X-Files mythology, TenThirteen Interviews Database, and more

Archive for May, 2023

Social media archive: 2023 (part 4)

Archived from the Eat The Corn Facebook page.


May 06, 2023 20:11

A nice little interview with @[100057694884330:2048:Frank Spotnitz] from a month ago.

Midway through he talks about the experience of being in writers staff. It sounds both like a dream job and like a nightmare, you gave it your all or you’re out. I can understand why those who lived through it have a devotion to the captain of the ship Chris Carter and feel a very strong bond with each other. And I can also understand why the writers group were seen as a sort of single gentlemen’s club:

  • Spotnitz and Carter first talked toward the end of the first season. Mid-season 2, Spotnitz was recruited directly, straight out of film school, not as freelance, but to come on staff, to replace the best writers who were leaving (Morgan and Wong)!
  • Carter “was a very demanding boss, it was a very competitive environment”. “It was exactly the show for me, having watched #startrek and The #twilightzone as a kid, I got it.”
  • In 3 years he got from staff writer to executive producer, from the bottom to the top.
  • The best things about Carter were “his ruthless intelligence and his incredible ambition”. “It could not be good enough, he demanded everybody give their best, if it wasn’t enough you’d leave [at] 11 at night.” “For 8 years I lived and breathed The X-Files.” The obsessed writer in Milagro was him, “I spent more time thinking about these fictitious [sic] characters than any real person in my real life.”
  • Carter demanded and insisted, and that’s why all those writers did all this good work. “It wasn’t always fun, it was certainly stressful.”

https://www.spreaker.com/user/10740198/eyewitness-history-frank-spotnitz-with-a


May 12, 2023 21:03

@[100050989916643:2048:The Companion] has an exclusive reunion discussion between @[100057694884330:2048:Frank Spotnitz], Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish! (Well, the actual recording was made in July 2022 and was available to Companion patrons – more TXF and other content is available there!).

Podcast: https://share.transistor.fm/s/a502d03e
Video: https://www.thecompanion.app/the-x-files-doggett-reyes-reunion-video/

As usual, a summary of what was said:

This is the first time they all meet since show ended, approximately.

FS: in preparation for this interview, it’s the first time he rewatched s8-9 episodes in 20 years.

The casting process:

  • RP didn’t audition, he met with CC and FS, and read for the network with Rick Millikan.
  • AG auditioned with Rick, then tested for the network; she was nervous, remembers CC didn’t want her to wear a belt and liked the pants she was wearing specifically, and the adjective for Reyes was “sunny”.

Shooting TXF:

  • RP remembers joining a juggernaut, FS was very calming, there were a lot in the fanbase who were not happy.
  • RP wanted to work in network TV after working on The Sopranos.
  • AG remembers the production was a family, it was a machine of chaos and beauty.
  • FS: they consciously crafted characters to respond to fans’ expectations that this is not M&S.
  • RP: Doggett is his favourite character he’s played, close with Scorpion.
  • AG: Doggett was a harbinger of new masculinity, tough but with a heart of gold.
  • FS: “all TXF characters were emotionally repressed”.
  • AG: in all characters there are restraints.
  • FS: CC had said you don’t write the emotion in the script, you let the actors play the emotion.
  • FS: with new characters there were new opportunities, storytelling changed in the final 2 seasons, the show took a Twilight Zone feel.
  • FS: while making Alone he realised that directing is the best job, he had the same experience with Daemonicus.
  • Thanks are given to Tony Wharmby, John Shiban, Vince Gilligan, Michelle McLaren.
  • Kim Manners wanted to direct John Doe so bad, but schedules resulted in Michelle McLaren getting it.
  • RP remembers meeting DD in his trailer.
  • FS: in William’s birth scene, “Reyes is like sister to Scully”.
  • AG: in conventions, everybody asks her to do whale songs. She doesn’t speak Spanish, she learnt some for John Doe.
  • RP & AG remember the long working hours of the “Fraturdays”.
  • FS remembers his wife Melissa was responsible for AG meeting her husband Wade (Allen), RP remembers himself introducing them. Wade was RP’s “krav maga guy”, he was a production assistant on TXF.
  • RP’s son Sam was born during his first episodes on TXF. He remembers shooting Within/Without in the desert in Borrego Springs (they say it’s the same place as William’s birth place [actually no, but The Truth was also filmed there]), his wife Barbara was very pregnant, it was very hot. He remembers calling Michelle McLaren to say he would miss shooting because she was delivering. He remembers Barbara shooting Release.
  • RP has been friends with Lance Henriksen since 1989.
  • FS: CC was the first to arrive and the last to leave. Kim Manners poured his heart and soul in it, he never got jaded.
    There was no ad libbing on TXF, everything was scripted. There were read throughs during lunch with the cast. There was even ADR during lunch breaks.
  • AG: TXF had money and time, so they could rehearse a bit, it is not the case any more in modern productions.

Favourites:

  • RP: Via Negativa
  • AG: 4D, Audrey Pauley
  • FS: Via Negativa was inspired by a dream where he squeezes toothpaste and blood comes out, and he didn’t know what was reality any more. He loved Redrum, 4D, Audrey Pauley, Release.

The original ending and the original plans:

  • FS: remembers shooting The Truth, Reyes’ monologue “was my last gift to TXF”.
  • AG: there was a lot of frustration then.
  • FS remembers a New York Times Magazine articles 2 weeks after 9/11 saying that TXF was no longer “in” but “out” and ratings were down. When the show ended there was a planned movie franchise, they had planned multiple storylines with Mulder, Scully, Doggett, Reyes; but the CC/Fox lawsuit dragged for 5 years and after that Fox wanted no aliens, only a small monster of the week movie.
  • RP remembers shooting in Stage 7 (Scary Monsters?) and CC came, he wanted RP to be the first to know they were not returning, RP was devastated, if they were not cancelled he would have done it forever.

On the revival:

  • RP: Joel McHale’s monologue in My Struggle 1 was “right on”, it was a precursor to today’s world.
  • FS: “the revival was tough for me”, he wanted to do it but he couldn’t get involved.
  • RP was asked in the revival and he wanted to do it but he was contractually engaged elsewhere.
  • AG was happy to go back, but her role didn’t make sense, “I didn’t understand what I was doing”, FS was missed.
  • Reyes smoking Morleys in her first episode then turning to the dark side in the revival: that was not in FS’s mind at the time, but certainly CC thought about that in the revival. Reyes was conceived to be more relaxed and human as a character.

On where they are now:

  • AG imagines Doggett and Reyes still “orbiting each other”, but not together.
  • RP: TXF had values, the country is looking for that kind of leadership.
  • FS: today, Reyes would be high up in the FBI hierarchy. Doggett would have left the FBI in disgust. Reyes would like Doggett back. Season 12 would start with Doggett being called back.
  • FS: all 4 characters had integrity. “There’s a hunger for values, things that unite right and left”. What TXF stands for is relevant right now.


May 17, 2023 15:08

YES! “#TheXFiles: The Official Archives Volume II: Extraterrestrial Activity and the Syndicate” by Paul Terry Cellarscape will be out 21 Dec 2023! Can’t wait to see mythology-related props up close!

“A fully authorized, richly illustrated inside look at the case files of Mulder and Scully’s encounters with extraterrestrial activity and the Syndicate.
Following the revelations of the cases declassified in The X-Files: The Official Archives: Cryptids, Biological Anomalies, and Parapsychic Phenomena comes this vital second volume of top-secret X-files. The X-Files: The Official Archives: Volume II: Extraterrestrial Activity and the Syndicate details Agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder’s close encounters with alien beings and exposes the secrets of the shadowy Syndicate. Featuring UFOs, little green men, and the conspiracies to hide them from the public, these richly detailed and painstakingly re-created case files open up the X-Files universe like never before. These vital cases served as the backbone to the cult television series and provided a powerful throughline and emotional lifeline for Agent Mulder. Now, through archival imagery and unredacted reports, fans can experience firsthand the thrills of some of the series’ most beloved episodes, including “Deep Throat,” “Jose Chung’s from Outer Space,” “Fight the Future,” “Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man,” and many more.”

(no image yet – this is Volume 1)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/X-Files-Official-Archives-Extraterrestrial-Syndicate/dp/1419771396/


May 22, 2023 17:06

[SPANISH] Soy un gran fan de la música de . En éste gran podcast se habla en detalles del soundtrack que se estrenó en 1996, “Songs in the Key of X” y fue un gran placer escuchar todo eso — Nick Cave, Foo Fighters, Soul Coughing… Pero NO se habla en bien de la música monumental de Mark Snow. Así que no voy a hacer la promoción de este episodio que se puede escuchar aquí:

https://www.facebook.com/AguanteMulder/posts/pfbid02A4jQFsx62yH1oKpkyaXkkLEXWAtHCiaQsdb27UDEjfTQYWEuzfrVtxzMDoCJtTSFl


May 23, 2023 13:24

[SPANISH] Sigue el podcast Aguante Mulder sobre la música de , esta vez sobre la música de las dos películas, sobre todo “The Album” de Fight the Future (con Filter, Foo Fighters, y sobre todo mi favorito, el instrumental de Noel Gallagher, Teotihuacan!) pero también con las algunas canciones de I Want To Believe. De nuevo, se habla poco de Mark Snow, pero es un placer escuchar una discusión sobre estos productos derivados.

PD: en Eat The Corn analizamos la explicación de toda la mitología por Chris Carter al final del CD de FTF aquí: https://www.eatthecorn.com/1013-the-truth-revealed/

https://www.facebook.com/AguanteMulder/posts/pfbid02N4cqVH81c5j2wK3riBr6pKUk3Pe6qqo9eVm1vmLHmK3PH78Nf9DZqASYysSjPrPPl

 

Social media archive: 2023 (part 3)

Archived from the Eat The Corn Facebook page.


Apr 06, 2023 19:54

New Chris Carter interview, courtesy of the Conspiracy podcast @[195561691234370:274:Sammensværgelsen – en dansk X-Files podcast]!

As usual, summary below [and my comments]:

  • Was the original plan to stop after 5 seasons and do a movie franchise after? “No”. [Ha! Persistent rumour has been shot down. So this information, as old as the internet, must only refer to the objective of making enough episodes to go to syndication, not anything related to the mythology or long-term planning.]
  • CC reminisces about making the first movie (25 years ago!). They didn’t try to bring Armin Mueller-Stahl (Strughold) back after the film in season 6 because he lives in Europe; CC did think of him for season 11 (hence the role of Mr Y was created).
  • CC recently wrote something with Terry O’Quinn (Peter Watts in Millennium, among others) in mind for a role, but he’s busy. [CC seems to have plenty of projects, but nothing has materialized yet.]
  • The mix of episodic-serialized was conceived from the beginning before the pilot was made.
  • CC is still very proud of “Duane Barry”, the first episode he directed. He used David Nutter’s method of using drawings for planning the blocking of scenes.
  • CC’s “Syzygy” was “directly inspired” by Darin Morgan’s “Humbug”. [Obvious, but finally, a direct confirmation!]
  • He no longer remembers the plans he and Spotnitz had for films after season 9 regarding the 2012 and the alien invasion. [So much information about all this is now water under the bridge…]
  • Again, CC reiterates that he never imagined that “My Struggle IV” would be the finale of the show.
  • CC let the cat out of the bag with that interview about the Ryan Coogler remount of TXF, Fox TV actually wants to make a big announcement about it. [So Disney is very much serious about this project. I expect we’ll know more not too long from now.]
  • Fox/Disney entirely owns TXF, so they can do whatever they like, they just have been kind enough to be collaborative with CC in their decisions up to now. [Contrary to what I thought, CC/Ten Thirteen doesn’t co-own the brand! Perhaps CC’s involvement is good news in this case.]
  • CC cancelled the “Albuquerque” TXF animated project because he couldn’t imagine it without Mulder and Scully. [But wouldn’t Coogler’s re-whatever be without M&S too? Or is Coogler planning to recast M&S?]
  • CC and Glen Morgan discussed at length making a prequel around the Cigarette-Smoking Man shortly after season 11, Morgan pitched it, but couldn’t convince Fox about it. [I can’t imagine what this would look like! Unreliable narrator like in “Musings”? Mythology-only with historical persons cameos like Dark Skies? Sound like a mythology fan’s wet dream, but I can’t imagine it being more than a limited series.]
  • CC and Glen Morgan discussed at length doing a reboot of , but “we put that on the back burner, it’s closed right now”. [Impressive, but disappointing, and he didn’t expand on why they abandoned it. Interesting that Carter & Morgan worked together on all these potential projects! I’m curious if a MM reboot could have worked — Carter has used the word ‘reboot’ for the TXF revival as well, so they might have had a MM revival in mind with Lance Henriksen, now 82, as old as Patrick Stewart in Star Trek Picard. Possible, but also an extremely uphill battle.]

https://www.facebook.com/Sammensvaergelsen/posts/pfbid027KW8h9uadi7pTk819Nucz5uSgzQjH1eBeCZxcJbx26L53cygxvGzArLunRk9Wfr5l

https://sammensvaergelsen.libsyn.com/website/interview-chris-carter-2


Apr 13, 2023 10:11

[FRENCH] Podcast sur le film , sorti il y a quand même 25 ans ! A l’époque, l’excitation était à son comble. Habitant en Europe, le film était sorti des mois après les Etats-Unis, et j’avais été spoilé sur une grande partie des révélations mythologiques en lisant des magazines.

https://podcast.ausha.co/le-coin-pop/the-x-files-fight-the-future-le-premier-film


May 05, 2023 20:23

Coverage of a January interview with Chris Carter (catching up on my backlog) from @[100064600333206:2048:The X-Cast\: An X-Files Podcast]!

A summary and highlights below [with my comments]:

About :

  • DD & GA’s casting process with Randy Stone: they were both CC’s first choices. On the casting sheets, CC wrote for DD “yes”, for GA “test”. CC stuck to his guns to cast GA, there was a second actress that the network wanted. [We will probably never know who that was!]
  • Their chemistry was obvious already from shooting that first scene in the basement office.
  • Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish both got their roles thanks to their previous work, they didn’t actually read for their parts. Fire in the Sky was a precursor to TXF and CC cast RP because of it.
  • On the pilot: there are tweaks he could make to it; a comedic bit that he could have left in (during the driving scene, Mulder makes a joke about a bagel), but he wanted the show to be dramatic before comedic; he didn’t know if the bloody nose effect would work.
  • Gender-consistent choice would have been for man to be skeptic, woman to be intuitive, M&S made the pilot distinctive.
  • TXF’s serialized quality was a precursor to today’s shows. The first movie resulted in season 8’s serialized approach, the show took a “right turn”. [Linking FTF to s8 is an odd connection, given how much later s8 happened and the circumstances around DD’s partial presence. Note the use of “right turn”, the same expression CC used for describing the revival mythology compared to what came before, for him it looks like this can mean something new in style or in content.]
  • Advice to aspiring show-runners: stick to your guns. So many people gave notes, and that impacted the quality and compromised the excellence of what CC set out to do. Of all the people who gave CC notes, now there are only two in business. [I love a show-runner with a vision. But doesn’t CC sound a bit vindictive here?]
  • TXF/Picket Fences cross-over was cancelled by the network to avoid a cross-pollination of audience.
  • Challenging times: shooting End Game, Paper Clip, FTF, that year of TXF s5 + FTF + MM s2 (and 20+ episode seasons) was the hardest year of his life. [I can believe that!]
  • Again, he stresses that he didn’t do this show alone and that it was a team effort. Throughout, there are nods to Dan Sackheim, Bob Goodwin, David Nutter, Peter Wunstorf (MM pilot director of photography), Kim Manners, Rob Bowman, Frank Spotnitz, Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, the women who worked on the show. [I have criticized CC myself on certain storytelling choices, but I will never criticize how strong he was as an overall show-runner, pushing and motivating everyone around him.]

About the revival:

  • My Struggle I & II appear to have pleased the “Q-Anon crowd”, and he doesn’t know what to think about that. [As Darin Morgan astutely commented in his episode, conspiracies no longer mean what they meant in the 1990s in general culture. Difficult to do TXF’s mythology today in the same way as back then.]
  • While shooting was going on for My Struggle IV, he was still undecided about the ending. Gillian Anderson made some comments online about this being the end for her. So he had to make some dramatic choices for the ending. [Again, this doesn’t align that well with the chronology of events, unless Carter didn’t believe Anderson meant it until the 11th hour.]

About :

  • David Fincher sought Carter out, they had lunch and discussed the project of doing the greatest serial killer series, which turned out to be #mindhunter, which Carter finds excellent [it is!], CC feels Millennium was an inspiration.
  • The Millennium pilot was the result of TXF: “Irresistible”, there was an appetite for telling stories about things that were not supernatural.
  • CC feels sorry that MM went off the air, he inadvertently pulled the plug on it, whereas Fox would have gone forward with a 4th season and maybe more. Given that CC was going to launch Harsh Realm, he wouldn’t have had time to spend on MM, and that was a premature decision. CC advised Jon Bokenkamp, the creator of #TheBlacklist, on its pilot an on how to spend your energy; years later, Bokenkamp was hesitating to pull the plug on the series and CC told him it would be a mistake: you never know where your next hit will be, you’d better stay with the winner until the bitter end. [This is an interesting confession from CC. The mind races with what could have been: MM seasons 4 and 5? On the other hand, this approach of sticking with what works no matter what is a two-edged swords, it explains CC’s unwillingness to ever, ever end TXF despite the writing being on the wall.]
  • More MM/TXF crossovers would have happened if MM had continued. [And I would hope better too!]
  • Recently, he saw Ryan Murphy’s Jeffrey #dahmer series and liked it, and this inspired him to talk to “somebody” about a MM reboot. [I am both excited and afraid. Amazing how the greenlight for many projects seems to be dependent on the mood of TV executives and what’s trendy these days.]

About the legacy of the show:

  • The TXF novel that is currently being worked on follows on chronologically from the events of My Struggle IV. [All previous tie-in novels have essentially been stand-alone investigations and I can’t imagine a novel continuing the story in a substantial way, it will feel weird if it does. Until it’s retconned by something else in the future, like with the comics?]
  • He thinks that Joe Harris did an excellent job with the comics, but doesn’t remember much about the MM comics. [Nice! But again, too bad that the revival de-canonized them and that the revival forced Harris’ Season 11 being cut short from the initial plans.]
  • If anybody watches 30 years from now, it will be because of Mulder and Scully and their relationship.
  • There are no plans for the show’s 30th anniversary this year. [So nothing from Fox/Disney, only fan-organized events.]

https://www.facebook.com/xfilespod/posts/pfbid02Pk9Eu2TeoTugyWmHxKGjfF6YU1KyxoPneA5DScomxhdNhRcNcRKTrt7DJvyThEuPl

https://pod.link/1157097612/episode/534ef2668ededfe3790cfc22a5ef805d