as making a name for itself in the world of original programming that is the talk around the water cooler. With the second season premiere of "Breaking Bad" airing this Sunday, our Jim Halterman sat down with creator Vince Gilligan about how TV dads can get mixed up with crystal meth, the relationship between this show and "The X Files" and the fuzzy line between what is legal and illegal.

Jim Halterman: When you were you shooting the first season, did you know that you were onto something that audiences would click with or did you just kind of move into it and see what would happen?

Vince Gilligan: It's definitely the latter. [Laughs.] I was always excited about telling the story from the moment I came upon the character. I love the idea of this guy having the worst mid-life crisis. This straight-arrow guy who decides to transform himself and become a criminal for the good of his family. I was intrigued by this character and I had no idea if anyone else would be. I mean, you always hope but you also always hope when you buy a scratch-off ticket that you're going to win the lottery but you don't know. You can only hope. I kept my fingers very tightly crossed and hoped people would respond to the show and I'm just so gratified by how people have been taking it to it. I'd be lying if I said I saw it coming.

JH: Bryan Cranston appeared in an "X Files" episode called "Drive" where he was miles away from sitcom characters on "Seinfeld" or "Malcolm in the Middle." Was there something in him playing that role that made you think of him for "Breaking Bad?" I honestly can't see anyone else playing Walt.

VG: The "X Files" director loved him, the crew loved him, David Duchovny had a great time with him. [Cranston] was professional and pleasant, just happy to be there and working his butt off. After his episode was over, I remember thinking, 'I wonder where that guy came from?' I'd never heard of him. I remembered he was the dentist on "Seinfeld." And then I realized he was Buzz Aldrin in "From the Earth to the Moon" and he was the one-armed officer who sends Tom Hanks on his mission in "Saving Private Ryan" and I came to realize that this guy is a real chameleon. He can do anything. He just really submerges himself into a part. And then "Malcolm" came along and for seven years he was America's Dad in this zany, very funny comedy. In 2006 or 2007, when the pilot started to come to fruition, I started thinking that if Bryan would do this show the extra benefit would be to take a wonderful TV dad and really turn that image on its ear. Taking this long history of great TV dads from Hugh Beaumont on "Leave It To Beaver," Fred MacMurray on "My Three Sons" or "Courtship of Eddie's Father" and you've got a guy who's known for playing a bent, twisted version of that but a warm-hearted TV dad nonetheless but what if you had "Malcolm in the Meth Lab." [Laughs.] Malcolm's dad making crystal meth? I just thought it would be a little bit of a delicious juxtaposition and it felt a little naughty but that was an added benefit. First and foremost, though, he had the acting chops and I knew it so when he said that he wanted to play the part that was a great day for me.

JH: If Walter's lung cancer were to ever go into full-on remission, it kind of takes his rationale for his cooking and selling of crystal meth away. Is that something that is going to be a part of the new season?

VG: Well, we have a battle plan... season two starts and the very first images you see refer to the ending of the season and so with that in mind we knew where we were going ultimately but we didn't know how we were going to get there. So, the first images you see this season will give you not only a taste of where the show is going to wind up but it's pretty mysterious and purposely so. We found some very interesting twists and turns along the way and quite a lot of it does surround the idea of Walt's rationalization for what he does. You hit the nail on the head. Walter is a guy, in theory, who is doing these terrible misdeeds for a good reason he's doing them to help his family. But even in season one, we started the process of turning that on its head when he had a real deus ex machina situation when a former colleague of his, who is a multi-millionaire, basically says, "I'll pay for your treatment, I'll give you a great job, I'll throw you a lifeline, I'll let you win the lottery" and Walt ultimately turned him down. He turned down a wonderful, no-strings attached offer and, to me, that was the point of last season where Walter really, truly, for me, began to get very interesting because you can create a character and a set of circumstances where a character has to be bad. Walt ostensibly is doing this for his family but is he really? These are the kind of questions I want the audience to be asking because these are the kind of questions that we in the writer's room are always asking ourselves, 'Why is Walt really doing this especially when someone is offering him money, offering him a lifeline which he turns down?'

JH: On the surface, "The X Files" and "Breaking Bad" seem very different but what did you bring from it to this series?

VG: Up until "Breaking Bad," "The X Files" was hands down the best job I ever had. I couldn't do "Breaking Bad" if I had never been on "The X Files." I learned so much from Chris Carter and from working with Frank Spotnitz and John Shiban and everybody there but Chris Carter especially was a guy I learned an awful lot from. I sit here some days on "Breaking Bad," and I think 'Where would I be if it weren't for the seven years on "The X Files?"' I became a much better writer on the show than I would have been without it and also I learned how to be a producer. Story wise, they seem pretty dissimilar. You know, a show about two FBI agents looking into the paranormal and then a show about a pasty white guy having a mid-life crisis and becoming a criminal. But I think what they have in common are my favorite moments on "The X Files," which are character moments. I loved writing them and I loved watching them. In particular, I loved the stand-alone episodes where we were telling the story about a particular character of that week who was damaged in some way or was needing something or lacking something or was one of life's losers that somehow found the humanity in him. Some of those are my favorite episodes whether it was a story about a young guy who craves human brains or a character who is made out of cancer and needs to be around it in order to survive. A lot of self-loathing, really complicated characters who had problems hoisted upon them but who were just trying to get by. Those kinds of episodes are the ones that resonated the most with me, though I loved all the episodes. That kind of character writing is something I cut my teeth on for seven years on that show and I continue to do it today. This is a show about a damaged individual. A very complicated man who is, in Walt's case, a guy who just lies to himself constantly and rationalizes all kinds of terrible behavior but is also a good man. He's complicated. He's not a white hat or a black hat. He's a grey hat.

JH: In the first season finale, there was some great dialogue between Walt and his DEA agent/brother-in-law Hank (Dean Norris) about the blurry line between what is legal and illegal. Is that something you think about often when you're coming up with stories?

VG: Some of our best days in the writing room are talking through that stuff. For me, what our show can do best is just post questions. I don't want to give answers because first and foremost I don't have any. If I had the answers, I'd be running the country instead of writing a TV show. [Laughs.] I think if we can pose questions... I always say the writers want to give the audience water cooler moments [and] a good water cooler moment is when people are arguing over your show. 'Why did he do what he did? I think he's reprehensible for doing that.' versus 'I think he's justified." We love looking for those water cooler moments and that scene you refer to from season one, I'd love to take credit for that scene but every word in that scene is written by one of my writers, Peter Gould. I think that was one of my favorite scenes of last season and I didn't touch it. He wrote it all. He poses some very interesting questions in that scene. The line of legal and illegal is constantly shifting in the sand. Is there an absolute morality? Is there a technical legal morality? These are all questions that I don't propose to answer in our show but, nonetheless, I love to pose and let the audience discuss.

The Joy Of X: Documentary About Chris Carter

2009-02-28T08:06:00.000-08:00

Thanks to TheQuiet1's Youtube channel, now you can watch and download "The Joy Of X," a very interesting documentary about Chris Carter and all his projects. This 40-minutes long documentary was first aired in 2001 on British BBC2 channel. The documentary is full of very rare footage such as clips from Carters' home videos and clips from Chris Carter's first ever TV show, "Rags to Riches."

Youtube links: Part I, Part IV, Part V.

All parts (full version of the documentary) can be viewed and downloaded on Veoh.com HERE.

Once again, BIG THANKS to TheQuiet1 for recording and uploading this little gem! ;)

XF Comics: THE X-FILES #6

2009-02-24T11:56:00.000-08:00

Written by Doug Moench; Art and Cover by Brian Denham

The latest Badlands disappearance is a local woman who may still be alive. While Scully pursues the presumed abductor and escaped serial killer known as "Dante," Mulder explores the Hollow Earth – an underground realm of caves and tunnels with no small resemblance to Hell. Will he find the missing woman? Or will Dante reach her first? And what happens if the demons Dante claims haunt him turn out to be real?

On Sale April 15, 2009

Source

Vince Gilligan's Breaking Bad Lands WGA Award

2009-02-15T04:45:00.000-08:00

The Writers Guild of America has awarded Breaking Bad's Season 1 Pilot, written by creator Vince Gilligan, as the best episodic drama of the year. The show beat out Fox's House, USA's Burn Notice, ABC's Eli Stone and Showtime's Dexter for this prestigious award, which was based on voting by the 12,000 WGA members. Breaking Bad's first season episode "Gray Matter", written by Patty Lin, was also nominated in this category.

Kim Manners Dies

2009-01-27T08:41:00.000-08:00

Kim Manners, the man behind the camera of some of The X-Files best episodes, as well Supernatural, has passed away. The producer/director died in Los Angeles after complications with cancer.

Official statement from Frank Spotnitz:

"Kim had a blazing intensity that inspired everyone -- writers, producers, actors and crew. "Kick it in the ass!" he'd say to us. And "I love you," really meaning it. As long as he'd been a director, he never lost his passion for his work. Every time he got a script, he gave it his all. He was driven to execute what he saw in his mind's eye in the most powerful and beautiful way he could. On "The X-Files," the friendly sparring between Kim and Rob Bowman to see who could out-direct the other was a beautiful competition between two fiercely talented friends. Kim was an incredible force of life. It is hard for me to believe or accept that he is gone."

More recently, Manners lended his dark and inventive style to the CW's Supernatural, helping creator Eric Kripke fine-tune the series' tone, which features the brothers Winchester hunting down various demons.

In a statement from Kripke regarding the passing of his colleague: "Everyone at 'Supernatural' is walking around in a daze, shocked and absolutely devastated. Kim was a brilliant director; more than that, he was a mentor and friend. He was one of the patriarchs of the family, and we miss him desperately. He gave so much to 'Supernatural,' and everything we do on the show, now and forever, is in memory of him."

In addition to working on both X-Files and Supernatural, Manners also directed episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. and Mission: Impossible.

Rest in peace, Kim. Thank you for everything.

New Book: Wanting to Believe

2008-12-26T07:11:00.000-08:00

In Wanting to Believe, acclaimed science-fiction writer Robert Shearman critiques and examines the whole of Chris Carter's "X-Files" universe, including the spin-off series "Millennium" and "The Lone Gunmen." As such, this is one of --- if not the only --- guide of its kind to cover all 13 seasons of Carter's masterwork.

With this unauthorized guidebook, "X-Files" fans will be able to reevaluate Carter's TV series with Shearman (World Fantasy Award winner, Hugo Award nominee, renowned playwright, writer on the new "Doctor Who" series and all-around nice guy) as he diligently comments upon all 282 "X-Files"-related episodes (and the two motion pictures), which form one of the most notable TV works of the 1990s --- and is every bit as enjoyable today.

Armed with "Wanting to Believe," you won't just find yourself mulling over Shearman's insights and opinions about "The X-Files" --- you'll want to pull your DVDs and re-watch this amazing and impressive series for yoursel

Wanting to Believe
A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium and The Lone Gunmen

by Robert Shearman

Out in May 2009

Source: http://www.madnorwegian.com/product.php?item=X-Files

X-Files comic book #5

2008-12-19T11:31:00.000-08:00

People have gone missing in the Badlands for centuries. Now, a fresh spate of disappearances is linked to the possible serial killer “Dante,” who claims he is inspired by demons from hell. While Scully assumes the suspect is either lying or deranged, Mulder follows legends of the Hollow Earth to a labyrinth of subterranean tunnels – just as Dante escapes custody and heads for home.

Written by Doug Moench; Art & Cover by Brian Denham. 32pg. - Color - $3.50 US - On Sale March 18, 2009

Breaking Bad News

2008-12-15T10:16:00.000-08:00

Stephen King Rates Breaking Bad as the Best

What's the best series on TV? According to Stephen King, it's Vince Gilligan's Breaking Bad. In this week's Entertainment Weekly, the horror icon says, "You wouldn't think a story about a high school teacher who makes crank so his cancer treatments don't bankrupt his family could be funny, but it is. And suspenseful. And terrifying. If you missed the first season, hurry and catch up."

Breaking Bad Pilot Is Best TV Episode of '08, Says iTunes

Breaking Bad's pilot has been named the best episode in a dramatic series on Apple's iTunes 2008 list. The year-end review of movies, television shows, audiobooks, podcasts, iPhone applications features the most purchased items this year, plus "best of" selections in several genres.

Bryan Cranston's performance in the "compelling" Breaking Bad is described as "less a guilty pleasure than a tragic look at the unexpected choices we have to make to support our families. Desperate measures, indeed."

Breaking Bad Lands Three WGA Nominations

In its freshman year, Breaking Bad has garnered three nominations from the Writers Guild of America -- one for best new series and and two for best episode.

For new series, the drama -- written by Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Patty Lin and George Mastras -- is up against Fox's Fringe, ABC's Life on Mars and HBO's In Treatment and True Blood.

Breaking Bad's pilot episode, penned by Gilligan, and "Gray Matter," penned by Lin, are competing for best episode with episodes of Fox's House, USA's Burn Notice, ABC's Eli Stone and Showtime's Dexter.

The 2009 Writers Guild Awards ceremony will take place on February 7, 2009.

Breaking Bad Wins AFI and Satellite Awards

Awards season is steaming ahead, and Breaking Bad continues to pile on the plaudits.

The American Film Institute recognized the drama as one of the best TV programs of the year, placing Breaking Bad in good company with In Treatment, John Adams, Life, Lost, The Office, Recount, The Shield, The Wire and AMC's other original series, Mad Men.

Not to be outdone, the International Press Academy gave Breaking Bad's star, Emmy winner Bryan Cranston, a Satellite Award for best actor in a dramatic series. Cranston beat out In Treatment's Gabriel Byrne, Dexter's Michael C. Hall, Doctor Who's David Tennant, Brotherhood's Jason Isaacs and Mad Men's Jon Hamm for this prestigious award.

Source: Official Breaking Bad Blog

Back To Frank Black: Lance Henriksen's exclusive interview

2008-12-13T13:06:00.000-08:00

BacktoFrankBlack.com was thrilled when Frank Black himself, Lance Henriksen, offered an exclusive interview on behalf of the campaign. In this first part of the interview, Lance talks about Millennium, its potential future and the work that went into creating Frank Black.

Read full interview HERE and visit BackToFrankBlack.com to learn more about the global campaign to bring back Frank Black!

X-Files comic book #2 preview

2008-12-13T13:03:00.000-08:00

Download X-Files #2 comic book preview HERE.

Mulder and Scully race to uncover the truth about the apparent suicide of a government scientist. All evidence points to it being nothing more than a case of one man choosing to end his own life, but Mulder is convinced the evidence isn't revealing everything. For Agent Fox Mulder, uncovering the truth is literally a case of life or death.

Written by Frank Spotnitz; Art by Brian Denham; Cover by Tony Shasteen

The X-Files #2 on Sale December 17, 2008.

We Talk X-Files with Duchovny

2008-12-11T10:59:00.000-08:00

We recently had a chance to sit down with X-Files and Californication star David Duchovny to chat about his latest venture into the world of Mulder and Scully as X-Files: I Want to Believe hits Blu-ray and DVD. Check out the interview below for some teasing tidbits on a possible third X-Files film and the eventual third season of Californication.

IGN: Was it difficult coming back into the role after so long away?

DUCHOVNY: Because there were so many people who were involved from the beginning – specifically Chris Carter and Gillian Anderson and Frank Spotnitz – we all had developed a shorthand. I think if we did it twenty years from now, we would have stepped into it in the same kind of way. We all know how to communicate to each other how and when it's working and what we want to do with a particular moment. Having said that, the first day on set of any movie is stange and unnatural. With this one, it was odd because there was a sense of d?j? vu and a sense of not wanting to make a mockery of what we've done before and honor it and expand it.

IGN: Was the chemistry with Gillian there from the start, or did it take some time to get back up to speed with the characters?

DUCHOVNY: How many hours of Mulder do we have? A couple hundred? To be able to work on filling up the six years in between, or to be able to create a new kind of relationship between the two characters was part of what made it interesting...It was this idea of trying to take them into another place in their lives. Just as we all age, I thought it would be interesting to allow these characters to grow and not set them in stone…Both Gillian and I have gotten so much more confident, certainly since the first year of the show and especially since it ended. We've done so many other things and stretched in other ways, aside from the shorthand that we have, there was this added excitement of, "Wow, we're both doing very, very different things here."

IGN: To your point of having hundreds of hours spent with Mulder…When you play a character that much and for that long is there ever a malaise that sets in? Are you as invested in the character and the mythology as much today as you were when it began?

DUCHOVNY: I'm just as invested, but in a different way. I'm invested in the evolution of the concepts and the characters, but it's not a matter of life and death to me – it's not even a matter of career – but it's interesting to grow the characters and their relationships over a span of years. That's an interesting artistic investment. Malaise, yes, malaise would set in during the course of the show, which I think is inevitable when you do any long-running show. Especially one as time-intensive as the X-Files…But coming back after six years, everybody was happy to be there. Nobody was bitching like we used to bitch. It was only gonna take ten weeks, instead of ten months.

IGN: It's rare that a TV show ever comes back after its final episode, but science and culture have changed considerably since the X-Files went off the air. Could you ever envision returning with a revamped version of the show, especially considering that the original series finale left so much open?

DUCHOVNY: With me in it? No, probably not…For me to take it back to the serious, series grind of the ten-month, twenty-two episode structure, I just can't imagine in this stage of my career or my life, committing that kind of time and energy away from my family. I definitely see a place for the show. I can see the Next Generation. Maybe they can come visit me every now and then and I could give them some sage advice, but I'd love to just continue to do an X-Files movie every now and then.

IGN: What were your thoughts on coming back without a mythology story? And do you feel it's necessary, if there's a third film, to return to that aspect of the show?

DUCHOVNY: I think that's really the bread and butter of the show. The reasoning behind not making this particular film a part of the mythology was to try not to alienate people who didn't know the show…I don't think they thought they could just count on people knowing enough about it to want to come and see. They really had to think, "How do we make a movie that stands alone, where you don't need to know too much to enjoy it?" The first way to alienate people is to put aliens in it. Then they're gonna think, "Oh, I gotta know stuff; I've gotta study." But I think what we realized from the performance of this movie, which was disappointing to us, certainly…The positive thing that we learned was, first, don't open the week after Batman, and secondly, that the core audience is actually there. And if we had trouble, it was in reaching a new audience…But it was always the case that we'd go back and do some alien stuff, and I think that the performance of this movie showed that we still have a core audience that's interested in that story.

IGN: If you did go back to the mythology, especially in light of the alien envasion plotline, do you ever fear that it might give way too much to hardcore science-fiction, or do you think it's possible to still keep the smaller, conspiratorial nature of the show?

DUCHOVNY: I think that there's certainly ways for Chris and Frank to figure that out. That might be the fun problem, the limitation set on the next idea, which is always a drag at first but actually provides a spurt of creativity. The real problem will be competing ideas that have been influence by X-Files. Everybody's gonna want a 2012 alien movie!

IGN: Can you talk a bit about the future of Californication? It's such an intimate show that I would imagine it's difficult to find new situations and circumstances to keep the characters fresh, especially with the on-again-off-again relationship between Hank and Karen. Any hints about where the show is headed in its next season?

DUCHOVNY: I don't know! Tom Kapinos, who is solely the driving story-force, would have just started writing yesterday. I know he has some ideas that he hasn't shared with me about where it's gonna go. I've always said, "This is where I want it to end." That's why the first season ended where it did. The nature of cable, you don't know whether you're picked up until long after you stop. And both Tom and I are attached to an ending that we had at the same time, very synchronistic. The first season ended with the happy ending because we didn't know. Every season has to be the last, which is unfortunate, but I have no clue what the next year will be like. But you'll have some clue after the last episode. I wouldn't tell you if I knew, but thankfully, I don't know!

Source: IGN.com

Duchovny Still Believes In X-Files

2008-12-11T10:58:00.000-08:00

The X-Files: I Want To Believe didn't do blockbuster box office, but star David Duchovny still wants to revisit the role of former FBI agent Fox Mulder, whom he refers to as "mine." He adds that he wants to believe that The X-Files could live on in a spinoff TV series.

The movie--the second based on the long-running Fox TV series--is out now on DVD, and it is hoped it finds the audience that eluded it in movie theaters over the summer.

That includes Duchovny himself, who confessed that he never saw the film on a big screen. "It's not a special-effects movie," he says. "It kind of was coming out in a time when you expected it to be--in the summer. To me, it was more a fall movie."

Duchovny adds: "It's a beautiful-looking movie. The location, the glow of the snow and the eeriness of that part of it, I think that looks great on the big screen. Everything looks better on the big screen, but I think that, yeah, it's less of a popcorn movie than it is a fall movie, ... for lack of a better term."

Duchovny, who is undeniably an SF icon, says that he's not looking for any more fantastical roles. "I don't feel a need to score in any sci-fi movie or television show for the rest of my life," he says. "I think that we can check that one off for me. But I don't choose genres. I choose characters, so I would never rule out a science fiction movie just because it was the genre. If it had a character or a story that I thought was really interesting, I would do it."

As for The X-Files, Duchovny says, "I never thought of The X-Files as science fiction. I always thought of it as playing this character in this world. The world was recognizable to me. It wasn't The Jetsons. It was present time. You couldn't fly. You couldn't transport our bodies over a teleport and all that stuff, so it was the real world, and it didn't feel like sci-fi to me." Following is an edited version of the rest of SCI FI Wire's interview with Duchovny.

Do you suppose that the Fox Mulder character could somehow endure along the lines of a Sherlock Holmes or a James Bond? Do you think that other actors could play him, and how would you like to see him go in the future?

Duchovny: I'm sure that someone else could play him, but I'd like to play him for a little while longer. I certainly think it's a pretty good idea to try to make another X-Files-oriented show on television. I wouldn't be an actor in it, but I've always thought it was a great plan, but I would like to continue on as a movie serial. As far as what actors? ... I'm not ready to go out to pasture just yet.

What is it about Mulder that keeps you coming back?

Duchovny: He's mine. I feel protective of him and of it and of all of us. It was the first real, real success of my career and will always be a cornerstone of my life in many ways, the creative endeavor it is. I feel protective of the character and of the show in many ways, and I'm proud of it. I think that it can expand and grow, and .. I find that we have bonds.

I guess Indiana Jones gets aged, but it remains the same movie even though he's aging. Bond doesn't age, and I find that a little less interesting, at least for me. I'm not just saying this because I would like to keep doing it, but I always to talk to [X-Files creator] Chris [Carter] about how fascinating today it would be to take this guy from his early 30s and let's take him into his mid-50s, late-50s. Maybe nobody wants to see 60-year-old Fox Mulder, but we can grow him. We can take him through life's hardships and changes. It doesn't have to be this cartoon where nothing changes. You can actually form the flow of this movie and the expanse of this show to embrace actual passage of time and what that does to a person and relationships. To me, that's interesting as an actor and as a person. As an intellectually based character, you don't give a damn what he looks like.

Since The X-Files: I Want to Believe may not have been the huge blockbuster that everyone was hoping for, we'd like to know: What is your own measure of success for the movie?

Duchovny: I guess it's always the first time I see the movie. What's my feeling when I come out? I always felt like the subject matter of this particular movie was limiting. It was dark, and it wasn't going. I mean, it could always bust out and become something huge, but as you recall, Batman was just suffocating everything at the time. Even so, it was also a $29.9 million dollar movie competing during the summer. It had some stuff going against it in terms of me thinking it was going to break out. I didn't think that it actually would. It was very dark. The subject matter was limiting in that way. Even though I would hope any movie I do would do the best business it can, that was never going to be a measure of this particular film.

I've only seen it one time, and I was sitting in Chris' editing room. I watched it on a little screen. I guess I missed the chance to see it on the big screen, and that's too bad, but when I left that initial screening at Chris' house, the film was pretty much almost done except for some special effects. I just felt like it was really strong and kind of a strangely moving piece of work. Still dark, and still I thought limited, but the way that the movie performed did not surprise me so much, and I think that if we do get a chance to do another one, ... what I always really liked about the show was that it had a dark vision, but at the heart of it being driven by Mulder was this real optimism or wonder or sense of belief, and then it would kind of open out. Most of the best shows that we did would open out into real wonder at the end if only because you didn't have an answer, which was the mystery of it, but the wonder.

Mulder's quest, to me, is a very positive one. If we get a chance to do another one, I think because in this movie Mulder kept getting reinvigorated, so Mulder was in a down place for much of this film, he wasn't driving the way he drives, the way he drove everything before that. In a way, the nature of how we had to get back into the show, which was to take the guy out of his job, also deprived the movie of some optimism and wonder and enlightenment that occurs when you've got this unhinged guy trying to prove wonderful crazy things.

Source: SciFi.com

Some news about "Gabrielle Union Project"

2008-12-02T10:19:00.000-08:00

Frank Spotnitz responded about the "Gabrielle Union Project" in his blog:

"I'm still working on the script, so no more news as yet."

Source: http://www.biglight.com/blog/2008/12/gabri...on-project.html

Frank Spotnitz Wants to Believe in the Future of 'X-Files'

2008-11-28T03:40:00.000-08:00

Source: Bloody-Disgusting.com

On December 2nd Fox Home Entertainment will be releasing The X-Files: I Want to Believe on both DVD and Blu-ray. To help promote the release we chatted with writer-producer Frank Spotnitz who reveals his plans for another X-FILES, if 20th Century Fox were to ever give the go to another sequel. Beyond the break you can read all about his thoughts on the box office and what his plans are for the future.

Frank Spotnitz explains how they were pretty disappointed with the box officie numbers when X-FILES hit theaters this past July.

"We were all a bit disappointed, we had some indication that we were in for a rough time when THE DARK KNIGHT started to become the phenomenon that it is, and breaking records. THE DARK KNIGHT is a history making film at the box office, and we came out with our little dark film a week after. It was disappointing to be sure. But the film made something like 20 million domestically and close to 50 million overseas. That is very telling about what is happening in the domestic marketplace."

Even though the film didn't do all too well in theaters, Spotnitz explains that another sequel may very well happen.

"I think there very well could be more in the future," he reveals to Bloody-Disgusting. "The studio has not indicated another one yet, but there certainly is an audience for it. I think what happened this past summer was a function of bad luck and bad timing with the release. These movies cost a lot of money, not just to make but to market them as well. When the studio looks at the sales of the DVD that’s when they will really decide to see if its worth risking. There is still a lot of love with 20th Century Fox, as well as with the fans."

If a sequel were to happen, Spotnitz explains that he'd like the story to revolve around "Alien Colonization".

"If we were to do one more movie, I think it pretty obviously would have to deal with Alien Colonization." He continues, "In the series we say its coming in 2012, I honestly think that that is the movie that the fans are most eager to see. Hat would be the one I would want to make. For me I think its pretty integral to the series to make tell that story. With I WANT TO BELIEVE, we were un-teathered by the TV show, we could tell any story we want. If you are a fan of the show, you know that about 80% of the stories do NOT have anything to do with aliens; they were stand alone scary stories. This movie was more about the relationship between Mulder and Scully, and not so much about the X-File."

Spotnitz talked a bit about whether or not David Duchovny, Gillian Anderso would return.

"It was one of the best experiences that we all had with the X-FILES. When we did the TV show it was hard work and crazy deadlines, and what was nice this time coming back years after the fact, was the sense of appreciation for each other and the characters. It was really a joy in many ways, as difficult as it was to deal with the cold. Both David and Gillian have gone on to do very different work since leaving the X-FILES, but I think Mulder and Scully will always hold a special place in their hearts. If another one does not happen, we are all pretty proud of what we have done and content with this film".

So what's next?

"The X-FILES is really so many different genres, it’s never been just one type of story. It’s sci-fi, its suspense fiction, it’s horror, it’s romance, it’s comedy, it’s murder mystery. For me its what I love about the show. If it were up to me I think that X-FILES could go on forever if there was an audience for it. Right now I have a couple of TV projects that I cant talk about yet, but hopefully you will be seeing something from me in 2009. One of them definetly has a science fiction component, and the other is more thriller. Horror for me has so many subgenres; Its SAW and FRIDAY THE 13th and THE EXORCIST. If I found a thought provoking horror story I would be all over it! We did some truly horrific and grotesque episodes with the X Files, It takes a lot to scare me at this point, my reaction is to laugh. It’s like I am delighted the more horrifying it is."

X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE arrives on DVD and Blu-ray December 2nd.

Frank Spotnitz set new drama

2008-11-27T10:42:00.000-08:00

NBC is developing a procedural drama from scribe Frank Spotnitz that's set to star thesp Gabrielle Union.

Drama surrounds a detective (to be played by Union) who must race to save someone's life before it's too late.

Spotnitz and Union collaborated on the idea. Project will be produced through Universal Media Studios.

Project is also a reunion for the duo: Union starred in ABC's short-lived reworking of the classic series "Night Stalker," which Spotnitz exec produced during the 2005-06 TV season.

Spotnitz's credits include "The X-Files," as well as ABC Family's recent mini "Samurai Girl." He also served as an exec producer on "Robbery Homicide Division," "Harsh Realm" and "X-Files" spinoff "The Lone Gunmen."

Union most recently starred in the features "Meet Dave" and "Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls." Thesp is best known for her starring turn in "Bring It On."

On the smallscreen, Union recurred last season on "Ugly Betty." She also starred on "City of Angels" and regularly appeared on "7th Heaven."

Source: Daily Variety

Frank Spotnitz Podcast Interview

2008-11-20T09:18:00.000-08:00

Download and listen new Frank Spotnitz's interview for SciFiDimensions.com.

Also mentioned in this podcast: Dr. Robert J. White (whose controversial research into radical transplantation surgery inspired I Want to Believe) and the classic 1976 film Network (particularly Ned Beatty’s powerful “You have meddled with the primal forces of nature” speech).

Source

Wildstorm to publish “The X-Files #4″

2008-11-19T09:18:00.000-08:00

Scully and Mulder are the targets of a killer from the Tong Underworld who is about to reignite a centuries-old gang war. If Mulder and Scully can’t figure out how this devious criminal can be in multiple places at the same time, San Francisco will erupt in a bloodbath!

Written by Marv Wolfman; Art by Brian Denham; Cover by Jim Daly and Tim Bradstreet. 32pg. - Color - $3.50 US - On Sale February 18, 2009

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Frank Spotnitz Wants to Bring Back the Aliens in The X-Files 3!

2008-11-18T07:17:00.000-08:00

This was posted on MovieWeb.com:

I just got off the phone with writer-producer Frank Spotnitz, who was promoting the upcoming X-Files: I Want to Believe, which comes out on DVD and Blu-ray on December 2. I also had to ask him about the possibility of a third film in this popular series. Here's what he had to say about what would likely be the last film in the series.

So, there have already been whisperings about a third film from Fox. Is there anything you can tell us about that?

Frank Spotnitz: Well, yeah. I think we'd all like to to it. The studio has not said yes or no. I think the box office, unfortunately, we got creamed in the theaters by The Dark Knight. I don't think anybody could've anticipated that was going to be such a huge, historic phenomenon. To be a dark scary movie coming out the week after The Dark Knight was not the best timing. I think there's life in the franchise still. I think these are great characters. There's a date that looms very important in X-Files mythology, which is December 2012. I think after the DVD comes out, the studio will decide whether they want to roll the dice on another X-Files feature.

Are you and Chris (Carter) already hatching up ideas for that?

Frank Spotnitz: Yeah. I mean, if we were to make one more feature, I think we would definitely have to deal with alien colonization. I honestly think that's the movie that most non-hardcore X-Files fans, as well as a lot of hardcore X-Files fans are dying to see. Obviously, I think Chris has had ideas about that from the very beginning when he dreamt up this show, 16 years ago.

So do you think if this goes through, it will be the definite, final closure film? The end of the whole series?

Frank Spotnitz: I would think so. It certainly would be designed to be the period on the sentence.

You can read my full interview with Spotnitz in the near future, as we get closer to X-Files: I Want to Believe's December 2 release date.

Source: Brian Gallagher

Annabeth Gish Has a Boy!

2008-10-28T08:45:00.000-07:00

Annabeth Gish (Monica Reyes in The X-Files) and husband Wade Allen welcomed their second child, son Enzo Edward Allen.

Enzo was born Saturday night in Rhode Island and weighed 7 lbs.

The couple also have 21-month-old son Cash.

Source: People.com

Congratulations to Annabeth and Wade! :)

X-Files comic book issue #3

2008-10-26T02:06:00.000-07:00

Mulder and Scully are sent to San Francisco to investigate a series of murders happening simultaneously throughout the city. But, according to fingerprints and DNA, all are being perpetrated by the same killer. As their investigation takes them into the unknown mysteries of the Chinese underworld, they learn that instead of being the hunters, they have become the hunted.

Written by Marv Wolfman; Art by Brian Denham; Cover by Jim Daly and Tim Bradstreet. 32pg. - Color - $3.50 US - On Sale January 21, 2009

Source: Weekly Comic Book Review

Frank Spotnitz talks about new X-Files comics!

2008-10-23T07:19:00.000-07:00

X-Files comic books — in the ’90s, four color tales of Agents Scully and Mulder heated up the comics charts and nabbed scores of cash on the back issue market before the comics industry and publisher, Topps, took a turn for the worse…along with the whole “X-Files” franchise (check out Kurt Loder’s visit to the “X-Files” set here). Now in November, DC’s Wildstorm imprint looks to reignite the series’ comic popularity with a miniseries featuring something the ’90s comics never had: a direct tie to the show’s overarching mythos.

“They are connected with a part of the mythology that we introduced but did very little with at the beginning of season five,” said writer Frank Spotnitz, a longtime scribe for the series and co-writer of July’s “I Want To Believe” film. “We introduced this corporation Roush and so that was part of the mythology that we could have gone a lot deeper with but never got the chance. So the next two books connect with Roush. And I’m going to take a little break from writing comics after this and get back to my screenwriting career, but at some point I hope to get back to write more and do more with the mythology.”

But while Spotnitz’s direct exploration of the show’s most successful period will only last a few months, the series will continue for five issues after that, presenting new stories of Scully and Mulder in classic form mixing it up with FBI Deputy Director Skinner, conspiracy nuts The Lone Gunman and the villainous Cigarette Smoking Man, all of whom appear in upcoming issues.

“It’s just fun to play with again,” he explained. “This is kind of an interesting thing about the comic books – in my imagination anyway – [it's] that they’re sort of ‘out of time.’ The situation is the situation that we found between seasons two and five of the series. And yet, they’re wearing clothes and using technology that is contemporary of today. It’s not like they’re period pieces. It’s sort of like they’re unstuck from time. I look at them as if that situation in ‘The X-Files’ were still going on today; a sort of parallel universe to the one that we have in the movie.”

With that last movie underperforming at the box office this summer, long time X-Philes will be glad to know that the creator’s plans for future comics series will continue to play in the show’s glory years with new stories focusing on various mythological elements not fully developed in the show. And if Spotnitz has his way, those tales will be penned by both past “X-Files” writers as well as some of his big name comic writing pals, including Brad Meltzer and Brian K Vaughan.

“We have some writers from the TV series who have expressed interest like John Shiban and David Amann, but they all have busy television careers. But in the meantime I’d love to see some other established comic book writers try their hand at the ‘X-Files.’ And that’s what’s great about comic book series is you’re a lot freer to explore and experiment and do things that are out there.”

And if readers get behind the expanded in-continuity comics treatment “X-Files” is getting, Spotnitz doesn’t rule out more series based on his friend Chris Carter’s universe of TV series. “I think it’s a great idea; I still love all those titles. Every single show we did with Chris at 1013 I have great affection for. Especially ‘Harsh Realm’ and ‘Lone Gunman’ I think ended before their time. And I have to tell you, everywhere I go people are always asking me if there’s going to be a ‘Millennium’ movie or something, so I suspect there’s a hardcore audience out there that’s still wanting it.”

Source: MTV.com

Fencewalker news!

2008-10-22T06:41:00.000-07:00

In her recent podcast interview for MovieEntertainment.ca Natalie Dormer (Anne Boleyn in "The Tudors") talks about her role in Chris Carter's "Fencewalker."

Natalie said that she just finished filming in this Chris Carter's auto-financed / independent film. It was a passion project for a lot of the people involved, including her. Natalie just thought it was a great script. She plays a character named Yasnie, who's kind of a black sheep.

Listen full interview here.

Thanks to Laurent for the news! :)

And according to IMDb.com, Derek Magyar's character name is Viggo Vanderwall.

Gillian Anderson Welcomes a Son

2008-10-21T03:43:00.000-07:00

X-Files star Gillian Anderson and boyfriend Mark Griffiths are parents of a baby boy, the actress's rep tells PEOPLE exclusively.

Felix Griffiths, weighing 6 lbs., 15 oz., was born Oct. 15 in London, says rep Kelly Bush.

Felix is the second child for Anderson, 40, with Griffiths, joining their 1-year-old son Oscar. Anderson also has a 13-year-old daughter, Piper, from a previous marriage.

Source: People.com

Congratulations to Gillian and Mark!

FTF+IWTB Blu-ray cover art

2008-10-17T02:52:00.000-07:00

Amazon.com has unveiled the cover art for The X-Files: Fight the Future & The X-Files: I Want to Believe Blu-ray release. It looks very cool.

FTF+ IWTB Blu-ray will be released on December 2nd.

Interview with X-Files comic illustrator Brian Denham

2008-10-17T02:48:00.000-07:00

XFilesNews.com posted a very interesting interview with X-Files comic book illustrator Brian Denham!

Read it here.

Brian talks about his favorite episodes, who he loves to draw, and which X-Files moment he’d like to recreate on paper.

XF3: Maybe there's hope

2008-10-16T02:54:00.000-07:00

FOX chairman Tom Rothman told IESB that, despite the lackluster performance of the X-Files: I Want to Believe, there's still the possibility of another movie - and he's leaving it up to the cast and crew as to whether they'd like to see that happen.

‘'It's really up to Chris [Carter], David [Duchovny] and Gillian [Anderson]", Rothman tells the site.

And this is Frank Spotnitz's response to Rothman's words:

"I was encouraged to read Tom Rothman's remarks as well. I anticipated the studio would wait until after the release of the DVD to make any decision regarding a third movie, but I will let you know if we end up having any news before then."

Source

Happy Birthday Chris Carter!!!

2008-10-13T05:07:00.000-07:00

Rumor has it

2008-10-08T05:23:00.000-07:00

There are rumours that Chris Carter is working on developing a new TV-series. No details on what the series is about but it might be on the lines of drama/horror. And nothing like "X-Files" or "Millennium."

Thanks to HighPlainsDrifter from TIWWA for the news!

Last month Gabe Rotter, Carter's assistant and Director of Development for Ten Thirteen Productions, told that "we're working on developing several interesting projects right now... I can't talk about any of them."

Stay tuned!

P.S. New Carter's show?!?! YAY!!! Finally!!! :)

Frank Spotnitz's Exclusive Interview About "Millennium"

2008-09-28T02:19:00.000-07:00

Exclusive Interview With Millennium Co-Executive Producer Frank Spotnitz

On October the 4th cult television series Millenniun comes to Zone Horror. This terrifying drama series horror in its purest form with a leading man that really knows how to make the skin on your neck crawl, Lance Henriksen. Here we speak exclusively to Executive Producer Frank Spotnitz about his involvement with a series that changed TV drama forever.

Zone Horror: Is it true you began your working life as a journalist?

Frank Spotnitz: Yes. I was editor of my college paper at UCLA, then went to work for United Press International, first in Indiana, then in New York City. I later wrote for the Associated Press in Paris and freelanced for a number of magazines, including Entertainment Weekly and Rolling Stone.

ZH: How did you get into television work?

FS: I decided I didn’t want to be a journalist anymore! I moved back to Los Angeles from Paris so I could study screenwriting at the American Film Institute. The X-Files was my first job in Hollywood.

ZH: When did you first meet Chris Carter?

FS: By chance. I met Chris in a book group shortly after I moved back to L.A. This was years before he created The X-Files.

ZH: How did you become involved with Millennium and can your recall your reaction when you first heard the basic outline for the series?

FS: I was very flattered that Chris asked me to work on Millennium as well as The X-Files – flattered and, in short order, exhausted! It was very tough doing double duty on the first season of Millennium and the fourth season of The X-Files. I remember that I only vaguely understood what Millennium was going to be about before Chris let me read the pilot script. I read it on the laptop computer in his office right after he finished it. I was, quite simply, blown away. I still think that pilot is among the very best things he’s ever written.

ZH: Is it true Lance was the first choice for Frank Black? If not who else was considered? (Personally I can’t think of anyone else who could bring his quiet intensity to the role)

FS: Yes, Lance was Chris’ first choice. There were other actors considered for the role, but I don’t want to risk making them uncomfortable by giving their names.

ZH: What was it like to work with Lance Henriksen and Megan Gallagher, two very different actors?

FS: It was great, although I have to say I didn’t really work “with” them very much. On Millennium, nearly all of my work was done in Los Angeles — breaking stories, writing scripts, editing episodes and so on. Occasionally, I’d fly up to Vancouver to help prep an episode, but usually I’d only see Lance and Megan when they were in Los Angeles (or during crew parties!).

ZH: The two leads brought so much depth to their respected roles, which other actors that appeared on the show stand out for you?

FS: Terry O’Quinn was, of course, amazing, just as he now is on Lost. I also thought Birttany Tiplady was an astonishing little actress, Sarah-Jane Redmond was fantastic, as always, and Klea Scott is one of my all-time favourite actors, period. There were too many wonderful guest stars for me to mention.

ZH: As Millennium was based totally in the real world how did you approach writing your episodes, as they were far different to what you were creating for The X-Files?

FS: It was very easy for me to get in touch with my fears on Millennium, because the things that scare me most are things that can happen in the real world. The challenge for me was finding interesting ways to involve Frank’s family in the stories. And I was also always looking for ways to find hope amid all the darkness. The things I would say The X-Files and Millennium had in common were our focus on tight plotting, and wanting to find interesting reasons for why the bad guys were doing what they were doing.

ZH: Why do you think the series has continued to generate interest and debate with the viewing public?

FS: I think it’s because it was very intense and uncompromising. That turned off some viewers, but the people who liked the show, really liked it. I remember the earliest meetings with the network concerned how dark the show was. They kept asking us to lighten up, to find more humour. But Chris had a vision for the series, and it was pretty intense. I also think the show touched on something fundamental about life – the split between the darkness of Frank’s work, and the lightness of his family and home life. Frank struggled to protect his family from the darkness – of the killers he hunted, and inside himself. That’s a very powerful idea to me, and I think it resonates with a lot of other people, too.

ZH: I know some critics disliked the show for its violent content but do you agree it needed to show the horrors of real life in such a graphic manner?

FS: I think there’s an even greater danger when you sanitize violence, or make it less disturbing in some way. I think the most responsible way to depict violence is to make it horrific, because that’s what it is in real life.

ZH: Do you have a favourite episode of Millennium?

FS: The Pilot episode and Lamentation. Among the ones I wrote, Sacrament.

ZH: There’s a legion of fans waiting the return of Frank Black, is there any chance?

FS: I’d say a small chance, getting smaller every year. We’d still love to revisit the character, but at this point I think someone would have to light a pretty big fire under the Fox executives to make it happen.

ZH: Congratulations on The X-Files – I Want To Believe, an intelligent and refreshing break from predictable CGI drenched blockbusters. Can we expect more?

FS: It’s too soon to say.

ZH: What other projects are you working on at the moment?

FS: I have a couple things in the works I’m very excited about, but the deals aren’t done, so I can’t announce them yet. Soon, hopefully!

ZH: Frank Spotnitz, thank you very much.

Source

Vince Gilligan's Breaking Bad Wins 2 Emmys Including Best Actor for Bryan Cranston

2008-09-23T11:46:00.000-07:00

Vince Gilligan's show Breaking Bad won a second Emmy and it was a major one at that. Bryan Cranston walked away with the statuette for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series beating out James Spader (Boston Legal), Michael C. Hall (Dexter), Hugh Laurie (House), Gabriel Byrne (In Treatment) and Jon Hamm (Mad Men).

Said Bryan Cranston upon picking up his equally bald statuette, "I guess the restraining order has been lifted," in reference to his first Emmy win after two past nominations.

At last weekend's Creative Arts Emmys Breaking Bad took home its first Emmy when Lynne Willingham won for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series.

Source
Congrats to Vince, Bryan and Lynne!

Breaking Bad Creator Vince Gilligan Discusses the Emmys and Season 2

2008-09-23T11:36:00.000-07:00

Creator Vince Gilligan talks about his Emmy nomination and the process of creating storylines for Season 2.

Q: Congratulations on your Emmy nomination. Were you surprised to get nominated for directing as opposed to writing?

A: Well, I was just surprised to get one at all, and very honored to get one in the directing category. But I'm much newer at directing than I am at writing. I'm very proud of our show -- it's a very different television series, but on the other hand, it's relatively new and we only have the seven episodes for people to see. A show like ours is a dangerous show to do, and there are a hundred ways it could fail.

Q: Now that the fear of failure has passed, have you been able to think about the bigger story for upcoming episodes?

A: I try to be a big picture thinker and think ahead, but I find it harder and harder to do that. We're halfway through Season 2, deep in the forest without a compass or a road map, and I can't see anything but the trees. So we just take it one day at a time. In the beginning my writers and I spent the first three weeks just sitting around and talking about the big picture. We came up with some very interesting ideas that we are incorporating into the season, but for now we really are just lost in that forest and striving in a purposeful direction.

Q: How did a foreshortened Season 1 affect your plan for Season 2?

A: That worked out in our favor; it's nice to be able to see the silver lining on that gray cloud. Last season we shot all of our episodes before we ever went on the air, and when that happens you're working in a vacuum in terms of viewer feedback. I wanted to make sure the show was interesting, though, so I was trying to err on the side of having too much plot. If we had gotten to do our last two episodes, we would have had to commit to some very major plot twists that we can now put off until the end of the second season...The strike was a terrible thing for many obvious reasons, but in this one case it kept us from going too far too soon.

Q: Will you be directing more episodes this season?

A: I'd sure like to. I love being on the set because our crew is a wonderful bunch of people, and it's just fun joking around and hanging out -- and we have great craft service. The craft service person is always coming around with really wonderful smoothies. You're just sitting in your chair and someone comes up and hands you a delicious smoothie. It's very pleasant and exciting, and hands down it beats sitting in a room beating your head against a desk trying to figure out what to write next. I'm hoping very much that I'll get to direct the last episode of the season.

Source

Breaking Bad: Q&A with Lynne Willingham (X-Files and Breaking Bad editor)

2008-09-23T11:31:00.000-07:00

Editor Lynne Willingham talks with AMCtv.com about her Emmy nomination for Breaking Bad's first episode and the brutal beating that just had to be the finale.

Q: How did you get involved with Breaking Bad?

A: Vince Gilligan and I had worked together on The X-Files for five years, and I was lucky enough to do a couple of things he had directed. We just had a really nice working relationship -- if you're lucky to have a relationship with a director when you're an editor you have a shorthand and it makes things all that much quicker. You're not learning each other, you can get into their head with them, and take it one step further and create a project together. Vince is so good that if you're lucky enough to get a call from him, you make it work.

Q: What in your mind makes the Breaking Bad pilot unique?

A: It's got so many different elements, the first of which is a beautiful story of a man whose world is falling apart. But also in the story you've got drama, you've got comedy, you've got pain, you've got happiness, you've got action. There are a lot of television shows where you can go, oh that's an action-drama or that's a sitcom, but with a show like Breaking Bad it's just covering so much area of emotion and experience you can't pigeon-hole it. And I think when you've got so much going on, then as an editor you're able to show a lot of different things. It's one of those golden moments that clicks, and you're just lucky to be there for it.

Q: Was there any aspect to the show that you found particularly challenging?

A: The X-Files was a great training ground for being able to get a lot of experience across the board. And Breaking Bad was such a labor of love that I didn't find any of it overwhelming. It just was fun. I'm sure much of it was challenging, but it's like when you give birth to a child and you know went through something that was pretty painful, but you never remember it because the outcome was so beautiful. All of it was just a joy.

Q: What's your favorite moment in the first episode?

A: I love the opening. I love the teaser. I think it just rocks. I love how it was written, I love that the pants fly into the scene and we're off. It's like, what the heck is going on here? I think that teaser's my favorite scene of the whole show. I also love Jesse falling off the roof.

Q: The last episode of the first season was not meant to be a finale. Is there anything you had to do with your editing to make it feel more final?

A: To be honest, it had very little to do with editing. They figured it out before they started shooting that we would be two episodes short. That said, I think the emotional impact of the beating became an editing thing. Vince knew what he wanted, he knew he needed it to be violent, and to put Walt and Jesse into a place where they felt totally out of their element. So in editing we asked, how do we make that beating so horrific that we realize these guys have stepped into hell? That helped build us up to a cliffhanger.

Q: This is your second Emmy nomination. Your first was for an episode of The X-Files called "The Post-Modern Prometheus." How do the two compare?

A: I just think they were unique, well-written, and well-acted. When you're lucky enough to have a show that's recognized, the show has to be outstanding on a lot of levels. Film is very rhythmic, the way people talk is rhythmic, so the editing has a lot to do with pacing: Do I cut to this person or stay on another? What does an audience want to see? The overall effect is the editing should disappear, and you should be happy to be in the story. And in both of those episodes I think that happened, and that's what made them noteworthy. The editing didn't get in the way.

Source

IWTB Blu-ray and DVD News

2008-09-16T08:52:00.000-07:00

X-Files Marks Fox's First BD Live Title

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment will become the latest studio to harness BD Live technology on its Blu-ray Disc releases with The X-Files: I Want to Believe, coming Dec. 2.

Viewers who slip the disc into a next-generation Blu-ray Disc player connected to the Internet will be able to enjoy several interactive, Web-enabled features.

Their point of entry is “The X-Files Dossier.” There, BD Live-connected viewers can create their own special-agent avatar who can browse through Agent Dakota Whitney’s case files on clairvoyance and post his own notes and theories about her files online.

Fans also can help Agent Drummy solve several forensic challenges, with new cases posted weekly to the studio’s BD Live Web portal for the first several weeks of release.

“Releasing The X-Files: I Want To Believe as our first BD Live release was a natural,” said Mary Daily, EVP of North American marketing for 20th Century Fox. “One of the most compelling elements of the ‘X-Files’ franchise is how the mythology inspires fans to create and share their own theories about the characters and storylines. The extras on this release take full advantage of the BD Live technology and bring that interactive experience to a level never before possible.”

Other exclusive extras on the Blu-ray Disc edition of The X-Files: I Want to Believe include an interactive timeline featuring more than 80 video clip segments from the franchise’s archives, and a picture-in-picture commentary with director Chris Carter and cowriter Frank Spotnitz.

In addition to the Blu-ray Disc, Fox is releasing the film — which generated $20.8 million in U.S. theaters — as a single-disc DVD and a three-disc special-edition DVD. All versions come with a digital copy of the film, playable on iPods and other portable movie-viewing devices.

Source

X-Files Comic Book News

2008-09-16T08:16:00.000-07:00

Wildstorm to publish The X-Files #2

Mulder and Scully race to uncover the truth about the apparent suicide of a government scientist. All evidence points to it being nothing more than a case of one man choosing to end his own life, but Mulder is convinced the evidence isn’t revealing everything. For Agent Fox Mulder, uncovering the truth is literally a case of life or death.

From show writer Frank Spotnitz, art by Brian Denham, cover by Tony Shasteen. 32pg. - Color - $3.50 US - On Sale December 17, 2008

See cover on the left.

Source

The date is set

2008-09-06T01:51:00.000-07:00

According to Amazon.com, "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" DVD will be released on December 2, 2008. You can pre-order it now at Amazon.

Chris Carter Talks Santa Barbara, Surfing, and Fencewalker

2008-09-05T09:52:00.000-07:00

From The Santa Barbara Independent:

X-Files Creator Not Spooky

Chris Carter Talks Santa Barbara, Surfing, and the Future

Thursday, September 4, 2008
By Drew Mackie

For those who followed The X-Files close enough to think that the people working behind the scenes were as heroic as the show’s mystery-solving, ghost-chasing, alien-spotting protagonists, the notion that series creator Chris Carter is actually a seemingly normal and not especially creepy guy is not news. Countless interviews mention this fact, as if the show’s dark tone must necessarily mean that Carter himself should be brooding and sinister. (It’s an odd association, when you think about it. Should the creators of Murder, She Wrote have been especially homicidal? Should the creators of Dallas have been especially oily?)

What X-Files fans who have occasion to read The Independent may not know, however, is that Carter happens to be a rather nice, remarkably un-spooky man who has resided in Santa Barbara for more than 20 years. That, even to this X-Files buff, seemed surprising. Sure, quite a few Hollywood notables call the Santa Barbara area home. But to hear that Carter had lived here part-time for so long struck me as odd if only because the sunny afternoons and blue waves so often associated with Santa Barbara never appeared on The X-Files.

“My wife and I came here over 20 years ago, and we’re here for all the obvious reasons: That it’s a beautiful place and that it’s away from the business that either of us trafficked in,” he explained before adding, “And, certainly, surfing was a big draw.”

That’s another part of Carter’s life that never cropped up in The X-Files. Carter—a native of Bellflower, California, who finished his journalism major at Cal State Long Beach 1979 and began writing for Surfing magazine—is an avid surfer. Though some Mulder-as-Big Kahuna episode would surely have sent X-Files fans into spitting rages, it seems curious that surfing would have never figured into his work, especially considering how extensively the sport bleeds into the lives of some lifelong wave-riders.

“I’ve been asked to do surfing movies over the years and offered several opportunities,” Carter explained. “I just felt that if I were to do one, I’d have to do the perfect surfing movie. And I don’t know if that exists because surfing is such a personal thing. [Some surf movies] get wrapped up in contests or drama that is often beside the point.” He admitted, however, that he enjoyed John Milius’s Big Wednesday (which, incidentally, screens for free outside of the County Courthouse on September 17) as well as Jack Johnson and Chris Malloy’s Thicker Than Water.

“I think the good ones are the ones that sort of capture what I’d call the spirit of surfing,” Carter said. When asked if this sublime aspect could have edged into his work Carter seemed to nod toward the philosophically minded scripts he’s written for his various series, saying simply, “Maybe an appreciation for the more sublime aspects of surfing.”

As to whether he’ll ever incorporate his experience in Santa Barbara into his work—to his knowledge, he hasn’t yet—he offers only this: “It remains to be seen.” However, his current project is Fencewalker, a film reportedly shot around Los Angeles that marks a departure from his best-known work by virtue of its lack of any supernatural elements. Though some online sources claim that Fencewalker was filmed in part in Bellflower, Carter denies that the film will be autobiographical. “It’s a very personal project … We’re still working on it. But because I financed it myself, I have the ability to refine it,” he said.

Because Fencewalker’s future is uncertain, Carter was reluctant to discuss it at length. “I don’t know if it will ever see light of day, to be honest,” he said at one point. It reportedly will star rapper Xzibit, who played an FBI agent in this summer’s X-Files theatrical feature, I Want to Believe. Carter did, however, give some hint as to the film’s content. “It represents for me the reflection of the difficulty for a person … ” he said before trailing into a superficially unrelated thought that nonetheless probably has some bearing on the film. “I’m a big fan of Barack Obama. I think he carries a heavier burden and is held to a greater and higher standard than other candidates … I think there’s a large, large portion of this country that feels disenfranchised and marginalized by the political process.”

Carter also spoke frankly about I Want to Believe and its reception at the box office. As of the printing of this article, the film has grossed just over $60 million. Relative to this summer’s blockbusters, it didn’t exactly clean up, but Carter posited that such comparisons weren’t necessarily the most accurate. “We came out against The Dark Knight, which was made for $180 million, and [I Want to Believe] was made for about $30 million,” he said, noting that his film has already surpassed its costs. In Carter’s view, he intended for the film to have few special effects and instead keep in line with the heart of The X-Files: a well-written scary story that aims to be meaningful to both the characters and the audience.

Asked whether Mulder and Scully would once again live on-screen, chasing down all manner of monsters in the shadows, Carter said he hoped they would, depending on how the box office gods shine upon him. He also mentioned an after-the-credits scene in I Want to Believe that features a rowboat-paddling Mulder and a swimsuit-clad Scully, waving to any audience members who lingered in the theater. “We made the movie knowing full well this might be the last time,” he said, explaining that if this was the case, the last sight of the characters would be them waving goodbye.

Of course, no interview with Chris Carter should avoid the subject of general weirdness, normal-seeming though the man may be. When asked to name the strangest thing about Santa Barbara, Carter paused for a moment and then delivered a thoughtful answer befitting the man who created one of the most influential TV series ever: “Last summer, the Zaca Fire had been burning for six weeks or so and was right behind Montecito Peak. I looked at that as a huge threat but people seemed to be walking around like there wasn’t a fire back there. There seemed to be—and I say this in a fond way—a happiness here in Santa Barbara that exists in spite of the real threats of things like fire and off-shore drilling in this place I would call a paradise found.”

Whatever the future holds for Chris Carter, his fans can hope that he’ll continue to revel in all things odd—at least on screen. And those fans who live in Santa Barbara can be glad in knowing that he shares their affection for this city.

Will Carter ever turn his lens onto Santa Barbara? Would that be too weird? Maybe. And maybe that’s exactly what we want.

"Lost" Recruits Zuleikha Robinson

2008-09-05T09:48:00.000-07:00

Zuleikha Robinson (Yves Adele Harlow in "The Lone Gunmen") has been tapped to play the pivotal role in the 5th Season of "Lost."

Robinson's deal calls for her to start off as a recurring player with an option to become a series regular in season 6 (a.k.a. the farewell season).

Robinson's character is called Ilana. Ilana is described as a European female who possesses great intelligence but who's also dangerous as all get out. She's alluring and apparently used to getting her own way.

Source

Director Chris Carter Rewards Staffer's First Novel with Film Cameo

2008-09-04T10:50:00.000-07:00

From Erin Fox's Blog:

Say your boss, director Chris Carter decides to give your first novel, your baby, a cameo inThe X-Files: I Want to Believe. What happens then? Tears? Gratitude? A slight bladder control issue? Nah! For Gabe Rotter, he felt nothing but thrilled and honored that his first novel, Duck Duck Wally, was given a moment to shine on the silver screen.

Jump the Shark wanted to meet the guy who had time to work 18-hour days and write a novel at the same time. Gabe was kind enough not only to discuss Duck Duck Wally – which is about a dorky Jewish guy who happens to get in a lot of trouble after becoming a ghostwriter for the biggest rap star in the world – but also to chat about working as Director of Development for Chris Carter’s 1013 Productions, his respect for avid X-Files fans, and what's next for this up-and-coming star.

Jump the Shark: How long have you worked for Chris Carter?
Gabe Rotter: I've worked for Chris for eight years. I went to work for him right out of college. I was a production assistant on The X-Files... I came on at the very end of Season 7 in the summer before Season 8.

Jump the Shark: How was it being a p.a. on that show?
Rotter: It was great – it was a great first experience. I was lucky, Chris is a great guy to work for – Chris and Frank (Spotnitz) really value hard work and I worked my ass off. I did everything as quickly and efficiently as possible and tried to show them that I wanted to be there... and it paid off. Then I became the writers' assistant on Season 9 of the show—

Jump the Shark: Was working with Frank Spotnitz in the writers' room awesome?
Rotter: He's an effin' genius... he's a remarkable person and to know him is to love him. And, for someone who hasn't been around him in a work capacity, they probably wouldn't realize how absolutely brilliant the man is.... And, he's the nicest guy in the world to boot.

Jump the Shark: What are your aspirations at 1013? Producing? Directing?
Rotter: I want to produce, and eventually I want to have my own show... create my own show.

Jump the Shark: Let's talk about the book that you wrote: Duck Duck Wally. Where did the inspiration for Wally Moscowitz (the protagonist) come from?
Rotter: It's embarrassing to say but the idea for a rap ghostwriter came from a lyric from a Diddy song (laughs) – you know, I like the hardcore gangster sh*t. He had a line in one of his songs a few years ago that said, "Don't worry, if I write rhymes, I write checks." And it got me thinking, "OK, who's writing these guys' rhymes, and wouldn't it be funny if it was, like, me? And, Wally Moscowitz came from that idea.

Jump the Shark: How did you publicize the book (before its cameo)?
Rotter: We had to get creative... we planted a rumor that the book was true, that I was a ghostwriter for rap and Gawker picked that up, and came to the book release party. We put fake missing dog posters all around L.A. with a million-dollar reward. It said, "My name is Wally Moscowitz and I've lost my dog, Dr. Schwartzman, and if you find him, please call me at..." and it was a Simon & Schuster number. You could leave a message if you wanted to win a copy of the book – which was really cool, because we got a lot of messages.

Jump the Shark: Duck Duck Wally: had a little cameo in The X-Files: I Want to Believe. It was featured on a table at Mulder and Scully's house and there was huge buzz about it on the fan sites. Did that help you sell a lot of books?
Rotter: I think so, but it's hard to track that. But I have also gotten a lot of Facebook and MySpace friend requests from X-Files fans.

Jump the Shark: What did you think about the new X-Files movie?
Rotter: I think it's a really smart, deep movie. It's different than anything that's being made right now.

Jump the Shark: Did you give the book to Chris to read? What did he think? Rotter: Yeah, I gave it to Chris and told him to read it at his leisure. He said he liked it.

Jump the Shark: Were you honored to have the book in The X-Files?:
Rotter: Yes! I was so excited about that; I couldn’t even believe it for a while.

Jump the Shark: Tell me about being a credited producer on Chris' new hush-hush movie, Fencewalker. How involved were you in the entire process?
Rotter: I was involved in the process from day one, and on the set everyday. Basically, myself and another producer prepped the movie while Chris was up shooting X-Files. And [Carter] kinda jumped into this right when he got back. I can't talk about it more than that (laughs).

Jump the Shark: Is there anything you're working on at 1013 that you can tell me about?
Rotter: We're working on developing several interesting projects right now... [and no] I can't talk about any of them.

Jump the Shark: [Curse you and your g-man-like secrecy!] Thank you so much for chatting with us today.
Rotter: Thank you!

For info on Duck Duck Wally, visit Gaberotter.com.

Frank Spotnitz's new huge interview

2008-09-04T10:10:00.000-07:00

Frank Spotnitz talks about "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" and new XF comic book series in his latest interview for Comic Book Resources. Read it here.

Chris Carter hospitalized for exhaustion

2008-09-04T09:37:00.000-07:00

Chris Carter was hospitalized on Tuesday due to "physical exhaustion and an acute sleeping disorder," a source close to Carter tells EW.com. The source says the hospitalization stems from Carter "working on multiple films back to back over a two year period" -- the recently released X-Files sequel and Fencewalker, a covert project he is rumored to have begun shooting earlier this year. He is expected to recover quickly.

Source

Chris, get well soon! :)

"Fencewalker" news

2008-08-30T13:24:00.000-07:00

Some news about "Fencewalker" -- Chris Carter's new secret project.

Variety reports that Sherry Stringfield ("ER") will next be seen in Chris Carter's "Fencewalker."

Ashley Cusato who plays in "Fencewalker" (and who attended Los Angeles premiere of "The X-Files: I Want to Believe") told in her recent interview that she had to sign non-disclosure agreements because Chris Carter is very tight-lipped about his project. According to Ashley, they just finished filming. She said that Chris Carter is wonderful to work with.

Darin Morgan joins "Fringe"

2008-08-30T13:20:00.000-07:00

Darin Morgan, one of the best "The X-Files," "Millennium" and "Night Stalker" writers, joins new sci-fi show "Fringe" from "Lost" creator J.J. Abrams.

"We were looking for people who could bring different things to the show. We were very lucky to have Darin Morgan who was one of the signature X-Files writers," said Jeff Pinkner, executive producers of "Fringe" during this year's ComicCon.

Darin Morgan will be a senior writer of the new show. "Fringe" premiers September 9 on FOX.

Source

Welcome

2008-08-24T03:59:00.000-07:00

Welcome to this new blog. I'm gonna post here latest news about new projects of Chris Carter's company Ten Thirteen and other 1013 alumni's projects.

Universe1013.narod.ru/english.htm is a main site of this blog.