GAME OF THRONES had its gala season six premiere last week in Hollywood, at the historic and glorious Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
The rest of the world will have to wait until April 24 to see the first episode.
But here’s the latest trailer from HBO:
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GAME OF THRONES is coming back. Mark down Sunday, April 24 on your calendars.
HBO has released the first full-length trailer. Here’s a taste:
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And yes, it’s true. After last year’s unfortunate leak, HBO is not sending out any press screeners this year, to try and cut down on the piracy.
They have also eliminated all the regional premieres, including (sob) the one we had scheduled at my own Jean Cocteau Cinema. This year the only premiere will be the big one in LA at Grauman’s Chinese.
The Jean Cocteau will, however, go ahead with our season 5 marathon. Admission is free, so watch our website and newsletter for show times.
And we’ll all just have to wait to see what season 6 has in store.
Got back from MystiCon on Monday. It was a fun weekend, and did much to restore my spirits. After all the internet rancor that has dominated on-line discussion of late, it was good to be reminded of what cons are all about… and how warm, welcoming, and open fandom can be. The Roanoke crowd seemed like good folks. And it was great to see how many young people and first-timers were at the con (I asked for a show of hands on several occasions). All the alarums about the demise of traditional SF fandom may be somewhat premature, I’m thinking.
Back home, of course, I had the usual thousand new emails waiting in my inbox. But among them, at long long last, was my Hugo PIN from MidAmericon II. I can finally begin nominating for this year’s awards. I urge all of you to do the same. (And will have a few more Hugo thoughts and recommendations in subsequent posts).
We had a great event at the JCC with Tony DiTerlizzi of THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES. And one last week, before I left, with Joe Lansdale and HAP & LEONARD. Plenty of signed books from Tony and Joe both are now available in the Cocteau bookstore. If you’re an autograph hunter, strike now while the supply lasts.
We have more fun events coming up in the next few months as well. Magician Francis Menotti will be making a return appearance, with the trick that fooled Penn & Teller, and we have booksignings scheduled with Darynda Jones, Joe Hill, and Stephen Graham Jones. And a little further out, Neil Gaiman will be appearing with some gigantic Tasmanian cave spiders. Go to the JCC website and sign up for our email newsletter if you’d like more details on forthcoming events at the theatre.
Meow Wolf’s opening comes closer every day. The gang down at Silva Lanes is working overtime right now, getting a little frantic as they labor to make sure everything is ready for opening weekend.
Oh, and GAME OF THRONES season six is drawing nigh as well. You may have heard. Before the season six debut on April 24, the JCC will be running a season five marathon. Weekly screenings, two hours per week, of the S5 episodes on our big medium-sized screen. And admission is FREE. First come, first seated.
I am sure there’s more. Life is busy. Hope yours is too.
I do other things besides A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE.
Nothing new about that. Since the very start of my career, in the early 1970s, I’ve always tried to keep several balls in the air. Sometimes one will plunk you in the head, to be sure, but it keeps life from getting dull.
My editing wound down a little in 2015. As much as I would like to do some more anthologies like ROGUES and OLD VENUS with Gardner Dozois, they were taking more of my time than I was comfortable with, given my other commitments. So Gardner is going on ahead solo with several exciting new anthology projects, but our team titles will need to wait. Apologies to all of you who were waiting for OLD URANUS.
Wild Cards is another matter. Wild Cards is in my blood, and I plan to continue with those books as long as someone will keep buying them. (And I desperately want to write more Wild Cards stories of my own, instead of just editing, but I don’t have time for that either). We delivered HIGH STAKES last year — the copyedited manuscript is on my desk as I type, waiting to be reviewed — and have signed with Tor for three more originals. Meanwhile, the reissues continue, and foreign publishers are picking up the series all over the world. We also have three Wild Cards graphic novels in the pipeline. Originals, not adaptations. The scripts are in — one from Carrie Vaughn, one from Melinda M. Snodgrass, one from the team of Kevin Andrew Murphy and John Jos. Miller — and the artists are hard at work on the pencils. They should be something.
Meanwhile, on the Hollywood front, I have three shows in various stages of development under the aegis of my overall deal with HBO. There’s CAPTAIN COSMOS for HBO (scripted by Michael Cassutt), there’s SKIN TRADE for Cinemax (to be scripted by Kalinda Vasquez), and there’s a third project in the very early stages that I am not allowed to talk about yet. There’s also WILD CARDS, but that’s at a different studio and I am not involved with it, except to license rights, sign the check, and distribute funds to my writers. Oh, and on the movie side, we seem to be moving toward production on IN THE LOST LANDS, an adaptation of three of my old stories.
Last year I also formed Kill Van Kull Productions, to develop and produce a series of low budget short films (twenty to thirty minutes long) of some classic SF short stories. Can’t say any more than that just now, but I will keep you posted as plans proceed.
I also turned down several interesting and potentially lucrative projects, on both the publishing and television/ film sides. Some of it was stuff I would love to do, but there’s just not enough time. I like to juggle, but you do need to keep the number of balls down.
So… plenty on my plate. Keep your fingers crossed, though, especially for the television and film projects. In Hollywood, nothing is ever real till shooting starts, and sometimes not even then. Remember William Goldman’s wisdom: nobody knows anything.
… is Emilia Clarke, our own Daenerys Targaryen, Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea.
It’s official. ESQUIRE magazine has proclaimed it so.
Read all about it here: http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/interviews/a38719/emilia-clarke-swa-2015/ Good interview, and lovely (and sexy) art.
Having been in Emilia’s company at numerous GAME OF THRONES event, I can only applaud ESQUIRE’s good taste. She is indeed a beautiful woman, and a terrific actresss.
Congratulations, Emilia! And applause to the fine folks at ESQUIRE.
Don’t believe everything you read, boys and girls. Especially not on line.
I don’t know where this latest round of “there’s going to be a GAME OF THRONES movie” nonsense is coming from, but suddenly it is everywhere, and all of us connected with the show and HBO are being bombarded. But nothing has changed.
Let me review, for those who came in late.
The idea of ending GAME OF THRONES with one or more major feature films was first floated oh, three or four years ago. Let me say once again: this was NOT MY IDEA. However, I may have been the first one to mention the notion in public — where and how I no longer recall — so somehow I became associated with it.
I did say that I liked the idea. Of course I liked the idea. HOw not? This was back in the early days, where we couldn’t even afford to shoot the Battle of the Green Fork and had to knock Tyrion unconscious instead. When the king’s hunting party consisted of four guys on foot walking through the woods. At that time, in that context, the idea of big blockbuster movies with a LORD OF THE RINGS sized budget was powerfully attractive.
And the idea is still powerfully attractive. Not just to me, but to many people connected with the show. Actors, directors, producers, writers. How not? It would be a great way to end.
Which doesn’t mean it is going to happen. There is great enthusiasm for the notion, sure, but not necessarily from HBO. They are in the TV business, not the feature film business. And those of you with long memories may recall all the rumors about a SOPRANOS movie… a ROME movie… a DEADWOOD movie. Rumors is all they were. And that’s all this one is too, at least for now.
Lately the rumors have gotten even more specific. The film will be about Robert’s Rebellion. It will be about Dunk & Egg. It will… oh, it’s all too silly.
It would still be cool, and I’d still love to see it… but nothing has changed since the last round of rumors. I am still writing THE WINDS OF WINTER. David & Dan are still filming season six. HBO is still in the television business.
Don’t take any of this stuff seriously. Clickbait journalism is to journalism as military music is to music.
I turned 67 on September 20. So did the Emmy Awards.
Our party was on TV. Andy Samberg gave me a shout-out. HBO gave me a cake. And the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences gave me an Emmy. Well, actually they gave one to GAME OF THRONES as tv’s Best Drama, but since I’m a producer on the show, I get one of the trophies.
In case you missed the moment:
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Truth be told, I almost missed the moment myself. While I was pleased that we had been nominated once again, I did not expect us to win… and with so much to do at home, so much pressure on so many fronts, I wasn’t sure I wanted to fly out to LA again, put on a monkey suit, and sit through another loss. The first few times you are up for an Emmy it is very exciting, yes, it’s cool and glamorous and all that… but this would be my seventh time. I had been nominated, and lost, six times before; four times with GAME OF THRONES, and twice more back in the 80s with BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. No fantasy show had EVER won ‘the big one,’ the award for Best Drama, and with MAD MEN, a four-time winner, up for its final season, it did not seem likely that this would be the year. Great shows often get a valedictory award or three to celebrate their excellence after they have left the airwaves.
So I was seriously thinking of staying home this year. It was Paul Haas, my agent at WME, who changed my mind. He said he thought that GOT might have a shot this year. Yeah, yeah, I said, I’d heard that before. (I’d thought our third season, with the buzz of the Red Wedding behind it, might be the one to break through, but I’d been way wrong). Then Paul pointed out that if we did win, and I wasn’t there to be part of it, I would regret it for the rest of my life. He was right. So I came, and we won, and it was a birthday I will never forget.
Thanks, Paul.
The Emmy is sitting in my TV room right now, golden and shiny. Big thing. Very heavy. Very pretty. I smile every time I see it. (We ate the cake).
It was a great night for GAME OF THRONES, and for HBO as whole. VEEP dominated in the comedy categories, and OLIVE KITTERIDGE in miniseries… which just goes to show all of you who don’t get HBO, you are missing a lot… and as for us, we were up in five categories, and won four. David Benioff and Dan Weiss won for Writing, David Nutter for Directing, and Peter Dinklage took his second for Best Supporting Actor. All of us were pulling for Lena Headey and Emilia Clarke in Best Supporting Actress, but they lost out to Uzo Aduba from ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, whose Crazy Eyes is the most unforgettable character on an amazing and addictive show. And the came Best Drama… It IS an honor just to be nominated, yes it is. But let me tell you, winning is more fun than losing, and 1-6 beats the hell out of 1-7.
Unlike the Hugo Awards (where, if seven people jointly win some award, all of them get to yammer for as long as they like), the Emmy Awards have a strict time limit, and only one or two designated acceptors speak for the group. For us, that was David and Dan, just as it should be. They thanked a lot of people… and then ran out of time.
But there’s never enough time to thank everyone, of course. So I want to add my own thanks for some of those that D&D did not get to.
Starting with David Benioff and Dan Weiss themselves. Without them, there would be no show. Without their talent and dedication, there would certainly be no Emmy.
Also, I want to thank Bryan Cogman. He’s been there since the beginning too, the right hand man to D&D, and he’s written some of our best episodes. I am thrilled that when we finally won, it was for a year in which he’d finally snagged a “producer” credit, which meant that he got to take home a trophy as well.
And of course I want to thank Parris (so glad you were there with me, Phipps), and Paul Haas and the rest of my team at WME, and Vince Gerardis, and Kay McCauley, and Anne Groell and my team at Bantam, and Jane Johnson as my team at Voyager, and my leal minions Raya and Lenore and Jenni and Elias and Jo, and Pat (who left), and even Ty (who left even earlier).
Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank the dead. We have the best cast in television, as I have said a hundred times, and many of them were on the stage with us last Sunday. Thanks to all of them, of course, and thanks as well to Emilia and Kit and Dame Diana and Kristian and Natalie and Finn, who were off working and could not be there with us.
But there were ghosts standing behind us. Maybe you couldn’t see them, but I could feel their presence, and I know that without them none of us would have been holding Emmys. Yes, I know, I know, the award was for Season Five… but if you truly believe that the Academy voters did not take our first four seasons into account as well, then let me tell you about this lovely bridge over the Green Fork that Walder Frey would like to sell you.
No. It was the show to date that won, I believe, and our ghosts were a huge part of that. So my thanks go out to Sean Bean, to Mark Addy, to Rose Leslie, to Pedro Pascal, to Michelle Fairley, to Richard Madden, Gethin Anthony, Harry Lloyd, Ron Donachie, Mark Stanley, Esme Bianco, Kate Dickie, Jack Gleeson, Amrita Acharia, Charles Dance, Donald Sumpter, Josef Altin, Peter Vaughn, Margaret John, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Oona Chaplin, Stephen Dillane, Francis Magee, Roxanna McKee, Kerry Ingram, Ian McElhinney, Jason Momoa, and of course Sibel Kekilli… along with all the other noble and ignoble dead that I’ve certainly forgotten, and I’m sure that there’s a lot of them.
Some of you are dead in the books, others only on the show. But if it was up to me, all of you would have been up on the stage beside us. Every one of you played your part, large or show, in making GAME OF THRONES the record-smashing hit it is.
Thank you all.
Back from the Emmy Awards in LA.
A night to remember.
GAME OF THRONES set a new record for number of wins by a series in a single year. Eight last week, and four more on Sunday. That’s twelve.
Pretty impressive haul when you line them up like that.
The previous record was nine, set by WEST WING.
Anyway… I will have more to say about the Emmys and all that, but we’ve only been home a few hours, and I’m still pretty tired (celebrating is hard work, and so is travel) so it will have to wait until tomorrow. I do have more to say, and a lot of people to thank.
For now, let it suffice to say that the Emmy looks very good in my TV room, and while it IS an honor just to be nominated (as I have been, six times before), it’s even cooler to win.
HBO and GAME OF THRONES dominated last weekend’s Creative Arts Emmys in LA.
HBO took home 29, way more than any other network. GOT accounted for eight of those, more than any other show.
Awards were given in every category. For the full list of nominees and winners:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/creative-arts-emmys-2015-winners-822621
The rest of this year’s Emmys will be given out this Sunday. I’ll be flying out to LA once more for the ceremony. GAME OF THRONES is nominated for directing, writing, and acting… and of course, for Best Drama. So cross your fingers, cross your toes.
Meanwhile, congratulations to all of our Emmy winners from last week. Well deserved! A hearty round of applause, please… and for the losers too. Not everyone can take home the trophy, but you all did great work.
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced this year’s nominations for the Emmy Awards this morning, and HBO’s GAME OF THRONES led the way with a whopping TWENTY-FOUR nominations. More than <i>any other show this year</i>, in <i>any other category</i>, be it drama, comedy, reality, talk, movie, miniseries, variety, documentary, what have you. <br/><br/><img src=”http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/wp-content/uploads/import/260405_800.jpg” alt=”” title=””><br/><br/>Congratulations are in order for David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, our showrunners, all our writers and directors and producers, our amazing cast and our incredible crew, and of course the good folks at Home Box Office, who made all this possible.<br/><br/>Here are this year’s nominations for GOT:<br/><br/><span style=”font-size: 1.4em”>Outstanding Drama Series</span><br/><br/><span style=”font-size: 1.4em”>Outstanding Supporting Actor</span><br/>Peter Dinklage !“ Tyrion Lannister<br/><br/><span style=”font-size: 1.4em”>Outstanding Supporting Actress</span><br/>Lena Headey !“ Cersei Lannister<br/>Emilia Clarke !“ Daenerys Targaryen<br/><br/><span style=”font-size: 1.4em”>Outstanding Guest Actress</span><br/>Diana Rigg !“ Lady Olenna Tyrell, the Queen of Thorns<br/><br/><span style=”font-size: 1.4em”>Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series</span><br/>David Benioff and D.B. Weiss !“ Mother’s Mercy<br/><br/><span style=”font-size: 1.4em”>Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series </span><br/>David Nutter !“ “Mother’s Mercy”<br/>Jeremy Podeswa !“ “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken”<br/><br/>Outstanding Production Design For A Narrative Contemporary Or Fantasy<br/>Program (One Hour Or More) <br/>”High Sparrow”<br/>”Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” <br/>”Hardhome” <br/>Deborah Riley, Production Designer<br/>Paul Ghirardani, Art Director<br/>Rob Cameron, Set Decorator<br/><br/><span style=”font-size: 1.4em”>Outstanding Casting For A Drama Series</span><br/>Nina Gold, CSA, Casting Director<br/>Robert Sterne, Casting Director<br/>Carla Stronge, Casting Director<br/><br/><span style=”font-size: 1.4em”>Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-Camera Series</span> <br/>”Hardhome” (Fabian Wagner, BSC, Director of Photography_<br/>”Sons Of The Harpy” (Anette Haellmigk, Director of Photography)<br/>”The Dance Of Dragons” (Rob McLachlan, ASC, CSC, Director of Photography)<br/>”Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” (Greg Middleton, CSC, Director of Photography)<br/><br/><span style=”font-size: 1.4em”>Outstanding Costumes For A Period/Fantasy Series, Limited Series Or Movie</span><br/>”The Dance Of Dragons”<br/>Michele Clapton, Costume Designer<br/><br/><span style=”font-size: 1.4em”>Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Drama Series</span><br/>”Hardhome” (Tim Porter, Editor)<br/>”The Dance Of Dragons” (Katie Weiland, Editor)<br/><br/><span style=”font-size: 1.4em”>Outstanding Hairstyling For A Single-Camera Series</span><br/>”Mother’s Mercy”<br/>Kevin Alexander, Department Head Hairstylist<br/>Candice Banks, Department Head Hairstylist<br/>Rosalia Culora, Hairstylist<br/>Gary Machin, Hairstylist<br/>Laura Pollock, Hairstylist<br/>Nicola Mount, Hairstylist<br/><br/><span style=”font-size: 1.4em”>Outstanding Makeup For A Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic)</span><br/>”Mother’s Mercy” <br/>Jane Walker, Department Head Makeup Artist<br/>Nicola Matthews, Makeup Artist<br/><br/><span style=”font-size: 1.4em”>Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup For A Series, Limited Series, Movie Or A Special</span><br/>”Hardhome”<br/>Jane Walker, Department Head Makeup Artist<br/>Barrie Gower, Special Makeup Effects Department Head<br/>Sarah Gower, Special Makeup Effects Assistant<br/>Department Head<br/><br/><span style=”font-size: 1.4em”>Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series</span><br/>”Hardhome” <br/>Tim Kimmel, Supervising Sound Editor<br/>Paula Fairfield, Sound Designer<br/>Bradley C. Katona, Sound Effects Editor<br/>Peter Bercovitch, Supervising Dialogue Editor<br/>David Klotz, Music Editor<br/>Jeffrey Wilhoit, Foley Artist<br/>Dylan T. Wilhoit, Foley Artist<br/><br/><span style=”font-size: 1.4em”>Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (One Hour)</span><br/>”Hardhome” <br/>Ronan Hill, C.A.S., Production Mixer<br/>Richard Dyer, Production Mixer<br/>Onnalee Blank, C.A.S., Re-Recording Mixer<br/>Mathew Waters, Re-Recording Mixer<br/><br/><br/><span style=”font-size: 1.4em”>Outstanding Special Visual Effects</span><br/>”The Dance Of Dragons”<br/>Steve Kullback, Visual Effects Producer<br/>Joe Bauer, Visual Effects Supervisor<br/>Adam Chazen, Visual Effects Associate Producer<br/>Jabbar Raisani, Visual Effects Plate Supervisor<br/>Eric Carney, Visual Effects Previs Lead<br/>Stuart Brisdon, Special Effects Supervisor<br/>Derek Spears, Lead CG Supervisor<br/>James Kinnings, Lead Animator<br/>Matthew Rouleau, CG Supervisor<br/><br/><span style=”font-size: 1.4em”>Outstanding Stunt Coordination For A Drama Series, Limited Series Or Movie</span><br/>Rowley Irlam, Stunt Coordinator<br/><br/>It’s an incredible list, I applaud everyone on it… and all of those who didn’t make it either. GAME OF THRONES is what it is because of the untiring efforts of the best cast and crew in television today. Many were recognized by the Academy today for their work… but others, equally dedicated and talented, were not. But the show would not the hit it is without their talent and dedication. <br/><br/>The 24 nominations garnered by GAME OF THRONES is not only the highest number of any show this year, but among the highest ever received by a single series for a single season in the entire history of television. (For numbers geeks, the record remains 27, garnered by <i><b><i><b>NYPD BLUE</b></i></b></i> in 1994).<br/><br/>Today is a day for celebrations and congratulations, for popping champagne corks and raising toasts and exchanging thanks… but before we do too many cartwheels, it would be wise to remember that GAME OF THRONES also led the Emmy nominations last year, with 19 nods, only to get skunked on the night of the televised awards. The same as the year before, and the year before that. Like many fantasy shows before us, GOT is often honored for our special effects, costumes, makeup, stuntwork, set design, and cinematography (this year, please note, we have four of five finalists for cinematography), but seldom for writing, directing, or acting. Peter Dinklage’s Emmy as Best Supporting Actor for season one remains the ONLY award the show has ever won in those categories, in fact. <br/><br/>Will that change this year? One can hope, I suppose.<br/><br/>But no matter what happens on Emmy Night, let me say once again that it truly is an honor to be nominated, especially given the competition. This truly is The Golden Age of Television, especially for drama. GAME OF THRONES faces the usual formidable competition for the “Big One,” the award for Best Dramatic Series… but as distinguished a list as that is, there are so many incredible shows that did NOT make the cut that it boggles the mind. It’s great to see BETTER CALL SAUL and ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK on this list, but where is MASTERS OF SEX? THE KNICK? HALT AND CATCH FIRE? How about THE VIKINGS? I really thought JUSTIFIED might make it, for its final season. And OUTLANDER, how in the world did they overlook OUTLANDER, with its music and its costumes and its cinematography and the incredible performances of its three leads (especially Tobias Menzies in his double role)? Why is Nick Offermann not on the ballot for PARKS AND RECREATION? How could BIG BANG THEORY possibly fall off? Truly, the Academy (of which I am a member) moves in mysterious ways.<br/><br/>Even where GOT itself is concerned… I am thrilled to see both Emilia Clarke and Lena Headey among the nominees, but I wanted Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner and Natalie Dormer as well… it’s great that two of our episodes got nominated for directing, but how did they overlook “Hardhome?”… and will Iain Glen and Conleth Hill and John Bradley West ever get any recognition, and… <br/><br/>Okay, okay, I know, I am being greedy, and every producer on every other show on television is probably saying the same things about his own cast just now. Let me just savor the moment. <br/><br/>GOT did good.
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