X-Files mythology, TenThirteen Interviews Database, and more

Posts Tagged ‘frank spotnitz’

Season 10: Interviews and Odds & Ends

A round-up of interviews and non-artwork material related to the Season 10 comics that have surfaced up till now.

On the menu:

  • Joe Harris seminal interview
  • Chris Ryall – Joe Harris – Chris Carter meeting
  • Chris Ryall teasing
  • Carlos Valenzuela interview
  • Joe Harris podcast
  • Joint Joe Harris & Michael Walsh interview
  • Frank Spotnitz’s reaction
  • Joe Harris’ guide on buying XF comics

Click below for the lengthy entry:

Mar-03-2013
Comic Book Resources
ECCC EXCLUSIVE: Joe Harris Explores IDW’s “X-Files: Season 10”

Last month, IDW Publishing announced its plans for an ongoing series based on “The X-Files,” one of the biggest sci-fi televisions eries of all time, airing for 9 seasons and inspiring two feature-length films starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as paranormal investigators working for the FBI.

Today at Emerald City Comic Con, IDW announced writer Joe Harris and artist Michael Walsh as the creative team responsible for the further adventures of agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. Beyond that, Harris told CBR News that original “X-Files” creator Chris Carter is executive producing the new title — subtitled “Season 10” — saying Carter is “personally reading outlines and scripts, providing feedback and suggestions.”

Harris, who recently launched “Great Pacific,” a creator-owned series released through Image Comics, spoke exclusively with Comic Book Resources about “X-Files: Season 10,” teasing the title’s debut story arcs, revealing the status of Scully and Mulder’s relationship as the series opens and more.

CBR News: First off, Joe, what’s your history with “The X-Files” and how did you come to be involved in this iteration of the franchise?

Joe Harris: I’ve been a fan since the show was buried deep on the Friday night network schedule of my lonely teenage ’90s life. Honestly, I can’t think of many characters or comics properties I could be more excited to write.

IDW asked me if I was a fan, and I jumped like little else can probably get me to in this industry. I’m writing the series, ongoing and for as long as they’ll have me!

And all the art we’ve been looking at has been spectacular. In particular, Michael [Walsh] should bring some grit and mood to this series that really pushes the darkness and paranoia.

What can fans expect to see in the first arc of “The X-Files: Season 10?”

It picks up some time after the last movie and re-introduces Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, along with plenty of the supporting cast of characters everyone remembers and would expect to see. I don’t want to give away too much, but I can tell you it opens with a pretty deadly mystery that’s connected to the now-shuttered “X-Files” division at the FBI and what appears to be an effort by some pretty dangerous folks to eliminate the personnel associated with them.

We’re going to re-establish the mythology, the ever-elusive but tireless quest to discover “the Truth,” while conspiratorial elements work against our heroes from both within the government, as well as outside of it, and we’re going to dig into plenty of paranormal threats including some that just might be of the extraterrestrial variety.

We’re going to try and usher “The X-Files” into a new age. We’ve got WikiLeaks, now. Drone warfare, the Patriot Act and challenges related to the government and influence from outside forces, corporations and lobby groups. America has challenges, problems both new and old, related to how it functions, as well as just who it really functions for. I think the “X-Files” mythos will fit nicely into these chaotic, interconnected times.

What’s the status quo between Agents Mulder and Scully as the series starts? Will you be exploring their personal (and sometimes romantic) relationship?

Let me just start by saying, I adore Mulder and Scully’s relationship. From when Agent Dana Scully first walked into Fox Mulder’s basement office in the series pilot and confronted this seemingly desperate believer with her almost unbreakable skepticism, it just worked. It evolved over time. Respect and reverence grew between them, and, with what they’ve been through together, how could they not have grown even closer?

They’re together in this series. They’re an item. But it’s not nearly that simple, or easy, and there are extenuating circumstances related to who they are and what they’ve been through, both together and apart, that will really test them.

In the show’s finale, it was revealed that civilization would come to an end after a massive alien invasion in 2012. Since “The X-Files: Season 10” debuts in 2013, how quickly do you plan on addressing that issue in the comic?

You’re going to have to wait and see on that score — sorry!

This isn’t your first foray into ‘creepy’ story-telling. You’ve done work for “BPRD,” “Vampirella” and even “Creepy,” itself. What attracts you to these types of stories?

Well, horror and horror movies, along with science fiction, have always been a big part of my life and ambitions. The possibilities attract me. The chance to evoke and illuminate real-world issues, challenges themes and concerns through that speculative fiction prism is a big draw. Almost as much as the chance to pull off big sci-fi concepts and creepy, as you say, storytelling.

My “X-Files” stories are a mix of both horror and sci-fi. There were some moments in that show that just made your skin crawl. I really, really want to try and replicate that experience as best I can.

This series is being billed as “Season 10” of the show. Have you had access to any notes or musings from “The X-Files” creator Chris Carter, like how Joss Whedon oversees the “Buffy” comics, or is this series entirely independent from the original show’s creative team?

I actually just spoke with Chris Carter today! Made my morning. And he’s agreed to executive produce the comic.

When you say Chris Carter is “executive producing” the comic, what exactly does that mean? 

Chris is personally reading outlines and scripts, and providing feedback and suggestions.

What are some of your favorite “X-Files” episodes?

Wow, I can rattle off a bunch — “The Erlenmeyer Flask,” “Ascension,” “The Host,” “Paperclip,” “Piper Maru,” “Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man,” “Tunguska,” “Josie Chung’s From Outer Space,” “Drive,” “Pusher,” just about anything Vince Gilligan wrote starring The Lone Gunmen. And really, all of those great season-ending cliffhangers that Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz pulled off which really amped up the conspiracy and elevated the whole mythology to another level.

But I think my favorite episode from way back is the Season Three finale, “Talitha Cumi,” in which Mulder and X — my favorite character back then played by Stephen Williams — beat the living crap out of one another in a parking garage after Mulder discovers an alien weapon artifact, but refuses to hand it over to his informant, who had expected to get it from him. It ends with them pulling guns on one another, “Mexican standoff”-style, and the paranoia and tension was just oozing out of the show at that point.

Will you be picking up any plot threads from the original series or either of the two movies?

Well, maybe — just maybe.

In all seriousness, there’s lots to Mulder and Scully’s experiences we’re going to pick up on, sure. Lots of old relationships and unfinished business to delve into and use as a starting point. That goes for both their personal lives, and the overarching “mytharc” that defined the series.

Another thing I plan on doing every now and again is creating what amounts to a sequel for some classic standalone “Monster of the Week” stories. We’ve already got one of these in the works and, I do suspect, it’s going to get some people excited when they hear about it.

How long will ‘Season 10’ last? How many seasons are planned at the moment?

I’m not certain, to be honest with you. At this point, we’re an ongoing series with some big, mythology-building and steeped arcs that will be interspersed with some standalone stories and smaller arcs.

So we’ll see, I guess. But we’ve got plenty of big-ass cliffhangers and “holy crap” moments lined up that go for that same season-ending magic I absolutely revered.

“The X-Files: Season 10” #1 by Joe Harris and Michael Walsh hits shelves this June from IDW Publishing.

From Michael Walsh’ twitter (Mar-08-2013): “Me, X-Files creator Chris Carter & @joeharris after a successful “X-Files: Season 10″ plotting session this morning”

Michael Walsh, Chris Carter, Joe Harris

Michael Walsh, Chris Carter, Joe Harris

Mar-30-2013
ComicBook
WonderCon: X-Files Comic Will Be Stories that “Matter” to Fans

At WonderCon earlier today, IDW Publishing’s Chris Ryall revealed a handful of details about their upcoming series, The X-Files Season Ten. The comic, announced earlier this month, will include the involvement of series creator Chris Carter in the first ongoing comic book series since the long-running Fox drama ended.

“At the last point where people saw these characters, these comics will pick up beyond that,” Ryall told fans, suggesting that the recent feature film The X-Files: I Want to Believe, will still count. “We’re telling stories that extend the characters forward,” not telling stories that don’t “matter.”

“At that point, they couldn’t necessarily tell stories that advance the plotlines the way we can,” Ryall said of the previously-published X-Files comics by Topps comics and WildStorm, which IDW intends to republish in new collected editions. “There’s something about doing comics where the show has already ended. We can tell stories that matter. It’s very exciting to us.”

The solicitation for the comic describes it as follows:

In the opening story arc, “Believers,” readers will catch up with Dana Scully and Fox Mulder, living normal lives together under secret identities. However, a visit from an old friend threatens to rip them from suburban anonymity, as they learn that someone is preying upon everyone involved in the X-files. Prepare to revisit familiar faces—some very unexpected, threats old and new, and an intriguing mystery designed to return the beloved franchise to its former glory!

May-01-2013
X-Files News
XFN Exclusive: Interview with Carlos Valenzuela

X-Files News had the pleasure to talk to Carlos Valenzuela, one of the artists comissioned to draw the newest installment of The X-Files comic books.

Valenzuela, a professional illustrator and comic book artist from Chile, has worked for several companies in the entertainment industry, like Fantasy Flight Games, Pyranha Bytes, SQP Publishing, Under The Floorboards, Ballistic Publishing, IDW Ltd, just to name a few.

XFN: How did you get into the business of illustrating?

“I always wanted to enter the world of illustration. My artistic influences are mainly from classic illustrators like Frazetta, Corben, Wrightson, Moebius, Elvgren, etc. and thanks to some online communities like DeviantArt or CGSociety I was able to show my first works. Also, I work for a couple of years being represented by an US agency. With them I did almost illustration work, from book covers, card games, to posters and comic book covers.

Right now, I work mainly as an illustrator, but with some comic book works from time to time, like the upcoming Mars Attacks story from IDW.”

XFN: You mentioned in a past interview that you’re a horror fan. You also seem to have drawn a lot of Marvel characters. What are your influences and how do they transfer into your work?

“I grew up watching horror and sci-fi movies, and thanks to my older brothers that collected several superhero comic books, I spent a long time reading (and copying) the covers from Hulk, Iron-Man, Batman, etc.”

“As I mentioned before, my main artistic influences coming from illustrators and artists from the 50’s and 70’s, as well as my favorites movies are from that period (the classics are still unbeatables). So as you might guess, I’m a bit of an old fashion artist,” he laughs.

XFN: What is your ultimate dream franchise that you’d love to illustrate for?

“Well, I’m a huge Star Wars fan, so I would love to illustrate anything that happened in that galaxy far far away. Everytime that I have some time to do something just for me, I put my hands on those classic characters.”

XFN: Everyone has seen your artwork for the new comics and can’t wait to see more. So what can you tell us about your involvement in the new X-Files project?

“At this moment I can tell is like a dream come true. Is a very strange and funny feeling to become an official X-Files artist being a big fan also. This is the first time that I work with a franchise so huge and with a really big fanbase, so the excitement is equal big as my responsibility. Each time that I show any preview or little advances I feel so many eyes watching, but gladly people and specially X-philes seems to be enjoying what I’ve done so far,” he hopes.

“Also I would like add that besides the covers for the comic book from IDW, at this moment I’m preparing, along with the great people of Under The Floorboards, another X-Files print to be presented at this year London ComiCon. The print that we did last year was a big success, becoming some kind of cult piece for X-Files fans, and also was the work that produced that I landed at IDW as a cover artist. So X-philes, stay tuned for this!”

XFN: We read that you were an X-Files fan before this project. Can you tell us how you got into the show originally and what it’s like as a fan to be creating new X-Files material?

“The show started airing here in Chile almost at same time than US, so I became addicted almost immediately! I’m always being intrigued and fascinated by UFOs, extraterrestrial life, conspiracies, strange creatures, monsters, crime thrillers… and The X-Files has all that ingredients, and much more. I felt that Mulder’s crusade represented us all in one way or another.”

XFN: Favorite episode? Character? Guest star? Monster of the Week or Mythology?

Several indeed, but to name just a few: “Home”, “Our Town”, “The Host”, “Post-Modern Prometheus”, “Duane Barry’”, “Agua Mala”, can I continue?” he laughs. I must say that Monster of the Week are my favorites, but I enjoyed as well the Mytharc storyline.

XFN: Mulder and Scully are iconic characters, even for those who’ve never seen the show. How do you go about bringing them to life while still maintaining your own artistic style?

“That’s a good question. One of the things that intimidated me when I started with this job was exactly that thing. Both of them (as well as the other characters from the show) are truly icons. I think that IDW and FOX liked the way that I approach to them, trying to keep the likenesses as much I can, but bringing my ‘classic/noir/vintage’ vision as well. And being myself a big fan, I always try to see the work from that point of view, and trying to maintain the overall atmosphere of the show.”

XFN: When it comes to X-Files comics, many artists have come before you. Do you look to past artists for inspiration or do you prefer to keep your work separate from that influence?

“I try to avoid as much as I can to watch anything that has been previously done. I want to keep things fresh, but as I said before, being faithful to the spirit of the show.”

XFN: What do you want X-Files fans to take away from these new comics? Anything you’d like to tease for the fans, or will the Truth remain out there?

“Well, I don’t have permission to reveal much information besides the previews and sneak peeks that I’ve shown already. Since I started working on this job that I have the very strange feeling that my phone line and internet connection has been hacked, and also a very suspicious black van is parked in front of my building since the first cover… uh oh there’s someone’s at my door!”

The XFN Quick Six

Favorite Food: Spaghetti
Favorite Word:
Awesome
Favorite X-Files line:
Mulder: “Scully, I was like you once. I didn’t know who to trust. Then I chose another path, another life…another fate” [from episode ‘The Sixth Extinction, part 2, season 7]
Your guilty pleasure:
Learned to make sushi and eat until almost explode
Dream job:
Bartender in the Mos Eisley cantina
I wish I had invented…
the human teleportation machine

Thanks so much to Carlos for sharing this insight into his work and his excitement for The X-Files comics. You can check out more of his artwork on his DeviantArt page and continue to follow his work through his website. Remember, the new stories hit the stands starting in June, so make sure to get yours from your favorite supplier.

May-05-2013
The Patrick Philiips Show
Joe Harris – ‘THE X-FILES: SEASON 10′ Writer

THE X-FILES: SEASON 10 Writer Joe Harris joins me to chat about the new comic book series, what we can expect for Mulder and Scully, and what it’s like working alongside creator Chris Carter.

May-10-2013
GeekMom
Interview With X-Files Season 10 Joe Harris and Michael Walsh

In March, IDW announced that The X-Files would be returning with a tenth season in comic book form. Almost immediately, fans began speculating about what stories this new season would include; when would the stories be set? Would the show’s incredibly complex mythology be continued? Would “baby” William be involved? I spoke to series writer Joe Harris and illustrator Michael Walsh about some of their plans for Season 10, and the difficulties of bringing such an iconic, cult show back for a new season after more than ten years off air.

What made you both decide to become involved with the new The X-Files series?

JH: IDW had asked me if I was interested and, in a span of about three seconds, the question registered, sank in and motivated my “hell yes!” reply. I’m a huge fan from way back at the beginning and the opportunity to write these beloved characters, and contribute to one of the greatest mythologies in television and science fiction history, was too great to let pass.

Michael Walsh: When IDW asked me about working on The X-Files I was ecstatic. I had been coming off of a Crime/Sci-Fi comic and was really in love with the idea of drawing something with some horror themes and supernatural elements. Not only that but I loved the show as a kid and it gave me the excuse to go back and watch it from the very beginning. It was an instant “Yes, when can I start?”

When Chris Carter came on-board as an Executive Producer/Consultant did you have to change any of your planned stories/arcs as they didn’t fit in with the plot of a hypothetical third film?

JH: When my editors first told me about Chris Carter’s involvement I was both thrilled and, I think you can probably imagine, intimidated as hell. It all came about so quickly, and organically though. He had read the story outline I’d put together, along with my script for the first issue, and was so complimentary and supportive it’s almost embarrassing. He also had some notes and wisdom to impart, as well as some great advice. His coming on board did help to refocus the original scope of our opening story arc and I feel like we’re really fortunate for his coming in and offering what he’s been able to impart.

How many comics are you planning for the first run/season?

JH: That’s a good question. Honestly, I’m not certain. As of now, we’ve got an opening five-issue arc that re-establishes everything. The characters, the mythology, the conspiracy, everything. Then we’ve got a bunch of shorter stories, two-parters, and single issue standalones that will harken back to the “Monster of the Week” formula and, in some cases, be direct sequels to some of my favorite old episodes. New monsters and paranormal stuff as well as some returning characters and creatures. After that, I’ve got another big storyline lined up that further builds on the “Mytharc,” the alien colonists out to retake the earth, Mulder and Scully’s connection and role within it all, and conspiracies both old and new related to it all.

Whether or not we rebrand ourselves as “Season 11″ after that, or at some other point, remains to be seen. But the series will be published monthly for the foreseeable future, regardless.

There are a couple of other TV shows that have continued on as comics. Have you looked to those for any lessons, i.e., things to do or not to do in a comic extension of a TV series?

JH: Well, there’s been a lot of this sort of thing getting done right lately in comics. From Buffy, including Angel at IDW, to the more recent Star Trek and Doctor Who books, the appetite for a continuation of these stories starring the characters the fans don’t want to say goodbye forever to doesn’t seem to let up.

With The X-Files, I really want to give the fans what they want while maintaining some of the mystique and coyness that kept us coming back season after season. It’s really its own thing, so it’s hard to gauge. I mean, we’re going to nail the likenesses and, I’d like to think–or, at least, I hope–the voices of the characters. We’re going to be presenting what I hope feels like the next chapter in a long narrative we’ve been following for many years now, as well as something I hope really harkens back to the vintage energy and paranoia and sense of “holy s*** did you see that!” that used to really permeate the series.

MW: I’ve definitely been skimming through comics that have been adapted from television and film. It’s interesting to see how different artists depict characters that have already been portrayed by iconic actors in other media. Mostly I’ve been trying to grasp when artists are really nailing likenesses and when the drawings are becoming too stiff or referenced, then applying those ideas and methods to my own work.

Will each comic be an episode in its own right as most of the original ones were, or will one case run across multiple issues as in the 30 Days of Night series?

JH: It depends. Like I said earlier, the first storyline will span five issues. I think the next story after that is slated to be a two-part story to be followed by a couple of single-issue, standalone tales. Before we gear up for another big “event” storyline that will run five issues, all over again.

Have you taken any cues from previous The X-Files comic runs in illustrating the new series or did you want to take the look in a completely new direction?

MW: I briefly took a look through the The X-Files/30 Days of Night crossover as well as what I could find of the Charlie Adlard illustrated Topps stuff. That said it was more out of curiosity than a desire to emulate what had been done before. I’m starting fresh, stylistically speaking, when approaching The X-Files comics. If you’re familiar with my work you will see a lot of the same approaches in terms of rendering and framing that I’ve used before on other work but I’ve taken a lot of cues from the actual show in terms of pacing, lighting and acting.

A lot of fans were upset that Agent Doggett and Agent Reyes did not appear in the second The X-Files film, will we get to see them in the comics at all? Are they still with the FBI?

JH: Yes. And yes. :)

All the characters are now much older than they were during the show, has that influenced the stories you wanted to tell or the illustration style at all? How much freedom were you given in creating the current “look” of the characters?

JH: I’ll let Michael speak to the specifics regarding the “look” of the characters, but I can tell you, from my end, it’s a balancing act. The short answer is, yes, of course, the stories are affected by these characters’ experiences, along with the audience’s. We call the series “Season 10″ right from the get go, so we’ve got a little baggage to sift through. A lot of triumph and tragedy and unresolved stuff. But we want to make it feel fresh too. We want to make a satisfying read for people who’ve followed Mulder and Scully’s journey all this way, as well as do something fresh and new and now.

MW: Since the story is canonical with what has been established in the show, these characters aren’t the spry young Mulder and Scully from the first few seasons. This is how they might appear had they filmed another season directly after the second film. I’ve slightly modernized them and designed some plain-clothes looks for the characters based on their already established style. That said, when designing the look of the characters I played it really close to the show and really tried to capture what makes them so iconic. So far I think I’m having the most fun with Skinner.

The biggest question in the fan community is about William, will his story be addressed in any way?

JH: Baby William Scully–who, I guess, wouldn’t really be a baby anymore–will figure prominently.

You’ve said that issue one begins with Mulder & Scully living “normal lives together under secret identities.” How will that be set up as we left them back from exile at the end of the second film?

JH: We’re going to hit the ground running a little ways after the bikinis and boats glimpse of their “happily ever after” post-credits moment at the end of the second movie, if that’s what you’re referring to. Some time has passed.

That said… we may go back and fill in some blanks in some instances, or we might leave things mysterious and full of questions in others. I have plans to include some “untold” moments in The X-Files chronology, going back to the early days of the show, to just after the end of that second movie.

Can you give us any indication of how far after the second film issue one is set?

JH: Some time has passed. One thing I really dug about the second film is that the creators let the characters live and age, and Mulder and Scully have been out of the game for a little while. The break is kind of integral to the genesis of the new comics series.

The Lone Gunmen appear on the cover of Issue #2, can you give us any clues about how they will be involved considering they were killed off in Season 9?

JH: Well, they did die “off camera” so I’d like to think the opportunity to bring them back in some way shape or form was always there. So far as what they’re up to, or how they figure into our story, I can’t give away too many details. They’ve been through some stuff and experienced some more. But, suffice to say, they’re going to play a familiar role.

You’ve also said that an iconic villain from the show will be making a return, what was it like to continue that character’s story and to illustrate them in comic form?

JH: We’re bringing back a bunch of folks: allies, enemies, and shady characters who aren’t quite one or the other too. That’s been the candy so far, for me. When it comes to the icons, be it the Lone Gunmen or some of our other, yet-to-be-revealed returning champions, I feel so giddy to be doing this, yet, sometimes anyway, so intimidated! It’s a tremendous amount of fun bringing back this character or that one and I feel a lot of pressure to get it right. In some cases we’re really presenting the next chapter in their chronology, or even filling in some past blanks that shed new light on who they are or why they do they things they do. In short, I’m honored, and psyched, and at least a little scared.

What prompted you to choose that character to bring back? Was it someone whose story you didn’t feel had been completed on the show?

JH: I had a wishlist I wanted to tackle with regard to which characters I wanted to bring back. In the case of folks we haven’t seen in a while, or whom we’ve been led to believe might have met their demise, I made sure I had a good reason why or how, and I presented my ideas to the publisher, as well as to Chris.

We’ll be introducing some new characters too, but I know who, as a fan, I’d want to see if I were just reading this series. So I let that sensibility guide me.

Regardless of what approach you take it is unlikely that you will please all of the The X-Files fan base. Are you prepared for the criticism you will likely face from some people?

JH: Hey, writing comics isn’t for the faint of heart. If you’re going to step into the arena, you need to be prepared to fend off a few slings and arrows. I’m hardly inexperienced when it comes to criticism. That said, I respect fandom deeply. I only get to write this series because the studio and the publisher are betting on a reservoir of support and appetite for the further adventures of Agents Mulder and Scully and their long and winding journey down the rabbit hole. And I’m here to serve that want and fill that need.

MW: As an artist you receive criticism all the time, It’s something every professional artist understands. Knowing when to learn from it and when it put it aside is an ability that comes with time. I’m really trying to capture the feeling of the show and service the fans while still maintaining my own established style and artistic sensibilities, it’s a balancing act that I hope long time The X-Files fans can appreciate.

Many thanks to John at IDW for setting up this interview, to Joe and Michael for their time and to the X-Philes at Idealists Haven for providing some excellent questions.

May-13-2013
Big Light (Frank Spotnitz’s blog)
“X-Files” Season 10

Hi Frank,

There’s been a lot of buzz lately about the official, in-continuity X-Files: Season 10 comic book being executive produced by Chris Carter and published by IDW Publishing including the return of several important franchise characters!

With all the buzz about this new comic book series, I was wondering whether you are going to be involved at all. Any possibility of you guest writing an issue or an arc (Monster of the Week or Mythology) within Season 10?

All the best,

Justin

New York City

P.S. A gallery of the variant covers for the premiere issue are showcased on the IDW tumblr?

Justin, never say never, but I have no plans to contribute to the series at the moment. I’m excited to read them, though!

June-04-2013
Joe Harris
I Want To Know How To Believe: The Non-Comics Reading “X-Files” Fan’s Guide to Buying New “X-Files” Comics

Hey guys!  Since IDW announced that I’d be writing the new, monthly THE X-FILES: SEASON 10 comics series (working with artist, Michael Walsh and colorist, Jordie Bellaire) back in March, I’ve gotten the not-too-subtle impression that there are lots and lots of “X-Philes” out there who are absolutely, passionately, ravenously excited to follow the new adventures of Mulder and Scully… but might not really know the ins and outs of the comics marketplace, culture, etc. – So I wanted to help ease this transition, if I could, and put together a sort of “cheat sheet” for the otherwise comics shop-challenged… as well as see if I couldn’t help swell the crossover ranks a bit and bring a few more of you into our merry fold.

[read the rest on his site]

That’s all for now!

Moviehole: Exclusive : What are the chances of an X-Files 3?

Jan-20-2013
Exclusive : What are the chances of an X-Files 3?
Moviehole
Sandi Hicks

[Original here]

For as long as I can remember, I have had one passion. It involves two FBI agents, and their tireless search for ‘the truth’. For years we watched them investigate hundreds of bizarre cases – from liver eating mutants through to alien abductions and super soldiers.

For those familiar with ”The X-Files” mythology – Series creator Chris Carter’s finale ‘The Truth’ provided a pathway and a date for the final alien invasion that would come with the end of the series movie, which would ultimately finalize the franchise. At a charity event that was held in Los Angeles in July 2011, series creator Mr. Carter expressed his eagerness to complete the project and have it premiere on December 22nd 2012.

This date has since come and gone.

Thousands of fans write to Executive Producer Frank Spotnitz, via his website biglight.com asking him about when ”X-Files 3” is happening. The resounding message that ultimately comes from Mr. Spotnitz contain three words – “Don’t Give Up” (quite often shortened to D.G.U.) which was the recurring mantra of the second feature film ”The X-Files: I Want To Believe” (2008). Speaking with Moviehole, Mr. Spotnitz had the following to say about a third movie, “It took six years after the end of the TV series to get the last X-Files movie made. I hope it won’t be another six years before the next one gets released, but I’ll wait however long it takes.”

The second feature film was thought to be shunned by audiences due to its ‘summer blockbuster’ release alongside ”The Dark Knight”, and also largely because the story didn’t follow the mythology of the series. People were expecting an “end of the world, alien movie” and instead they got a stand alone feature film, which was basically a love letter to the ”X-Files” Fandom.

Largely misunderstood by so many, the film still went on to earn over $64 Million dollars worldwide, which was well over double the cost to produce.

“The last thing I heard from Chris (Carter) was that he was in the process of writing the script.” says Gillian Anderson, speaking exclusively to Moviehole. “As exciting as that sounds, and it is exciting, the script is the first of 10 million steps. And also, script writing in itself is a dubious process. I, for one, have been working on one for a decade. But Chris is not me and he is used to turning them out and, fingers crossed, he will turn one out that (20th Century) Fox wants to throw millions of dollars into making.”

Furthermore to the question that would the franchises principal actors return for the final installment, Ms. Anderson had a comical response, poking fun at the ‘tabloid rumours’ that circulated around the internet in 2012, “The answer to the next inevitable question is yes, should the latter happen, David (Duchovny) and I (I can answer for him because we live together) would be on board to do it. Given that we haven’t split up by then which would just be plain awkward.”

During promotion of the previous film ”The X-Files: I Want To Believe”, Ms. Anderson told fans to go out and see the last movie at least 10 times via her own website, GillianAnderson.ws – and most fans did just that!

Moreover, don’t discount the various worldwide fandom campaigns that have been conducted by XFilesNews.com, the only fandom website that is officially affiliated with 20th Century Fox. The dedicated fans that run this website have made the studio very aware of the audience presence that is still out there, awaiting closure.

So what is the hold up? The writers, producers, and actors are all on board.

Given an amazing script, the return of the award winning cast, and a superb score via the musical genius Mark Snow, who is responsible for all previous soundtrack work for the show and feature films, I believe that audiences would flock to see how the franchise is wrapped up.

So, what is the likelihood of ”X-Files 3” happening in 2013?
It all comes down to 20th Century Fox.
Don’t give up! We want to believe.

Den Of Geek: Frank Spotnitz interview: Hunted, the BBC cancellation, The X-Files, and more…

Nov-21-2012
Frank Spotnitz interview: Hunted, the BBC cancellation, The X-Files, and more…
Den Of Geek
Louiza Mellor

[Original article here]

On the eve of Hunted’s final episode airing on the BBC, we chatted to its creator about the HBO spin-off, The X-Files, and more…

Frank Spotnitz’s eight-part spy drama Hunted, starring Melissa George as Sam Hunter, a female spy in the Jason Bourne mould, comes to an end on the BBC tomorrow evening.

Originally a co-production between the Beeb and HBO, it was announced last week that the BBC would not be renewing Hunted due to it not reaching the desired viewer figures, but that HBO was to develop a spin-off based around Sam Hunter. In the divorce settlement, so to speak, Spotnitz and HBO were given custody of Sam’s character, but the new show will have to be just that, a different incarnation of Spotnitz’s stylish, slightly bonkers vision of the life of a private-sector spook.

We chatted to Spotnitz about the process of moving from Hollywood to the UK to make Hunted, the public response, the BBC cancellation, and his plans for the Sam Hunter spin-off. Being Den of Geek, obviously we couldn’t not also check in on the status of The X-Files‘ third film, and the possibility of a small-screen return for Mulder and Scully…

You followed some of the audience reaction to the first episode of Hunted on Twitter didn’t you?

Yes absolutely.

That’s a brave move…

[Laughs] I can take it, I’m strong.

There’s always that one snarky comment or offhand remark that needles though isn’t there? Was there any specific criticism that got to you?

Well it’s funny. No, I can’t think that there were any specific remarks that have stuck in my memory thank goodness, but you can read a thousand nice things and then there’s the one or two nasty ones that really hurt and the nice ones just go right past. You know, I think I’ve learned that’s just the nature of discourse and not to be too bothered by it.

Moving from Hollywood to the UK, you’ll have noticed the sizeable difference in TV budgets. Were there things you wanted to do with Hunted but couldn’t because of money constraints?

Well, in the beginning I was looking at a pretty major rewrite of the script because we just didn’t have the resources. Actually when HBO came on, it doubled our budget so we were actually able to do pretty much everything I wanted to do. Not that I wasn’t pushing against the budget every week, I was, and in truth we probably went a little over, but I’d say it was one of the best financed British productions ever, outside of a costume drama. We had a pretty healthy budget.

It shows, especially in the first episode with those fantastic locations…

That was really exciting for me. To be able to go to Morocco, and write those scenes for Scotland and then actually go there and take it outside of London. I think you can tell the difference, the audience can tell the difference, so that was really exciting to do.

There’s been some talk, whether it has any basis in truth, of the UK/US collaboration having been “creatively stifling”. Was that your experience or is that just hot air?

No, I mean I know where that perception is coming from, but that wasn’t the case at all. I had a fantastic relationship with both broadcasters both with the BBC and HBO and honestly, they saw eye-to-eye on their notes throughout the series.

I think what’s being talked about there is that Hunted is going to go on in another form after this year without the BBC, and when you make the decision to go forward just with HBO, it means you can go full-throttle for that audience, and you don’t need to be concerned with serving the general audience. So I think it’s a liberating move but it’s not an indication of frustration in any way with the BBC, who were great.

Tell us more about the new Hunted we’re going to see from HBO then, are you keeping the name, the same settings, the cast?

Well, I know it’s going to have Sam Hunter in it! [laughs] Actually, I have a pretty good idea where we’re going and what we’re going to do but I’m not free to say just yet. I’ll be saying something in the near future on that.

Respecting that, am I right that you won’t have acces to some elements of Hunted because of the departure from the BBC?

Yeah, it’ll be a different series. It has to be a different series. That’s where the risks of co-productions come back and change your plans unexpectedly sometimes. Because of losing the BBC as a partner, we had to do a different show, we couldn’t do the same show we did this year.

So will you be taking more advantage of HBO’s reputation for nudity and violence now?

I don’t think so, no. I think that the storytelling we did this year was one long serialised arc and I don’t think we have to follow that form now, so that’s the kind of difference in format I’m interested in.

When did you first hear the BBC announcement that they wouldn’t be continuing with the show?

Well, it’s been weeks, but it was a discussion. We were trying to see if there were terms we could reach where we could still continue with the co-production, but it just didn’t work out.

I’ve just watched episode eight and with all its revelations and things coming full circle from episode one, it made for very rewarding viewing by the end.

Thank you very much, I’m delighted to hear that.

So we’re chuffed that HBO will be taking it on.

Thank you, me too. I’m very, very happy about it.

You said in a previous interview, “Americans will watch British people, if they’re spies” presumably thinking about John Le Carré and Bond etc. How far were you making Hunted for a US audience?

Well, first I should say I said that with a smile in my voice, you know.

Americans are famous for not watching other people’s television, and pretty much just watching American television, which puts the rest of the world at a huge disadvantage economically, because the rest of the world buys American television, but Americans, until recently, wouldn’t buy television from anybody else. I was very interested in breaking through that wall and finding a way to get more European television in America, and not just in a niche, not just on PBS – which is great by the way, I love PBS and fully support it – but I wanted to reach a wider audience with European talent and storytelling and I thought the spy genre is something where Americans are used to seeing spies with British accents, you know, John Le Carré and James Bond, take your pick, The Saint, there are many excellent adventures so that was very much in my mind.

Having said that, I was also fully aware that you can’t do a show in Britain, and certainly for the BBC, and have it not be a British show. It has to have that integrity, it has to be designed for this audience first and if it isn’t then this audience is going to smell it and nobody likes that. Nobody wants something that’s been jury-rigged for commercial purposes, it has to have artistic and creative integrity and I wanted to please the British audience first.

Would you call Sam Hunter’s emotional unavailability a kind of British character trait then? A version of the stiff upper lip cliché?

I didn’t really look at it as being particularly British to be honest. I mean, my starting point with the series was, you know, ‘If Jason Bourne was a real person, what would he be like and how would he have got that way?’, and I just thought probably, that if you’re someone who lies and kills for a living, then you’re pretty damaged.

It becomes – as you’ll know, having seen all eight episodes – the things that happened to Sam as a child that are now catching up to her are really the centre of the series. She’s going to have to go back and face these traumatic events if she wants to stay alive. I thought, that’s so ironic, because for a character like Sam it’s easier for her to kill people than to go back and look at her childhood traumas, so that was in my mind more than any cultural stereotypes.

Do you think if Sam was less of a snow maiden, viewers would have found her easier to make an emotional connection with, and you may have kept a wider UK audience?

I don’t know. I think the audience the show found really connected with it, and I’m really pleased with the reception the show’s got. I think the ratings were good but not great, and it was just one of those calls, we just didn’t have a commanding argument in our favour to make the case for renewal. But I don’t know, I think that was sort of the character she needed to be and it wouldn’t have been truthful to soften her up just to win a larger audience.

SPOILER WARNING

I have to ask this. I read that you deliberately didn’t use certain real-life spy gadgets in Hunted so that it didn’t become, in your words, “silly”. How then do you explain the six foot rabbit in episode six?

The rabbit? I thought that was very funny. To me, that was very funny. The darkness of that, having that poor man dressed in a rabbit suit, yeah there were many times in the writers’ room – I developed these episodes with three fabulous British writers for six months – and we were crying with laughter at some things in that series. [Laughing] To us, they were very, very funny.

There is a dark sense of humour running through the show isn’t there? I loved the Communist being beaten to death with a statue of Karl Marx…

Yes! The Karl Marx thing, and then you know, when Fowkes retrieves the shoe…

Hassan’s boot, which he then keeps on his desk!

Yes, from the place where they’re incinerating the body. We thought we were very funny at least.

Do you think some people just didn’t get the jokes?

You did at least.

Something that struck me about Hunted, which may explain why some viewers found it hard to follow, was how even very late on, even in the final two episodes, a number of new characters were being introduced in each episode. Even in episodes seven and eight, we were still meeting people for the first time. Were you laying the ground for future series by doing that?

Absolutely, and I think that will be one of the things in the changed format, the spin-off, is that I’ll be eager to reward those who’ve seen this series and give them the answers that those last two episodes demand.

Just between you and me, that woman on the bridge in episode eight… is Sam’s mother really dead?

Oh, I can’t say. [Laughing] “Just between you and me”, you’re funny. Oh, you’ll have to watch, you’ll have to watch.

Okay, we will.

SPOILER WARNING ENDS

You mentioned being pleased with the audience the show found. The BBC non-renewal statement said that Hunted “…hasn’t found the mainstream audience it was hoped”. How important was reaching a mainstream audience to you?

You know, it’s one of those things that you don’t really get to decide. I always want to reach as many people as I possibly can, and I think I was spoiled by the experience of The X-Files because we got to tell exactly the stories we wanted to tell and we reached huge audiences all around the world but that’s not something anybody can predict. You just make the show you love and put everything you have into it and you just hope for the best, and a lot of it is luck too, a lot of it is stuff you just can’t possibly anticipate.

Going back to the online response, did you find the comparisons to shows like Spooks or Homeland fair or frustrating?

I understand totally why people make those comparisons, though I don’t think they’re particularly valid comparisons. I mean, I don’t think Hunted is anything like either one of those shows, nor was it ever intended to be. When we started out, Spooks was still on the air and nobody had any idea that it was going off, it was 2009 that I first started writing Hunted. And with Homeland, we’d already shot and edited the first two episodes of Hunted before I even saw Homeland, so the audience’s perception of these things is not in sync with how long it actually takes to develop a TV series.

If you wouldn’t compare Hunted to those two shows then, is there another touchstone you would compare it to?

Well I really tried to make it unlike anything that I had seen because I do love the genre so much – and by the way, I love Spooks and Homeland too. I tried really hard to honour some of the shows I loved, like Mission: Impossible or I Spy or James Bond or the Bourne movies, but not to ape them. I think there are deliberate nods and winks to those franchises in the show, but I tried very much to make it feel like its own unique self.

What kind of nods are you talking about? Were there specific shots or scenes in which you’ve paid homage to those earlier shows?

I think that the opening of episode one feels very Mission: Impossible. It’s similar because it’s twist after twist after twist in the very beginning in Tangier, and the idea of going to Tangier at all was sort of Jason Bourne. I Spy was this phenomenal series in the sixties where they amazingly travelled all over the world on locations, and then, James Bond for me is the greatest cinematic spy and just casts a shadow that no one will ever completely escape, and happily so.

All of those characters and movies and TV series were in the back of my mind, but I was always trying to find a way to do it differently or reflect the character of Sam. I think that the perfect story has the character and plot intertwined, you know? That story can only be happening to that character, and there were many things I think about this first series that I hadn’t seen before. I hadn’t seen a character quite like her before, and I hadn’t seen a world that was quite the same world as the one in which she operated, so it just created a whole bunch of interesting dramatic questions for us to answer.

Are more exotic locations in the pipeline for the HBO Hunted spin-off then?

Yes. Yes. I mean, none of that’s been decided as I speak to you today, but that’s definitely my ambition.

Hunted’s cynicism was a really defining feature with this first series wasn’t it? Its suspicion of corporations and capitalism and the moral murkiness of it all. There’s no sense that anybody’s doing anything good, ever.

Yeah, yeah. Well, I hate to say it, but I think that’s pretty much the way I feel [laughing].

You’re jaded.

To me, it makes goodness all the more moving, when you set it against an assessment that honest and that bleak of the way that most of the world operates. Because I do believe that there are good people in the world who want to do good things, and I’m enormously moved by those people, so I think it just sort of heightens the heroism of somebody like Sam, to see her do good knowing that there’s no reward for it, knowing that in fact you pay a cost for doing the right thing.

Can I just move on to The X-Files briefly, just as we’re running out of time. We’re as keen as you are for The X-Files film trilogy to finally be completed. Do you have a script for the third film in place?

No. No I don’t. I mean I’ve known for many years what I would like the movie to be and I’ve been talking to Chris Carter about it for many years, but there is no script.

Is it still the big alien invasion movie you want to do?

Yes, it’s the climax of the alien colonisation story that began the series.

Do you foresee The X-Files ever pulling a Star Trek and returning to the small screen in a different incarnation?

I wouldn’t be surprised at all. I mean, I don’t think I would have anything to do with it but you know, for better or for worse, these things are titles of big corporations , like Star Trek belongs to Paramount and The X-Files belongs to Twentieth Century Fox and it’s a huge asset in their libraries so I can’t imagine they would let it sit languishing forever.

Mulder and Scully: The College Years?

Anything could happen. I just hope that if they do it, they do it well, that’s my only request.

Returning to Hunted, what do you think you learnt making it that you’ll take into future work?

Oh well, this was my first production in Europe and the way television is made here is completely different from the way it’s made in Hollywood. The whole thing was a huge learning experience and I got to work with so many amazing people. The actors I think are second to none in this country, the crew is incredibly dedicated and talented and the directors I had, starting with SJ Clarkson, who did the first two and ending with Dan Percival, who did the last two. You learn something by working with great people, so it was a great experience.

We haven’t scared you off then, you’re going to stick around in the UK?

I’m not going anywhere, not yet anyway!

Frank Spotnitz, thank you very much!

Hunted’s series one finale airs on BBC One this Thursday at 9pm and the series one DVD and Blu Ray is being released by Entertainment One on Monday the 26th of November.

Den Of Geek: Exclusive: Frank Spotnitz on The X-Files' potential return to TV

Nov-20-2012
Exclusive: Frank Spotnitz on The X-Files’ potential return to TV
Den Of Geek
Louisa Mellor

[Original article here]

Former executive producer of The X-Files “wouldn’t be surprised at all” if the show returned to the small screen…

With the BBC broadcast of Hunted finishing this Thursday, we chatted to series creator Frank Spotnitz about the BBC’s decision not to renew the spy drama, the show’s public reception, and his plans for the forthcoming HBO/Cinemax Hunted spin-off. That interview will be available to read in full tomorrow, but in the meantime, we thought you might be interested in this little snippet of The X-Files-related chat.

As a former executive producer of The X-Files, we first asked Spotnitz what the status was on the franchise’s planned third and final film (Spotnitz recently told Collider that he, Chris Carter and the cast want to press ahead, but the studio is dragging its feet based on the second movie’s performance):

We’re as keen as you are for The X-Files film trilogy to finally be completed. Do you have a script for the third film in place?

No. No I don’t. I mean I’ve known for many years what I would like the movie to be and I’ve been talking to Chris Carter about it for many years, but there is no script.

Is it still the big alien invasion movie you want to do?

Yes, it’s the climax of the alien colonisation story that began the series.

Do you foresee The X-Files ever pulling a Star Trek and returning to the small screen in a different incarnation?

I wouldn’t be surprised at all. I mean, I don’t think I would have anything to do with it, but you know, for better or for worse, these things are titles of big corporations, like Star Trek belongs to Paramount and The X-Files belongs to Twentieth Century Fox and it’s a huge asset in their libraries so I can’t imagine they would let it sit languishing forever.

Mulder and Scully: The College Years?

Anything could happen. I just hope that if they do it, they do it well, that’s my only request.

We’ll second that request. Straw poll though, over a decade since Millenium and The Lone Gunmen ended, who welcomes the idea of a new X-Files TV prequel/sequel/spin-off?

 

CraveOnline: Frank Spotnitz on ‘Hunted’ Season 1

Nov-17-2012
Frank Spotnitz on ‘Hunted’ Season 1
CraveOnline
Fred Topel

[Original article here]

The creator of Cinmax’s original spy series teases us about tonight’s “a-ha” episode and drops more hints about a third X-Files movie.

Cinemax’s latest original series, “Hunted” stars Melissa George” as Sam Hunter, an agent for the private intelligence firm Byzantium. Her current mission has Sam going undercover as a family’s nanny, and so far every situation has her fighting with or shooting at bad guys.

We got to chat with creator Frank Spotnitz by phone, while he is still in London where “Hunted” is based. We know Spotnitz from his years of work on “The X-Files” and “Millennium,” so we had to ask for an update on the third X-Files movie too.

CraveOnline: What feedback have you gotten so far as the first few episodes have aired in the states?

Frank Spotnitz: Pretty good. I’m pretty happy with the reviews. I’m one of those foolish people who goes online and looks at what people are saying on Twitter. It’s been pretty gratifying I have to say.

CraveOnline: We’ve seen two episodes so far. Where are things going to go from here?

Frank Spotnitz: Well, as you know, it’s very plot heavy, very dense and there’s lots and lots of twists and turns coming up. I’d say episode 5 is really the turning point in the whole show. I mean, everything changes in episode 5 but that’s not to say a lot doesn’t happen between episode 2 and episode 5. It does. More than I could summarize is going to happen in the next couple episodes.

CraveOnline: Even in episode 5, is that pretty soon to have a game changer in a first season?

Frank Spotnitz: It’s still the same story and everything like that, but there’s like a huge ah-ha moments where you understand how everything fits together in a way you may not see coming.

CraveOnline: How long does Sam’s undercover assignment as the nanny continue?

Frank Spotnitz: That story continues and it ends pretty definitively in the final episode. So in season two, knock wood, it’ll be a completely different assignment.

CraveOnline: How much fun do you have coming up with different encounters for Sam to fight and have action?

Frank Spotnitz: [Laughs] Well, I’m of a mixed mind I’ve got to say. I find those really hard to come up with, action sequences, because it is mechanical and you’re always trying to find the thing that sets it apart from any other action sequence you’ve seen before. You’re doing a TV timeframe and budget and yet you want to be as compelling as you can, so it’s a real challenge coming up with those things but they are fun. I mean, they’re really fun to put together and to see, so I’m not complaining.

CraveOnline: Did you get to direct any of those yourself?

Frank Spotnitz: I didn’t. I didn’t get to direct at all until the end. I directed just a few days towards the end because we were running out of time so I got to do some second unit at the end, but it was pretty much just acting scenes, no action.

CraveOnline: When you were casting actresses for Sam, were you looking for people who had experience with action, like she was on “Alias?”

Frank Spotnitz: Yes and no. Obviously she had to be somebody who looked a certain way because she’s supposed to seduce men in the show, so she’s got to be believable as a siren for men. Then she had to have that physicality which Melissa certainly does.

She’s incredibly fit. But the thing I was really looking for was, Sam is cold and invulnerable in her personal interactions, but if that’s all she is the show doesn’t really work. Most of the actresses I saw, they were good at playing the toughness and the coldness, but there was nothing underneath it. What I think Melissa brings to the role, I’m always aware there’s something going on underneath.

There’s this duality with her all the time, both when she’s Sam and you see there’s something underneath that surface that she doesn’t want you to see, and then when she’s undercover as Alex Kent, I can see the Sam poking through and that’s really hard to do. It’s easy to miss how difficult that is and that’s why the part was really hard to cast, just finding somebody who had that emotional depth.

CraveOnline:
You’ve worked in FBI and government genres before. What’s different about the spy world of “Hunted?”

Frank Spotnitz: The thing that struck me is that if you’re working for the FBI or even the CIA, you assume you’re the good guy, and you are. You’re trying to do the right thing for the American people. But when you go to work for a private security firm, you can’t make that assumption because you’re working for a private interest who has an objective and in many of these firms, as in the firm in my show, if you’re an operative, you’re not told who the client is.

So I thought that was really interesting for a spy show, not quite like anything I’d seen before, especially if you’re trying to create paranoia which this show is. To not know who you’re working for and whether you really should succeed or not I thought was really an interesting dilemma.

CraveOnline: Also do these agents get into a lot more fistfights and gunfights than Scully and Mulder did?

Frank Spotnitz: Yes, for sure. It’s a different genre. It’s really an action show and that was one of our tasks every week was to find really exciting action and stunts to put the characters in.

CraveOnline: Because Cinemax is primarily a movie channel, did they have any means or facility to accommodate that?

Frank Spotnitz: Well, they knew it was what they wanted for their audience, but they really left it up to me and my partners at Kudos here in London to figure out how to get it done. It was challenging at times because, for instance, the opening of episode 1 we shot at Morocco and that’s quite a big action sequence there.

You’ve got the action outside the theater where Sam seems to get assassinated, then her being chased through the Kasbah and then that whole thing at the café where she fights off those three men, sets one of them on fire, it was a giant undertaking to do that in Morocco, but we managed to pull it off.

CraveOnline: Is it an advantage that you’re allowed to be a little more explicit on Cinemax?

Frank Spotnitz: Yeah, it’s nice. I think this is a really great time to be working in television. I guess that’s not a surprise to anybody but the creative freedom that all this original programming that cable channels are offering is unparalleled. It’s unimaginable, 15 years ago when I was doing “The X-Files,” that you’d be able to write things like this and have the kinds of situations and dialogue that you can do now.

Having said that though, I’m not eager to push things just for the sake of pushing things. There’s a number of fight sequences for instance that I pulled back. What was shot was far more explicit, but I decided you don’t really need to see that. It doesn’t help you tell the story in any way. So there’s a line. I think it’s a line that you approach it and it’s great and then you can go past it, and I try not to go past it.

 


CraveOnline: How do you get that blue tint that the show has?

Frank Spotnitz: Well, the blue really was noticeable especially episode 1 because the director, S.J. Clarkson wanted to make Tangier have this kind of golden hue to it and then Scotland this kind of green and then London this cool blue. That we did in the color correction sessions, but as the show goes on, we stay in London so the palette of that blue fades. It loses its purpose if you keep doing it so if you’re paying really close attention, it becomes more and more subtle as the series goes on and it’s very subtle by the time you get to episode 8.

CraveOnline:
Is there something about the spy genre that lends itself to blue tinted cinematography like the Bourne movies?

Frank Spotnitz: She thought it was helping to tell the story because in Tangier, Sam was at her best. This was leading up to her being shot, she was at the top of her game. Then she goes to Scotland which is sort of safety, a refuge. And then coming back to London, it was sort of the cold, hard world of Byzantium and that’s why blue seemed appropriate. So it was more an attempt to key in on her emotional state.

CraveOnline: How many of the scripts for season 1 did you write?

Frank Spotnitz: I wrote five of the episodes and then I collaborated in our writer’s room, which is really unusual in this country, with three British writers, each of whom wrote one episode.

CraveOnline: How does this kind of writer’s room compare to what you had on “The X-Files?”

Frank Spotnitz: Well, it’s smaller because in “The X-Files” we were doing 24 episodes a year and here we’re only doing eight. They are eight full hours though. They’re 58 minutes long whereas “X-Files” tended to be more like 45 minutes long because it was on a broadcast network with commercial breaks.

CraveOnline: But “The X-Files” worked in those massive arcing story elements.

Frank Spotnitz: Yes, yes. It’s interesting because those story arcs were really only in six to eight episodes a year out of the 24. Now when I do shows with mythology, people expect them to be in every single episode and they miss it if it’s not there. That’s not the way “The X-Files” did it and I think that was one of the secrets to “The X–Files”’ longevity was that it didn’t move the mythology along that quickly.

CraveOnline: Have you gotten a second season order from Cinemax yet?

Frank Spotnitz: I am waiting with baited breath and feeling optimistic so I should know soon hopefully.

CraveOnline: When would you gear up to produce that?

Frank Spotnitz: That’s a good question. I assume we’d start shooting early in 2013.

CraveOnline: I know you’ve been busy with “Hunted” but has there been any talk or movement in the X-Files movie world?

Frank Spotnitz: Well, yeah. Honestly, it comes down to the studio saying yes, but I continue to talk to Chris Carter who wants to do it, as do David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. I have no news to announce sadly, but I am not giving up hope. I hope that there will be a third and final movie that brings “The X-Files” alien colonization story to a climax.

CraveOnline: So the next one would have to be the last?

Frank Spotnitz: Never say never, but my hope would be to give it the really satisfying, powerful ending that it deserves. I would be very content, speaking for myself now, I can’t speak for David or Chris or Gillian, but for myself I’d be just really happy to give it a great ending.

CraveOnline: Is that ending made up of material you’ve been sitting on since the finale of the series?

Frank Spotnitz:
Well, yes. In truth, it’s changed because it took so long to get the second movie made and then we were hoping that this third movie would happen before 2012 which was a significant date in the “X-Files” mythology and obviously it hasn’t happened.

But there’s a core group of story ideas that Chris and I have been discussing for I guess about a decade now, hard to believe. Yes, we have a lot of ideas about what should happen in that movie.

CraveOnline: You mentioned David and Gillian, but would Agent Doggett have any role in it?

Frank Spotnitz:
I can’t say. That’s sort of like a spoiler to say whether he’d be in it or not. All I can say is that I love that character and I love Robert Patrick, so it wouldn’t make me unhappy if he was in it.

CraveOnline: You also got to work with Vince Gilligan for many years. What have you thought of his success with “Breaking Bad?”

Frank Spotnitz: Ah, Vince is one of the nicest, most talented people I’ve ever met and a good friend. I think “Breaking Bad” is not just a great show, it’s one of the all time great shows. I love that show to death. I tune in every week like a fan and am just in awe of it. I’m just so proud of him and happy for him. It’s so well deserved because he’s worked for that success. It’s really remarkable I think.

CraveOnline: “Hunted” is really only the second original series on Cinemax. Do you feel like you’re on the ground floor of a new network?

Frank Spotnitz: I pinch myself because it was by accident. I came here to do “Hunted” and as soon as I got here there was a delay. So I found myself sitting around in London, like what am I going to do with myself, and so I said we’ll see if I can get a job writing something, which I’d never really done in my career, just looking for a job as a writer for hire.

Sure enough this show “Strike Back” needed somebody to help figure out how to make it a coproduction with the U.S. I ended up writing the first four episodes of that which became the first original show that Cinemax put on, and they were so happy with what I did that they said, “What else do you have?” And I go, “Oh, this show ‘Hunted’ that I’m going to be doing with the BBC.”

That’s how it happened. It was a complete accident. The people at Cinemax are the people at HBO. They’re terrific, really smart, really supportive. They do their jobs very, very well so I’m just really, really fortunate.

Wired: Taking a Cue From The X-Files, Spy Thriller Hunted Keeps Things Complex

Oct-19-2012
Taking a Cue From The X-Files, Spy Thriller Hunted Keeps Things Complex
Wired
Hugh Hart

[Original article here]

Creating a TV series that starts off with a bang and actually gets better instead of dissolving into generic pap (sorry, Revolution) is clearly a lot harder than it looks. As evidenced by high-concept flops like Alcatraz and Terra Nova, long-form television mythologies too often lose momentum when they should be building suspense.

New head-spinning thriller Hunted proves to be a satisfying exception.

The brainy action series from former The X-Files writer-producer Frank Spotnitz, which debuts Friday on Cinemax at 10 p.m./9 Central, centers on private security operative Sam Hunter. Played by an intense, athletic Melissa George (In Treatment, Alias), Sam comes across sullen, shrewd, psychologically damaged or sexy — whatever the mission calls for. She establishes her ass-kicking cred by snapping necks, shooting, kicking, punching and otherwise neutralizing a half-dozen attackers in a matter of minutes during the series’ opening sequence.

On first viewing, the mission, set in the chaotic streets of Tangier, Morocco, seems totally confusing. But the beauty of Hunted is that all this murky mayhem will eventually make complete sense, once Spotnitz and company plunge deeper into their Mobius strip-like mystery: Sam, equally plagued by recent betrayal and a traumatic childhood, belongs to a glum crew of backbiting Londoners employed at private security firm Byzantium.

(Spoiler alert: Minor plot points follow.)

Hunted pits Hunter against pitiless capitalist Jack Turner (ferociously portrayed by Patrick Malahide), who’s intent on building a dam in Pakistan. Byzantium’s anonymous client wants to shut him down. Simultaneously, Hunted teases out a huge Da Vinci Code-style conspiracy that keeps revealing new layers like so many Matryoshka nesting dolls.

After watching the first five episodes, Wired asked Spotnitz how he keeps Hunted‘s insanely complex storyline from running off the rails. “It was extremely challenging not only because the narrative is full of so many twists and turns, but because so many people are lying to each other,” Spotnitz replied in an e-mail. “No two people have the same understanding of what’s going on. That sometimes made it difficult keeping track of who knew what. But we were really pleased with the way it all came together in the end.”

Hunted‘s intertwined storylines include a “we’ve got a mole” subplot, but the familiar dilemma gains fresh dimension here because the very notion of a heroic purpose appears to be missing in action.

“In a traditional spy story, we assume our spies are the good guys,” said Spotnitz, who huddled for six months with three other writers and a story editor to make sure all the pieces fit together. “Whether or not everything the U.S. or British government does is good, I think we take it for granted that they’re trying to do the right thing. But when you enter the private world, you can make no such assumptions. Private interests are trying to accumulate wealth and power, and whether that serves the public interest or a greater good is purely incidental. I thought this was an extremely interesting subject worth exploring.”

Spotnitz became intrigued with the world of spies-for-hire after taking note of the private Blackwater operatives in Iraq and the 2008 financial meltdown.

“So much has been outsourced, downsized or privatized,” he said. “We live in a world where private, corporate power has never been greater. I didn’t realize when I first started doing research how ubiquitous private security firms have become. There are thousands of them! They weren’t that difficult to find and, surprisingly, they were very happy to talk about what they do.”

The X-Files Legacy

Like Vince Gilligan, creator of meth-dealing uber drama Breaking Bad, Spotnitz got schooled in the art of long-gestating story payoffs while working as a writer-producer on The X-Files. “Probably the two biggest lessons I carry with me from The X-Files are to be ambitious and to never write down to your audience,” he said.

Elaborating on the subject during a press conference last summer, Spotnitz said, “When The X Files started, the word ‘mythology’ was not in the vocabulary of network television. The internet was just coming and I remember looking at newsgroups to see how observant the fans were. We began to realize that we could thread clues, and sometimes wait two or three years before you picked up the thread again, and not only would fans notice it but they would reward you for it because you were rewarding their loyalty.”

Hunted, structured as an eight-episode season, shifts thematic focus from X-Files’ obsession with government cover-ups to a post-9/11 landscape populated by mercenary agents and their morally suspect corporate overseers. But in one key regard, Hunted extends Chris Carter’s X-Files credo: “I think you’re more engaged with the show if you’re not being spoon-fed,” Spotnitz said.

The takeaway, for potential Hunted viewers: Pay attention and be patient. “Something happens, and two or three episodes later you’ll see the connection,” Spotnitz promised.