The Adaptation Tango

May 24, 2024 at 9:05 am

A few years back, Neil Gaiman and I did a joint event in New York City, when we were both in town.

It was a lot of fun, as events with Neil always are. We told some funny stories, talked about books and comics, about SANDMAN and WILD CARDS and days at cons… and touched on some serious topics too.

I would like to upload a video of the event if I could, but I am not sure one exists. If anyone was recording us, I have never seen the tape. But VARIETY had the best report of the session.

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/george-rr-martin-neil-gaiman-hate-hollywood-changing-source-material-1235416651/

That was all back in 2022, but very little has changed since then. If anything, things have gotten worse. Everywhere you look, there are more screenwriters and producers eager to take great stories and “make them their own.” It does not seem to matter whether the source material was written by Stan Lee, Charles Dickens, Ian Fleming, Roald Dahl, Ursula K. Le Guin, J.R.R. Tolkien, Mark Twain, Raymond Chandler, Jane Austen, or… well, anyone. No matter how major a writer it is, no matter how great the book, there always seems to be someone on hand who thinks he can do better, eager to take the story and “improve” on it. “The book is the book, the film is the film,” they will tell you, as if they were saying something profound. Then they make the story their own.

They never make it better, though. Nine hundred ninety-nine times out of a thousand, they make it worse.

Once in a while, though, we do get a really good adaptation of a really good book, and when that happens , it deserves applause.

I can came across one of those instances recently, when I binged the new FX version of SHOGUN.

Must confess, I was dubious when I first heard they were making another version of the Clavell novel. It has been a long time, a long long LONG time, but I read the book when it first came out in the late 70s and was mightily impressed. (I really need to give it a reread one of these days, but there are so many books, so little time). And the 1980 miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain as the Anjin was a landmark of long form television, right up with with ROOTS; why do it over again, when that version was so good?

I am glad they did, though. The new SHOGUN is superb. Better than Chamberlain’s version, you ask? Hmmm, I don’t know. I have not watched the 1980 miniseries since, well, 1980. That one was great too. The fascinating thing is that while the old and new versions have some significant differences — the subtitles that make the Japanese dialogue intelligible to English speaking viewers being the biggest — they are both faithful to the Clavell novel in their own way. I think the author would have been pleased. Both old and new screenwriters did honor to the source material, and gave us terrific adaptations, resisting the impulse to “make it their own.”

But don’t take my word for it. Watch it yourself.

Acting, directing, set design, costume… it’s all splendid here. Along with the writing.

And if SHOGUN is a big enough hit, maybe the same team will adapt some of Clavell’s other novels.

Current Mood: thoughtful

Tags: adaptation, television and film, writing

A Visit to Old Blighty

December 6, 2023 at 8:58 am

I have been busy catching up these past couple of weeks, dealing with the thousand-odd emails that accumulated while I was over the Pond in London Towne for two-and-a-half weeks. (Most of that was spam, though, and quickly dealt with).

It was a busy trip. I have not been to London since before the Dublin Worldcon a few years ago. That trip was largely for fun, this one was mostly work… though we did find time to see a few plays on the West End. CABARET was amazing, but oh, so dark. I love love love the film version with Liza Minelli, one of my favorite films of all time, but the stage production has a whole different feel. Brilliant, but gut wrenching, especially considering the times we are living through right now. We also caught the adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s novel THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE. A wonderful book, but so much of it depends on internal monologue and Neil’s rich, evocative prose that I wondered how they could possibly bring it to the stage. I need not have worried. They did a masterful job. I hear they may be bringing it to Broadway soon. If so, don’t miss it. Finally, we went to see THE MOUSE TRAP, the Agatha Christie whodunit that has been playing on the West End since 1952. That was a fun evening as well.

And since we are talking theatre… one of the meetings I had in London was with Dominick and Duncan, the director and scriptwriter of our own stage play, the one we have been working on for the past few years. Originally we were calling it HARRENHAL, but we have now settled on THE IRON THRONE as a title… until we think of something better. Regardless, things are coming well, I think, and we are hopeful of being able to open in late 2024. Maybe. But you never know. There’s still a lot of work to be done.

I also found time to meet with my British publisher, and my other British publisher, to talk WILD CARDS and A SONG OF ICE & FIRE and (of course) THE WINDS OF WINTER.

And… of course, of course… I also spent three days with HOUSE OF THE DRAGON. Starting with a visit to the studio where HOT D is being shot. (I had originally planned to visit there months ago, but the WGA strike put an end to that, and instead I stayed here in Santa Fe, working on WINDS OF WINTER and walking a picket line). All I have to say about that is… ohmigod! I am no stranger to film sets. I have worked off and on in television and film since 1986, where I joined the staff of the TWILIGHT ZONE revival at CBS. I still recall the rush where I saw them building Stonehenge on the sound stage behind my office, for an episode I’d written. And of course I visited the GAME OF THRONES shoots in Belfast, Scotland, Morocco, and Malta. Those were incredible too. But nothing I have ever seen can compare with the Red Keep and Dragonstone sets they have built at Leavesden Studios in London. HUGE, stunning, and so damned real that I felt as if I had gone through a time portal to medieval Westeros. I love castles and have visited dozens of actual medieval castles, keeps, and towers in my time, and none of the real castles I’ve ever seen can hold a candle… or a torch… to our Red Keep.

It was not all tromping through sets, though. I also spent two days locked in a room with Ryan Condal and his writing staff (Sara Hess, Ti Mikkel, David Hancock, and Philippa Goslett) talking about the third and fourth seasons of HOUSE OF THE DRAGON. They were lively, fun discussions, and we got some good work done… though two days was not nearly enough. There is so much ground to cover that I am not sure twenty days would have been enough.

The highlight of the trip, though, had to be the sneak preview that Ryan gave me of the first two episodes of HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, season two. (Rough cuts, of course). Of course, I am hardly objective when talking about anything based on my own work… but I have to say, I thought both episodes were just great. (And they are not even finished yet). Dark, mind you. Very dark. They may make you cry. (I did not cry myself, but one of my friends did). Powerful, emotional, gut-wrenching, heart rending. Just the sort of thing I like. (What can I say? I was weaned on Shakespeare, and love the tragedies and history plays best of all).

We also got to spent Halloween in London. My minions made me dress up. They are very bossy minions.

Also got to spend some time over there with friends old and new: Lisa Tuttle, Paul Cornell, Meredith Glynn, Jane Johnson, Mark Lawrence, Maisie Williams.

A lovely trip, all in all. We even got to see some fireworks on the Fifth of November.

But now I am back, and there is so much work to be done.

Current Mood: tired tired

Tags: television and film, theatre, travel

Actors Join the Strike!

July 22, 2023 at 9:02 am

Those of you who have been following the news out of Hollywood will already know that SAG-AFTRA, the actor’s union, has gone on strike, joining the Writers Guild of America (WGA). We have been striking since May 2. If you’re in LA or NYC or… sometimes… here in Santa Fe, you may have seen our picket lines. The pickets have gotten bigger since the actors joined us, and you may see some familiar faces holding signs.

Fran Drescher, president of SAG-AFTRA, gave a rousing speech when the announcing the strike.

Not much I can add to that, except “AMEN.”

The SAG contract ended on June 30, but the actors gave AMPTP every chance to reach an equitable agreement by extending negotiations to July 12. That proved to be a futile gesture. The studios did not move an inch from their previous positions, and still refuse to address some of the most important issues on the table, including AI and payments and residuals from streaming. They gave the actors no choice but to walk.

As for the writers… well, the studios are not even TALKING to us. All negotiations between AMPTP and the WGA shut down back in May when the strike started. It is hard to reach any agreement when the other side won’t even come to the table.

I joined the WGA in 1986 and have been through several strikes with them. We made gains in all of them, but some issues are more important than others… and this year’s strike is the most important of my lifetime. An unnamed producer was quoted last week saying the AMPTP strategy was to stand fast until the writers started losing their homes and apartments, which gives you a hint of what we’re facing.

But we ARE facing it. I have never seen such unity in the Guilds; the strike authorization votes for both SAG and WGA were as close to unanimous as we are ever likely to see.

No one can be certain where we go from here, but I have a bad feeling that this strike will be long and bitter. It may get as bad as the infamous 1985 strike, though I hope not.

You may be wondering how all this has affected me and my own projects.

Well, the second season of DARK WINDS wrapped before either strike began. Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee will be returning to television on July 30, on AMC and AMC+. Union members will not be participating in any promotions, however… at least the actors and writers won’t (you may see some directors, since the DGA settled and signed a deal with the studios). The DARK WINDS premieres that AMC had scheduled for New York and LA have both been cancelled.

San Diego Comicon is being held as usual, but virtually all the big television and film promotions that usually occur there have been cancelled, after the stars and writers all pulled out. SDCC may need to return to its roots, and focus on comic books and the writers and artists who produce them. (Excelsior!).

I have been on several pickets here in New Mexico. So far as I know, all the shows shooting here have shut down. So have most of the films and television shows shooting in LA. The studios can stockpile scripts, but they can’t stockpile the actors.

(No, that’s not me).

One of the few shows till shooting is HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, as you may have read. That’s true. I am told the second season is half done. ALL of the scripts had been finished months before the WGA strike began. No writing has been done since, to the best of my knowledge. HOT D is shot mostly in London (and a little bit in Wales, Spain, and various other locations), which is why filming has continued. The actors are members of the British union, Equity, not SAG-AFTRA, and though Equity strongly supports their American cousins (they have a big rally planned to show that support), British law forbids them from staging a sympathy strike. If they walk, they have no protection against being fired for breach of contract, or even sued.

((Honestly, I was shocked to hear that. One of the two major UK political parties, Labour, has its roots in the trade union movement. How in the world could they have allowed such anti-labor regulations to be enacted? Seems to me that Labour Party really needs to do a better job of protecting the right to strike)).

As for me personally, my overall deal with HBO was suspended on June 1.

I still have plenty to do, of course. In that, I am one of the lucky ones. (These strikes are not really about name writers or producers or showrunners, most of whom are fine; we’re striking for the entry level writers, the story editors, the students hoping to break in, the actor who has four lines, the guy working his first staff job who dreams of creating his own show one day, as I did back in the 80s).

Last week we had a great meeting with the producers on THE IRON THRONE, the stage play we’ve been working on the past few years. The scripts for that one are coming along well, and it’s got me very excited. SAG-AFTRA covers television and film, but not the stage, so the strike has no impact there. Maybe we will even be able to bring the show to the West End by… well, no, better not say, do not want to jinx the project.

I have also been editing a couple new Wild Cards books. PAIRING UP just came out, but we’re still working on SLEEPER STRADDLE and HOUSE RULES for Bantam.

And, yes, yes, of course, I’ve been working on WINDS OF WINTER. Almost every day. Writing, rewriting, editing, writing some more. Making steady progress. Not as fast as I would like.. .certainly not as fast as YOU would like… but progress nonetheless.

It keeps me out of trouble.

So that’s the latest from the front lines. I hope we will have your support. HONK if you see us picketing… and NEVER cross a picket line… and maybe we will be able to get this settled quickly. Before we all lose our houses….

Tags: SAG-AFTRA, television and film, writers guild of america

STRIKE!

May 7, 2023 at 9:45 am

The writers’ strike is on.

No one wanted this — no writer with an ounce of sense, anyway — but the producers and the studios and the networks and the streamers gave us no choice. The Guild negotiated right up to the final deadline on May 1, but it takes two to tango. In the waning hours of May 1, the Writers Guild of America declared a strike. The action began on May 2. There are pickets in front of every studio lot and sound stage in LA, and many in other cities as well. Get used to them. I expect they will be there for a long time.

I am not in LA, so I cannot walk a picket line as I did in 1988, but I want to go on the record with my full and complete and unequivocal support of my Guild.

How long will the strike last? No idea. Maybe the AMPTP members will come to their senses tomorrow and offer some meaningful concessions, and the whole thing can be wrapped up next week. I would not bet the ranch on that, however. I have been through several of these since I first started writing for television and film in 1986. The 1988 strike, the first I was a part of, lasted 22 weeks, the longest in Hollywood history. The 2007-2008 strike, the most recent, went for 100 days. This one may go longer. The issues are more important, imnsho, and I have never seen the Guild so united as it is now.

Writers’ strikes tend to be longer than other labor actions. That’s the nature of the beast. My father was a longshoreman. When the ILA went out on strike, work on the docks shut down at once. The ships did not get unloaded. The trucks did not move. The cranes froze in place, the fork lifts stayed where they were when their drivers walked off, the bananas rotted in the holds. It does not work that way with writing. Everyone has seen this storm coming a long way off… and accordingly, studios and streamers and networks have been stockpiling scripts for months. As of May 2, the pens are down and the computer screens have gone dark all across Hollywood, but production will continue so long as there are scripts to shoot. The proviso being, of course, that those scripts must be shot EXACTLY as they were as of midnight on May 1. Not a word can be changed, cut, added, not a scene can be altered. All that requires writing… and from now until the strike ends, the writers will be on picket lines, not on sets.

(Many of you will be wondering, rightfully, about the impact of the strike on my own shows. The second season of DARK WINDS wrapped several months ago. Post production has been completed on five of the six episodes, and will soon be done on the last. The show will likely air sometime this summer on AMC. No decision on the third season will be made until after the strike. Peacock has passed on WILD CARDS, alas. A pity. We will try to place it elsewhere, but not until the strike is over. The writer’s room on A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS: THE HEDGE KNIGHT has closed for the duration. Ira Parker and his incredible staff of young talents are on the picket lines. Across the ocean, the second season of HOUSE OF THE DRAGON started filming April 11 and will continue in London and Wales. The scripts for the eight s2 episodes were all finished months ago, long before the strike began, Every episode has gone through four or five drafts and numerous rounds of revisions, to address HBO notes, my notes, budget concerns, etc. There will be no further revisions. The writers have done their jobs; the rest is in the hands of the directors, cast and crew… and of course the dragons).

((Some of you, I fear, may be having anxiety attacks just now, on the mistaken assumption that this strike affects WINDS OF WINTER. You can relax. The WGA is a union of film and television writers. It has nothing to do with novels, short stories, or any other form of prose fiction, nor comic books and graphic novels, nor stage plays, nor the editing of collections and anthologies I have on-going projects in all those areas, and that work continues unabated. And WINDS continues to be priority number one)).

I am not going to try to explain the issues at stake here on my Not A Blog. Others have done that far better than I could. Whistle up Google and you will find dozens of stories on the internet detailing what the Guild is asking for on behalf of the writers it represents. The details are there, for those of you who are interested in going more deeply into the disputes. Needless to say, money is a big part of it. The move from broadcast and cable to streaming has severely impacted residuals for writers (and directors and actors as well). Television seasons have been shrinking; from 22 episodes on network, to 13 on cable, to 10, and now to 8 and 6. Since writers are often paid by the episode, that’s hurt too. Writer incomes are down across the board. The details are in the news stories.

And there are other issues, one of which I think is especially important. So important that I think it deserves its own post. Look for that tomorrow. For today, let me close by saying I am very heartened by the support we’ve received from the Teamsters and the other unions, and from many individual members of SAG and the DGA as well. I hope we will have the support of all of you reading them as well: the viewers, the fans, the people we are making these shows for.

It could be a long fight, but with you on our side, we cannot lose.

Current Mood: determined

Tags: television and film, WGA, writing

Stuff and Nonsense

December 28, 2022 at 2:21 pm

Another Christmas has come and gone, and the New Year looms just ahead. Where the hell does all the time go?

I did take a few days off for the holidays, I confess. Shame on me, I guess. But now I am back in the salt mine, working… working on so many bloody things, my head may soon explode. Yes, WINDS OF WINTER, yes, yes. And HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, season two. And several of the other successor shows that we’re developing with HBO. (Some of those are moving faster than others, as is always the case with development. None have been greenlit yet, though we are hoping… maybe soon. A couple have been shelved, but I would not agree that they are dead. You can take something off the shelf as easily as you can put it on the shelf. All the changes at HBO Max have impacted us, certainly). We are also still developing the Wild Cards tv series for Peacock, based (largely) on FORT FREAK. And I have Wild Cards books to edit. Oh, and did I forget WINDS OF WINTER? No, of course I didn’t. But if I ever did, I know you folks will remind me.

There’s also the railroad, the bookstore, and the theatre. Thankfully, I have great people doing most of the work on those.

I was on the road, in New York City and Chicago, from late October through the middle of November, promoting the new illustrated book, RISE OF THE DRAGON. I was doing a series of blog posts about the trip, you will recall. The interview with David Anthony Durham, the visit to Kevin Smith’s theatre in Jersey, my appearance on the Colbert Show. You can find links to all of those down below.

I wasn’t FINISHED, though. I also did a talk with Neil Gaiman at the Symphony Space in NYC. I cannot link to that one, alas. There were reporters present, however, and there have been a number of stories online about our discussion about adaptations… a subject we both have strong opinions on. Neil and I talked about a lot of things as well. It was a fun event. I had dinners with Vincent d’Onofrio and Joe Tracz and my friends at Tor/ Macmillan and Random House/ Bantam as well, and saw a few Broadway shows (DEATH OF A SALESMAN, THE MUSIC MAN, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, and SIX, fyi). Then I flew off to Chicago for a presentation at Northwestern… which DOES deserve its own post, so I will try to get to that soon.

Since I do not travel with a computer, I returned home to 2000 emails. Took me a while to catch up, even though 1500 of them were spam.

I taped all the games the Jets and Giants played while I was on the road, and tried to avoid hearing the scores (not entirely successfully). Turns out both teams did pretty well while I was travelling (and not watching). Since I have been back, however… well, this past week the G-Men lost a heartbreaker to the Vikings, and the Jets failed to turn up for their game against the Jags. (Please, Mike White, get well soon). Life is meaningless and full of pain. Clearly, the Football Gods hate me. Maybe they are pissed off about WINDS being so late too…

I meant to say a few words about some TV shows and movies we’ve enjoyed. I can see why THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN is getting so much acclaim, even though there aren’t any banshees in it. Brilliant performances by Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. A powerful story, one I will long remember… but damn, so sad. I see people calling it a comedy. Really? OK, but that’s dark humor. Parris and I have also been enjoying EXTRAORDINARY ATTORNEY WOO. Not a new show, I gather, but it was new to us. (So much good TV right now). I hope there’s more coming of that one. We were very happy to hear that SANDMAN has been renewed for a second season. Took them long enough, but better late than never. And watching WHITE LOTUS 2 on HBO made me want to go visit Sicily… but I won’t, not until WINDS is done and delivered, I promised.

We also watched some holiday favorites. Several versions of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, A CHRISTMAS STORY, and IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. And yes, I get it, life would really have been horrible for a lot of people if George Bailey had never been born… but hey, am I the only one who thinks that Potterville looks a lot livelier at night than Bedford Falls?

We haven’t seen the new AVATAR yet, but it’s high on our list. So is BABYLON, though that one is getting mixed reviews.

Oh, and awards season is at hand, and congratulations are due to HOUSE OF THE DRAGON and Emma d’Arcy for their Golden Globes nominations, and to Milly Alcock, Matt Smith, and the show for the Critic’s Choice Award nods. Well deserved. Finger and toes crossed for all of them. But hey, when the Emmy nominations come out, I will be hoping that Paddy Considine, Steve Toussaint. Olivia Cooke, and Emily Carey get some love as well. They were all extraordinary.

I also want to thank all my fans and readers, who made RISE OF THE DRAGON such a success. We have been hitting bestseller lists all over the world, I am pleased to say. I hope all of you enjoyed the art as much as I did. (And if you have not snagged a copy yet, autographed copies are still available from Beastly Books in Santa Fe. The Strand in NYC may have some signed copies left as well, though I would not bet on that).

Current Mood: busy busy

Tags: everyday life, television and film, travels

Random Musings

October 11, 2022 at 10:43 am

I see that my mighty minions have posted about my upcoming events in New York City later in the month. Yay, minions!

Those of you who enjoy my football posts (yes, I know that is not all of you)… I have been watching the games… and enjoying them, since both the Giants and the Jets have been winning. The Jets had another miracle last minute victory last week, and on Sunday they just crushed the Fins. And the G-Men won a couple of nail biters, including a victory over the Packers in London that was as shocking to me as it must have been to Aaron Rodgers. I had almost forgotten how good it feels to win. So life is magical and full of joy… right now, at any rate.

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON has helped brighten my Sundays as well. I mean, I cannot really review the show, that would be crazy, I am hardly objective… but I do want to commend Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik and the cast and crew for the work they’ve done. Sunday’s episode, “Lord of the Tides,” was everything I hoped it should be. Kudos to Eileen Shim, the scriptwriter, to Geeta Patel, the director, to our incredible cast… and particularly to Paddy Considine, for his portrayal of King Viserys, the First of His Name. The character he created (with Ryan and Sara and Ti and the rest of our writers) for the show is so much more powerful and tragic and fully-fleshed than my own version in FIRE & BLOOD that I am half tempted to go back and rip up those chapters and rewrite the whole history of his reign. Paddy deserves an Emmy for this episode alone. If he doesn’t get one, hey, there’s no justice. Meanwhile, I am going to give Archmaester Gyldayn a smack for leaving out so much good stuff.

(No, I am not really going to rewrite FIRE & BLOOD, that was a jape). ((And no, I am not going to assault Archmaester Glydayn, who does not actually exist. I made him up)).

There’s a lot more I would love to blog about, but I do not have the time…

There’s a website called THE WRAP that has a couple cool interviews with Ryan Condal, including one where he spoke about our supposed rivalry with RINGS OF POWER… which mostly exists in the media. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiI47jH99b6AhWVMDQIHeE0Cg4QFnoECA0QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thewrap.com%2Fhouse-of-the-dragon-rings-of-power-rivalry-ryan-condal%2F&usg=AOvVaw2s5NQfsv28MZaXoSiQOsWU

Ryan says pretty much the same thing I said in that interview with THE INDEPENDENT a few months back. Nothing would please him more than to see both shows succeed. Me too. I am a fantasy fan, and I want more fantasy on television, and nothing would accomplish that more than a couple of big hits. THE WITCHER, SHADOW & BONE, WHEEL OF TIME… and THE SANDMAN, a glorious adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s groundbreaking comic series… those are a good start, but I want more. I want Tad Williams, I want Joe Abercrombie, I want Patrick Rothfuss, I want a good adaptation of Le Guin’s Earthsea books, I want Alan Garner, I want Robin Hobb… oh, the list is long, I could go on and on… and would if I did not have a zillion other things to do. Most of all, I want Roger Zelazny’s NINE PRINCES IN AMBER. I will never understand why Corwin and his siblings are not starring in their own show. And hey, if epic fantasy continues to do well, maybe we will finally get that. A boy can dream.

I wanted to address the “time jumps” in the HOUSE OF THE DRAGON too. Not with any kind of official “statement,” but with some musings on the subject. There’s a lot to be said. I do not have the time to say it now, though. Maybe in my next blog, or the one after that… or maybe never, since work keeps piling up.

Very briefly, however, I think Ryan has handled the “jumps” very well, and I love love love both the younger Alicent and Rhaenyra and the adult versions, and the actresses who play them. (Truth be told, we have an incredible cast, and I love all of them). Do I wish we’d had more time to explore the relationship between Rhaenyra and Ser Harwin, the marriage of Daemon and Laena and their time in Pentos, the birth of various and sundry children (and YES, Alicent gave Viserys four children, three sons and a daughter, their youngest son Daeron is down in Oldtown, we just did not have the time to work him in this season), and everything else we had to skip? Sure.

But there are only so many minutes in an episode (more on HBO than on the network shows I once wrote for), and only so many episodes in a season. Fewer and fewer as time goes by, it seems. When I was a boy, shows had 39 episodes a season. By the time I was writing for BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, it was down to 22. Cable shrunk that even further. THE SOPRANOS had 13 episodes per season, but just a few years later, GAME OF THRONES had only 10 (and not even that, those last two seasons). If HOUSE OF THE DRAGON had 13 episodes per season, maybe we could have shown all the things we had to “time jump” over… though that would have risked having some viewers complain that the show was too “slow,” that “nothing happened.” As it is, I am thrilled that we still have 10 hours every season to tell our tale. (RINGS OF POWER has only 8, as you may have noticed, and my AMC show DARK WINDS is doing 6 episode seasons). I hope that will continue to be true. It is going to take four full seasons of 10 episodes each to do justice to the Dance of the Dragons, from start to finish.

But right now, Ryan Condal’s focus is on HOT D season two, and mine is on THE WINDS OF WINTER.

Current Mood: busy busy

Tags: jean cocteau cinema, movies, nfl, television, television and film

SNOW… and Other Stuff

June 23, 2022 at 1:59 pm

These Not A Blog updates all seem to be turning into giant grab bags. Things pile up, and I am way too busy to blog more often, so I find myself with a lot to cover every time I have a spare moment.

I don’t really have a spare moment today, truth be told, but I am making one, since the news has broken about the Jon Snow development and I am being deluged with requests for comment. So….

Yes, there is a Jon Snow show in development. The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER story was largely correct. And I would expect no less from James Hibberd. I have dealt with a lot of reporters over the past few years, and Hibberd is one of the very best, an actual journalist who does all the things journalists are supposed to do (getting the facts right, talking to sources, respecting requests for “background only” and “off the record,” etc) that most of the clickbait sites never bother with.

Our working title for the show is SNOW.

There are four live-action successor shows in development at HBO. Word got out about three of them some time ago. TEN THOUSAND SHIPS, the Nymeria show, helmed by Amanda Segel. SEA SNAKE, aka NINE VOYAGES, with Bruno Heller. And the Dunk & Egg show, THE HEDGE KNIGHT or KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS, with Steve Conrad writing. I think some of these were officially announced; in other cases, news leaked out. (These things always seem to leak. There are so many people involved, writers, producers, agents, and everyone has assistants, and there is always the guy who runs the xerox machine, and reporters have sources, and people gossip, so… ) SNOW has been in development almost as long as the other three, but for whatever reason it was never announced and it never leaked… until now.

But, yes, it is true. This was not an official announcement from HBO, so it seems there was another leak. I did a long interview with James Hibberd last week, for the big HOUSE OF THE DRAGON story that HOLLYWOOD REPORTER is planning. At the end of the call, he asked a few questions about the spinoffs. “Is it possible one of the spinoffs is a sequel rather than a prequel?” he asked. I answered “No comment.” Then he asked “Is it possible a member of the original cast is attached?” And again I answered “No comment.” And that was all. But plainly he found someone more forthcoming than me. Who? I don’t know, and suspect I never will. A good journalist protects his sources.

There’s not much more I can tell you, not until HBO gives me a green light.

It seems as though Emilia Clarke has already mentioned that SNOW was Kit’s idea in a recent interview. So that part is out. Yes, it was Kit Harrington who brought the idea to us. I cannot tell you the names of the writers/ showrunners, since that has not been cleared for release yet… but Kit brought them in too, his own team, and they are terrific.

Various rumors are floating around about my involvement, or lack of same. I am involved, just as I am with THE HEDGE KNIGHT and THE SEA SNAKE and TEN THOUSAND SHIPS, and all the animated shows. Kit’s team have visited me here in Santa Fe and worked with me and my own team of brilliant, talented writer/ consultants to hammer out the show.

All four of these successor shows are still in the script stage. Outlines and treatments have been written and approved, scripts have been written, notes have been given, second and third drafts have been written. So far, that’s all. This is the way television works. Please note: nothing has been green lit yet, and there is no guarantee when or if it will be… on any of these shows. The likelihood of all four series getting on the air… well, I’d love it, but that’s not the way it works, usually.

There are all sorts of reasons pilots never get picked up to series, all sorts of reasons scripts never got shot as pilots, all sorts of reasons great treatments never get sent to script. That’s the way the business works. I learned that a long time ago, during my first go-round in television. BLACK CLUSTER. STARPORT. THE SURVIVORS. DOORWAYS. FADEOUT. Those were just a few of my stillborn children from those years. I mourn them still. This is a new day, though, so… here is hoping one or two or three or all four of the GOT spinoffs make it to air.

That’s all I can tell you about SNOW just now. If HBO says I can tell you more, I will…

On other fronts…

If I may permitted a moment of snark, damn, but those clickbait websites and podcasts annoy me. I did a long interview with THE INDEPENDENT in connection with the recent Santa Fe Literary Festival (which was a great success, by the way), in the course of which I remarked that the whole “battle of the fantasy giants” stories about HOUSE OF THE DRAGON and RINGS OF POWER being in competition was wrong, that there was plenty of room for both shows to succeed, plenty of room for more fantasy and SF on television. Somehow three-quarters of the clickbait sites out there, ignoring the entire thrust of my comments, twisted my words on their head into headlines about how much I want to beat the Tolkien show.

Sigh.

Let me clarify. I have a competitive nature, sure. When I watch the Jets or the Giants or the Mets, I want them to win. When I am nominated for a Hugo or a Nebula or an Emmy, I want to win that too… but I know that just being nominated is a huge honor. Hey, I have won my share of awards, but I have lost a LOT more than I ever won. It was your truly, back in 1976, who founded the Hugo Losers Party with my friend Gardner Dozois, and coined our slogan, “It is a proud and lonely thing to be a Hugo loser.” I try to keep this all in proportion. I expect I will be watching RINGS OF POWER when it premieres. I want it to be great. I want it to run for many years, to win Emmys and Golden Globes. And I want the same for HOUSE OF THE DRAGON. Regardless of awards, I want both shows to find an appreciative audience, and give them great television. Great fantasy. The more fantasy hits we have, the more great fantasy we are likely to get. I want to see Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser on television. I want someone to film that Conan pilot that Ryan Condal wrote. I want a DYING EARTH show based on the works of the Jack Vance, I want Roger Zelazny’s NINE PRINCES IN AMBER to be faithfully adapted, I want Jirel of Joiry, I want MEMORY, SORROW, AND THORN, I want a Joe Abercrombie show. I want lots more… and lots more science fiction too.

But we don’t get any of that unless some of the fantasy series now in development prove to be hits.

What else? Hey, our wonderful Howard Waldrop short NIGHT OF THE COOTERS has been officially accepted into two film festivals. Can’t tell you which yet, but I will soon, when they announce their slates. And more to come.

And our second Waldrop short, FRIENDS FOREVER, has wrapped filming and is now in post.

And our third Waldrop short has just begun pre-production.

Meanwhile, over at AMC, DARK WINDS has been picked up for a second season. The reviews were amazing, and the numbers were very strong; we hope to be bringing Tony Hillerman’s stories to television for many years to come. My congratulations to our directors Chris Eyre and Sanford Bookstaver, to Graham Roland and the rest of our amazing writers, to Robert Redford and his decades of determination, to the incredible tireless Tina Elmo, and to Zahn McClarnon, Kiowa Gordon, Jessica Matten, Deanna Allison, and a supporting cast as good as any I have ever worked with. If you have not seen DARK WINDS yet, check it out… on AMC, or streaming on AMC +. I am proud to have helped this one going.

Yes, WINDS OF WINTER. No, have not forgotten. I was back with Tyrion this past week.

There’s more going on, but that’s all the time I have for today.

Current Mood: busy busy

Tags: film festivals, television, television and film

Good Stuff, Bad Stuff, Strange Stuff

June 1, 2022 at 8:25 pm

So much going on everywhere, it is hard to keep up. Some random thoughts —

A week ago, Parris and I went down to Bernalillo for a memorial gathering for our friend John Miller. It was good to see so many old friends, and to share our memories of John… but profoundly sad at the same time, to realize once again that we would never see John again, that there would be no more memories. John was one of the mainstays of Wild Cards, part of the series since the very beginning, the creator of Chrysalis, Yeoman, Carnifax, the Midnight Angel, Father Squid, and so many more. He probably wrote more Wild Cards stories than any other author, with the possible exception of Melinda Snodgrass… I have not counted, but the two were neck and neck. He was also a Mets fan, a baseball buff, a RPG player and gamemaster, and a fan of bad movies. I wish he had written more. He had been working on a novel called BLACK TRAIN COMING even longer than I have been working on THE WINDS OF WINTER. It would be great if one of his writer friends finishes it for him. Beyond all of this, however, John was a really good guy, very bright, always fun to spend time with. And he and his wife Gail really loved animals. More than I can ever tell you. All of us at the memorial are missing him. We will miss him for years to come, I do not doubt, until the day comes when we all go to join him.

These past few years have been rough. I miss them all. Ed Bryant, Michael Engelberg, Ben Bova, Phyllis Eisenstein, Victor Milan, Steve Perrin, Kay McCauley, Gardner Dozois… ah, Gargy… I know I am forgetting people. They made the world a richer place, and we are poorer for their absence.

And the larger world is so ugly that I can hardly bear to watch the news. What can I say about Russia’s attack on Ukraine that others have not already said? I was GOH at a con in St. Petersburg a few years ago. The con was fun, the city was gorgeous, and the Russian fans and writers — even the border security guards — were so warm and welcoming. Putin is a malign thug. That seems to be the story of the world, though. Good people with hideous leaders. Listening to reports of the fighting makes me feel so angry, so helpless…

And things are pretty ugly over here as well. The latest school shooting, for instance, and the usual response of the GOP, a refusal to do anything to fix it. Is baseball still the great American pastime, or is that school shooting now? No other country seems to have much of an issue with it, only us. And what answer do the Republicans propose? Arm the teachers? Lock the doors? Toughen the security?

We are becoming more and more a police state. I am, I am aware, very old and getting older. Young people may not believe this, but… I remember a time when security was not omnipresent. When I could get on an airplane without being x-rayed and searched and probed and made to give up my pocket knife. When I could visit any publisher in New York by walking into their building, looking at the directory to see what floor they were on, taking the elevator up, and announcing my name to the receptionist. When kids could go to schools that were not fortresses… we did learn to duck and cover under our desks in case the Russians dropped an A-bomb on us, but we did not need to fear being shot by our classmates.

It makes me want to scream. What the hell happened to this country? To this world?

I am depressing myself, and probably all of you as well. Let me talk about some happier things.

DARK WINDS debuts on AMC on June 12, and we’re getting a lot of nice press about it.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/amc-series-dark-winds-tony-hillerman-1235156491/

https://www.emmys.com/video/under-cover/dark-winds

https://www.emmys.com/news/features/cover-2022-06

First season will run six episodes, based largely on Tony Hillerman’s novel LISTENING WOMAN. Watch the show, read the book. Then read the other books, they are great. I am very proud of my association with this one, and glad that I could help make it happen… though, truth be told, I did little enough. The real credit should go to Robert Redford, Chris Eyre, Zahn McClarnon, and all the other folks mentioned in the articles… and one who was not. Let me give a shout out here to TINA ELMO, Bob Redford’s right hand and an inexhaustible champion of Tony Hillerman and his work, who was present every day on the shoot and did so much to make our series one to be proud of.

Other good stuff. NIGHT OF THE COOTERS, the short film we made based on the classic story by Howard Waldrop (the one and only) is complete. Directed by and starring Vincent d’Onofrio, and a cast of dozens. H’ard himself has seen it and pronounced it Good. The film was shot entirely on greenscreen; the actors and horses are live, everything else was supplied by the wizards at Trioscope. It clocks in at about thirty minutes. At the moment we are entering it into film festivals all around the nation and the world. We’ll let you know when and where it gets accepted. Maybe you will be able to catch it at a filmfest near you. If so, give it a look. It’s a lot of fun.

Oh, and right now, this very moment, we have a second film crew down in White Sands National Monument, shooting another short film based on another Howard Waldrop masterwork. I could tell you which, but then I might have to kill you. So far, so great, but there’s still lots of work ahead. Howard may have a new collection coming out this year as well. Who knows, 2022 could be the Year of Waldrop.

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON? Glad you asked. I’ve now watched rough cuts of nine of the ten episodes, and I continue to be impressed. I cannot speak to the SFX, many of which are not in yet, but the look of it is great, and the acting, the directing, and writing are first rate. And yes, for all you book fans, it IS my story. Sure, there are some changes from FIRE & BLOOD — we could not present three alternative versions of every major event, not and keep our sanity — but I think Ryan Condal and his writers made good choices. Even some improvements. (Heresy, I know, but being the author, I am allowed to say so). For years, as some of you may recall, I have been saying the TV version of Shae, as portrayed by Sibel Kekilli, was a deeper, richer, and more nuanced characters than the Shae in my novels. In a similar vein, I am vastly impressed by the show’s version of King Viserys, played by Paddy Considine, who gives the character a tragic majesty that my book Viserys never quite achieved. Kudos to Paddy, Ryan and his writers, and Miguel and the other directors. (There are a lot of great performances in HOUSE OF THE DRAGON — or HOT D, as I hear some are calling it. You may never have heard of some of our actors, but I think you will learn to love them, just as you did with the cast of GAME OF THRONES).

Back home in Santa Fe, Sky Railway is doing really well. Many of our trains are selling out. If you are visiting the Land of Enchantment, be sure to book your ride early. Oh, and last weekend we re-opened the bar and cafe at the historic Santa Fe Southern Depot in Lamy. Right now only open weekends, but we will be expanding the hours.

I should say a word about my appearances. I have decided not to attend this year’s worldcon in Chicago, for a variety of reasons. Chicago remains one of my favorite cities, though, and it looks as though I may be travelling there once or twice during the year to come… for reasons quite different, and much more exciting, than a con. Instead of worldcon, it looks as though I will be attending this year’s San Diego Comicon… assuming they do not move to December or go virtual, as they did last year thanks to the pandemic. I would rather not attend any more virtual conventions. Guess I’m a boomer, not a zoomer.

(It will feel odd to travel again. I have only left home once since January 2020).

WINDS, you say? Yes, still working. Finally finished a clutch of Cersei chapters that were giving me fits. Now I am wrestling with Jaime and Brienne. The work proceeds, though not as fast as many of you would like.

That’s all for now.

Tags: conventions, life and death, television, television and film, wild cards, writing

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