jms Tells the Chris Carter/CBS story at Loscon
Kevin Kenney
After the fall of Crusade, Chris' people contacted jms' people, as Chris
was looking for properties to produce/develop. jms went in with several
ideas, one in particular a real killer, which Chris loved. A deal was
made by all concerned, including Fox.
Looking for a venue for the property, they ended up at CBS, who also
loved the property. A deal was prepared.
Enter Harsh Realm, another outside work Chris picked up. Exit Harsh Realm.
CBS shrugged. Chris shrugged. jms nodded (a guess). Fox...
... decided it had to protect the 'intellectual property' it had in
Chris' name, and decided Chris' next project had to be 100% his.
So the day before contracts would have been signed with CBS, Fox pulled out.
The property reverted back to jms, who is back to square one (well, maybe
two) on ever seeing it produced. Since it remains a great idea, he's
still keeping it under wraps. According to jms, there's little chance
Fox, CBS, or Chris stealing it, 'cause that doesn't actually happen
much. (Outside the Berman family - my words.)
End of story - for now... Maybe after Chris' next project...
jms: please confirm and/or correct as needed. Thanks.
Brian Watson
> A tragedy...
>
> After the fall of Crusade, Chris' people contacted jms' people, as Chris
> was looking for properties to produce/develop. jms went in with several
> ideas, one in particular a real killer, which Chris loved. A deal was
> made by all concerned, including Fox.
> Looking for a venue for the property, they ended up at CBS, who also
> loved the property. A deal was prepared.
> Enter Harsh Realm, another outside work Chris picked up. Exit Harsh Realm.
> CBS shrugged. Chris shrugged. jms nodded (a guess). Fox...
> ... decided it had to protect the 'intellectual property' it had in
> Chris' name, and decided Chris' next project had to be 100% his.
Wow. Then all his work will continue to be crap then. It took decades for
Paramount to run out of steam with Roddenberry's work, and it only took about 7
years for Fox to run out of steam with Chris's work. Too bad.
> So the day before contracts would have been signed with CBS, Fox pulled out.
Their loss.
The Reverend Jacob Corbin
Brian Watson wrote:
> Wow. Then all his work will continue to be crap then. It took decades for
> Paramount to run out of steam with Roddenberry's work, and it only took about 7
> years for Fox to run out of steam with Chris's work. Too bad.
I don't think it was Fox who ran out of steam with Carter's work -- it was
Carter himself. The guy's kept stringing people along on "The X-Files" because
he's more or less written himself into a corner, and the audience has gotten bored
with it all. I don't think Fox had much to do with that one way or another, though
I both commend them for their mercy killing of "Harsh Realm" and am slightly
annoyed with the canning of the JMS project.
Reverend Jake
Jms at B5
The irony of course is that if Harsh Realm had been canceled even a week later,
we would've concluded the deal with CBS for the show I'd created and which
Chris, Frank Spotnitz and I would exec produce. CBS had agreed to a pilot
production deal, and they were haggling over the per episode license fee should
the show get picked up for series when HR got canceled and the ripple effect
started.
The other thing I wanted to mention is that in my years in the biz, I have
rarely enjoyed a partnership with anyone as much as with Chris and Frank, who
are not only stand-up guys, but in all of our discussions I don't think a
single idea got broached that didn't make sense.
Their approach is the same we had at B5: you check your ego at the door and do
what's best for the story. I have nothing but good things to say about them,
and even though Fox felt that they needed to go forth only with 100% CC after
HR was canceled (the logic being that it didn't work because Chris didn't
actually create it), I consider the experience a positive one.
They're good people over there at 1013.
jms
(jms...@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Tammy Smith
Oh, well--at least the experience with Carter was a good one.
Hopefully, you'll get another chance to do "World on Fire", or whatever
it will be called.
Tammy
Steve Brinich
> I don't think it was Fox who ran out of steam with Carter's work
> -- it was Carter himself. The guy's kept stringing people along on
> "The X-Files" because he's more or less written himself into a corner
Carter's basic problem with "X-Files", IMO, is that he has a tendency
to write himself into a corner, then break down the wall behind him or
cut a hole through the floor. That's clever once or twice, but quickly
reduces the integrity of the underlying dramatic structure.
--
Steve Brinich <ste...@Radix.Net> If the government wants us
http://www.Radix.Net/~steveb to respect the law
89B992BBE67F7B2F64FDF2EA14374C3E it should set a better example
The Incarnate
> Carter's basic problem with "X-Files", IMO, is that he has a tendency
>to write himself into a corner, then break down the wall behind him or
>cut a hole through the floor. That's clever once or twice, but quickly
>reduces the integrity of the underlying dramatic structure.
Which only serves to point out to superiority of route that jms took:
planning out your arc in advance so that you know exactly what's going to be
happening later. Carter seems to only be planning maybe a season in advance,
which is why his arc is becoming so ridiculous, under the weight of seven
years worth of seat-of-your-pants writing.
in_vale...@hotmail.com
Damn! This sucks. After the TNT fiasco, you finally find good people
to work with ... Talk about Murphy's Law in action.
How will this effect your writing workload? More novels and/or short
prose stories? Maybe another comic series?
scott tilson.
Recommended reading for B5, SF, and/or comics fans: HIEROGLYPH #1 by
Robert Delgado, from Dark Horse. A beautifully envisioned cinematic
exploration of an alien world that's not so lifeless as our human
surveyor first thinks! Line art preview at
http://www.darkhorse.com/prev.html?cart=9333627478661357&sku=98172&x=0
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Jms at B5
>prose stories? Maybe another comic series?
There's still plenty to do, and several other projects in the works while the
project I was doing for Chris is being shopped elsewhere.
Believe me, I never lack for stuff to work on.