John Kenneth Muir interviews Chris Carter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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'

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

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...