WormholeRiders News Agency

Category: Cons10

The conventions that WormholeRiders News Agency covered in 2010!

Do You Know His Name? It’s Robert K. Weeks Sr. Rest In Peace – Father, Veteran & WormholeRider!
Welcome to 2013 WormholeRiders for a task I promised to complete,

In 2012, humanity lost many critically acclaimed individuals to death. While dying is part of life on our fair planet, some are not ready to die, while others prepare for it. As we will discuss herein, those ready to move beyond reality as we know it must ask themselves; Are You Ready to Die, Do You Know My Name, and Who I Really Was?

At WormholeRiders News Agency, we lost one of our most respected critics, advisers and contributors, Robert K. Weeks Sr., my wonderful father, who passed in December of 2012 before completing his 87th year of life.

In the twenty-first century, Robert K. Weeks Sr. looked to accomplish several things that were a reflection of his past. Robert believed in the following which he tried to teach to his family. I learned this at a young age, while some I know never will be able to do so:

“What robs you of power, is anytime you take a position and you attach yourself to it. So power in the world is represented by being able to operate in it in a condition of no agreement from a position which you are not attached to – to be able to take a point of view, hold it in the face of no agreement, and yet not be attached to that point of view. So that the moment that that point of view is no longer appropriate, you’ll be able to drop it instantly. And that represents power, or that thing which serves people to be able to allow them to look at their own minds.”

Robert K. Weeks Sr. loved being around people and attending entertainment events and conventions. In the last years of his life he enjoyed Creation Entertainments Star Trek vendors room at the Saint Francis Hotel, The Alternative Press Exposition, and most of all Wonder Con, all in San Francisco during 2009, 2010 and 2011 during his 8th decade of life.

We here at WHR ask you understand why we honor Robert K. Weeks Sr., who had great involvement with WormholeRiders, casinos, entertainment, news, his family, his beloved wife, the love of his life, Jeannie Marie Weeks, all the while fighting for fairness and understanding against all odds until the end of his life.

Robert loved the Golden Gate Bridge, Stargate, 24, Star Wars (in specific, the wisdom of Yoda) and had great admiration for John Noble’s portrayal of Walter Bishop in Fringe, William Shatner as Captain Kirk and Sir Patrick Stewart as Captain Picard in Star Trek.

Although Robert thought Sean Connery was the best “007” in Goldfinger, he loved Roger Craig as the new James Bond feeling that the new films more accurately reflected the works of Ian Fleming of which he admired!

I will never forget his glee at being at the Moscone Convention Center meeting celebrities and fans who came to see Fringe, V Series, and Human Target among many others.

We include an interview below from April 2010 which reflects his pride and knowledge of the city he loved, San Francisco.
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A Brief History of Robert K. Weeks Sr.:

Robert K. Weeks Sr. was born October 15, 1926 in San Francisco. He loved entertainment since his earliest pre adolescent days at the movies in the 1930’s when they cost a mere ten cents, often with a big bag of popcorn included in the price of admission!

Mind you ten cents was a lot of money during the Great Depression, but as discussed in his interview above, Robert worked as a newspaper boy turning over almost all the money he earned to his parents to help support his family. The only exception was the ten cents needed to gain admission to the movies he loved to see each weekend.

This followed with his involvement during World War Two in the Pacific where he took great pride in working with entertainment industry staff showing movies during his time with the Army Pictorial Service where hundreds of thousands enjoyed time away from war by watching feature films. This after he became involved with the first stereophonic films as a projectionist in San Francisco before joining the Unites States Army to fight the evil that threatened to loot the Earth.

Image courtesy Toledo Blade

Before entering the war, as he sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge, Robert was sure that he would never see the city he loved, San Francisco, ever again. He re-called the greatest mistake of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), when as a high school student he witnessed his friends, Japanese American citizens taken away, who were removed directly from his classrooms to face unjust interment.

With so many being lost to fight the scourge of the Nazi’s in Europe and the fascist Japanese in Asia, knowing he would be part of the pending invasion of Japan, Robert was certain he would make the ultimate sacrifice for freedom.

Image courtesy Found San Francisco Dot Org

Although an admirer of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Robert never agreed with FDR’s decision in 1942 to unjustly imprison United States citizens over racial fear and race hatred.

Those taken were Robert’s personal Japanese friends, patriots themselves who went on to join the fabled 442nd Division who saved so many, answering the question “Are You Ready to Die?” at the cost of their own lives fighting for freedom against tyranny.

Robert’s love of life included a Courts Martial in the Philippines with loss of rank for failing to “shoot to kill” innocent citizens involved who were attempting to feed their families who had been starved nearly to death by occupying Japanese soldiers.

Robert had no issue with the “shoot to kill” order for combatants. He did “shoot to kill” to save his fellow soldiers and once to save his own life when a supply depot was overrun by Japanese soldiers outside Leyte.

Image courtesy Wikipedia

Robert faced Courts Martial because as an expert marksman, he would “wing” the civilians, not once but several times. His superior officers, knowing of Robert’s great skill with firearms, knew he was deliberately saving the lives of the civilian looters against their orders. Robert was then re-assigned to a unit of the US Army Pictorial Service where he served with the entertainment industry until his honorable discharge from the US Army in 1946.

After the war, returning to San Francisco to his parents whom he loved and honored until their death, Robert moved to Las Vegas when the city had but a single street. During his time there, Robert met, partied, gambled, and drank with many more celebrities, entertainment industry executives and politicians who would use the booming city as one of their “Hollywood getaway” locations.

Earning respect among them for his high ethical standards, Robert would call upon these powerful people later in life to fight injustice and help those less fortunate in life after many successes that made him a wealthy man in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

Image Courtesy Found San Francisco Dot Org

During the Civil Rights Riots in San Francisco during 1966, a city still suffering from racial prejudice dating back to the United States Civil War of the 1860’s when California was allied with the Confederate Slave States of the South, Robert made it his personal goal to hire and train racial minorities so they could have good paying jobs to support their families.

While others cars were being fire bombed, as police manned the streets to stop the the riots, Robert was safely escorted by community leaders through the dangerous Hunters Point, Bay View and Potrero Hill districts by black leaders for his service to their community, including generous donations of food to the poorest of citizens from his thriving mobile catering business that spanned the entire San Francisco Bay Area.

Like many good people who rise to power, others, some racially prejudiced from his circle of so-called friends, later plotted against him to take away what he had worked so hard for. Partly due to his own penchant for drinking and gambling from his time in Las Vegas, Robert thought that people could be trusted if only he did the “right things” in life as an example to them. He was incorrect in this regard, a lesson that everyone often needs to learn the “hard way” in the “school of the hard knocks of life”.

Stricken with several heart attacks and strokes from alcohol abuse, Robert’s food service empire crumbled as his enemies, vultures all, swooped in to devour what he had created.

After many years of rehabilitation thanks to hundreds of dedicated doctors and nurses at the Fort Miley VA Medical Center, part of the United States Veterans Administration, Robert became involved with several business ventures, some successful, including a return to the historic Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in 1980.

Robert was once again stabbed in the back by his partner in 1986 who embezzled funds from a Four Star San Francisco restaurant, television and movie location catering project, Bay Area Location Catering, a successful endeavor that he had worked so hard on.

Many blamed him rather than seek the truth as had the Grand Jury who cleared him of any wrong doing thanks to a computerized records keeping system developed by this editor that documented he was innocent of wrong doing.

Members of his own family, including two of his selfish children often blamed him and others for their own problems. These two of his children attempted to loot his mother’s and sister’s estates after their deaths, including theft of jewelry, personal property and manipulation of real estate land titles.

Robert K. Weeks Sr. forgave them as any father should, but they never really forgave him for catching them “red handed” with their hands “in the cookie jar” of the family estate.

They retaliated by forcing a sale of his mother’s ranch property rather than work in unison as a family to save the historic estate that had been a family retreat for over 185 years before California was even part of the United States of America.

It broke Robert’s heart when one of his children refused any and all offers to save “The Ranch”.

Their most heinous act was on June 17 2011, the day before Fathers Day, when the two threatened that unless he went along with their plans to favor them over his other children, among other things best left unmentioned at this time, that he would never be allowed to see his grandson or ex-wife ever again.

They made good on their threat, tormenting him for the next 18 months, only relinquishing to allow him to speak to his wife via telephone on his death bed.

In his last words, Robert, whom was “Ready to Die” after fighting and winning against heart failure for over 32 years, asked me to share these words in a news report with you here at WormholeRiders to say “I forgive them and love them”.

Many hours of high definition video of Robert K. Weeks’ adventures in life are being prepared per his final request to share privately with his family.

Caring for Robert during his last years of life, especially in 2012 caused me to make well considered choices leading to falling behind on reporting some events, movies and television series.

I was honor bound to attend to his last wishes on planet Earth and am proud to have done so.

I also note, with great appreciation, that the fine doctors, social workers and nurse’s at the Fort Miley Veterans Hospital made my fathers last months of life as comfortable as possible. I am deeply indebted to each and every one of them, many whom have written, called or sent cards about Robert’s life. Thank you.

This is the hardest news article I have ever written, to relate a person’s last wishes, but as he requested, and as I promised… Now “You Know His Name”; It is Robert K. Weeks Sr. – “Rest In Peace” Dad!

The MGM Studios “Casino Royale” theme song “You Know My Name” by Chris Parnell was specifically selected for this article reflecting what Robert wanted to let you know about how he felt about his life.

In closing for now, WHR has redesigned this main blog site for 2013 and beyond. We will return with more of the new format here at WormholeRiders Dot Com now that my task in reporting this story is complete.

I leave you with one of Robert K. Weeks Sr. favorite songs, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”, performed by Tony Bennett, whom he met more than once in his lifetime.

Please feel free to share this article with your friends, co-workers and or family by clicking one of the icons below. We thank you for visiting and express our sincere gratitude for remembering Robert K. Weeks Sr.

Feel free to visit WHR on Twitter, WHR on Facebook or visit me on Twitter by clicking the text links or images avatars in this news story. I and Team WHR look forward to Seeing You on The Other Side in 2013!

Thank you.

Best Regards,

WR_Systems (Kenn)
January 20, 2013
V Series: “Mother’s Day” Season 2 Episode 10 with Series Secrets, Decker, Hobbes AND WonderCon Images Courtesy of Warner Brothers!

Hello V Series Fans,

The season finale of V Series, “Mother’s Day”, was full of surprising moments. Notably, the deaths of two prominent characters; Ryan Nichols (Morris Chestnut), Tyler Evans (Logan Huffman), and the apparent demise of Diana (Jane Badler).

This episode also introduced a new character, Lars Tremont, portrayed by Marc Singer. Singer is no newcomer to the V story line having played freedom fighter Mike Donovan in the original 1980’s V dual epic mini-series. For those who have not seen the episode, Lars Tremont is the leader of Project Aries. Project Aries is a secret new government organization monitoring the Visitors.

The episode opened with Erica Evans (Elizabeth Mitchell) having a nightmare of Anna Visitor (Morena Baccarin) sitting on the edge of her bed holding a gun. That is something nobody wants to awaken to! Anna told Erica that only she could understand what it felt like to make decisions and hard choices.

In order to survive, she must be devoid of all humanity like herself. This entire season we have watched as Erica struggled with her decisions since taking control of the Fifth Column.

The Fifth Column orchestrated a fake kidnapping to lure Anna out into the open where Lisa Visitor (Laura Vandervoort) would render the final blow. However, once again, they have underestimated Anna.

Sensing that she was being set up, Anna played on Lisa’s human emotions. She told her that she did not realize how much the human skin had affected her until Lisa was kidnapped and she was faced with the fear of losing her. Lisa could not go through with it. One can imagine the surprise when Lisa and Anna walked out of the warehouse together. Erica questioned Lisa but she lets Erica know that she is just as merciless as her mother before meeting with the ruthless bitch Anna.

On board the mother ship, Ryan and Joshua Visitor (Mark Hildreth) free imprisoned Queen Diana (Jane Badler) from her dungeon. Erica called to let Ryan know that Anna was still alive and to get off the ship. Joshua urged Diana to go back to her cell. However, she wanted to assume her rightful place as queen. While Marcus Visitor (Christopher Shyer) apparently stays loyal on the surface, Anna asks Joshua to gather her people. Diana told her people that the human soul was a gift, and that they should embrace emotion and humanity.

Erica also told them that Anna was ill-equipped to be queen and that she had imprisoned Diana for 15 years. Just when we thought Diana was going to be queen again, she is stabbed with a tail through her heart. Not just any tail, it was Anna’s tail! Diana’s dying words to Anna were “ you have doomed us all.” Evil Anna Visitor (Morena Baccarin) turned to Lisa and said “that is how you kill your mother.”

Lisa Visitor was taken to the same dungeon that housed her grandmother Queen Diana while Anna tried to use Visitor technology to find out who was responsible for Lisa’s abduction while watching the kidnapping video. Anna discovered that Chad Decker (Scott Wolf) was one of the kidnappers so she sent for him. That is the very last we see of Chad Decker for now. I have hope that Anna needs Chad for good publicity. Or maybe she plans to have Chad killed for his suspected treachery?

Joshua insisted that Ryan leave the ship before Anna could get to him, but he would not leave without his daughter Amy (Cassidy Mahler). Ryan went to Amy’s room to persuade her to leave the ship. Amy would not leave with her father because of Anna’s lies. Amy saw Anna as her mother, and she would not let Ryan hurt her. As hard as it was to watch, Amy told Ryan that “you left me here to die.” Amy then killed her father with her tail. It was difficult to see this long time character’s demise by his own child.

Erica warned Tyler to get off of the ship, and she told him the truth about the V’s. Tyler told her he would not leave until he heard it from Lisa herself. In the mean time, Anna, Marcus (Christopher Shyer), and Joshua discussed the queen egg Anna kept. She kept the egg in case Lisa was unable to breed with Tyler. Anna watched in amazement as the new egg hatched and her new daughter was born. Anna instructed Joshua “put skin on my new daughter, and make sure she looks exactly like Lisa”.

As illustrated below, Lisa number two gives a hug to dear “Mom” Anna Visitor as she accepts her breeding mission orders and gets ready for her duty and a tasty snack in the process!

Poor Tyler went to have relations with Lisa not knowing it was the substitute provided by Anna. Evil Anna wasted no time and started the breeding process. It appeared that Lisa’s punishment was to be in the same dungeon as her grandmother. Anna made sure Lisa would have a front row seat to Tyler and the other Lisa’s breeding.

After they mated, Tyler was killed. This will be very hard for Erica to deal with in the future because her biggest mission was to get Tyler away from Anna. Or will Anna make a new Tyler from the reptile brood conceived by Lisa the Second?

Erica went to fifth column headquarters and discovered that Kyle Hobbes (Charles Mesure) had disappeared. It is a shame we did not get to see what happened to this character. Erica returned home only to be kidnaped! At this point, I was sure the V’s had her. When they took the hood off of her, there is a man standing in the shadows. Erica said “now just untie one hand and it will be a fair fight.”

This scene is where our new character comes in, Lars Tremont. He untied Erica and introduced himself. Lars explained to Erica that he is the head of a secret government organization, Project Aries. They have been following the V’s for sometime. They know that the V’s are not there on friendly terms. Erica discovered that A.D. Paul Kendrick (Roark Critchlow) and Chris Bolling (Jay Karnes) also worked for Project Aries. For awhile it seemed that A.D. Paul was working with the V’s. However, he was not.

As the season finale ended, we saw Anna ready to bliss all humanity. Marcus Visitor (Christopher Shyer) warned her that it might kill her, but Anna insisted she try. Blood poured down Anna’s face as she tried to bliss the humans. Amy saw this and said “mother stop! I will do it for you.” In return, Anna said “you are truly a miracle my child” is a scene similar to the miracle child in V The Final Battle.

Project Aries then discovered that something was terribly wrong and Erica went above ground. What she found was something that Anna had been trying to do for two seasons. Erica saw that the humans are blissed and looking up at the mother ship. It was sad to see that Father Jack Landry (Joel Gretsch) was also blissed. This might change his position in fifth column. If there will even be a fifth column since Project Aries is now discovered.

Mother’s Day was rightfully named. We saw a Erica try to protect her son, Tyler. Anna killed her mother, Diana and Amy protected her step mother, Anna. Mother’s Day reminded us, that as humans, we protect our children. Anna is not a human. Therefore, she killed her mother, and threw her child in the dungeon like the vicious reptile that she is. In the last few seconds we observe the Visitor fleet coming to Earth!

Diana’s speech about the human soul, being a gift they should embrace, was never more evident than in this episode. Amy is half human. Therefore, she protected her mother. It will be very interesting to see how Amy juggles her human emotions with her V side. We are left with all humans blissed, and the rightful queen, Diana, apparently killed. Or was she?

If you look at the last few second of the clip included below courtesy of ABC via Hulu, Diana is apparently still breathing! Could the real Queen return in season three? This is a huge cliffhanger. We must wait until next season to find out what will be the fate of humanity.

WormholeRiders News Agency was covering WonderCon 2011 extensively this past weekend. In attendance during the convention were V Series celebrities Elizabeth Mitchell, Marc Singer, and Warner Brothers executive producer Scott Rosenbaum. They talked about V Series season two hinting to what we might expect in a season three if approved for production.

As discussed at the panel and in the Warner Brothers Press Room, there may be a new alien race next season which could unite the Visitors and citizens of Earth to fight a new enemy! Or will this new alien race be friends to the Visitors or foes? This will definitely change the dynamic of the show and is an exciting development to contemplate.

Hinted at during the panel, V Series may have a new character (if a third season is approved) played by legendary actor Michael Ironside. As all fans recall, Ironside was in the original show as Ham Tyler. Amy will stop this rapid growth development in her mid 20’s. The V Series panel also talked about the mystery of what happened to Kyle Hobbes (Charles Mesure)?

Like Chad Decker (Scott Wolf), Kyle Hobbes was called back to the mother ship in a scene cut from the finale. As discussed at WonderCon 2011 will evil Anna Visitor (Morena Baccarin) kill them both? While Mr. Rosenbaum indicated that more characters “may” not be eliminated, the ultimate fate of Chad Decker and Kyle Hobbes is yet to be determined!

WHR will be back with much more about V Series and WonderCon. For now we leave you for now with a couple more WonderCon images courtesy of Warner Brothers. Thank you WB!

As always we appreciate your visiting our news sites at WormholeRiders News Agency. Thank you.

If you prefer, click the social media icons below to share this news article or as many of our readers and visitors often do, visit the WHR on Facebook or me on Twitter by clicking the text links or images avatars in this news story and or we will See You on The Other Side“! Thank you.

Best Regards,

Dragonbayne (Angela)

April 6, 2011
Hollywood Treasure – An Interview with Jonathan Mankuta of LOST and Saturday Night Live!
Hello again Hollywood Treasure and Profiles in History fans!

I got a chance to be present at the marvelous Profiles in History Hollywood Auction 43 on Saturday December 18, 2010. This news article will basically chronicle the day I spent observing filming for the Syfy show Hollywood Treasure at the historic Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills.

While at the fantastic Profiles in History Hollywood Auction 43 on December 18th, I had the pleasure of meeting principle Hollywood Treasure cast member Jonathan Mankuta.

You probably recognize this hunk as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2002-2006 and as one of “the OTHERS” from the final season of LOST. Jonathan Manukuta is currently involved with other productions which you can learn about at IMDB.

This guy is REALLY funny and SUPER nice. He even offered to do an on-camera interview for us! I was crazy excited about this… for about a minute… then I felt like passing out once I realized that I was the interviewer. ME?!? *gulp* Seriously, YIKES!

This is my first interview and I had like 30 minutes to figure out what I’m going to ask him. Plus, I’m not especially comfortable in front of a camera (cue panic attack). Luckily Mr. Mankuta is exceedingly gregarious and has a lot of experience with this sort of thing. He was incredibly easy to talk to and is a uniquely remarkable individual. I hope you enjoy the interview!
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I hope you have enjoyed this interview. Thanks to Kenn for video embedding and as always we thank you for visiting WormholeRiders News Agency.

Please feel free to share this news article by clicking one of the social media icons below. You may also leave a spam free comment or question here, or feel free to visit and chat with me on Twitter by clicking my avatar or the text links in this news article.

XO
Rachelle Smith, Ph.D.
January 29, 2011
V Series: Comic-Con Panel and Press Room Interviews and S2x01 Red Rain Pre Review Analysis!
Hello once again V Series fans,

Our long wait for more V Series produced at Warner Brothers facilities is finally over!

This Tuesday January 04, 2011 marks the return on V on ABC and let me tell you the show runners have done an awesome job doing ample justice to this revered science fiction series!

We express our thanks to ABC whom has provided our news agency ongoing courtesy. As in season one of V we have been granted advanced access to the “Red Rain” screener episode for a pre-review. Before continuing we pay homage to Kenneth Johnson, creator of V. Without his original genius there would be no V Series for us to enjoy in 2011. Thank you Kenny!

As is our tradition, I have actually viewed “Red Sky” several times to bring you an analysis into what the series holds for fans of the V franchise. Let’s just say that not will you will not be disappointed, you will be delighted by what the creators of V Series have accomplished. V Series is a fantastic series of science fiction entertainment artwork by the likes of Scott Rosenbaum, Steve Pearlman, Gregg Hurwitz, Rockne S. O’Bannon, Jace Hall of HDFilms, and the great team, in fact the entire crew at ABC Publicity led by Richard Horrmann!
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Red Rain Pre Review:

This will be a minimal spoiler pre-review primarily discussing the promotional trailers recently released courtesy of the official ABC V Series web site for your edification and pleasure. For those of our own human “Visitors” who may be geo-locked and cannot view the promotional trailers at this time, we include several “Red Rain” images below with our analysis. For Canadian viewers V returns on January 06, 2011 on the Space Channel!

After viewing the evil Anna portrayed by Morena Baccarin in “Red Rain” multiple times, and looking at the podcast and promotional trailer, this reviewer is most impressed with the quality of the work that has gone into the publicity efforts in specific and the production of V season two in general. The attention to special effect detail is superb. Particularly the level of excellence and effort that has gone into giving the viewers a look at the reptilian nature of the Visitors themselves. The visuals are outstanding!

Yes, that is correct my friends, we will all get to see the Visitors as they really are including the infant child of Visitor Ryan Nichols (Morris Chesnut) a Visitor hybrid born on the New York mother ship. Sadly the mother of the little reptile, Valerie Stevens (Lourdes Benedicto) passed away during childbirth. You can rest assured that our darling, or should I say dastardly evil Anna Visitor (Morena Baccarin) will most likely and tragically become the lovely little lizards step mother after she captures Ryan when he attempts to see his “child”!

We cannot say more at this time, but when you find out what evil Queen Anna has in mind for the little tyke, even the hardest hearts amongst us will melt. I can say this though, mothers and fathers like Ryan Nichols of the world must unite to fight against the most wickedly evil step mom ever, Anna Visitor!

Speaking of Morena Baccarin, we are all in for a several mind blowing sequences as this extremely gifted actress takes the meaning of evil to a new definition. The heights or should I say the depths of depravity this outstanding actress delivers during “Red Rain” should convince everyone of her well deserved “bad girl” reputation. Ms. Baccarin first earned such praise in Stargate SG-1 as the Ori Queen Adria and as Inara in FireFly and Serenity. Her praise is especially true of the scenes in “Red Rain” when Anna Visitor displays her tail (and for you dirty minded peeps, I am talking about her appendage, a reptile tail)!

During “Red Rain” we will be treated to further evidence that Morena Baccarin is absolutely one of the greatest bad girl actresses in history. Not only does she command the respect she deserves, you will see that she uses those Visitor view screens for a special type of monitoring on the Queen in waiting Lisa Visitor portrayed by the lovely and talented Laura Vandervoort. Suffice it to say the scenes are scintillating as you will observe for yourselves. Can anyone say bikini clad babe baring almost all ? We are sure that you will enjoy the viewing as much as Tyler Evans (Logan Huffman) and Queen Anna Visitor herself does (pictures omitted as too spoilery, watch and find out LIVE… BUT we will include the images after air time)!

Elizabeth Mitchell as Erica Evans continues her dual role as FBI protector and member of the resistance. In Red Sky, she, with a bit of help from Visitor Joshua (Mark Hildreth) apparently and gleefully destroyed the army of Visitor soldiers about to hatch in Anna’s not so secret chamber of little horrors.

In the opening sequences as depicted in the promotional trailer, we observe poor Erica awakening from the effects of the Red Rain after she and the entire planet were knocked out by the wicked Anna Visitor. Erica Evans plays a crucial role in “Red Rain” and throughout season two of V Series.

Since we are on the subject of Queens, we originally heard chatter about Jane Badler returning to the V franchise at Comic-Con 2010 in San Diego. This news was confirmed at the New York Comic-Con in late 2010. We here at WormholeRiders News Agency were most fortunate to be granted an exclusive interview with Ms. Jane Badler shortly after the festivities at New York Comic-Con (pictured below, image courtesy Warner Brothers) in which Ms. Badler shared several revealing moments about her role as “Diana” in the new V Series.

As revealed in the promotional video displayed at New York Comic-Con, it is no spoiler to say that Jane Badler is the “Queen Mother” of the evil Anna Visitor. The sequence when Ms. Badler makes her appearance is wonderful for fans of the original V and is preceded by a special effect very reminiscent of a Stargate SG-1 visual effect which is executed extremely well in V Series. The moment when Anna greets her mother is a direct take off from a classic line by Morena Baccarin as Adria when she said to Vala (Claudia Black) “Hello Mother”!

Jane Badler is scheduled to appear in three of the first ten episodes in 2011 and we are hopeful the series will be funded for the back half of the season two. Much will depend on the support from the fandom and viewership in the ratings.

Editors Note: We ask only one thing, watch the first ten episodes of V Series LIVE and please do not illegally download or view the series on illegal streaming web sites if you desire more V. We ask this because several series have been canceled in part when tens of millions of viewers in the United States alone chose to not support the series they say they love. If you love science fiction television, just say no to illegal downloading. Thank you.

As “Red Rain” opens it is no surprise or spoiler to indicate that evil Anna is up to no good. In fact Morena Baccarin looks simply stunning as Anna Visitor plans to enslave the planet Earth! With a fleet of mother ships cloaked in orbit above our vulnerable third rock from the sun she may well accomplish her task. When we left season one in Red Sky, it was fairly obvious that something, some plot of great value to the Visitors is unfolding with certain malicious intent as revealed to Marcus Visitor (Christopher Shyer) by the evil leader of the race of alien reptiles, Anna Visitor!

We see Chad Decker (Scott Wolf) and the entire populace of Earth shocked by the clouds turned red across the entire globe! In the past before Red Rain Anna and Marcus observed the dubious nature of Mr. Decker. In Red Sky, Chad has finally seen for himself that the Visitor Centers are a testing ground for obtaining human subjects that are tortured aboard the Visitor mother ships. Has Chad been turned by Anna? Is he a traitor to humanity by being Anna’s mouth piece? Or is there some good in this character and will he join the fifth column?

Scott Wolf is a very talented actor and his work on the series only gets better in V Series season two, episode one “Red Rain”, “Serpent’s Tooth” (episode two) and beyond. To find out the answers to the questions above, you will need to make that judgment yourselves by watching season two of V Series. You may be surprised what Mr. Decker has in store for the evil Anna Visitor, Queen of the reptiles!

Other returning lead performances and fine efforts include those by Charles Mesure (Kyle Hobbes), Joel Gretsch (Father Jack Landry), Rehka Sharma (Agent Malik) Roark Critchlow (Paul Kendrick), and Scott Hylands (Father Travis). Each of these fine actors delivers powerful portrayals that lend heavily to the realism and believability of “Red Rain”.

Before concluding we would also like mention a new addition to the first two episodes in the character of Dr. Sidney Miller portrayed by actor Bret Harrison. This character is vital to understanding what the Visitors are and how long they have actually been on Earth. During his introduction to the story line, the visual effects genius’ of V Series bring back a sequence not unlike what happens to the dying aliens in The Invaders circa 1967-1968!

Tied indirectly to a scene in the second episode “Serpent’s Tooth”, the answer to why the Visitors came to Earth (and when) will be revealed. The answer is linked to a bit of V Series history discussed by Jane Badler and we think you will find the answer quite interesting.

Lastly, I could not conclude this pre-review without mentioning the great music score by Marco Beltrami under the superb direction of Brian Spicer with fantastic visual effects leadership by Laura Jones. When coupled with the expert editing of Geofrey Hildrew, V Series season 2 is simply an outstanding production. Great job V Series Team! Bravo!

Team WHR will have detailed post air date analysis reviews after V Series returns to ABC tomorrow evening January 04, 2010. My grade for what has been accomplished in the V Series season two premiere “Red Rain”? A very well deserved straight A”! In the opinion of this reviewer you do NOT want to miss the exciting return of V on ABC!

In the meantime, please enjoy the entire V Series panel from Comic-Con 2010 and Red Carpet interviews below!

As always we appreciate your visiting our news sites at WormholeRiders News Agency. Please feel free to leave a spam free comment or a question here. We will respond to your comment or question as soon as is possible.

If you prefer, click the social media icons below to share this news article or as many of our readers and visitors often do, visit me on Twitter by clicking the text links or images avatars in this news story and or on See You on The Other Side“! Thank you.

Best Regards,

Kenn
January 3, 2011
Chevron 7.5 – A Massive Event Indeed!

Hello again convention fans!

CHEVRON 7.5

Firstly a huge thank you to Massive Events for pulling off yet another fantastic weekend. The guests were both funny and entertaining. We had great access to them, a real plus in my books as other events tend to herd you around with little or no chance of guest interaction. From what has been stated to me by the guests themselves, they appreciate this form of connection, as they get a real boost from meeting their fans and being able to sit and chat. Whoever thought of this type of guest encounters must have had a eureka moment. What a great way to meet the actors in a relaxed manner for all who took part

Thank goodness for Satellite Navigation Systems! If it hadn’t been for my trusty Sat Nav friend, I may well still be sitting on the M1 motorway in the United Kingdom, instead of driving across country to avoid the accident that snarled up the M1 for most of the night.

At least we (my friend Helena and I) made the hotel in time to register and throw our belongings in the hotel room before ringing down to the opening ceremony. By the way artistic licence applies in this report.

Unfortunately in my haste to make a speedy entrance I forgot to bring my pen and pencil. I could forget my head if it wasn’t screwed on sometimes!

Below L-R: Andee Frizzell, Sarah Douglas, Tony Amendola and Kavan Smith

Anyways, the actual ceremony did not last too long, so my brain was not vexed too greatly in recalling the event. First to be welcomed to the stage was the Stargate SG-1 character “Garshaw of Belote”, actress Sarah Douglas. She was warmly greeted, and placed the bag she was carrying beside her feet. Next to be welcomed was the Stargate Atlantis “Wraith Queen” Andee Frizzell, who immediately sprang to her chair, and thanked the organizers for placing a free hand bag at her disposal. A peel of laughter followed as everyone realized she was talking of Sarah’s hand bag.

Rapturous applause followed the arrival of David Nykl (Dr. Radek Zelenka of Stargate Atlantis), Tony Amendola (Master Bra’tac of Stargate SG-1) and Kavan Smith (Major Evan Lorne of Atlantis), and last but not least the beautiful and talented Lexa Doig (Dr. Carolyn Lam of SG-1) graced the stage. Lexa immediately passed on Michael Shanks apologies for canceling at the last minute due to his work schedule. Michael was caught up in filming, and just could not take the time from the production to attend the convention. A fashion discussion then took place between Andee and Lexa, who won the most “points” with her high heeled shoes!

Just as it seemed the cast were going to open up with some delightful banter, the ceremony was called to a halt, and we were all filed out to await the Gold Pass Drinks Reception.

Below L-R: (Half of) Tony Amendola and Kavan Smith and Lexa Doig

Gold Pass Reception

Huddling into small groups, we waited excitedly to encounter our guests. Andee Frizzell (Wraith Queen on Stargate Atlantis) was the first to enter our group.

My goodness, this lady is a tall one. No wonder she was chosen to play a wraith, as she is as slim as she is tall. Oh my, Andee can talk the hind legs off a donkey. I don’t think she stops to draw breath.

She is funny, articulated and engagingly entertaining. Andee circled around the entire group, asking where we hailed from, only stopping to quip or joke where appropriate. Then as quickly as she entered our fold, she was whisked away to entertain others.

Lexa Doig blew into the gap left by Andee. She kept apologizing for Michael’s absence. Lexa shared with us that he really wanted to be here. Lexa talked fondly of her son Sam, who is now 5 (wow, cannot believe that, I can remember Michael announcin g his birth) and ready to take his first steps into school. She commented that Andee was a hard act to follow, and I replied but that she has better taste in shoes, and with that, she was whisked off too.

David Nykl was our next companion. He was keen to know if we liked Stargate Universe and our opinions on the third show in the Stargate franchise. The general point of consensus in the audience was that whilst Stargate Universe was a part of the Stargate franchise, in being so, the series commanded our allegiance. Several commented that the show was shot differently, with a darker feel to it.

Several others shared that there was not the same family team feeling that Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis managed to portray. The consensus amongst the ladies was that the actors in Stargate Universe were not as handsome as their counterparts in the other Stargate series. David asked about the supporting actors appeal, and I replied that “I wasn’t going to go there”. Thankfully he has rather good sense of humor.

We did not have an opportunity to see the other actors as time had run out, which was a shame. However Andee, Lexa and David had certainly started our Chevron 7.5 convention weekend off with a bang!

Saturday morning found us in the dining hall eating breakfast. Gosh, what hallowed news I hear you say, but let me explain.

Imagine my surprise when Tony walked into the hall apparently in search of an early gastronomic feast. The actors were staying in our hotel. This actually pleased me greatly, not because it meant we were to party to even more exposure, but, these people were happy enough in our presence to not feel threatened by bad behaviour from their fans. I don’t think this would occur at events across the mighty pond, but I would happily be corrected if it’s the case.

Now the fun starts. If you have never been to a chevron event, or ones from our overseas counter parts, then let me tell you a story of stamina and resolve. The Saturday morning consists of autograph signing and photo shoots.

So, depending on your ticket status, here goes the timetable: Lexa 09:00 to 09.30…photo shoot….09.45 to 11:30…autographs. Andee 09:00 to 09:30, signing, 09:30 to 10:00 photo shoot, 10:00 to 11:30, signing… You get the idea I hope, because I’m not going to copy out the whole line up!

You line up for your photo with Lexa, then line up for photo with Andee. Run and line up for autograph from Kavan, Run back to queue for photo with Tony, get back into queue for autograph with Lexa, join queue for Andee’s autograph. Then a game of ping pong between the others so not to miss out on anything.

By the end of the morning my plates of meat, really were humming “an Aunt Nell” (cockney slang for feet that smell). And I was all together cream crackered (work that one out for yourself). Maybe its because I’m a Londoner.

Quips In The Queue During Autograph Encounters

Whilst waiting for Andee to sign my picture, she starts a conversation up with the queue, and I have to put my pennies worth in stating it’s a shame to not be able to take a quick photo when the actors are milling around the corridors. Andee’s retort was that if she was in the corridor it was because she was probably running off to the loo, my reply was that I wasn’t that worried, a good peeing photo shot was as good as anything else. This sent her off into fits of laughter as she imagined herself sitting on the toilet and me bursting in saying “smile”. And a shocked look on her face as she held onto the toilet walls.

My picture was signed: “do not stop me on the way to the john, I’ll kill ya. Andee”.

Sarah Douglas is a very down to earth lady. While signing, she was also making conversation with the queue. Apparently she hails from Stratford Upon Avon, so had a very small journey to make compared to some people, during this conversation she stopped to change her pen as she didn’t like fat nibs…… ( I hang my head in shame, as I could not help retorting that some people liked fat nibs. She found this amusing, and from then on I was known as the fat nib lady).

Earlier in the day I met Kavan at a doorway, as he was in a hurry, I stepped aside and said “age before beauty”, he seemed amused by the quip, giggled and said thanks. So when it was my turn for his autograph, he paused and asked “ didn’t we met earlier at the doors”, to which I nodded, and he laughed and said great to meet you, which he also wrote on my picture.

Next was David’s queue. When it came to my turn, I handed him my picture and said, you will be pleased to know, that after a brief discussion, my friends and I have come to the conclusion that you are much more handsome in real life than on t.v. He replied that was great, and he agreed with our findings.

Tony was our last autograph hunt for the day. He was also very talkative to our queue. He was genuinely interested in where we had come from, and was happy to relate a time many years ago when he spent a while in London acting, and some of the places he had been to. He seemed as eager to please as we were to listen to him.

Lexa also was happy to chat as she was signing; I managed to ask her who was looking after the kids. She replied (with a hint of pleasure) that Michael was looking after them in the evenings, but the nanny had them during the day. She revelled in the thought of Michael having to cope with the “MUMMY” situations while she was away. Thankfully Michael is very hands on with the kids.

During the day, there were a number of talks arranged for the stars to entertain us fans. I had planned to attend them all, but in the end, I only managed to sit in on one , as the clever minds behind the scenes had a new teaser to entice us with. A coffee chat with who we wanted to meet. Two ways to gain entry were, 1: bid for a seat, or 2: buy a raffle ticket.

Luck was on my side somehow as every ticket I bought won me a seat to whom ever I bought a ticket for. But first, I will report on the one chat I managed to get to see. I know a lot of these chats are transcribed, but my short hand is not up to scratch, so I will attempt to just essay the event for you.

Talk with David and Andee.

First on stage was Andee, who took her seat and then had to wait for David as he was apparently caught short.

Suddenly from the back of the room, David bursts in and proceeds to run round the chairs acting like an aeroplane. Much to everyone’s laughter he ends up in the middle isle and takes over a photographers camera and tripod pretending to take pictures of Andee.

The first question asked, was, if David had the opportunity to take over from Robert Carlyle in Stargate Universe, what he would do differently. David started to reply about adding a bit of humour, but was interrupted before he could finish his sentence by Andee who was telling him off for holding the microphone in front of his face.

Andee went on to explain that a particular friend takes great pleasure in sending embarrassing pictures of her at these events, when unknowingly she makes a face or gestures inappropriately. Then she makes a funny pose just to embellish the story. At this moment in time, David has pretended to fall asleep, a quip at Andee who never seems to stop talking. Unfortunately David did the wrong thing. He closed his eyes, and Andee took the opportunity to whack him over the head with the mike to wake him up.

She then went on to explain the funny pose. One shot she had been asked to do was emerge from a tank of water, dressed as the queen wraith, in a dignified graceful manner.

After spending the best part of the morning in makeup she is presented with a tank about three and a half feet deep. Given just how tall she is, and how small the tank was, this was going to be fun. NOT. Andee is told by the crew that she must wait for a tap on the tank, and then emerge. Seconds after submerging herself in the water, she realises the mask is made of foam, and her head wants to float to the surface. The lower part of her suit is also made of foam and that too is trying desperately to make a bid for freedom.

Unfortunately her hair, partly wig is also pushing for the surface. To make matters worse, her hair is tied to her butt, by a clever crewman who didn’t want her hair flying about the tank. At this point, Andee is manically trying to hold herself down grasping a weight at the bottom of the tank, her tied hair is giving her a massive wedgie, and the rest of her is desperately pointing skywards in an attempt to surface. The tap on the tank signals her to let go of the weight and she surfaces from the tank like a torpedo. They didn’t do another take!!!

Her one piece of advice, never wear your contacts home. Apparently your eyesight is badly affected by the contacts, they give a tunnel vision like experience. When she got home and looked in the mirror, Andee had a ring of hiccies, around her neck from the mask where it had tried to make a bid for freedom in the water. Andee also went on to explain that due to the mask, she thought that people were ignoring her, especially at parties until she realised that nobody realised what she looked like because of the make up.

They were asked if they had to do many retakes. Both replied no as they carried their lines in their back pockets, except for Hewlett who wrote his on the back of his hand.

There was little time to redo takes due to the pressure of shooting scenes on time, also, the scenes shot will probably not run concurrently. Therefore many scenes were dubbed in at a later date in the recording studio.

Another question asked was, “in Atlantis, the wraith queen was very dominant, what would you do differently” Andee retorts, “what do you mean do differently”. Poo Poo everywhere, the toilets, 6 cubicles, two wash basins one hand dryer. More washrooms everywhere. Turning to David, she asks his reply: “More naked boobies”.

Also asked was, “what was the atmosphere between Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis while working at the same studio. They both replied that there really was very little crossover between the two. Shooting was so busy that there was no time to sit down and chat.

A question from the cheap seats as Andee remarked with a grin. “Did you ever keep make up on and see if you could scare people.”. Of course Andee has tried, especially in her wraith head gear, but the shops close by are used to this happening, and don’t usually blink an eye. She went into a starbucks with her green makeup on, bald except from a tuff of hair behind, and nadda, nothing, not a blink of an eye. Sighing, she just obviously isn’t that scary. Especially when she was acting a scene from Atlantis, where her teeth actually make her sound like tweety pie. I Thawt I thaw a puddy cat. And the actors opposite her have to act scared. RIGHT.

David likes to wear bullet holes home, he thinks they look really cool, and people do surreptitiously look to see if they are real.

The final question was about practical joking, who was the worst, and who suffered the most. According to David Nykl, Hewlett is well known for throwing food at you out of shot. Joe likes to hit you below the shot line. According to Andee:

“NOBODY MESSES WITH THE WRAITH QUEEN”

We were told that Joe Flanagan (Colonel John Shepard) once kept filling Paul McGillion’s doctors bag with rocks when he was having to climb a steep hill. And with that, the talk was called to a close, and the actors made their way off the stage to rapturous applause.

Chats Over A Coffee.

As you know I could not be in two places at once, so I asked a dear friend of mine to write down her guest encounter with Andee.

Andee Frizell Guest Encounter:

Here you go fairly brief because she spent a lot of time asking each of us in turn our names and where we were from. There were twelve, maybe fourteen of us, four English (including me and Helena), two from the Czech Republic and the rest from France, oh and I think one from Germany. She found it amusing that some of the French people were from wine regions, Champagne and Bordeaux were two I remember.

She asked if we had questions. First question was about the types of roles she gets and does her height influence them. She said absolutely. She tends to get roles playing scary people and of course her height can be problematical when she is taller than the male actors. She made reference to one time when she had to stand in a hole that had been dug in the ground so that she didn’t appear taller than the guy she was acting opposite, but that made her look as if she had ridiculously long arms.

We than asked how she feels about getting so many roles where she has to wear prosthetic. She explained that there’s quite a small niche of actors who can actually cope with the make up process as up to five people can be affixing the makeup at any given time. It can induce a kind of sensory overload that freaks some people out. Also some have trouble when it comes to body and head casts as the process is very claustrophobic. She deals with it by zoning out (Although she didn’t say this I imagine the fact that she did/does yoga might help her with that) She did tell us how on one occasion two of the makeup artists managed to get glue in her eye and basically glued it shut, also very painful as you can imagine.

It was commented on what wonderful imaginations the people who design and create the make up are, and also the same for the stunning costumes. She told us that an incredible amount of detail goes in to the costumes even the ones that might only be seen on screen for a few seconds. She couldn’t speak highly enough of the creativity and imagination of the people who come up with them. She explained that being made up so extensively allows for the chance to really use a lot of expressiveness in the way she can act the part and that in the case of the wraith because she and the Male Wraith were the first two Wraith they were allowed to create the way they moved, mannerisms etc which as actors gave them a lot of freedom which they enjoyed. It also meant they set the tone for actors who later played Wraith.

She explained how long the wraith queen makeup took to apply, five hours after the initial trails for screen tests which were eight, and two hours to remove. Upon being asked if she would like to be in the Stargate Atlantis movie (if it ever got made) she said she’d love to be in it of course.

She said that she would love in the series for the wraith to have been explored more deeply, ie their society, hierarchy, how they interact on a social level etc. She was asked about wraith romance and explained about the birthing chair (of which I know nothing) and laughingly told us that when it wasn’t being the birthing chair it was turned around and had some hoses stuck on it and became the wraith ship control chair.

She was asked about being in Supernatural and said it was huge fun and that the two lead guys are incredibly hard workers and hot too boot.

I would like it to be mentioned what an absolutely cool person she is and highly recommend going to a convebtion where she’s on the guest list. She is very intelligent and quick minded and really takes the time to make us fans feel comfortable and at ease.

My first guest encounter was with Sarah Douglas. I managed to place myself sitting next to her at the table. I found myself in awe of this lady when I realised just how much Television and film work she has done for example: She was in the Original V as Pamela in the Final Battle parts two and three. (a tip for anyone who has the opportunity to interview somebody……look up their filmography before you meet them).

The first question came from another lady in the room. What is the favourite film you have ever done? Her reply was immediate: The People That Time Forgot, with Dougie McClure. Sarah talked of her fondness for Doug, and her memories of the set, where the budget was so tight, they had to act against cardboard cut outs of the dinosaurs, but she loved every minute of making it.

Sarah then went on to talk about her worst film. She would not mention it by name, but revealed it had been made outside Prague. The shoot was in a disused potato factory. The director said roll, and as they went to shoot, all eyes turned to the line up of girls behind Sarah. She turned round to see her servants stripped to below the waist. What made it worse was that they were all ugly and saggy boobed, not the sort of thing you wish to reminisce on.

Sarah then went on to talk of her fans. She has great support from her fan base, one in particular who followed her every move, but she had a great rapport with this person, and she spoke of them fondly. Sarah has had her share of stalkers, one in particular used to follow her and just stare at her. It was most off putting. Sarah had been so fortunate to work with such legendary actors such as Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman.

Half an hour went so quickly, and all too soon the encounter was over. Sarah thanked me for my questions, and then remarked that I hadn’t written anything down.. I reminded her that when we sat down and I went to write down a comment, she had put her hand on my arm. I had taken that as a signal she didn’t want anything written down. She laughed and apologised, she hadn’t been aware she had done that. I replied not to worry I was about to rush off and write it all up before I forgot.

Tony Amendola’s guest encounter was at the same time as Sarah,s. He was running late so I was very naughty and snuck in to the room. Unfortunately I was rumbled straight away, but to my relief Tony just waved me in and gestured me to sit down.

He carried on with the story he was telling about a baby ostrich and how it had pooped on his hand. Immediately he finished the story, he turned to me and told me to ask him a question. I was still reeling from having to sneak in. So I found myself asking the same question I had asked Sarah. What was his favorite film he had made? Easy, he replied, the two Zorro movies. Being able to work with such wonderful actors as Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta Jones, and his favourite Television series had to be Stargate of course. All the crew and actors had been just superb to work with.

David Nykl was the next encounter. He straight away started with a gag. Welcome to the Portuguese for beginners class. David was also interested in where we all came from, especially when one lady stated her hometown as Wigan. David asked her if she followed Rugby. Her reply was that you couldn’t help follow rugby if you came from Wigan.

David went on to explain that he was Czech by birth, had been born in Prague and spoke the language fluently. Apparently, Zelenka had been originally written as a Russian named Karpov, but when they heard that David was naturally Czech, they rewrote the part accordingly. David has no problem going from Canadian accent to Czech, as he hears that accent all the time. The fun part for him is that when he walks off swearing at Rodney under his breath, he really is swearing at Rodney in Czech. He has called him a f***ing A****le on film, and nobody realizes. How cool is that?

David went to a convention in the Czech Republic, and was pleasantly surprised to see 700 people turn up. They all watch on the internet. He has been dubbed into Czech and French, which sounds really weird. Apparently Italy has an award for the best dubbers. Dr. Zelenka and Rodney seem to have this onscreen chemistry where they finish each others sentences, was this scripted? David replied that the repartee between them both grew to the extent where they began finishing each others sentences. The scripter’s cottoned onto this and soon started to write the banter between them in. There is very little chance to change lines or wing it.

Somebody asked about Fringe. David replied it was a great series, but he couldn’t say anything about it yet. He went on to say that a lot of these series, you can work out where they are being filmed by the terrain or the colour of the sky. The hardest things to have to blot out are phone lines or man made structures. New Zealand is a great place to work as there is so much natural terrain. Unfortunately, it is also very expensive to shoot there. David is a great sci fi fan himself and watches just about all the science fiction series he can. Apart from the obvious he loves Battlestar Galactica, Fringe and Eureka.

He was asked if he himself had ever been star struck, well no, but once he saw Dan Castellaneta, and had to really down the urge to run up and shout “DOH”. He has worked with Shirley McClaine, he played her son, and she decided to not look at him while shooting a scene, but he ended up having to be backhanded by her, and she was wearing this enormous ring. At least she warned him that she was really gonna hit him. Thank goodness it was shot in one take. If given the chance he said that he would love to work with Johnny Depp and Scarlett Johansson.

David then went on to explain that a lot of the behind the scenes work that we don’t get to see. There is a process when setting up a scene. Firstly you meet on set have a run through of your lines, work out where you are going to stand, the positions are marked, and so on… this is called blocking. When everyone is happy, you go off to make up, and the lighting crew get to work. You are then called back, run through the scene, then go for a take. It’s a very fast and efficient procedure. Close ups is the time when you try to make the other person laugh. There is a cut every 30 seconds, or a scene change as this is the optimum time for a viewer’s concentration to be lost. Joe Flanigan is used a lot for close ups, he is very good at showing a “problem face”. There is always a lot going on in the background, so things are made to look as realistic as possible. This also means there is more to go wrong, or more chance to cause mayhem.

Was David aware of any crossover pranks between Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis? He indicated that he was not aware of any, even though they were at the same studio; there were never any chances to cross paths. According to David, the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge was manufactured on the site of the studio, which is why it has the name Bridge Studio’s.

David was also asked “ if you had the chance to go thought the Stargate for real would you”? “Hell yeah” was his reply. The last question David was asked was about acting green scenes. David explained that when you had to act against something that was later going to be added by C.G.I, then usually there was a green background, this means that you may be acting to thin air. This can cause a problem when setting the addition to your movements or eye contact. An object like a green tennis ball is often used so you have something to focus on; this is called intraocular convergence apparently. David paused and looked at me, now that’s something to write down he chuckled. Carrying on, he remarked how good he had become at working with green tennis balls.

We all seemed to have chatted for ages, and David was just so full of information. We could have sat there for another 45 minutes just listening to him reminisce, but sadly our time had to a close. The last passing comment to David was, “I want my money back, I still can’t speak any Portugese”.

My last guest encounter was with Lexa Doig. Again I positioned myself next to her, and I have to say before I start, what beautiful hair and complexion this lady has (a woman thing to spot). As I sat down, I explained that I had a few questions to ask from fans, would she mind. She was very gracious, and said fire away.

My first question was, would you be returning to “V Series” or “Smallville”. “No” was her immediate reply, the way the episodes had been written she thought there was little chance of any return.

What other career would you have chosen if you had not gone into acting? Lion tamer was her reply, just watch Monty Python if you don’t understand. Someone commented, they were too young for Monty Python, and nearly got thrown out by popular vote.

Have you and Michael managed to solve the squirrel problem or does Kenn at WormholeRiders News Agency have to dispatch Adria the Cat to help out. She was a little perplexed and then replied ooooooooooooh you mean the raccoon problem. Her own cats have made friends the the damned furry things, and they are the bane of her life. A fan had put a toy raccoon on the table, and Lexa proceeded to knock six bells out of the stuffed toy.

Michael and her good friend J.R Bourne (Martouf in Stargate SG-1) have spent many an evening stalking the garden to no avail. The critters know when they are there, and as soon as the boys leave they come out laughing. We then spent the next few minutes talking about swear words, and the best way to discourage the younger generation on using them. Lexa really came through as a sensible mom, with some great idea’s on how to stop the bad language. There was a comment about how the encounter was going to sound if the rest of the interview was full of blaspheming language, so we changed the subject and carried on.

Michael is coming up for his 4oth birthday; apparently he thought he wouldn’t reach 30. Lexa pointed out that theoretically he hadn’t. He is happy the Canucks are doing so well at the moment, but is worried they wont be able to maintain it. Lexa was asked if she watched T.V She replied that she wasn’t a great watcher, she prefers to read more, but is a lover of the “So You Think You Can Dance” series: the dancers are all so dedicated and in fantastic shape.

She thought Stargate the Musical was a great idea: just imagine a line of dancing Goa’uld, and Peter Williams (Apophis) river dancing. When asked why she hadn’t been on twitter for a while she explained that it took her so long to answer people. She feels honour bound to answer as many as she can, and when she gets on she can be there for hours. She should just post and ignore the comments, but she just can’t do that.

The last question asked caused the most hilarity. Somebody asked is they were hounded when they went about their daily activities. Fortunately, they are left alone most of the time, but when you don’t want to be recognised, that’s when you can guarantee somebody will know who you are.

Her amusing account of one such encounter follows: Eight and a half months pregnant with Mia, Lexa came down with a yeast infection (very common in pregnancy I can confirm), Standing in the queue for a tube of Canestan, her doctor has recommended, a young shop assistant, calls out to her, aren’t you Rommie? He asks how he can help her, and she pauses weighing up whether to ask a young man for cream for a female complaint, as she could spend ages in the queue waiting or bite the bullet. So she asks for the Canestan, “whats that for” he enquires”, “a yeast infection” she replies quietly, “oh really is it on the face”, “umm no, do I look like I have an infection on my face”, “well we have to ask, is it for a skin infection”, Lexa sighs, by this time, tired and very pregnant is not the time to interrogate a woman, politeness and calmness has just left the building. “No” Lexa exclaims”, “its for an itchy vagina”. She is swiftly handed her cream!

Now if you know Canadian stores, you pay for everything together, and as she also needed printer ink, decides to get everything in one go, and walks off in search of her ink. At the check out, the canestan will not price up, so the till man, apologises and calls out to his manager, what’s the price of canestan. By this time she wants to go hide, the manager doesn’t know so he shouts to the next in line, who responds, to wait a moment, then over the tannoy comes the announcement, can checkout 3 have a price check on a tube of canestan. Lexa walks through the door at home, and announces she is taking herself to bed, when Michael enquires why, she asks do you really want to know. DO YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW?

Many thanks to Lexa for letting me print this story, I did ask her permission, as it was of a personal nature, and she paused for a second, and gestured with her hand and replied “oh F**k it”, go ahead.

The other event that was new to the Chevron weekend was the screening of an episode of Stargate Atlantis! It was impossible to write a report, but I will share with you a heads up on the concept as depicted in the images below.

As the episode is being shown, David and Kavan did a running commentary along side it. This was very funny to listen to, as they would add their own views, or talk over the lines to create their own scenes. Poor Ronan Dex got quite few quips for his lack of lines, or one word replies, or that he was just in the scene to make it pretty. I hope the creators of the Chevron weekend include this in the next event, as it went down really well.

We got to see some of the Uniforms and props from the shows. That was fun and interesting! 🙂

This just about sums up the weekend for me and the events I was able to cover. I can not wait until the next Chevron event, especially since Mr. Richard Dean Anderson will be attending. I have purchased my ticket already!

I hope you have enjoyed my Chevron 7.5 news article. As always thank you for reading and visiting WormholeRiders News Agency. Please share this news article by clicking one of the social media icons below. You may also leave a comment here, or feel free to visit me on Twitter by clicking my avatar or text links below.

Thank you.

Tracy (honesthunny)

December 28, 2010
NASA 101: What Every Film, Movie and Science Fiction Series Maker Should Know About Innovative NEWCOMERS!
Happy Holidays Science and Science Fiction Fans!

We tracked Santa by NORAD on his journey knowing there was a special package he was delivering from NASA, and low and behold, look what we found in our stockings, Errrrr the WHR servers the day after Christmas!

That’s right science and science fiction fans, we are talking about a wonderful event probing at the roots of television and movie series that need accurate foundations for their Sci-Fi productions. Therefore, we feel most fortunate to be able to bring you the NASA 101 video panels from a special science seminar conducted recently. The four videos are fascinating, featuring detailed discussions about the elemental components that make science fiction and movies and television realistic and believable.

We thank the Team at NASA and Mr. Warren Betts (above left) of ZoomWerks for their professional courtesy in providing these wonderful science related videos so we can all enjoy them!

NASA 101 was conducted on December 09, 2010 near the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena California at facilities located on that revered academy of science and learning.

WormholeRiders News Agency had planned on attending, however due to a failure of a very expensive power supply in the primary backup San Francisco server for on-line content, we found ourselves at the San Francisco office to safeguard against data loss in case of failure of our several on-line servers located at off-site facilities. Sadly I had to cancel my trip to report LIVE on things like this:

Having been invited, but unable to attend, WHR was on conference and therefore did have a remote news support capability to provide access to the fantastic NASA video panels you will see here today. Famous actors like John Pyper-Ferguson of Caprica and actresses like Anne Lockhart of the original Battlestar Galactica (Lt. Sheba) among others were attending the festivities.

NASA 101 was where scientific legends, celebrities in their own right appeared. These science giants included the likes of Michio Kaku, Science Guy Bill Nye, Bert Ulrich, James MacLean, Doug Hudgens, Pam Conrad, Chris McKay, Jen Eigenbrode, Lucy McFadden, Don Yeomans, Waleed Abdalati, Mike Freilich, Gentry Lee, Michael Meyer, and Jay Falker!

The panels were also graced with the presence of famous NASA astronauts Mike Massimino (Astro_ Mike on Twitter), Leland Melvin and Tracy Caldwell!

What was of specific interest to our news team is that producers whom we have reported on were known to be in attendance. Of whom do I speak? Our sources confirm the persons of interest were none other than one the owner of Centerboro Productions, writer, producer and director Ms. Patricia A. Beninati and partner Michael K. Anderson (not pictured).

Team WHR has confirmed the appearance of Ms. Beninati and her partner Michael K. Anderson at the NASA 101 event is quite interesting and was in fact no coincidence! Why you may ask?

Because their production company is known to be working on several big budget movie and television productions including the The Newcomers Film and V Movie (of which Ms. Beninati is one of the producers)., DMAN and several others including movies of the week with various networks as we have previously reported.

Ms. Beninati is pictured below with NASA Astronaut Mike Massimino!

Not much has yet been released to the media about the THE NEWCOMERS FILM by Centerboro Productions. What we do know is the LOG-LINE has been released to our agency in a recent correspondence:

“THE NEWCOMERS (Sci-Fi Space Action Adventure): When the Earth comes under attack, humanity’s only hope is a down-and-out former astronaut, who must struggle to save the world in its darkest hour…“

(images below courtesy of Centerboro Productions).

WormholeRiders News Agency has verified with Ms. Beninati that Centerboro Productions was looking in to arranging talent for the film from series including Caprica, Stargate Universe, Stargate SG-1, and SGA as well as Star Trek during the visit to the Hollywood area in Southern California the second week of December 2010. Had we been able to attend, we might have brought you interviews with more details, however WormholeRiders News Agency and our entire staff are under non disclosure about THE NEWCOMERS FILM.

The expected Press Release from Ms. Beninati of Centerboro Productions is to be made available in the near future! We can confirm however that in addition to the episodic series mentioned above, several major motion picture and other celebrities were being contacted to star in THE NEWCOMERS FILM! Stand-by for additional details soon!
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In the meantime, and in addition to the NASA 101 “What Every Film Maker Should Know About The Innovative NASA” video panel series (above), Ms. Beninati has been gracious to our news agency and shared the following images below from her visit to the Jet Propulsion Lab which we include for your pleasure. Let’s see if you can recognize the noted personages in the images? We already gave you a bunch of hints, so please enjoy!

Bill Nye The Science Guy with panelists

Producer Jason Stewart, NASA Astronaut Mike Massimino and Producer James Maclean

Producers Michael K. Anderson (left), James MacLean (right) with NASA Astronaut Mike Massimino (center) at NASA 101

John Pyper-Ferguson (Caprica, BSG) and NASA Astronaut Mike Massimino

Ms. Beninati inside the labs at JPL

Please feel free to share this article with your friends, co-workers and or family and leave your comments! We look forward to you visiting our dedicated review and analysis web site here in the future! Or as many of our readers and visitors often do, visit WHR on Twitter, or visit me on Twitter by clicking the text links or images avatars in this news story. I and TeamWHR look forward to Seeing You on The Other Side!“

Thank you.

Best Regards,

Kenn of #TeamWHR
December 26, 2010
Gate to the Sanctuary, Melbourne: The Amanda Effect! One small drop…

CALLING ALL SANCTUARIAN GATERS!

Gate to the Sanctuary was an incredible Stargate and Sanctuary convention, held in Sydney by Culture Shock Events, and in Melbourne by Hub Productions. On the weekend of 11-12 December, 2010, several hundred extremely blessed fans had the opportunity to meet with some of their favourite artists, including Amanda Tapping of Stargate and Sanctuary, Robin Dunne of Sanctuary, as well as Carmen Argenziano (Stargate) and Chuck Campbell (Stargate and Sanctuary)

Further to my convention report, and the transcript of Robin’s panel, below is the MUCHLY anticipated, sublime and utterly inspiring transcript for Amanda’s hour of magic. Amanda’s panel was the most memorable for its soul, its beauty, its crazed goofiness, the hysterical giggles, the moved tears, and its intelligent and thoughtful Q&A.

Please note that these are written exactly how they are spoken. I chose to leave in the ‘umms’ and ‘aahs’, the little vocal nuances, so that you may read it exactly as was spoken by HER, and not by anyone else. I did not want to filter it, but left it as it is so that you may hear it as Amanda told it. It is not a written report, but a transcript of spoken language, and should be read as such. I have also tried to include descriptions of actions and facials expressions where possible. In the case of Amanda, it’s kind of essential!

I hope you enjoy the panels as much as we did! May you finish with a painful stitch, inspired beyoond belief, a mind in smithereens, and a heart exploding with love…it’s all about the living experience!

A MASSIVE bouquet of gratitude to the lovely @PaganX @MichelleDaGreek and @Abydos71 for your fabulous photographic contributions!

Please also note that this transcript continues on DIRECTLY from where Robin’s left off!

A day NEVER to be forgotten…

AMANDA TAPPING

(Bouncing and clapping in seat)I wonder who’s up next?! I’M SO EXCITED!!!!! (laughter and cheers)

(VIDEO)

Moderator: Amanda Tapping everyone!! (MENTALLY UPROARIOUS SCREAMS AND CHEERS)

Amanda: I look SO MUCH COOLER on TV than I do in real life! (laughter) I can’t believe how COOL I look!

Wow…Can I get a copy of that? Wow…for the days when I’m feeling a little low! I’ve had a lot of bullets in my time…HELLO EVERYBODY!!!!

Audience: HELLO!!

Amanda: Hi MELBUN!…Uh..Melbun, you never say ‘R’s in Australia (laughter). Um ARRRRGH. That’s Olivia’s favourite joke; What’s a pirate’s favourite letter? ‘ARRRRRR!’. Um HI! I’m so excited to be here, thank you so much for having me, for being so gracious. I have to say one thing: Australians. What is it with you guys and your eyes?! I have never seen more beautiful sets of eyes anywhere in the world (AWWWWW). I’m not kidding you!..I’m not, (to an audience member) YOU..HELLO! I’m not kidding! I…every time I…What do they put in the water here?!

Audience member: FLUORIDE! (laughter)

Amanda: YEAH! Brilliant, I’m blown away…I’m not kidding! So there’s..

Audience member: It’s the Vegemite!

Amanda: It’s the Vegemite. I confess, I like it! (CHEERS) But I’m from England originally and we have Marmite which is not that different. (cheers) Thank you very much! My favourite thing to do when I go to London, is to find like a, you know, a grungy little local caf’, and have a cup of tea, and toast and Marmite. And that’s…my start to the day *giggles*. That’s my dirty little secret!

Ummm…what…AH. Okay, I’m in *goofy voice* Australia. Last week I was in Nepal (CHEERS), hence all my accoutrements. But I, for those of you that don’t know, I just..I feel like I have to tell you a tiny bit about Nepal, uh…and then we’ll get into questions.

Um. About a year ago I started a foundation called Sanctuary for Kids, and uh *cups mouth* www.sanctuaryforkids.org (laughter) and uh..one of the charities that we support..- we support really small..it’s a very grass-roots charitable initiative that we started. And honestly we started it because of you guys. It was my understanding after a …decade plus *ironic grin* in the scifi genre – a decade and a half, alright I’ll be serious! – that, um, I have never met a more…aaah…more socially connected, socially aware, generous group of people that is scifi fans. It BLEW MY MIND every time there was an auction, or every time I go to England and do the GABIT events..that there…we raised SO much money for these incredible charities, and I think “What…these people are so CONNECTED, they really GIVE A HOOT” and it’s so beautiful.

So THAT’S why Sanctuary for Kids was born, not only because we see, um, how incredibly lucky we are that we’re working in our industry, but also that we’re incredibly lucky to be connected to such an amazing and generous group of fans! So that was sort of the impetus for Sanctuary for Kids. And VERY grass-roots, no overhead, um..Damian Kindler and I cover all the costs of administration and people and banking and blah blah blah. Um…but we just do small online auctions, and we do, you know, little charitable conventions and things so…Anyway that’s the impetus behind Sanctuary for Kids! Um, and we support really, really small charities. And one of them is the Nepal Orphan’s Home which Kamil, who used to run my website, volunteered at. And he came back, and he sent me the most incredible email and pictures, and he said that “I am transformed, this place is amazing!”. And so I started doing some research, and hooked up with the people who run it, and so…Jill Bodie, who is the other person behind Sanctuary for Kids, and myself got to go to Nepal. And uh…we were in Kathmandu, we visited with Nepal Orphan’s Home, as well as some other groups while we were there, um …groups primarily dealing with trafficked women and children. HEART-WRENCHING stories, but this speaks to the incredible resilience, and open hearts, and beauty of the Nepali people- that EVERYONE we met was so gracious, and so uh…LOVING. And the GIRLS at this orphanage…there’s one house of boys, but I stayed at Sanctuary House. Partly because of the donations that we have made, they were able to open another house, and they called it Papa’s ‘Gumba’ House, and ‘Gumba’ is the Nepali word for Sanctuary. So, uh, again..(‘aww…wow’ from audience)…yeah the power of fandom and the power of just a simple movement.

So twenty-seven more children were added to the orphanage roster, and it united seven sets of sisters, this one house, who had been separated, and potentially would never see each other again, um, and they were reunited because of Sanctuary House. Uh, so we got to go. So it was an incredible gift, to be able to go and see what they needed, to uh..to crank lanterns that our crew all contributed money to buying these crank lanterns, because in Kathmandu, for 15-18 hours a day they are without electricity, and um…crayons, and art supplies. These kids were..phenomenal. And Happy. Brilliant, beautiful children, who will change this world. Um, the one thing that struck Jill and I while we were there was the incredible need and we felt “God we’re just tiny drops in the bucket”, and you know, I feel like that…as an actor in this industry, and sometimes you feel like that as a fan, and we’re…we’re just a drop in the bucket.

But honestly from that drop in the bucket, AMAZING ripples emanate. And that –uh- it was never more clear than when we were in Nepal, that that’s what was happening. That, you know, 132 children at this house are being educated. And you know, they say, if you educate a woman…you educate the village, and therefore the ripple effect! So, uh, KUDOS to you guys for your support. But um, if you wanna check it out, check out sanctuaryforkids.org, and there’s actually a blog called the Nepal Blog. And there’s pictures of some of the kids…so uh…if you get a CHANCE.

(At this point, Amanda’s voice was breaking with emotion)

(HUGE APPLAUSE)

(Moderator asked for cameras to be put away, so that they could bring the microphone to people)

Amanda: Oh great, there’s gonna be a lot of pictures of Amanda in Melbourne…Please don’t post them on the internet. There’s about twenty-seven THOUSAND bad pictures of me on the internet. I ENCOURAGE you to put the good ones on! *GRINS*

(LAUGHTER)

Um…what else can I tell you? WE FINISHED SEASON THREE! We are SUPER-EXCITED about it. I know a lot of you are up to date on it, thank you very much for watching! Um, but I’m still, you know, very much a part of the Stargate franchise, so feel free to ask me questions about that as well. Um… hard to take off those army boots, I tell ya! (laughter). A couple of girls brought two replica P90’s (laughs) during the photos…*smooshes* I WAS SO HAPPY 😀 ! (laughter). It’s just really sick, because I HATE GUNS! But you know uh, there’s something about the zen that I found as Sam Carter with a gun that…belied my inner turmoil *chuckles*(laughter). So when I started playing Helen, and I was wearing stilettos and pencil-skirts, I just like..I…I was doing this scene and Martin said “What’s WRONG Amanda?!?” and I was like *mutters out side of mouth* “Can’t I, you know, just carry a gun?” (LAUGHTER). “You’re going to your library!” – *whispers* I know, but…maybe she has a P90!” (LAUGHTER)

YAH!. But …still. Okay. HI! Let’s start with some *giggling* questions!

Q1: Hey Amanda

Amanda: HI! 😀

Q1: If you could describe the relationship between Jack and Sam in a few words, what would that be?

(scattered laughter)

Amanda: I think it’d be ONE word. FRUSTRATING!!!!!!! (LAUGHTER AND CHEERS) SERIOUSLY…..COME ON!!!

Rick and I actually talked about it not that long ago, and I had been asked so many times “Do you think they should get together, do you think..”. YES DARNIT. JUST ONCE, just get it out of the way! GOD! One night of crazy passion…where they *suggestive gestures*…(LAUGHTER) I don’t think that’s too much to ask…on SO many different levels! (LAUGHTER) But yah, I think it’s really frustrating. I mean, it’s usually respectful and loving and all those wonderful things…FRUSTRATING!!! is what comes to mind.

Q2: (gorgeously British guy sitting behind me): Hi Amanda, um, welcome to Melbourne! So nervous…(laughter) sorry! This is the most nerve-wracking experience since I got married! So um…uh..where to start. So, both Dr. Helen Magnus and Sam Carter, they’re both SUCH amazing characters, and they’re wonderful, I think, to so many of us, they’re STRONG female characters, but they don’t rely on being…you know..adopting male, or kind of macho…I mean they’re somehow so powerful and so feminine. They’re sensational! And my question was, how much influence have you had over the years with both characters, to be able to say to the guys…you know..”Can I go this way with Sam, or that way with Sam”…just you know, kind of put that out there…and …you know…stick up for women, and wave the flag!

(Giggles in audience)

Amanda: Yeah…RAR RAR! (LAUGHTER) It’s a great question! Um…Here’s a prime example: In the Stargate pilot…Sam Carter has that…*rolls eyes*..

(LAUGHTER)

Q2: YEAH the line…the line!

(Audience: Say it!)

Amanda: *Magnus accent* Would you like me to say it?

(CHEERS)

Amanda: It goes..aaaah: Just because my reproductive organs are on the inside instead of the outside, doesn’t mean that I can’t do whatever you can do…

(CHEERS AND LAUGHTER)

Amanda: HONESTLY I think every woman in this room would agree, we’d NEVER say that. (laughter) Even though it’s absolutely true, it…ah…IT’S JUST NOT SOMETHING THAT WE SAY! (laughter). So I remember, it was the pilot and we were under a contract whereby they could fire us after the *chuckles* the pilot if they didn’t think it was working out. So we were all *chuckles* on our ABSOLUTE best behaviour (scatterings of chuckles), so I was like “I WILL SAY WHATEVER YOU WANT ME TO SAY!” (laughter). And then as soon as the contract were, you know, okay you’ve made it through the pilot and you were continuing with you character *chuckles*, I was like *stern look* “OKAY..yeah.” (LAUGHTER)…”women don’t talk like this!”

So, I remember sitting down with the writers and saying “STOP trying to write what you think a strong woman would say…and just write a human being, right? As if you’re writing for a man, if that makes it easier, and I will bring an inherent femininity to it, EVEN if only my virtue of the fact that I’m a woman!” (laughter) This I did bring to the table! “But there will be an inherent femininity, just write a normal human being, don’t write a woman trying to prove herself in a man’s world, ‘cause it..the more you red-flag the fact that, you know *thick Texan accent* “I’m a woman in the military!”, the more boring she becomes! You know, we get it. You’re a chick with a gun…OKAY! Just write a cool, interesting smart character! And uh, the writers, to their great credit, did exactly that, and for me it was…we steered a little bit away from the vulnerability, and I think it deeply important that as much as we show a character’s strength, we also have to show the weakness. And i think the true power of a hero comes in their failings, and the, you know, the learnings from those failings! Um, so that was always my sort of bent with her, and they listened! And honestly after a few years, it was so much a part of each of us, our voices…you know Michael brought so much to Daniel, Chris brought so much to Teal’c, and so on and so on, that it became them. I mean, Don Davis WAS General Hammond!…(stirring of sympathy in audience)….heh…yeah..I can barely say his name without crying, still. Um…but that was, you know, Teryl came in and she WAS Dr. Frasier…and the things that she did. So EVERYONE informed their characters, and so…by virtue of the fact that we were on for so long I think.

Now with HELEN, I got the script that Damian had written in 2000, and aah, really I didn’t deviate from that very much. Except that we…it’s important to me with Helen because I don’t GET her, all the time, I don’t UNDERSTAND the choices she makes. Which is COOL. ‘Cause she’s 160, and I SHOULDN’T understand her (LAUGHTER). Sometimes I FEEL *chuckles* like 160! But there’s a loneliness there, there’s a wariness, and a WEARINESS of the world that she has, that I don’t necessarily understand. But I bring, I think um…aah..when I’m talking to the writers I think she really WOULDN’T make that choice. But she MIGHT make that choice. And at other times I would go I DON’T KNOW if she’d make that choice, let’s make her make that choice, let’s see her screw up! I love it! So, I don’t know *chuckles* if I answered the question or not…I’m just rambling! You see I’M NERVOUS!! (laughter). But um YES. I think After a while the actor does start to… inform what’s happening, and I’m just really incredibly proud, and privileged that I’ve TWICE now been able to play really strong…who I THINK are really cool, interesting women. (APPLAUSE)

Q3: I heard in an interview, regarding the extended season, that I THINK the thing is that because you know that you’ve got the time, that it’s a lot more pressure, but it’s a bit more of a luxury for you…

Amanda: Yes…

Q3: ..um…and that’s how you were choosing to look at it. Then you said “Ask me in ten months”. How has it been? (laughter) Not that it took ten months, but how’s it been?

Amanda: AWESOME! It’s awesome! I forgot, you know Stargate was such a machine; ten episodes, take a little summer holiday, ten more episodes. And you just ground it out. And after ten years of getting up at 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning, and working till, you know, 7:30 or 8 o’clock at night, you know, it just becomes…your life! And with Sanctuary we only did 13 episodes, and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited, and did another thirteen and it was like “OOOH this is NICE! Thirteen is NICE, I have a LIFE!” And then…we got twenty, and still I say it’s a huge luxury. We did what we did with Stargate, modelled, did ten episodes, took a summer break, and we’ve just finished the last ten. But honestly by the end we were all….*audience chuckles*…a little bit coocoo for cocopuffs!(laughter) It’s a privilege. Honestly, because I think the story fits better, the arcs are more interesting, I think, what I LOVE, and I don’t know if I’m alone in this, but I think that fandom…me BEING a member of scifi fandom…I don’t WANNA be spoonfed the answers! I don’t WANT somebody soft-pabbleming (?) me going “HERE, this is what we mean by that!” I wanna wonder, I wanna ask some weird questions and NOT get answers, and go “*STARES*…(laughter)… I guess I’ll have to watch NEXT week’s and find out what the hell they were talking about!” It makes sense to me! Because I think we’re an intelligent group of people, who don’t NEED to be told what’s happening.

Audience member: There’s always more guessing going on…

Amanda: EXACTLY, this season we’re trying to do that, much to certain networks…chagrim *makes face*. You know, “The audience isn’t gonna know what you mean”…*STARES…rolls eyes* (laughter) “well…*goof voice* I THINK they’re SMART!” (laughter). Yeah, so it’s been great.

Q4: Hi, my name’s Gochin (sp?)…

Amanda: HI! 😀

Q4: …I just want to say that, you know, I think you’re an amazing person, and you’re an amazing actress….And…yeah…I just…

Amanda: *goof voice* GOSH! (laughter)

Q4: Um, I’ve noticed that the music of Sanctuary is very beautiful, and there’s a very specific melody, and tune to all of it, and I was wondering if you, personally, had any kind of say in the choices for the episodes? And also, um, whether they were specifically chosen to suit the theme or something…or if it was just “Oh that one sounds pretty”…

Amanda: YAH! I’ll tell you what’s happened.

Okay, so in Season 1 we had Joel Goldsmith, who was the composer for Stargate…was AWESOME, awesome composer. Ah, VERY orchestral in his..in the way that he writes his music, and we were very lucky to have him. But we are really striving to be a 100 percent Canadian show, and part of the issue was that we had an American composer. So we found Andrew Lockington who I think is ABSOLUTELY brilliant, and what Andrew brought to the table was a very world theme, ah, much more um, drumming…less orchestral and much more world music kind of feel to it. What happens, and this is part of the beauty of being a producer, is we do what we call ‘sound spots’. So, we’ll watch an episode with Andrew on the phone (he’s in Toronto and we’re in Vancouver), and we’ll watch exactly to time…and he’s on the same computer..to time. So we’ll watch the episode, we’ll pause- anyone can pause at any given time, and can say ‘here we need some more drum’ or ‘here we need some more of this’ or ‘wouldn’t it be great if we could get a big sweep into this scene’ or ‘let’s not have any music in this scene’. So we actually do, um…to a degree..aah, inform how the music plays out. And then we just leave it in Andrew’s incredibly capable hands, and he comes up with stuff way better than we could *chuckles* ever imagined! So in terms of where the music is placed and the, uh, the sort of temperature of it. Yes. But then it’s up to him. And aah, I think he’s brilliant, personally.

And I…I know that now that Syfy International only shows the ten second opening title sequence…right? (mumbles in audience)…*Amanda makes a face*…YEAH not into the ten seconds! (laughter). We fought REALLY hard, because aah, we have a BEAUTIFUL thirty second opening title sequence, and aah..I think everywhere else in the world, except for Syfy…um…because they decided that um…*snirks* you wouldn’t stick around if it was thirty seconds *makes face* (LAUGHTER). ALL of their shows have ten second opening title sequences. I’m never gonna work for this network again, apparently *chuckles* ‘cause I keep telling people bad things about them (LAUGHTER)…*goofy voice* but I LOVE Syfy, and I owe a GREAT career to them…BUT. Ten seconds. It was like ‘Seriously? The audience is gonna…you guys are gonna stop watching ..AWH *SIGH* it’s twenty-seven seconds *SLUMPS*” (LAUGHTER).” I don’t CARE what happens between John and Helen…*shuffles away*”

Audience member: Bring back the Stargate intros…that were like…

Amanda: YEAH! Exactly, and they just keep getting smaller. So no it’s..ten second into the scene. The REST of the world gets thirty seconds. And that…again it’s now ANDREW, doing the opening title because part of the problem was… that Andrew was having, was that Joel’s music was very orchestral, and he’s trying to feed that into the first scene. You know from a…ah..it was too much of a JOLT in music styles, so now Andrew does it all. So…*chuckles* did I answer your question? (laughter) I tend to RAMBLE on… wow…

Q5: Hi…

Amanda: HI!!! Up there!!

Q5: *mutters* My friend Miranda thinks I have this one game where I like to ramble on…*chuckles*

My question is…now, you’ve done a lot of scenes with David Hewlett when you…went over to Atlantis…

Amanda: Yeah!

Q5: ..and your guest one when you did ‘Grace Under Pressure’, did you enjoy it more…doing that episode, or the one where you were with Jewel and you all fell down into the shaft…

Amanda: OOOH TRIO!…YEAH…I LOVED doing that episode! Aaaaaaaaand I… I couch this by saying I have an incredible and ridiculously paralysing fear of heights. And uh, and I was supposed to be like, the one who walks across the beam all ‘yo, yo!’ and THEY’RE the ones who were supposed to be scared, and they were just, like, hangin’ out on the beam…like..*relaxes*. But we had a BLAST. That episode, just in particular, it was very strange…we were on a gimble set, and this metal box..aaah..up on these rafters, DUST falling on us, DIRT, and aaah…we laughed. Our. heads off. I just…I COMPLETELY remember shooting every day of that episode, it was SO much fun. So THAT for me, um, but not only because of the character interactions, but because of the personal interactions…between David and Jewel and I. And just being goofs in the makeup trailer. I LOVED, you know, getting covered in dirt…you know, I love that kind of stuff..so..it was really fun.

‘Grace Under Pressure’ was, you know, had it’s OWN *goofy voice* sense of fun! (laughter) But that was…aaah…yeah that was *chuckles*. That was a strange episode for me. Ah…David’s..aaah, WIFE was there, not quite then his wife…Jane, was his ‘fiancèe’ at the time. And aaah, so that was…awkward! (LAUGHTER) It was like ‘I love you Jane! I love you…*pulls face*’ (laughter).

Q6: Hi…

Amanda: Hi!

Q6: GOD you’re pretty!…sorry…(LAUGHTER). Much prettier in real life…umm *Amanda’s making shocked faces* (LAUGHTER)….(couldn’t hear what she said)…

Um…I just..we saw you when we were watching ‘The Tok’ra’ and you just peeked in, down there with Robin, and had a peek. What was the thing…what runs through your mind, seeing, like, those images of you from so long ago…with that hair..and…

Amanda: *sobs* I was SO YOUNG!!!! (LAUGHTER)

Q6: ‘Cause it must be stranger when…I mean, a lot of us see photos from we were younger but, like, you’ve got…over ten years of your life on…

Amanda: *Stunned face* YEAH. (laughter)

Q6: So what was that like, to watch back…from your perspective?

Amanda: It’s actually, now I can look back on that with a much greater sense of detachment, and really appreciate what the show was. And go ‘AWW yeah, that was the first day that JR Bourne and I met, and …and we hung out for seven hours talking, and we, you know, these scenes happened so beautifully and…you know, so I can look back on it now…much EASIER than I could. You know… I couldn’t WATCH Stargate for the longest time, ‘cause I was so self-critical about everything. And NOW I step back and go ‘Well…it was a FUN show, and that…’ I remember the moments BEHIND them. The moments. And it is HONESTLY really FREAKY…to see…the videos that are put together *chuckles*, you know, of the transformation of Sam Carter, and of Helen. Uh…it…yeah. *whispers* OH GOD! (chuckles in audience) I’m like, ageing…before my eyes. There’s no denying that!…(Audience member: Aging gracefully!) …thank you VERY much! But yeah. It’s really weird. My DAUGHTER watches , you know, like…I got a video from a fan, and I put it in and she *chuckles* was like *shocked face*‘Mama!’, and I was like *wide eyes*“I know.” (LAUGHTER).

Q7: *mutters* Okay you’ve got the mic, now don’t screw it up! (Iaughter)

Amanda: *grins* NO PRESSURE!(Iaughter) Everyone’s listening!

Q7: Well, first of all I would like to say that, well, for the better part of, well, fifteen years of being just…NOT just a strong role model for women, but also a good match for most men, knowing that…you could probably take them ANYWHERE. (LAUGHTER)

Amanda: *GRINNING BROADLY*

Q7: ..I’d just like to say that, I don’t either way pertaining to Stargate, and Atlantis..and Sanctuary, you’re just a GOOD role model to watch on the screen. So, I just wanted to say that…

Amanda: Thank you!

Q7:..And, my question is..um..I’m not sure if it’ll ever happen. The SG-1 third movie. Would you be in it?

Amanda: *wide eyes* I hope so! (LAUGHTER)

Q7: But if they..asked you, would you…

Amanda: Oh God yeah! Yeah, I mean…aah.. I was asked this in Sydney, and I don’t KNOW if it’s ever gonna happen, it would be great. I …I don’t know if the ship has sailed on that. There was so much BUZZ about it for a long time, and we were all very excited. And then…the buzz sort of died, and after that we heard about MGM having trouble…and you know, all manner of different scenarios were being spread and…and we didn’t KNOW. And now, were just no hearing anything, so I, I don’t know. Maybe…someone would like to write one, and we could all do it! (laughter). (audience member makes a comment, perhaps about the movie campaign?) Oh is there? Yeah, I would ABSOLUTELY. I mean… I will NEVER turn my back on Stargate…that…it’s just such a HUGE part of my life. Yeah. And the boots are SO comfortable!*GRINS* (laughter). Who could say no? I mean it’s….Win, win, win!!!

Oh…HI!!..YOU FINALLY GOT THE MIC!!

Q8: Hi Amanda *very tearful*

Amanda: Hiiii! (laughter)

Q8: (quietly) I’m losing my voice…um…I just wanted to say..thank you, um, you’ve given me a lot more confidence, and you’re an Angel, and thank you…for…*buries face*

Amanda: AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

(scattered laughter in audience and THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE)

Amanda: Oh please! *goofy voice* You’ll make me cry! (laughter)

Q8: Amanda, my question is, back in webisode four…

Amanda: *stares wide-eyed trying to remember*…UH HUUUH…(laughter)

Q8: What did Druitt say to Magnus?

Amanda: What did…?

Q8: Druitt, say to Magnus?

Amanda: *trying to place it* Okay, so we shot it as a two-hour pilot…so…that would be… about halfway through*stares*…(chuckles in audience). Where were we…? (laughter)

Q8: Magnus…was tied to the chair…

Amanda: OH YEAH! And then he…yeah. And I say “Are you gonna carve me up like one of your whores?’ and…

Q8: Yeah…no just before, when he starts like…

Amanda: *staring totally lost* (chuckles in audience)….Let’s call him! (laughter). I don’t…..CRAP! *staring*(laughter). I think he said ‘I still love you, you gorgeous thing’ (awww-laughter). I THINK that’s what he said. Yeah. It might have been ‘I hate your guts you evil BITCH’ *GRINS* (LAUGHTER). I think it was ‘My God, you’re even better-looking close up’ (LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE). Kinda! (audience chuckles)

Q9: Uh Hi! First, welcome to Melbourne!

Amanda: Thank you!

Q9: I hope you’re enjoying your time…I have two questions for you. The first one is just a short…little one, the second one is SLIGHTLY more involved. The first one; If you could live in any of Helen’s decades, which would you live in, and why? And of the decades she’s lived through, if you could live through any of those, which one would you live in and why? And the second is, um, you’ve often spoken of your background in theatre, your training in theatre, you’ve had years on the screen now, and television. And you’ve had a very significant role now, behind the scenes, you’ve done directing, and I was wondering which of those transitions was…the most challenging, but also the most rewarding for you?

Amanda: Uh..okay. First question. Um, I think she would go back to the twenties *nods*…the roaring twenties, BEFORE the *chuckles* Great Depression. Um…at a time when women were a bit more liberated…I’d LIKE to say the sixties but I think Helen is too much of a *chuckles* control freak. (laughter) Except for the sexual liberation part…but I think all the other stuff…she’d…boot it! (laughter). *whispers emphatically* Silly woman, SILLY WOMAN! UM…but I think maybe that the roaring Twenties, I think that was a time of, sort of, decadence and fun and…and political upheaval…and…women were a little, were staring to get a little bit more liberated, uh I think that..YEAH. THAT’S my answer for today *grins*(laughter in audience). Ask me again tomorrow!

Um…second question *stares up*.

Q9: Span of you career..and what…

Amanda: Oh yeah, yeah! Oh YEAH! (laughter). *sings dorkily* HEEEEEEY GOOD LOOKIN’ (laughter). THAT’S what he said to me! (laughter)…I think the transition to…(laughter continues) *chuckles* I don’t know WHERE that came from…I’ll tell you that story in a minute! AH…the transition to producing, for me, has been really incredibly rewarding, because I never quite understood what exactly a Producer did, like the full extent of what they did. And to be able to sort of, have a hand in …in the MINUTIA of putting together an episode, of going through a sound spot after the fact, or doing the final mix on an episode and going ‘Oh you know what, we need another clip of the gun here, a screech of tyres here…’the LITTLE things. I LOVE that. The details. I really, really enjoy that. Um, I would LOVE to go back on stage, um…time permitting, and it just hasn’t been.

Um, a few years ago I got the chance to do the ‘Vagina Monologue’s in Toronto, and um…(scattered chuckles in audience) *grins* (LAUGHTER)..*dorky voice* Sheee saaaaid “Monoloooogues…”(LAUGHTER). And uh…it was to raise money! To raise awareness against violence against women…um…Awareness FOR…AGAINST violence against…*chuckles* you know what I mean (laughter). And I had not been on stage for such a long time, and I literally had this moment, which was very telling for me, which made me think I gotta get back on stage, where…I was about to go on, and I saw the stage door, and I was like *STARES* (chuckles in audience)…*glances around awkwardly-breathless* I wonder if anyone would notice..if I just…left! Then I..I literally PANICKED, I literally went *anxious*. And uh, it was very telling for me, because I used to LOVE that pre-stage rush, you know that moment before *takes huge breath-EXHALES* HOHKAY! I used to LOVE that feeling, and then it scared the LIVING DAYLIGHTS out of me and I thought “UH OH, *dork voice*I’d better get back on stage!” Um, so eventually I would like to do that, I think THAT would be the full circle that I need to, you know. I always say, creatively you need to scare yourself…it..I think IN LIFE you need to scare yourself, as soon as you start to become complacent, do something that scares the CRAP out of you! And you…feel alive, which is what directing is for me. And what producing is. So now it’s going back on stage. I’ll just pretend I’m doing a play right now! (laughter). Yeah…

Q10: Hello!

Amanda: Hi!

Q10: Hi, how are you…um..

Amanda: Good!

Q10: My question was, um, which historical figure or mythological character would you like to see on Sanctuary in the future?

Amanda: *GRINS* Elvis! (LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE) *chuckles* Naw I’m kidding. There’s a bad…you’re gonna leave aren’t you! *thoughtfully* Who should I say that would make you happy? Ummmmmmmm…..John F. Kennedy. I think she knew him well *coy smile* (LAUGHTER).

I think that uh…Yeah I think that there are some amazing political figures that we should explore, because for..Helen has such an interesting history, politically. But I would also really like to see some strong women, from the past. On the show. Um, dive back into that part of Helen’s past. (audience member: Eleanor Roosevelt…) Yeah! Eleanor Roosevelt would be amazing! Amelia Earhart would be amazing. There’s a whole bunch of them; Dorothy Parker would be really cool, ‘cause she’s kinda weird and that would be fun (chuckles). Ummm some great artists. I mean, like..yeah I. Honestly, I think we showcase some really strong men, I think it would be great to showcase some really strong women…from history. Um, so I’ll say Eleanor Roosevelt, ‘cause I want you to be happy!*cheeky smile*(laughter). Molly Brown…*to audience member* yes! We did a brief reference to her in the ‘Next Tuesday’ episode. I TOO am suddenly remembering the names of episode *grin*(laughter). You know, people ask me ‘Do you remember the episode such-and-such from Stargate..?” and I’m like *whispers* “What happened??” (laughter). But yeah. Strong women!

Q11: Hi!

Amanda: HI!!!!!

Q11: Um…two questions!

Amanda: UH HUH!

Q11: The first one is, um, at the beginning of ‘Pavor Nocturnus’ (Amanda: yes!) um, it looks like it was a really difficult one to shoot, and also a fair amount of the set was built, rather than green screen (Amanda: Yep!). Um, it looks really cold and…what was the experience like with the intensity? Because Robin was talking about it as well…

Amanda: It was..aaaah…it was a VERY scary episode. Um, and it wasn’t being wet and cold. We shot the majority of it in-house, on the stages, uhh , besides the matte paintings that you see of the ruined city, most of it was a practical set. And it’s amazing to me what our set decorators were able to do, in creating the city-scape with the, you know the plastic sheets and the..our special *chuckles* special effects guys, have this, like, CRAZY love of Hudson sprayers…which are like fine mist sprayers, and fans. And they put the HUGE fan, and this water, and they all look REALLY happy about it (laughter). Then they throw dirty leaves at you…(laughter). So it was a VERY uncomfortable episode. The shower scene in particular, obviously, was one of the scariest. Um, a lot of our crew members walked off set. Not…walked off and never came back…they were like ‘it’s too much, we can’t handle it’ and they left. Um, because it really…it really was an awful scene to shoot. But it was an IMPORTANT scene to shoot, um, for Helen’s vulnerability, and to speak to the absolute anarchy and chaos that was happening. The WEIRDEST thing was Robin. He walked onset with this crazy hair, and this eye and this MASSIVE intensity that FREAKED me out! (chuckles). And he..in the scene where he sort of yanks Helen up, right off the top, I … I had bruises for weeks. Because he *grits teeth* GRABBED SO…HE WAS MEAN! (laughter). Next time you see him in the autograph line, KICK HIM!!! (laughter and some applause). The whole line…this can be our little secret! *grins* (laughter). But yeah, it was..uh..a VERY intense episode. It was VERY wet and um…but YEAH. That sort of speaks to the whole philosophy of SCARE yourself! It was scary! And so afterwards we were all like PHOOOO!! It felt great!

Q11: And the other question is um, in the sort of …three seconds Syfy told about Season Three, you talked about it being more romantic. Can you, talk more about that?

Amanda: *Exhales frustratedly* Helen should have …more fun relationships than she does *frustrated stare* (chuckles) EVERYONE ELSE…is getting (scattered chuckles). Just get some. (laughter) Get some… dot, dot, dot! Aah…so Will finds romance, Henry finds romance, I don’t know if the five years are up for Biggie and it’s time for HIM to find romance (laughter).

Uh, Helen…There’s only one scene, I think, which is truly romantic in Season 3, and I don’t know if you’ve seen the episode ‘King and Country’ yet (resounding YES!). Right, okay, so THAT SCENE…I would like to take credit for, so I will! (laughter) And um, I had this WEIRD sort of daydream vision, because I think part of the problem with…part of the problem…*dorky voice* Part of the problem with Helen and John *chuckles*, is that. Um. It’s SO HARD to fathom what this love is. Because he’s a DICK! (LAUGHTER) And..but she… He is her FIRST. LOVE. He…he’s her Jack O’Neill *smiles* (laughter). Unrequited! Uh, no but HE’S her first love. He EMBODIES the innocence, the joy, the first BLUSH, um…of True… Love .Until he became this hideous thing! And, she blames herself for that…even still, um, knowing all the other variables in place. And I think that there’s just this…nobody else, besides Tesla, and Watson and Griffin, well Griffin’s now dead and Watson’s now dead! Nobody else understands that! The depth of that loneliness, the history, the…so…I had this vision …

(Mobile phone in audience rings)…do you want me? *grins and mimes holding to ear* (laughter).

Uh. I had this vision, of Helen taking a moment. So I went to the writers and I said “Could, we..in this scene…find a moment where Helen just takes that: It’s safe, he’s not gonna wake up, she just wraps herself in his arms and *EXHALES*. Because he’s the only one…who would understand, the loss of a child, the depth of despair, she’s dying, finally…like…everything. The weight finally hits her, and nobody else who she could turn to. But she couldn’t turn to him AWAKE, because that’s all..you know *dorky voice* ‘cause then all SORTS of weird stuff happens! So that…I asked for that moment of…and I talked to Christopher about it and we both just LOVED it. It’s a great moment to play. So that’s the extent of her romance, with a guy she’s KNOCKED OUT! *chuckles* (laughter). *dorky British* Caught in Cambodia, wraps herself in his arms *chuckles and punches air* WOOOOH HELEN!! (LAUGHTER) YEEEEAH that’s romance! *nods*. I’ll take what I can get!

*To audience member* HEY YOU GOT IT, YAY!

Q13: We’ve been talking a lot about you being a role model for a lot of people in this room, and all around the world. What’s it like now, that you’ve got a career, you’re producing a show, to be a role model and a mentor for a lot of the younger actors that belong to your show?

Amanda: I take it very seriously. Uh, I think that..um…there weren’t a LOT of women, when I was starting out, who were doing…uh…everything that I’m trying to do! Um, or that, basically, had the time! So I’m really…I’m really CONSCIOUS about trying to …to talk to young women. I work with women in film, in the Flashforward program, I do a mentorship program with them. I have a DAUGHTER. And I think it’s really important that she understands that…there’s a whole…you know, there’s a whole world of possibility. And that it’s gonna be hard and crappy at times, but then it’s okay. Um, I…but with Agam. Agam’s constantly coming up and asking me stuff and it’s very cool, same thing with Emilie. I DO take it very seriously, because I think…I was really lucky. And I feel that somehow *chuckles* I’ve sort of stumbled into this crazy life, and I LOVE it, but I’ve been given a great gift…and if I were to not…share it…that would be really…dumb. (chuckles all round). Uh, I remember, before I directed Stargate, I sat on a plane to LA with Helen Shaver. And she was directing ‘Judging Amy’ or something at the time, and she was in ‘Poltergeist’. I don’t know if you know who she is or not, but um. She’s a female director and, um, SHE. WAS AWESOME. She totally mentored me the whoooole flight down to L.A. I was like, you know “this is what I wanna DO with the scenes” and blah blah blah. And I thought “If I can do what SHE’S doing, that’s great”. There’s another director, Ann Wheeler, who’s one of my favourite female directors. And she that kind of woman too, she’s like “Come to editing! Come and sit! Watch what I do!” Which I think is so cool! So, yeah.

Q14: Hi Amanda!

Amanda: HIIII!

Q14: Um, I was just wondering. Aaah Robin was talking about practical jokes on the set (Amanda: AHA :D!) and I was wondering if you had any really, really funny moments that you can remember?

Amanda: Well…Robin’s big thing, as you ALL know, is taking his pants off (LAUGHTER). Which is why I wrote ‘THIS IS MY BUM’, because I’ve SEEN it so many times!(laughter)*makes a face* (LAUGHTER). Don’t tell him I said that! Uuuh, so..the big thing *sighs* practical jokes is hard because our cast is really funny, and so the biggest thing we do is crack each other up off-camera. And it was the same thing that happened on Stargate. It would be… you know, Michael and Chris behind the lens, you know, making stupid faces..or, and trying to get you to break. And that’s the biggest practical joke that actors ever play on each other. I mean with Christopher, it’s taping…duct-taping you to chairs (laughter) *chuckles* It’s funny! …until everyone leaves the room and you have to pee! (LAUGHTER)

But, I told this story in Sydney about Christopher’s flatulence…and I’ll BRIEFLY tell you now. Um, he has this horrifically gaseous body (chuckles in audience), um and…he would constantly clear rooms with like, you’d walk into the room and go *complains*“Oh God… Christopher we BEGGED the caterers not to serve beans!” …and we would, you know EVERYTHING we could do, our ..Our craft service guy had like, bottles of Pino up against the back wall, to stop Chris’s gas, and it never worked. So he finally had his own, when he had to wear a full NASA space suit (LAUGHTER). THE REAL DEAL. And he got bolted into it. And then the helmet came on. And the GUY FROM NASA was THERE, putting this thing on! And…(chuckles all round) We all sat back and were just like *waves hands*..it…it HAS to happen (LAUGHTER)! We watched him go, you know, from his delicious chocolate brown, to this weird shade of green *chuckles* (LAUGHTER). It was nice,…himself. His face was kind of *screws up sour face* (LAUGHTER). And I swear the entire crew had tears in their eyes from laughing so hard (LAUGHTER). That’s KARMA! *grins*. That’s not a joke, that is KARMA. Yeah…I wish we’d filmed it!

Q15: Hi!

Amanda: Hi!

Q15: Um, you have acted with Christopher Heyerdahl in every series from SG-1, to Stargate Atlantis, to Sanctuary. Which character, out of the five that he’s played with you, is your favourite? And why?

Amanda: Druitt. Although..umm.. I really like him as Biggie. Uh, although…ahh..I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Helen never refers to him as any… she never calls him ‘Biggie’ or ‘The Big Guy’ or…she never…One day we’ll actually reveal what she calls him. It’s interesting with Christopher, obviously I have more to do with him on ‘Sanctuary’ than I DID on the Stargates, but um. There’s just such a great connection when he plays John, and there’s such a..aah..well..it’s a very interesting passion between the two of us when we play those characters together, and I LOVE it. Like, as actors we sort of HOOAH! There’s a connection, it feels so real and great! Yeah, but when he plays Biggie, he’s a completely different guy! He walks onto set and he is a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT GUY. And he’s …a bit more aggressive, and he’s …bigger *chuckles* which is weird, because he’s tall and big as he is! But he’s…he’s SO interesting to me as an actor, how…how he transforms himself. Um, and the relationship between Helen and Biggie is soooo…gentle, and they’ve known each other for so long, and they have such a deep friendship. And with John it’s all about passion. So, but I think John. Because I can actually look at Christopher’s face. When he’s Biggie I forget he’s Christopher, I TRULY do. Wow….till he slaps (laughter). But yeah, I think John.

Q16: Hi Amanda, how are you?

Amanda: Hi! Good thanks!

Q16: Ah, look, just a two-part question! Any chance of, aah, an episode of ‘Sanctuary’ starring Richard Dean Anderson? (laughter, Amanda: OOOH YEAH!). If so (laughter)…If so what…as you’ll be HIS boss, what would be the most interesting abnormal you would make him? (LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)

Amanda: *smiling* I would give him some REALLY special skills (laughter). Ah, we actually tried to get Richard for the webisodes to play , um, Helen’s previous assistant…aaah…and I think there’s this sort of weird video blip that Will looks at. It ended up…ROBIN ended up doing it, in full make up, which is really cool. But we wanted to get Richard to do that, just play this cranky, crazy *chuckles* old FART (laughter)…who’s dying ‘cause of all the experiments he’s done with Helen and…I thought THAT would be really fun. Um, but we have yet to get him on the show…But if we did. I don’t…I don’t think I’d make him an abnormal. WELL I mean he is…*chuckles* just by being Richard (laughter) Dean Anderson *chuckling*. Have you all met him? (YEAH! He was here earlier on in the year) YEAH. So…ah, he doesn’t…*chuckling*…really need makeup or anything (LAUGHTER). He’s just weird (laughter). Lovely. Um, yeah I don’t think I’d cover up that beautiful mug with any prosthetics or anything. I think in one of Helen’s…*cheeky smile* (LAUGHTER)…I think it would be a really lovely full circle if, uh, SAM doesn’t get it on (LAUGHTER), then Helen could at least get it on with somebody who *chuckling* looks a LOT like Jack! (LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE). But yeah. And of course there’s the whole Richard-Dean-Anderson factor for ME! (laughter)

HI!

Q17: Hi, um I’ve got two questions. The first one is; Is there any chance in Season 4, you would come down and film here.

Amanda: Oh I would LOVE to, are you kidding? My God, I think there’s a Melbourne Sanctuary, don’t you? (YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!)

Q17: Um, the second question was; Did you do all your stunts in ‘Breach’ yourself?

Amanda: Um, I think there’s ten…LESS than ten shots that aren’t me.

Q17: Because it …was amazing!

Amanda: YEAH. Thank you! That was aaah, I have an AMAZING stunt double, aaah for fights. Her name’s Ashley. She. Is. AWESOME! And ah, so she taught me all the fights. Rob Hater is our fight coordinator, and uh, the two of them taught me all these fights. But I’m like “No let me do it, let me do it” and obviously it’s easier to FILM if it’s really me. Um, so there’s a couple of things like, when she does the pipe thing over her head, that is HER going over her head, but the rest of the stuff is me. Um, and I think it’s because…that I’m…too much of a spaz (laughter) to have this *chuckling* long metal pipe to swing around my face! (laughter) Um, and that drop from the ceiling is HER *COUGH*…*cough* sorry! *HAAAAACK* (laughter) And uuuuuh, there’s a couple of sequences in the, aah, hammer/machete fight, that are her. Um, but for the most part…YEAH…I got my ASS kicked! (chuckles) But I got to do some kicking too! (Yeah…it was pretty cool!) YEAH, Ian Tracey, too, is a PHENOMENAL actor. We fought REALLY hard to get him, he’s just SO great. Um, so the two of us had a lot of fun *laughing* beating each other up! *smiling* I’ve got a…I’m kind of a fan of his…kind of…I am! I’m a fangirl…ah…so it was like *chuckling* “Uh…okay…*breathes* Really?…uh. Okay…you really want me to punch him?!” (laughter) But it’s really interesting, when you get actors who actually understand, ‘cause he’s done a lot of stunts, of his own stunts, himself. And you get actors who understand it, it’s REALLY FUN to play that you’re…kicking the CRAP out of each other! And very rarely…land a punch! You know, I’ve actually…punched, one of our stunt guys, Clint, on three different shows (laughter). He’s really cute, like…REALLY CUTE. Aaand maybe that’s why I keep connecting him *demonstrates* “Oh…OH!…OH I’M SO SORRY…here let me help you up!” (LAUGHTER) That’s why, I dunno. Umm, but it…it’s…usually I’m pretty good about swinging punches, but for some reason I…actually in ‘Pavor’ I punched him, I elbowed him right in the chin *demonstrates* “oh CLINT!” (LAUGHTER) *goofy voice* I’m blushing now! (chuckles)

Q18: Hi Amanda.

Amanda: HI!

Q18: Just, um, one question about two episodes of Stargate. Um, how much fun was it to do episode 200? And how emotional was it to do ‘Unending?’

Amanda: Uh, okay. Aaaaah. ‘200’ was sort, of, the episode where we got to do EVERYTHING we ever wanted to do! Um, all in one episode. And aah we had a blast! I LOVED ‘100’, I loved ‘200’, because when you get to 200 episodes you ought to be able to do something completely irreverent and silly and fun. And sort of, the things…that a fan had written you about, or things that we’ve asked the writers about or things the network has said ‘no’ to. ‘200’ is like, *goofy voice* “Let’s DO it!” So we GOT to do it, but it was REALLY fun. We laughed a LOT during that episode!

Um, ‘Unending’ was aah, I’ll NEVER forget the moment, um…aah, and I think there’s a lot of pictures that have made their way out into the world. Um. Rob Cooper was really smart, ‘cause he waited until the VERY last scene, VERY last day, for us to step through the Stargate. The VERY last shot we did on the series was…stepping through the Stargate. And…we were bawling. Christopher was bawling. He could barely…he…they were like “Cut. Are you okay Chris? Just your…make up…” (laughter) *does Chris impression, crying and whimpering*(laughter). We, we ALL were. It was, it was INCREDIBLY emotional, and Rob Cooper, again, was REALLY, REALLY smart to save THAT moment. Because we thought “God, this is the last time we’re gonna walk through the Stargate on this television series” It was really, REALLY emotional! And it was RELLY…it was like, WEE hours of the morning, and ALL the production staff stayed. And so like, the entire GATEROOM was FILLED, with people who had worked on the show for ten years. People came BACK, who hadn’t been on the show for a few years, came back just to watch that moment. And then the coolest thing happened, was: Michael, Christopher and I snuck upstairs, we went through the control room, and up the spiral staircase to um…the briefing room. And the three of us just stood there and looked down at the Stargate, and we put our arms around each other and we were like “Wow. So that happened”. Umm, because that’s how we started! The three of us aah, found ourselves around the corner and saw the Stargate for the first time before the pilot. And ah, I remember turning to Michael at that moment, before we had even SHOT…you know…a roll of film, going *chuckling*“Oh my God! We’re working on a really cool show, LOOK AT THAT THING!” (laughter) “It’s HUGE!!” And we were SO EXCITED, and so…you know…YOUNG, and “Oh my GOD this is, you know, our first big series for both of us!” and we were just like “aaah!” and then Chris joined us, and the three of us were just like “WOW. This is gonna be GREAT!!!” Flashforward to ten years later, when we were like “Oh my…GOD ten years!”. It was veery emotional, but REALLY, really beautiful. And it was…we didn’t even say a word! Except for “wow!” Just…we all kinda looked at each other, SO many people, and everyone’s talking and crying…we sort of FOUND each other, and went *wow!*. And uh, it was REALLY beautiful. Yeah, very….*sheepish smile* (chuckles).

Mic handler: One last question…

Amanda: WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?! (groans and complaining from audience) AWwww COME ON! *makes face* (LAUGHTER) I don’t have to be anywhere at the end of this panel!…*mumbles* just the autograph line…*mumbles*

Q19 (Me): Hi Amanda! (Amanda: HELLO!) Welcome to Melbourne! (Amanda: THANK you!)

Um, I’ve got two quick questions…at the end of Season One, you had…um…Babz Chula, guesting with ‘Sanctuary’, and how…how was that to work with her. Because obviously, what happened afterwards (Amanda: Right…yeah…) She seemed like..(Amanda to audience member: Oh she’s asking about Babz Chula…) and she seemed like, before she came on ‘Sanctuary’ as well, um, I know she was a role model for a lot of young Vancouver actors as well. So um, what was it like working with Babz on the show? And also (Amanda: She’s an AMAZING woman…sorry..!) …SORRY! Um, The Sanctuary Experience. The auction…was AMAZING. I mean, I don’t know about everyone else here, but we felt the energy (Amanda: YEAH!) across the oceans. I mean, everyone was just…over the moon, and we were wondering where the fund from that went to?

Amanda: OKAY! Alright, so the first part of the question was about Babz Chula, um….I dunno if..uuh…all of you know who she is. She’s…WAS…sadly..uuh…passed away. An INCREDIBLE local Vancouver actor, activist, role model…amazing, AMAZING, FEISTY woman. And, I had ALWAYS wanted to work with Babz. And we were both being honoured for…a…women in film…I won a Woman of Vision award, and she won Woman of the Year. And, uh, so AT this event, the two of us…uuh… so EVERYONE came up and gave these very nice speeches and thank-yous, there were ALL these different awards being given out. And then I got Woman of Vision, and she got Woman of the Year. And I gave this completely irreverent and goofy speech, and then Babz came up and gave a completely irreverent and goofy speech, and so the two of us were just like “YEEEEEAH!” (laughter) “AWESOME!” And I said, “I would LOVE to have you on the show!”, and she said “I’d LOVE to do your show!”, and I went “…oh…well ALRIGHT!!!” (laughter). And so we wrote her a part. And that was it! Um, I never got to really work with her! *chuckles* Which SUCKED, I was like “Why did you write her a part where I’m not even…I don’t even TALK to her? *stares hard*” (chuckles) “I…I…*sighs* it’s BABZ CHULA, and SHE’S WORKING WITH OTHER PEOPLE!” I’m…I really…I’m peeved! But as much as I get peeved…HMMM *makes face* (laughter). Uhh. So I didn’t get to work WITH her as an actor, which…yeah…SUCKED. SHE brought something…the role is written for a man, aah, originally in the script it was a MALE doctor, and aah, we thought “Wouldn’t it be really interesting if it was a woman, and we played up the MATERNAL side of this …creepy scientist”. And she just…she did a beautiful job. We just…put it in her hands, and said “Do WHATEVER you want, because we know you’ll bring something incredible, to the table” Umm, so yeah. It was amazing. Amazing. Uh, she passed away last year and…aah…there’s a big hole in the Vancouver acting community. She…touched a LOT of people. She passed away shortly after I…ah…one of my best friends passed away, from…from cancer. And so it was a really…it was a tough beginning… it was the beginning of this year! So it was…a tough beginning to the year to lose somebody that special.

Um….*stares into corner* OH! The Sanctuary Experience. Aaah. Sanctuary Experience was aaah run…aaaah a Vancouver convention in the summer! Aand, aah, we raised aah…ALL TOLD, ah, about $100,000, for Sanctuary For Kids, which was…PHENOMENAL, ‘cause there’s 250 people in the audience (amazed mutterings) and, YEAH! It was…ALL the actors donated time, the crew, EVERYONE…I mean everyone donated everything, and we raised…an INCREDIBLE amount of…I thought we’d get away with maybe $20,000! So a hundred thousand was insane. Um, THAT money has gone…uuuh…to, Nepal Orphan’s Home. We’ve also started a new, um, partnership with Next Generation Nepal. Uh, Nepal Orphan’s Home specifically, aah, we were going to but the vitamins, multi-vitamins for the children. And, uh, INSTEAD what’s happened, which is actually WAY better, is they were doing a…they were getting a mid-level grade of rice, they’re now getting the top level which is…packs far more nutrients. They’re getting double the amount of vegetables and fruits, and they’re getting chicken twice a week instead of…once a month! And the energy…aah…I got an email literally THE DAY before I came to Australia, from Michael Hess, who runs Nepal Orphan’s Home, saying “You won’t believe how much energy the girls have, aah, so much brighter, and so much, you know, more focused on their schoolwork, and just…simple nutrition”.

So that’s where…a big portion of the money went. Also to a local organisation in Vancouver called the Atari Tip Program, which deals with…homeless teens, transitioning to housing, and…homeless teens with children. So, it’s getting them off the streets into affordable house…housing, and helping the transition into lives that don’t involve…ah living on the street. So, it’s been amazing, yeah. We donated …aah…a bunch of money for bus passes! Quite simple, right? But when you’re on $600 a month and a bus pass is seventy dollars, that’s…a MASSIVE part of your budget. So, to get a bus pass gives them absolute freedom. They can get to their training, they can get to their schools, they can get to their jobs…aah. We didn’t limit it to bus passes! You know if there’s…there’s a guy who, ah, got an aaah apprenticeship! On a construction site. And we bought him…steel-toed boots! And a hard hat, and now he can go to work! So it’s…it’s the little things, but those are the things that…the little drop, big ripples! But yeah, it’s really done some…phenomenal…but yeah…

(MASSIVE APPLAUSE, CHEERS)

Wow you guys ask great questions!

Carissa: Before she leaves, we’re going to do one of those LOVELY teeshirts…

Amanda: III am NOT taking off my top! (laughter) I don’t look nearly as good topless as Robin! (comments in audience) well maybe…to some people..(chuckles)…I…I’m NOT gonna take off my shirt *chuckles* but I will put it on! Umm…HEY. THANKS guys! I…that was AWESOME. I feel like, you know, I watched the end of Robin’s talk, and it was really funny and…and great, and I felt just a little bit… maybe I was BORING…but um…aah, you asked really beautiful questions and I really appreciate it. And I LOVED Australia (to audience member), yeah thank you!

AAAAAH, so I get to stay in Melbourne for a few more days, ‘cause I have my daughter, Olivia, and my MUM! (“YEAH!” from guy in the audience, punching his arms in the air. Chatter and excitement) YES!! *points* My mum’s new BFF! (LAUGHTER) *laughing* they were sitting in the hotel lobby in Sydney, and Vance *laughing* just struck up this conversation with my mum! And…he’s like “So, you know, you’re a fan?” she’s like “Yeeah…okay…o.O” (LAUGHTER) Y’know: “Where are you from?”, “Vancouver…”, “OOH you came a long way!!” (LAUGHTER). And they had like, this REALLY CUTE conversation where they….and finally my mum was just like *leans over and whispers* “I’m Amanda’s mum…” (LAUGHTER). GOSH….*chuckling* she refers to him as her new best friend *grinning* (laughter).

AH! Okay thank you…*Is given teeshirt and marker*…okay WOW What do I do?! OH MY GOD, Robin is not going to *mumbles*…

(At this point, Amanda put on the shirt and started pulling funny faces as she tried to draw on the left side of her chest) *deep, thick voice, goofy grin* AM THRYING TO DRAR ON MAH SHIRRRRT!! (LAUGHTER) *draws and colours in heart over her own* So I do these heart paintings! And uuuuh, now OLIVIA *trying to draw on very awkward place, making faces* I’m SELF-colouring! (LAUGHTER) I do these, HEART paintings, and aaah, my daughter Olivia has just started doing her first canvases, and uuuh *chuckling* so this is ALL she draws! But it’s beautiful, so homage to her.

*Finishes drawing* Ummm, alright! So I think we should all wear our hearts on the outside. Dorky, I know! I can’t do anything funny, I’m not gonna draw a penis (laughter) aah…or…nipple rings, or anything like that…*drawing* and I apologise!

Umm, alright. Does anyone wanna draw something?! (chuckles in audience). *British accent* NOT ON MYYY NUBBINS!! (LAUGHTER)

(PaganX gets up from front row to draw something…expectant chuckles. She crouches behind Amanda and begins writing. Amanda alternates between a screwed up awkward grin and outright silent giggles, people are laughing at her. She’s muttering about how weird it feels.

PaganX finishes writing and hands her the marker with a big grin, while Amanda twists around to see what she’s written) OH IT’S MY GUNBUM!!!! (laughter and cheers) YAAAAAAAY! THAT’S PERFECT…yeah…I dunno if you guys know it *big grin,giggles *proudly* I have a GUNBUM!!! (laughter) And uuh, on the show (Carissa hands out mic to her) oh right…*yells* ON THE SHOW!!!!! (laughter) Ah…nobody could figure…like…the CREW started asking “where is she getting her GUNS from?”, because I wear these tight skirts, and these stilettos, and all of a sudden I’ve got…like an AK-47 (LAUGHTER).And uuh, so we decided that I have a gunbum *grins* (laughter) AS you do! Um, one of the great things about doing scifi is *laughing* anything is possible! (laughter) I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the show “The Backyardigans”, it’s a little kids show (cries of YEAH! In the audience), I don’t know if you get it here, but they like, produce props…from behind their backs! So aah, and Olivia is OBSESSED with ‘The Backyardigans”, and so…I’ve just decided I’m *chuckling* a Backyardigan, and my special talent is MY GUNBUM! (laughter) Yeah! Umm…

Carissa: Was there someone else?

(A guy gets up and Carissa hands him the marker. He approaches Amanda slowly and she seems terrified)

Amanda: *deep and shaky* I’M AFRRRAID!…(laughter. He goes behind her and begins drawing on the back of her right shoulder. Amanda’s face is torn between looking scared and looking awkwardly amazed) No I’m not afraid! I’m not afraid at all…*awkward facial expressions*…(Writer is saying about how she shouldn’t be afraid, it’s something nice, and it was nice of her to come) Oh thank you! (he keeps writing. She’s grinning expectantly) What is it? What is it?!?! (chuckles in audience) Uh ooh…Uh oooh…UH OH (laughter)

(Writer is just finishing up when we hear a familiar voice from the back of the room):

OOOOOOOOOOOHKAY, HERE WE GO!!!! (UPROAR OF LAUGHTER AND CHEERS. Robin’s standing there nodding his head comically and grandiosely clapping his hands in preparation for the shirt-fest. Amanda is laughing as her writer finishes writing on her shoulder. MENTAL LAUGHTER AND CHEERING)

(Writer finishes and gives Amanda the marker. She peers over her shoulder)

Amanda: “OMG Amanda wore this!” *turns to Robin and exclaims emphatically* See?! NICE..and POLITE! (laughter)

Carissa: *pointing and grinning* I believe there’s a charming gentleman up the back DESPERATE to draw on that teeshirt!

Amanda: *stares challengingly at Robin* Bring it! (laughter)

(Robin swaggers purposefully down the stairs with a grin on his face and hands in his pockets, everyone is laughing. Someone is singing the ‘Star Wars’ march in accompaniment)

Amanda: Oh…OH OH!

(Robin pauses halfway down, throws back his head with a MWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Laughter! He reaches the bottom of the stairs, right in front of Amanda, and approaches her)

Amanda: Wow, look at you walking all… butch-like! (laughter) *leans forward* You’re still in the running towards becoming America’s Next Top Model!!! (LAUGHTER and some claps)

(Robin takes the marker from her and stands back, slightly to the left, so he can choose where to start first. Amanda puts her hands on her waist and pushes her chest right out, emphatically smiling and throwing her head back slightly. Robin has a fit and drops his pen in shock, like some kind of hormonal adolescent. Amanda breaks the pose and folds over, clapping her hands in hysterical laughter. Everyone is cracking up!)

(Robin goes behind Amanda and splits his legs to the side so he can reach her lower back. Amanda’s standing nervously making ridiculously frightened, awkward and goofy faces at the audience and trying to figure out what he’s writing)

I..I don’t trust him!…(LAUGHTER)*frightened giggle* Can you see what he’s actually writing?!….*more faces* (LAUGHTER) IT HAD BETTER BE ANGEL WINGS! (LAUGHTER)…

(Robin has a smug grin on his face, and Amanda’s face is getting more and more anxious by the second, laughter continuously! When he’s done, Robin grasps her by the shoulders and turns her around to face him. Her teeshirt reads: MAGNUS IS HOT!!!! UPROAR OF CHEERS, CLAPPING AND LAUGHTER. He whispers it in her ear and she collapses in helpless laughter. Once the noise has died down…)

Amanda: *very coyly*Would you like to sign your name on it?

Robin: Yes…

(Amanda grasps the back of the chair, and assumes a seductive pinup pose, arching her back, and assuming the most cheesy, wide-eyed, open-mouthed look on her face. Everyone is in hysterics! Robin stands back and doesn’t know what to do, staring at her in awe, like a teenage boy. Finally he drops the pen and grabs his crotch, doubling over, and waddling awkwardly to one side, exclaiming,

Robin: “OH,..OH MY GOD!!…*waddles embarassedly* this is a bit awkward, I gotta go!!!”

Amanda breaks her pose in a fit of laughter. Robin recovers, grasps her shoulders, and turns to face the audience with her back to us so that he can write on her…AHEM…shoulder. Amanda throws her hair back seductively, and pushes her chest out, Robin can’t restrain the grin as he starts to write on her…erm…SHOULDER. Everyone is laughing their faces off!)

(When Robin is done, Amanda takes of the teeshirt, and grabs the marker herself . She lays the teeshirt on the counter and starts writing. Someone yells “Write ‘Property of Jack O’Neill!”)

Amanda: “What?”, (“WRITE PROPERTY OF JACK O’NEILL!!”), (LAUGHTER) Amanda: “YEAH!!!” and she starts to write)

Carissa: So we may start the bidding whilst Amanda is…scribing.We’re gonna start the…

Amanda (interrupting): This is totally dorky! This is exactly who I am. I’m an idiot. Not an idiot, but I’m kinda, you know, lame and dorky, and I ..OWN IT! (chuckles) I uh…I uh…YEAH! (Call from audience: ’Me too!’) YAY! I totally own my dorkiness, so aah.. (calls from audience:’ It’s what we love you for!!’,’You’re our role model!’) THREE of my favourite sayings *holds up teeshirt*…

Carissa: So, can we start the bidding at two hundred dollars. We’ve got 200 in the front row there…220…350..sorry 250! Three hundred! (comment from audience : “yeah I think I’ve got enough in here…” laughter)

(A guy calls out: “One thousand!”, “OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH ONE THOUSAND”, Amanda looks up from the teeshirt with the most shocked, wide-eyed, bunny-in-the-headlights-of-a-car expression to stare at him in AWE. Everyone cracks up at her facials)

(SCREAMS, CHEERS, LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)

Robin: That was GREAT!

Amanda: This is uuuuuuh…*mumbles aside* I’M NOT EMBARRASSED. I OWN my dorkiness! (laughter) ….I’m a LITTLE embarrassed! (laughter)

(silence for some time)

Robin: I think he won (laughter)

Carissa: There are a lot of high-flyers in the audience, I wouldn’t bet on it!

Amanda: *holds up teeshirt* Okay these are three of my favourite sayings: Live Peace, Speak Kindness, and Dwell in Possibility (AWWWWWW applause and cheers). Before my friend Cynthia passed away, I gave her this necklace because she was going through and incredibly difficult time with chemo, and she wore it…and..uh, I believe is STILL wearing it. Um…uh..yeah, the saying “Dwell in Possibility”, because I really believe that it can change…*chuckles* I’m getting sooooo dorky! (LAUGHTER) *goofy voice* I CAN MAKE MYSELF CRY! (laughter) YEAH but these are three of my favourite sayings. So there you go! AND AAAAH. I have a gunbum!!! So…I’VE GOT EVERYTHING! (laughter)

Carissa: One thousand dollars going once!…

Amanda: *remembers to sign* OH…CRIMANY! (chuckles)

Carissa: One thousand dollars going twice…sold for one thousand dollars (UPROAR OF CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(Amanda stares at the winner mouthing silently: ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS *GAPES*…LAUGHTER)

(The winner, of course, gets to take her top off. He walks straight up to Amanda and tries to grasp the bottom of the teeshirt. Amanda embarassedly shuffles away laughing awkwardly, then shakes her hair back, grabs his wrist, and coyly tries to drag him into a dark corner. She finally, with much blushing and giggles, lets him grab the shirt, and he pulls it up off her while her face is blushing and grinning cheekily. CHEERS, LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)

Carissa: Put keep clapping for the LOVELY…(is drowned out by SCREAMS,CHEERS AND DEAFENING APPLAUSE WHICH TRANSFORMS INTO AN EPIC MINUTE LONG STANDING OVATION UNTIL AMANDA, GRINNING AND WAVING, LEAVES THE ROOM, ALONGSIDE ROBIN DUNNE)

Amanda: BEST AUDIENCE EVER!!!!!!! (CHEERS AND CLAPS)

I sincerely hope that you enjoyed these panels as much as we did. From all of the lucky admirers who were able to attend, I think we can say that this day will always be in a corner of our hearts for the inspiration, the stitches and the tears that it manifested.

Thank you for stopping by WormholeRiders News Agency and reading. Please feel free to contribute to the discussion below, or visit me on Twitter by clicking the button down there, or my avatar at right!

CHEERIO!

JandyraCJM

December 24, 2010
Gate to the Sanctuary, Melbourne: Robin’s Happy Hour!

CALLING ALL SANCTUARIAN GATERS!

Gate to the Sanctuary was an incredible Stargate and Sanctuary convention, held in Sydney by Culture Shock Events, and in Melbourne by Hub Productions.

On the weekend of 11-12 December, 2010, several hundred extremely blessed fans had the opportunity to meet with some of their favourite artists, including Amanda Tapping of Stargate and Sanc tuary, Robin Dunne of Sanctuary, as well as Carmen Argenziano (Stargate) and Chuck Campbell (Stargate and Sanctuary).

Included are banners on two very worthwhile charities we ask that you support, Starlight Foundation of Australia and Sanctuary for Kids. Thank you for your generosity and support!

Further to my report on the convention, below are the transcripts of Robin’s and Amanda’s PHENOMENAL panels from the Melbourne event. Throughout Robin’s panel, the entire audience was in bouts of hysterical laughter, while Amanda’s panel was the most memorable for its soul, its beauty, its crazed goofiness, the hysterical giggles, the moved tears, and its intelligent and thoughtful Q&A.

Please note that these are written exactly how they are spoken. I chose to leave in the ‘umms’ and ‘aahs’, the little vocal nuances, so that you may read it exactly as was spoken by THEM. I did not want to filter it, but left it as it is so that you may hear it as Amanda and Robin told it. It is not a written report, but a transcript of spoken language, and should be read as such. I have also tried to include descriptions of actions and facials expressions where possible.

Some details may be blurry, so I apologise for any slight mistakes in spoken words. I hope you enjoy the panels as much as we did! May you finish with a painful stitch…it’s all about the living experience!

A MASSIVE bouquet of gratitude to the lovely @PaganX @MichelleDaGreek and @Abydos71 for your fabulous photographic contributions!

A day NEVER to be forgotten…

ROBIN DUNNE

(Intro. video playing)

(Robin appears at top of stairs, runs down. Stops. “YEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH!”! With his arms punched in the air. Runs down to floor at the front of the theatre)

(LAUGHTER AND CHEERS)

Robin: HOW ARE YOU NEAT PEOPLE?! (laughter) I gotta say, um, before we get into the REAL…meat and…and potatoes, I’m just kidding around around by the way (laughter)I’m totally like…OH NO…

Um, …okay let’s get those photos first alright? (LAUGHTER)*starts posing* (LAUGHTER)….I should just hold it up here like this *demonstrates with arms thrown apart in a sort of victory pose*(LAUGHTER)

I’d just like to warn you, um, and I mean the several people speaking today, uh… I’d just like to warn you that this may be the more X-rated of the uuh…(LAUGHTER)…I…I can’t help it, I ..I… I just go there sometimes, so forgive me. I know it’s sort of a family thing, I’ll try to keep it as..uh…family-friendly as possible! But uh…you never know. It’s me, I’m the wildcard of the…(chuckles)

Uh, but I just wanna say, before we get into it. Before we get into the..uh..all the questions..and the, you know, DEEP, DARK, and the underbelly of Sanctuary, and all those things that you wanna know, and that I will definitely tell you. Aaah, even if you DON’T wanna know, I’m gonna tell you! …(laughter).

Um, I just wanna say! I just spent the last couple of hours walking around Melbourne. *waving arms* OH MY GOD! WHAT AN AMAZING CITY THIS IS!! (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)I went to the…um, the Australian Centre for Moving Images?(Murmers of YEAAAH). Oh my GOD! It’s fantastic!! I mean, you know, I was..I was totally uh, TOTALLY blown away! And then, you know…pouring rain! Five minutes later, beautiful sun!! (LAUGHTER) YOU GUYS WEREN’T LYING, I SAW IT TOO! Wait five minutes! What is this huh? C’MON! (Audience: Four season in one day!) I know…four seasons in like…half an hour! (LAUGHTER)CRAZY! I’m sure it’s like, hailing and snow out there right now! (laughter)

Um, so anyway. Thanks for coming! It’s so great to be here, I love talking about the show! Uuum, I’ve said this many times before, you know…I’m a fan..you know, I’m a HUGE fan of the show. It also happens to be my job. But I…I love it, I love the show, and uuuh, I’m happy to, you know, let’s talk about it! I mean, um, I guess I’ll just open it up to the floor, open up some questions, you know and it’ll jog my memory. And I’ll probably you know, go into some long, boring, meandering stories. Um, but do we have…anybody who wants to open it up with, like, questions? Are we gonna, are we gonna…(Moderator: We’ve got a mic going around) Right…

Can everybody hear okay? (Yep! What? Yep! laughter)…Yeah…yeah your answer to that is, WHAT!?! (laughter). Physical comedy is my life…I’m telling ya…

Q1: Hi Robin…

Robin: HI!

Q1: I just wanna know, on the episode of ‘Breach’ what WAS the ‘knock knock’ joke?

Robin: *ponders for a moment* I have no idea! I uh…I really don’t..okay i have no idea what the ‘knock knock’ joke is. I think uh, that was the whole point of the show, you know, that there’s sort of this…this GAP in reality, um. But on that subject of that episode. What an AMAZING episode for Amanda to do, I mean, she got her ass KICKED (chuckles), uh…in that episode. And..and I remember talking to her after she shot it! She said “God!.. you know, umm, it was really tough! Like, it was really, really physical, and I really got beaten up!…in that episode!” And I sort of looked at her and went, “*STARES* WELCOME TO MY LIFE!!!!” (LAUGHTER). EVERY episode, I get my ass kicked! Um, but also! That’s another exciting thing about season 3, um, is uuh..IAN TRACEY, who is our new, AMAZING villain, um. GOD what an ACTOR! I got to do, um, quite…quite a lot with him this season, and I think he’s gonna become one of those, uuh, favourites. You know, he’s kinda gonna go into one of those Hannibal Lecter, you know, love-to-hate-him kind of zones. Um, and…you know, i think he’s gonna become a fan favourite like, in the way Tesla is, you know, Tesla…you guys love Tesla right?! (LOUD CHEERS AND WHISTLES)

Yeah…’cause like..You know, ‘Sanctuary’ is so cool, ‘cause like, they’re CONSTANTLY…you know, it’s such an INNOVATIVE show, and..and we’re constantly getting these new characters coming onto the show, who are…who are SO amazing. You know, of course Ian, Pascale Hutton, who plays Will’s girlfriend this year…WILL, has a little bit of a romance this year. Kinda nice, you know, I…I’ve been unlucky in love a few times! I’ve had…I’ve had a couple of girls DIE on me! (LAUGHTER) Which is..not..that great. But uh, ANYWAY so yeah, that’s that. But if I can think of a ‘knock knock’ joke, throughout this talk, I will definitely do one. Uuuh…

Q2: AAAH, in the INITIAL, Season 1, your relationship with Amanda’s daughter…did you find that challenging? Or…

Robin: My relationship? *stares, Bill Clinton impression* I did not. Have….*stabbing finger emphatically* (LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE). *still in character* What I did was wrong, but I did not…have…

Q2: Did you find that a challenge? That…there was a divide between you? One ran one way, the other ran the other? There was no…communal…

Robin: It was very challenging because she’s not an attractive girl *smiling* (laughter). Um, no I think..I think it was interesting because the two characters were very, very different. Particularly, in Season 1, um you know, I think we’ve talked about it. You know, Will has come a long way. Um, I was saying earlier, you know there are certain episodes in Season 1 where Amanda’s like “BOOM! Blumblumblum!” and Ashley’s like, “BLAMBLAMBLAMBLAM!” and Will’s like this, *cowers covering head* “AAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargggGGHHHHHHHH!!!” (LAUGHTER). Um, so that’s kinda gone away a little bit, um, it’s the natural progression of the character. He’s the guy who’s, who’s sort of resigning himself to the fact that he’s gonna be living in this dangerous place, and that he’s life is gonna be, you know, at stake. Risked every week. And he’s just sort of, numb to it now! But, in Season 1 he certainly wasn’t, and I think…YEAH…sort of…Ashley and Will were very mismatched! In that first season, because…she was obviously, you know, more cavalier and…I don’t..I don’t think Ashley would go for Will, particularly in Season 1. She’d be like*impression* “God this guys..is….what a LOSER! Get away from me loser…you…you’re crying! STOP CRYING!” (LAUGHTER) “You’re EMBARRASSING!”. So, yeah…

YES! *waits*…WAY UP THE BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

Q3: Hi I’m here! Hi I’m Suzie…um..is there any…

Robin: Hi Suzie. (chuckles)

Q3: At the end of Season 2, um, you had a REALLY nice scene….dancing! (LAUGHTER)

Robin: Dancing…dancing…DANCING! UUUUUUUUGH…THE BOLLYWOOD SCENE, that’s what you’re talking about! Um. Don’t remember it! (LAUGHTER) Have noo..noooooo recollection.

I..the only thing I really remember from that is this, it’s disappointing, but, I’ll do it for ya anyway! *Prepares himself. Double hand clicks up, double hand clicks down*(LOUD CHEERS AND WHISTLES AND APPLAUSE). Yeah you know, that was one of those things where…I honestly thought it was a practical joke! I did, I said to Damian, you know, “I know that I’ve gone into your computer many times, and, you know, uploaded the most…disgusting pornography (laughter), or you know, upgraded your Facebook status to say, you know ‘Damian Kindler is getting his nipples pierced’ (laughter). I know that I’ve done that many times, but, this is going a little far! You’ve written an entire script as a JOKE! (laughter). Uuuh, shouldn’t you be writing ACTUAL EPISODES for the show? Like, shouldn’t that be the important thing…”. And uuh, both Martin and Damian told me that “uuh, no actually, that’s actually a real episode. We are actually going to be shooting that!” IN TWO WEEKS!!! (laughter) Um, so I remember, the girl who came to …teach me to dance, um…lovely girl, um, very well versed in dance…particularly in Bollywood dance! She said uuh, “Okay you know what? I’m gonna…I’m gonna just, you know, just so I can gauge your level of…rhythm. (laughter) No no no, I’m…I’ll play some music, and just sort of…dance a little bit for me! Just so I can see, you know..like…how much work you need to do! (laughter)”. So, as if that’s not humiliating enough! So at first, like…I start doing this…*bends elbows and starts bopping and swinging slightly*(LAUGHTER)And she literally did this, she turned off the music, *STARES….buries face in palm*, *under breath* “OH my God…” (LAUGHTER). “When are you shooting this?!”, “uuuh two weeks…”, “TWO WEEKS!! Alright…aaah okay…”. Yeah, it was a very nerve-wracking thing, uuh, I said, just before I tell you…Uh. At one point, um, Martin Wood stood up on a chair, and he was like *demonstrates holding up phone* “HEEY! I JUST WANNA…” On the set, the day we were shooting, “I JUST WANNA SAY, UMM, YOU KNOW ON MY IPHONE HERE, IT SAYS IT’S FORTY DEGREES IN MUMBAI. And it’s…FORTY-TWO DEGREES IN VANCOUVER!! So…GREAT, you know, SO WE HAVE THE INDIAN WEATHER!”. And me, I’m like, literally sweating, like, really patching out, and I haven’t even done the dance yet. Um…and aah. You know, ALL DAY, people were like, you know crew guys, all sorts, *strained deep voice, nudging and smirking* “Heey, can’t wait to see you dance!” (LAUGHTER)”My wife…and, my brother came in to see this!” (LAUGHTER)” I told them you were gonna dance, you know and, they just need a good laugh! (LAUGHTER)”. And I go, you know, we were setting up the shot, and you know, we’re in the Mumbai set… in our parking lot. And aah,…I could see on the landing, like, people from ACCOUNTING (LAUGHTER), the caterers haven’t left! I was like, “You know, what…what is this? This is NUTS! It’s not some SPECTACLE, where everyone’s like, let’s laugh at ROBIN!” (laughter). Uuuuuh…actually, who am I kidding, like, that’s the whole show…(LAUGHTER). So um, we started…we started going into the dance, and it..it sounds like baloney. It sounds like, something that just came from anybody…I SWEAR TO GOD, this is exactly what happened. We start doing the dance, and I don’t know if it was the HEAT, or if it was…ABJECT FEAR on my part, but I honestly…don’t remember doing ANY of it. (laughter). I remember…it was like, I swear I went into some kind of hypnosis. Aaand, Martin Wood goes…, “Okay everyone! We’re done with the dance!!”, and it was almost like the hypnotist was like, was… SNAPPED me out of it. I was like, “What? We’re done with the dance?…wha…When are we doing it?!” (laughter), and he was like, “We’ve just been doing it for the last four hours!…Are you okay?”, he said, “SOMEONE GET HIM SOME GATORADE! (laughter)”. But yeah, it was a pretty…it was a pretty cool thing to do. And again, one of the great things about ‘Sanctuary’, is that…they DO that kinda stuff. I mean, who would have THOUGHT, that you could watch …an episode…of scifi, a scifi show, and have a Bollywood number! (laughter). You know..umm, you know, with episodes coming up this season, where you go, ‘Is this..?! Like…what SHOW is this?!?!” And, I think that’s one of the GREAT things about ‘Sanctuary’, is that: It’s NOT a show that’s gonna spoonfeed you, It’s NOT a show that’s gonna be like, “Hey…hey c’mon, let’s watch…let’s just watch a little episode of television! It’s okay, you don’t have to THINK”. You kinda actually HAVE to think with ‘Sanctuary’, and you have to kinda keep up, and I THINK that, certainly for ME as an actor, that’s one of the things that really draws me to the show and makes me excited about it. And I think, from an AUDIENCE standpoint, that’s really cool too, is like…you’re gonna be like, ‘Wait a second..what..wha..where are we?! What are we doing?!” Umm, and that, that…I credit, you know, Damian Kindler, and…and the writing team for REALLY coming up with those innovative stories. EVEN if it means, *British accent* I have to be…publicly embarrassed! (LAUGHTER) I think that’s where the root of the ideas come from. They…they sit in the writing room, they’re like, *scheming voice* “How can we make Robin look like a COMPLETE idiot this week?(laughter)” and then they come up with the story…so…Anyway, that’s…that’s uuh, it was a pretty fun! It was pretty fun…

Q4: Hi Robin

Robin: HI!

Q4: I was just wondering, from…Seasons 1, 2 and 3, in each of those, which has been your most favourite episode?

Robin: From each…each SEASON? My favourite episode?

I think uuum, ‘Requiem’, in Season 1. Umm, and I wanna…GOD I wanna say it was episode SIX, of the first season. Um, so…it, it was, I mean I always knew that ‘Sanctuary’ was something special, aaand it was a show that…uh, was trying to do something different. But…but really, ‘Requiem’ was, was the point where I was like “Okay, no…on second thoughts, it’s something really COOL” . It was, we…you know we, Amanda and I …it was REALLY amazing to just be able to, to work with Amanda in… in that sort of intensity. And also we…we shoot things out of sequence, as you may or may not know. I don’t know if…if… but like, you know. Let’s say there’s a, like, a scene that takes place…there’s two scenes in a movie that take place in an auditorium like this, one at the beginning, one at the end. Well, on a day of shooting, we would just shoot BOTH of those scenes the same day, rather than coming back to it, right? Sooo, a lot of times you have to really kind of, as an actor, know where you are, know where you are in the story, because…you know, you jump AROUND a lot. But in..in an episode like ‘Requiem’, because it was…a BOTTLE show that we say…isn’t…a bottle is we don’t leave, like, ALL of the scenes in one…bottle (LAUGHTER) That’s why we call it a bottle show,..(chuckles) It doesn’t happen…like…in a BOTTLE (laughter) we’re not DRUNK…well…sometimes (laughter) well…But no, it takes place in one…in one LOCATION. So, BECAUSE of that, we were able to shoot the ENTIRE thing in sequence. Which is very cool…it’s,…it’s very much like it’s a PLAY. So YEAH, I mean…it wasn’t…it was a difficult episode to shoot, I mean we were soaking WET all the time. You know, I think you saw a little flash of me wearing that…RIDICULOUS…aah…jumpsuit, as opposed to dry clothes…like Freddy Mercury. (laughter) It’s not really a look I’m going for. Um…so yeah, I think from Season 1 that was aah….In Season TWO, I think just..there were several that I really, really like. If I HAD to pick one, I would say…’Pavor Nocturnus’. Aaah, really kind of a DAUNTING episode for me to shoot, because I was PLAYING Will…this is the apocalyptic future…one. Umm, I was playing Will, but…a Will that was UNRECOGNISABLE to the one that we…we know. So it was like playing a different character, but I was playing the SAME character. So it was really, kind of different. Uuh, AGAIN LOVED the stuff, sort of, with me and Amanda one-on-one. Uh it was a …you know THAT’S a very weird episode too, because you know, NORMALLY we have…we’re joking around all the time, you know, people are taking their PANTS off (chuckles), and people are playing JOKES on each other…and you know, Martin Wood is throwing tennis balls, and it’s usually a very jokey-laughey set. But in an episode like THAT, that’s so heavy and serious uhh… that kinda goes out, ‘cause you…I mean I was REALLY kind of struggling to STAY in that character, to keep that intensity, and so was…Amanda. I mean she had, that was a very, very TAXING episode…for her to shoot! Uh…and there’s definitely a different MOOD on that episode. I noticed that some of the crew people were like, *strained whinge*“I don’t LIKE this episode (laughter)! No-one’s…like, LAUGHING or GIGGLING, I don’t LIKE this. It’s not like…it’s not like an episode of ‘Sanctuary’!”. Umm, but it was a, it was a very COOL episode…uuh, I think AGAIN, you know…some of the PRACTICAL sets on the show. You know we talk about the VISUAL effects on Sanctuary, and rightfully so they’re AMAZING, BUT..but…the PRACTICAL SETS. You know, the Bollywood episode, that was just… built in our parking lot. Uuuh, and…and in PAVOR, you know that was just built in a WAREHOUSE. It was all…you know, all that apocalyptic stuff, and how they really, like, DESTROYED Magnus’ office, destroyed the Sanctuary. Uhh, really amazing stuff. So I would say, Pavor is…Season 2 my favourite! And SEASON THREE MY FAVOURITE, I…I CAN’T TELL YOU ‘CAUSE YOU HAVEN’T SEEN IT YET (LAUGHTER and awwwwww!). You haven’t seen it yet, but I’m telling you! We did an episode THIS YEAR…the BIGGEST, MOST EXPENSIVE, biggest in SCOPE, biggest STORY, most…UNBELIEVBLE pieces of MACHINERY onset, that you’ve ever seen! It’s episode 17 this year…it’s called ‘Normandy’ (chuckles and oooh!). Which uuh, which uuh…ish very exshiting! (LAUGHTER)Yeah…that’s, that’s definitely my favourite one. And you know, the thing about…and that’s the thing about ‘Sanctuary’ too, you can just be like “OH MY GOD my LIPGLOSS! (LAUGHTER)” Um…yeah you definitely look at…and just be like “Wow, I just can’t believe, how cool …what a cool job. Yeah, those are my three favourite I think…

Anybody else…? Oh sorry…YOU’RE in control of this, I’m not controlling this…I’m…

Q5: Over time, or actually from the very BEGINNING, you’ve had a bit of a penchant to…um…lose your pants (LAUGHTER).

Robin: I don’t know, I don’t know if LOSE is…

Q5: You tend to DROP it!

Robin: YEAH…um…If I’d worn my tear-away jeans today *mimics ripping them off* (LAUGHTER) PRRRT! You know…that’s a good question! I was…I was talking about this yesterday in Sydney. Uh, I DON’T know where that stunt came from, I don’t know the root of that! Ummm, I do know this..sort of…if I take it back…there was ONE point where, early in Season 1, we were doing…interviews, you know, for ….aand Martin Wood was sitting there, and…you know I love Marty, but he can kinda go on a little bit. Sometimes, at you know, like Comic Con, you’re just like “Martin! WHAT are you TALKING about?! You’re like…ranting…you’re like my MUM! (laughter) You’re ranting on like a story, and then a branch, and then another story, and we’re beginning to forget where we even STARTED!” (laughter) so I think…I think Martin was just doing that, and was doing his little interview and…I was sitting there watching him, and …I dunno! I had this…perverse desire to just see if…he was sitting right here doing the interview, right, *sits in chair, arms folded and demonstrates* He was speaking this way, and I kinda walked up and I was just like *turns around, bends over and mimes pulling down pants next to Martin’s face*(LAUGHTER) I dunno! I was just like, had to, had to see…I just had a desire to put my bare ass… next to his face because I wanted to see…if anyone could tell the difference! (LAUGHTER) So then AH…you know, it just became, just became a THING, it waqs, it was …you know…I…I dunno, I’ve embarrassed myself, you know…and I’ve embarrassed my PEERS, and uuh, the SHOW, certainly I’ve embarrassed. But the people I feel REALLY bad for …are my POOR Mother and Father (LAUGHTER). Because you know, they actually…, that THING that I just described? THEY PUT THAT ON TELEVISION. (laughter) They ACTUALLY put that on TELEVISION..they, you know they…you know, pixeled out my…my naked parts (laughter). But they PUT it on TELEVISION, and my PARENTS saw it, and PHONED me! (LAUGHTER)”WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!” (LAUGHTER) “Could you wait until we’re DEAD” (LAUGHTER). Um, yeah…I dunno where it’s come from, but…you know what? This is what I think. If you’re good at something, just stick to it. (LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)

Where are you? There you are!

Q6: Um…I wanna…

Robin: *British voice* Hello darling, how are you?! How’s it going? A’right? *suave* I’m trying to ignore ye…(one of the organisers leans on one the wall cubes, it falls out of the wall and onto the floor, LAUGHTER) … wow, you touched it. They look like TEETH actually…*reaches out to touch one* anyway uh… Anybody who works here, I didn’t mean to touch those, and I will not touch anymore!(laughter)How many times have I said THAT in my life? (LAUGHTER, steward says something) yeah, I told you, I TOLD I WORK HERE YOU DIDN’T I?! This is what it’s gonna be…

Go ahead!

Q6: I remember you talking about the entire experience…filming in Tokyo! And um…going to a, to a convention there…and can you tell us about it?

Robin: Tokyo was AMAZING! Amazing, and one of the crazy things about shooting in Tokyo is that…we work on this show where we…go to Mumbai, or we go to…you know, ALL over the world, or we go to, you know, Hindu Kush, we go…around the world, but we never leave our STUDIO. Um, and we had this opportunity to go and do some PRESS for Syfy Asia, and uh, Marty Wood got the brilliant idea of, “Well, we can’t… we’re not going to Tokyo without SHOOTING something!” So uuh, you know, in the… you know n the seventy-two hours we were actually IN Tokyo, we managed to do a whole bunch of press, AND shoot a scene! And um, the funny thing about THAT, is that people actually go “WOW man, the CGI is getting REALLY GOOD!” (laughter)”They look like they actually went to TOKYO!! (LAUGHTER)” Um, but we were actually there…But, it was AMAZING to be over there in…in Tokyo. It feels like, it’s just like coming here. It…it’s crazy for us, because we WORK in…this little, you know, abandoned BIKE factory in, in Vancouver, aaand we do the show! And we all kinda think it’s cool! But you know, you don’t really KNOW if anybody else is watching it, or…you’re just, I don’t know! We just kinda work in this bubble! And we’re working on the show. And to be able to travel, to such…to such far-away places, like Tokyo, or like this…how do we pronounce it? Melbun…Melbun?! (LAUGHTER) *tries Aussie impersonation* I like Melbun…Melbun, Australia, I like it…*fails* I’m working on it, sorry guys I’m working on it! (LAUGHTER) AAAAH I’ve only been here a couple of days, let me work it out! UMMM, it’s amazing to…to talk an interact with people, and see…that, you know, people are actually watching the show, and like it. Um, we did get some SERIOUS notice in Tokyo though, and…as you may KNOW the, the Japanese culture is one of…uuh…privacy, they’re very polite, they’re very…sort of, non-invasive. They’re very, VERY …gentle people, the Japanese! And um, you know we…we did some crazy things like…you know. The four of us went to do some interviews in the Syfy…Syfy office in Tokyo, and um…they took…they took Amanda away *ironic grin* (LAUGHTER, someone says something) NO, they took Amanda…I mean, Amanda, AMANDA is…the star, right? So you know, everything Amanda does, she…she just does it for the longest. So, they take Amanda away to do some interviews. And, literally, Marty, Damian and I….we call Damian ‘Aussie’ by the way, ‘cause he’s Australian…just to avoid any…any confusion. Um, and I’m sorry, I know, he’s an embarrassment to your nation (LAUGHTER). Um …alright, okay (someone in the audience asks something :”….did he do?”) Um…I just heard you say, you think he’s an idiot!! (LAUGHTER) Um, ANYWAY. So….So AMANDA’S off doing interviews, okay? Martin and I are literally sitting in this APARTMENT, Damian and I are literally sitting in this room, like this *sits on chair, legs sprawled open, hanging head over the back, clearly bored as heck* (laughter) TINY little room with a couch, and…and some art right? So FINALLY after forty-five minutes, I’m like “GOD…I am BORED, I’m gonna do like, something CRAZY here, what do we do?”, and then Martin goes: *whispers* “….Let’s change all the furniture around!” (LAUGHTER) And so we…*mimics panicked rushing around* ”No..NONONO..nono take the couch, COME ON, and this art over HERE and.., take this ART from over HERE, and take this art from here, and take that one THERE…” (LAUGHTER) The SECOND we put in the last of the artwork, one of…one of the um, the Syfy executives walked into the room like *opens door* “Hey guys! We’re gonna…! *STARES IN SHOCK* (LAUGHTER)…*long silence*…we’re ready.” (LAUGHTER) And it just worked out that people thought we were insane (laughter)

But ANYWAY…this is…uuuuuh….this is a HUGE display of my childishness. You know…we, we were standing in an elevator going up, you know, one of those HUGE buildings they have in Tokyo. Me, Martin, Amanda and Damian, and like about….ten Japanese people. It was just…a CRAMMED elevator, and it’s …SILENT right (expectant laughter). And all the Japanese people are standing like this *stands with arms and feet very close together, still, staring straight ahead*. And we’re goin’ up, goin’ up…and it’s silent…silent…and literally I just go like this, I go, *covers mouth: PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFRRRRRRRT* (LAUGHTER). Damian turns around is just like *demonstrates* “YOU DID NOT JUST DO THAT!! (LAUGHTER) YOU DID NOT JUST DO THAAAAAAAT! *flailing hands*” (LAUGHTER). Great, GREAT times…but yeah it was a lot of fun! (chuckles in audience)

Anyway…who’s next?

Q7: Um, G’day! I’m Lucas…umm…*Robin’s grinning cheekily*

Robin: *PFRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT* (LAUGHTER) you know what, we can send a MAN to the MOON (laughter). But, making a noise with your ass will never NOT be funny! (LAUGHTER) Okay sorry! I WARNED you DIDN’T I?! I warned you I’d…okay…

Q7: Um, working in a predominantly, um, green-screen environment, you work with practically…nothing, but…green. I suppose, I mean you have your imagination. Could you talk about the challenges…you faced, and how, um, what you’ve done to overcome those challenges.

Robin: NO Lucas, I can’t! (LAUGHTER) *chuckling* Um, no I can’t do that Lucas…and uh. SHAME ON YOU FOR ASKING THAT QUESTION! (laughter) Just…um, I’m challenged somehow as an actor! (laughter) No, you know…it’s interesting. You know, every actor…*sighs* in the last…fifteen or so years, has worked with some…sort of green-screen. Um, but usually it’s just like, you know, ”HEY THIS IS A MONSTER LOOK OVER HERE!” (chuckles)”SOMEBODY SWING THE TENNIS BALL ON THIS THING”, so usually that’s just the gist of it. So when I first…started doing Sanctuary, it was a LITTLE BIT of a learning curve! Because, you know we’re working…with such a…CRAZY amount of green screen! And uh, you know, there’d be…there’d be scenes where I’m running away from…some kind of abnormal, you know, and I’d be like, “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH *flailing*”, and Martin would be like, “Okay cut! You see this line…you see this line over here Robin?! *bends over and points out* That’s a WALL!” (LAUGHTER) “Unless…unless Will can WALK on AIR…you’ve just…ruined everything for that take”(laughter). Bu uh, now …now that we’re more used to it, and particularly being IN the Sanctuary, we really KNOW the dimensions of those rooms, we know what the library looks like…you know, that kind of stuff. It’s a LOT easier! And…you know, AMANDA uses this analogy, which I will steal, and use as my own (laughter): It’s kinda like doing…THEATRE. It’s kinda doing minimalist theatre. ‘Cause you know, you’re there, and you’re really relying on the actors. And that’s a lot of fun too, ‘cause we DO have some…AMAZING actors on the show. Not me, but…some…(laughter) some amazing actors. So that’s…that’s really cool, and ALSO, it ALLOWS you to do …to do so many cool things. I mean, we…WITHOUT green screen technology, we really, LITERALLY couldn’t do the show. ‘Cause you know like I say, we’ve gone to all these places, we have these cool monsters. So any, any sort of…difficulty in imagining…that stuff, or…working with it, is FAR…you know it’s FAR better to have that, to be able do these things. Um, ONE THING that does happen to me frequently, is that…you know, you’d be like…”Okay, so. The monster’s coming after you, uh, this is the vista, you’re looking at a disc…and there’s like, this big creature…you know there’s a ….the spider monster’s coming after you, you know, and you’ll be running, and it’s kind of this HEIGHT. So as an ACTOR, what you have to do is go, “Okay. Giant spider….it’s running this way, so I have to look over here, okay imagining the spider …what that looks like. Okay cool yeah!”. So we shoot the scene, “CUT! Great okay…”. And then you WATCH the finished product, after Anthem, our visual effects company, very cool…you’re like, “WOW! That’s uh…that’s WAY cooler than what I imagined!” (laughter) My imagination sucks! ‘Cause…you know, If I was in charge of Anthem, I would have actually done something much different. So…but it’s actually…it’s VERY cool. Um, a lot of times, there are difficulties…for the TECHNICAL people as well, because, the LIGHTING is difficult, because you know…you kind of, you don’t wanna get GREEN reflections off things, and off the actor’s faces. Sometimes some actors…come to set, ALREADY green uuhm (laughter), yeah, we won’t mention those people. Me. Uh, but you know…psychologically it’s difficult as well, but I think…certainly, you know, the pros definitely outweigh the cons. So…not like…not, not CONS *waves arms over audience* (laughter)…so…

Q8: Um Robin, I just want to know, were you into…I mean obviously, Sanctuary takes a lot of your time, currently…

Robin: HHYEAH. (laughter)

Q8: Were you into, scifi before you got this role, and…and um, what other scifi shows, besides Sanctuary, would you enjoy watching…or DO you enjoy watching?

Robin: UM…you know, it’s…it’s a CLICHÈ answer, but I think if I had to…find ONE film, that really got me into the film and television business, at all, it would have been Star Wars. I mean, I’m a HUGE Star Wars fane, aah, the (applause) …the ORIGINAL. I know they made…ah, weren’t there like, three OTHER pieces of crap that they made? (laughter) We don’t really need to talk about that, but, so yeah. Certainly, you know, I definitely LOVE that genre. Um, it’s NICE to be working in the genre, because…there are SO many different things you can do, and…and you know, obviously. Obviously EVERYHING, that we do are metaphor sort of things, but certainly in …in the scifi genre, you can go that much FURTHER with things. Um, I think there’s some pretty cool shows on television, you know, I really recently got into ‘Being Human’, aaaaah what a GREAT show (applause). Um, but yeah I mean, it’s really kinda nice to work…to work in the genre, doing things that we do. It’s pretty cool. (audience member: Do you watch ‘Firefly’?) I DO watch ‘Firefly’, you know, and that was one of those sad things about television, aaaah, you know. Sometimes things get cancelled and you go, “God, why did that get cancelled?!” Um, I certainly HOPE that that doesn’t happen to US (laughter).

Q9: Keep in mind before, before you answer the question. (Robin: UH OH, here we go! laughter) No remember on the…eco-downloading, which of course…we…we HAVEN’T (laughter) um, there are in Season three…um so… keep that in mind. But, IF…based on previous episodes, it seems…that the writers would like you to be an abnormal.

Robin: Or maybe they just go, “this guy is so abnormal, we can’t help it!” (LAUGHTER)

Q9: Yeah, the question is…do you think that..they ARE, or are they just playing around with you. And, if you were to settle with one abnormal power, what do you think would be the most fun power to play with?

Robin: Um, interesting question. I think, you know, the thing about Will, is that, and it’s a JOY to play, is that I think..I mean he DOES have special skills. And yes, you’re right, he is NOT an abnormal. Um, I will go so far as to say he’s normal (laughter). But,…that might be a stretch, but he’s not abnormal! (chuckles). But the COOL thing about that, is that…you know, *tedious voice* “NOOOOOOOOOO I don’t get to turn into a werewolf, Ryan’s real proud of that, loves to turn into a werewolf”(laughter) “great for you…” you know, the guy’s a CANINE and he loves it, I don’t know!…But um, the cool thing about playing Will, is that I get to be the…the, particularly in the..in the FIRST season, the first few episodes even, is the EYES and EARS of the audience, sort of stepping into this world and experiencing it. And I think that’s a very cool trade-off, to sort of, not have…not have an abnormal POWER. Um, *chuckling* yeah I got this question one year at Comic Con, you know, if Will could have an abnormal power, what would it be? And I made the major mistake of saying, “You know, I’d like to turn, I’d like people to …you know, to be able to turn myself invisible!” And Martin was sitting next to me and goes, “You know Robin, we could make you invisible REEEEEALLY easily!” (LAUGHTER)” Just keep up that crap you’re doing in front of the camera…(LAUGHTER)…you’ll be invisible in NO time!” (laughter) Um…but yeah, it’d be kinda COOL to be invisible, or to be able to make yourself invisible..um….I’M NOT GONNA BE GOING INTO THE LADIES’ CHANGING ROOMS OR ANYTHING (LAUGHTER)…MUCH…(laughter) but yeah, that would be …that would be kinda cool! (Muttering quietly, hard to hear)

Q10: Hi. Um…I have a question to ask about, um, working with Jonathon Young, and …have you got any good stories on set?

Robin: *SIGHS* you know Jonathon….he’s just the CONSUMMATE actor, you know. He’s a guy who comes in,…we have a great time with him. The thing about Sanctuary too, that’s really fantastic, is ..You know, when you start off on a show, there’s a core group of people that you, you know, really get along with, have a great time, and LOVE working together. Like…WE ALL DO. And, as the show PROGRESSES, more actors come into the fold, and ..and…as soon as the GET there, you can’t really remember what it was like WITHOUT them. And, that was…that’s certainly true for Jonathon Young, um ..Ian Tracey, you know, all these actors who have come on the show, who are just sort of…you know, NOW are part of the family! And…and we get ALONG with, we joke around, um…And Jonathon is certainly one of those guys, who’s REALLY taken …the ROLE he’s doing. And done something VERY very cool with it. I mean, he’s …he has that GREAT stuff with Heyerdahl, and stuff in scenes with Druitt, um…but HE’S just a…solidly CONSUMMATE professional, ALWAYS in a good mood, and always CHALLENGING. The thing about…the thing about a great actor is, they’ll…they’ll come in, you know AMANDA’S like this too…you know very GENEROUS, you know, NEVER wanting to steal a scene, but always wanting to kind of challenge you, to make sure you’re LISTENING, and taking the scene in a different direction. And…and, Jonathon’s just certainly come in and done that, and has REALLY stolen the hearts of a lot of the fans, which is REALLY, really lovely. ‘Cause he’s this, you know, this CHARACTER who’s…KINDA DESPICABLE (laughter) you know I, Will doesn’t like him…Tesla, at all! You know, he’s really, he’s REALLY stolen the hearts of the fans, and uh…we LOVE him. You know, I THINK…has he ever come out to one of these things? I think it would be GREAT (murmers of agreement in audience) he should come out! You know, …I’m gonna have a convention in my living room! (cheers and applause. “YEAH! We’re all coming!”)

Hi! THERE YOU GO!

Q11: Hello, my question is about the …I forgot the name of the episode. It’s the one where…you get stuck down…the helicopter? All hanging by the wires?

Robin: YEAH, Next Tuesday! (Q11: right..!) Yeah just before you…you say…you DO know that the original title of… that episode was…you know what I’m talking about right? (chuckles) Next Tuesday…’see you next Tuesday’, you know the…(OOOOOOOOOOOH right!) WHAT?! ‘We’ll see you next Tuesday” What are you talking about?! I dunno..! (laughter) What…yeah…sorry go ahead…see I’ve done it again! Like…okay we’re sinking lower and lower here, it’s terrible…sorry …

Q11: That’s alright…I wanted to know about that, but also, the difference between that and the episode where you’re…stuck in the submarine with Amanda, between THAT episode, and the differences?

Robin: YEAH. I mean *sigh* that AGAIN, was another one of those GREAT two-handers, um, again…it was a difficult episode to shoot, because it was …we were LITERALLY in water…the entire…for, for SEVEN DAYS. Fifteen hours a day, uuh, in wetsuits, floating around in the water…but ummmm, ANOTHER great episode, to sort of, play out. And I, I THINK …I really like the RELATIONSHIP between the two characters in that episode! It’s kinda like this odd, sort of, JEALOUSY, sort of..brother-sister kind of things, we’re it’s like “AW COME ON, you’re gonna…you’re going to see her!” and, you kinda really get the crux of the relationship between Will and Magnus in that episode. Because, they CAN’T really lie to each other, you know, they’re…they’re two characters that really RELY on each other for survival. Umm, they kinda really see THROUGH each other. And it’s BECAUSE of that RELIANCE on each other, that they really see through each other! And I thought that was a really COOL thing in the writing where, we sort of had that play-off back and forth. ANOTHER really cool thing that…that happened, uuh, another EXAMPLE of sort of, the tight-knit group that we have on ‘Sanctuary’, is, …You know, a lot of…a lot of directors, would have just been like, you know…Sitting back *sits on chair and rests feet on table*, on the nice dry land, you know, going *mimics holding cup of coffee* “OKAY GUYS…NOW I WANT YOU TO TRY IT ONCE MORE”, you know, sitting here nice and dry, sipping…sipping a coffee…cappuccino, “Yeah NO, NO! GET FARTHER DOWN INTO THE WATER (laughter)…somebody get some…get some WEIGHTS to put around his ankles! *sips*(LAUGHTER)…no, no GET DOWN, ROBIN…in the water…NO. KEEP HIM DOWN UNTIL HE TURNS BLUE!…keep him down until he turns blue! (LAUGHTER)…WE REALLY WANT TO GET THAT REALITY” But um, the thing about Martin is that, HE was…in a wetsuit, in that water, just as long as the…as the actors were! And, you know, that…that really goes to show, what kind of a group we have, you know. Um, and a lot of the CREW guys, I mean, AGAIN…a show that’s really pushing the technology…we had, underwater CAMERAS, I mean we had, literally, guys…They did this really cool thing where, there was a microphone in…underneath the water, and…I didn’t think you could actually HEAR under the the water. I mean, you’re in the water…I dunno, I’m not…technological! But it’s WATER right? I don’t know if you can hear, but you literally hear CRYSTAL CLEAR down there…the direction. So, they would have these camera guys…you know with air tanks, and wetsuits, and all…the WHOLE gear, and obviously a waterproof camera. …

YEAH Robin a waterproof camera, they’re not STUPID they know it’s waterproof! *flips back to argue with himself throughout the sequence, flailing his arms indignantly*

*High pitched* Well YEAH I’m just trying to…I’m just SAYING (laughter) . What’s the matter, why are you going all grumpy?

I’m not going GRUMPY. You didn’t have to SAY…you know, it’s waterproof…they KNOW that! (laughter and applause) *stands staring* Why do you embarrass me in public like this?! (laughter)

You’re not very nice, I’m just trying to tell a story…can I continue?

YEEEEES of COURSE you can continue! I just…you know. *silence* Would you like ME to continue?! ‘Cause you’re sulking…

I’M NOT SULKING! I just…(LAUGHTER)

Do you wanna…? You’re sure..?

Yes…go ahead…!(LAUGHTER)

NO..no..just…just do it, will you please?!

Um. *stands awkwardly facing audience*(LAUGHTER) *chuckles* you’re all like, “OH MY GOD…THIS GUY’S CRAZY, HE’S TALKING TO HIMSELF!” Um…but um, underwater…but ALSO, just talking about camera stuff, just pushing the envelope…like…technologically. Um, we had an episode shot this year, in Season 3, where we….I just have to think about it…um, where we…it was ENTIRELY from Will’s perspective. And they put this camera on a…it was almost like a BIKE helmet, and with the camera sticking out like this *demonstrates*. And I LITERALLY shot the entire show…just…sort of…you know, the camera was on my BODY. So, you know, in…in MANY ways, we’re trying to break the boundaries of technology.

Now *chuckling* now everyone’s trying to be…everyone’s like…*whispers* “Just get him OUTTA here!” (laughter). “Don’t ask ANY more questions, just make him LEAVE!” (laughter) But…who’s next?

WAY UP THE BAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

Q12: Yep, right up the back! Um, in Sanctuary, there are a lot of characters, or historical figures like…Nikola Tesla, John Druitt, or Dr. Watson. Are there any characters…that YOU would like to brought into the show?

Robin: *gazing intently* Yes.

Q12: Oh…GREAT! *laughs* (LAUGHTER)

Robin: *Elvis impression* I, uh…would like to see a bit of…uh…Elvis Presley! (LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE AND CHEERS) thanks…I love you, I love you…(LAUGHTER)

YEAH maybe Elvis should show! I mean we did have a …we did have a THING where, you know ah…I think it already happened this year? Or was it last year? (murmers) I don’t know…it’s all together in my mind…OBVIOUSLY …I’m TALKING to myself (laughter). UH…she kind of has this thing with Elvis…THAT WOULD BE KINDA COOL…to see Elvis. Um, you know, um…I dunno, I dunno what ERA we would take. Um…I kinda, …I would kinda like to see him, if Elvis was gonna come on the show, I kind of wanna see him in that …Aloha, Hawaii them you know. He can wear mine! I actually have one of those! (laughter)

(Audience member talking to him) Yeah…YEAH…*starts singing deep Elvis voice* I’m bluuuuuuuuuuuuue….without you…(laughter). You know it’s funny, when I get tired on set, which is normally…I always say, like, I’m getting ‘Elvis’ syndrome, ‘cause like, my voice…my LIPS get tired…and I…I can’t TALK anymore, so it’s like, *deep lazy voice* “WELL…I justwannatellyouthat…I think we’re…I can’t pronunciateit..” (chuckles). Yeah, I’m digressing, I’m sorry. Who’s next? What’s going on? Who wants to know anything else?

YES!

Q13: If you had to write a dating ad for yourself, what would you write? (LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)

Robin: If I had to WHA..A WHA A WHA?!?

If I’m gonna what? I’m sorry…repeat the question…

Q13: If you were gonna write a dating ad for yourself, what would you write?

Robin: *STARES* (laughter)

*Sobbing anxiously* Psychiatrist…*trembling* works in mental…ASYLUM. NEEDS…human…COMPANIONSHIP…..*shaking and sobbing* PLEASE (laughter). PLEASE…please don’t ask me about my job (laughter). *crumbles to knees sobbing* JUST HOLD MEEEEEEEEEEEE…..(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE).

*silence*

*SOBS* I’m so ALOOOOOONE! (LAUGHTER)

That’s what I would write…*mumbling*

Ahhh, what else…what else, anyone?

Q14: Uuuh HI. Um…

Robin: *British accent* Helloo! (laughter)Hello darling, you alright? (LAUGHTER) DON’T TOUCH THOSE TEETH THINGS. (laughter) I touched them, and I got in trouble, don’t touch them!

Q14: *chuckling* Yeah you mentioned the amount of jokes being played on set, and stuff like that, and I was wondering which was the best one that you played on someone, and which was the best that someone played on YOU?

Robin: UMMMM. I…I think, I like telling about Holden MacPhillips, do you know the story? (mixed replies). It’s a looong story, but I’ll try to make it really quick. But um, basically:

I created this character named Holden MacPhillips. He’s…he’s this OLD man, he’s a realtor in Hollywood, but he’s also a film producer. And uuuuh, I …I made him a fake email address, and…for YEARS…like this is going back to the end…maybe the MIDDLE of Season 1, I was emailing Martin Wood…these weird things like: “Hello!..” and I always spelled his name wrong, “Mr. Woods! *muffled dorky voice* Dear Mr. Woods!”, you know, “I’m a filmmaker, out her at sunny Hollywood, California, and I have some VERY exciting projects that I would like to team up with you!” Uhh, and i would email these ideas, ideas like, you know, uuh, a SEQUEL to Rocky, where Rocky’s BRAIN…is..is taken out of his body and put into a FIGHTING ROBOT (LAUGHTER), set in some..some planet in the future, and I called it ‘Gingko Balboa” (LAUGHTER). I kept emailing these things, and Martin would be like, “oh my God, check out these emails, this guys is crazy *laughing*”, and as the emails kept going on, he STOPPED talking about it. (laughter) “Hey Martin! Have you got any emails from Hold…”, “No.” (LAUGHTER). So then one day I called up a florist (expectant laughter), I said to the florist, I said, “You know, I want you…I want you to put together an arrangement of flowers. But I want you to do it as though….a CRAZY person, has put together (laughter) an arrangement of flowers. I want it to be like, CLASHING and UGLY, and just like, the most DISGUSTING arrangement of flowers. I want you to do that!” And the woman goes, *stares hard* “WHY?!?!” (LAUGHTER). “Trust me, trust me! I just need it.” So, I sent these flowers to Martin FROM Holden MacPhillips (LAUGHTER), and uuh, you know, Martin’s sitting in his office, and aah, the door’s here right *shows*. He’s sitting at his desk, like this. Right, *sits in profile to audience, hunched over desk*. Damian comes in and goes “OH MY GOD *laughing* oh my God, you gotta go look at the flowers dude, you gotta go look at the flowers!” So, Martin’s sitting at his desk, but I CAN’T SEE HIM, I can’t see him ‘cause there’s this HUUUUUUUGE bouquet of flowers right in front of him (LAUGHTER). All I can see is his BACK sticking out like this *demonstrates*. And they’re like, PINK, and like plastic…GREEN ones, and it’s disgusting, right! So I like, I pretend to like, ask him a question, so I walk in, I’m like, “Hey Martin! PFFFFFFFTAHAA *doubles over* (LAUGHTER)”. Damian’s like, ‘No, no we’ve gotta see him” So, Damian walks into the office, he’s like *nonchalant*,

‘HEY! Martin, howsitgoin…?”,

Martin’s like this *hunched over work*, “Fine” (LAUGHTER).

“Like uuh, SO what’d you think…of the last draft of uuh, the script…”,

Martin: “Yeah it was good”, “Anything that needs to be done with it…?”,

“NO..no it’s, it’s fine”,

“Okay, cool man….uh…say…who are these, uh, who are these flowers from?”,

*Head buried* “Uh…uh they’re from no-one” (LAUGHTER).

So THEN, we’re about to go to Comic Con, right, and CAROLE our publicist, she didn’t know…she didn’t know anything about this. So she comes down to me and says, “You know what? I’m really worried about Martin!”, “Why?”, like, “Well, *sigh* you know, we’re doing the uuh, the hotel arrangements for Comic Con, and he wants to check in under an ALIAS!” (LAUGHTER, CHEERS AND CLAPS). I’m like “What?!”, “Yeah, he wants to check in under ‘Martin Carruthers’!” (LAUGHTER). And I was like, “you know what, he’s fearing for his LIFE”, ‘cause I’d also sent him an email saying, you know “I’m gonna be at…”, from Holden, “AAhm, Mister Martin Woods, I’m going to be at, aah, at Comic Con, I happen to be staying at the same hotel you’re staying at! (LAUGHTER) You know, maybe we could get together and discuss some of these projects!” (LAUGHTER) So, I like, NOW I panicked. I’m like “Oh my God, he’s actually FEARING for his life. So I go into Damian’s office, and I go, “You know what?! We gotta…we got to aah …I’ve gotta tell him! I can’t keep doing this to him, I can’t…he’s losing SLEEP! (laughter), and he’s WORRIED, and…this has, this has gone BEYOND a joke”, and Damian looks at me, and goes, *choked with laughter*“I know. It’s brilliant” (LAUGHTER).”There’s no way, NO WAY, we’re going to pull the rip cord on this, NOT YET”

We get to the…*sighs* we get to the hotel at Comic Con right, Marty…Marty’s in the lobby, literally going like this, *stand arms folded, twitched, staring nervously around and over his shoulder* (LAUGHTER). You know, like he’s looking out for some frail old man from Hollywood. We got to the counter, like:

“Checking in?”,

“Yes! Yes, um…Damian Kindler”,

“Okay..there’s your room key”, “Okay thank you!”,

“Checking in?”,

“YEP…aah, Amanda Tapping”,

“Okay thank you, there’s your room key”

“Checking in?”,

“Yep Robin Dunne!”,

“Your room key!”,

“Checking in?”,

“Uh yeah…uhm *coughs, leans over and undertones*…Martin Carruthers” (LAUGHTER).

SO, FINALLY. I’m like, actually feeling really, really bad. So, ‘When are we gonna let him…when are we gonna let him know what’s happening?”, Damian’s like, “We’re gonna do it RIGHT after the panel at Comic Con”. So we do the panel at Comic Con, we walk out, we’re in the Green Room, and I get..uuh…I think it was Carole, she..she, I heard her go to Martin and say, “Uuuh, Martin, listen um. Holden MacPhillips is outside” (LAUGHTER AND CHEERS), “DON’T WORRY, he’s not, he doesn’t look dangerous. But, he’s out there, he’s NOT going away, why don’t you just go talk to him? And just, like, and just be nice to him. I’m SURE if you just say hello to him, he’ll go away”. So Martin…Martin literally turns, he turns WHITE like this thing right*places hand on white bench* (LAUGHTER). And i go, “Marty, what’s wrong?”, he’s like “Yeah, HOLDEN MACPHILLIPS…stopped by”, and he’s like, “Yeah…I’ve got to go and talk to Holden MacPhillips!”. So, I run out, and I beat him, I beat him outside to the front of it. And I’m…I’m, I’ve got a video camera, somebody had the TERRIBLE idea of giving me a video camera (LAUGHTER). For the BTS, most of it was just like, *dorky voice*“LOOK, MY FEET, I’M WALKING!” (LAUGHTER). *Dorky voice* “I’M TAKING A PEE LOOK! I took lots of vitamins and now my pee is REALLY YELLOW!” (LAUGHTER). I mean, I didn’t do that, but I do some funny things (LAUGHTER). So, I’m standing, Martin comes around the corner, and I’m standing there, right? And Martin’s still like, white like a sheet, and he looks at me, and he sees ME there, you know, with the camera. And everybody starts laughing…and I…except for me, I felt so bad, I was like:

“*grovelling* MARTIN I’M SORRY! (LAUGHTER), I’M SORRY I DIDN’T MEAN IT (LAUGHTER)”,

and Martin’s just kinda standing there, he’s like, shocked! He’s like,

“*STARES*…………..*mumbles* Holden..MacPhillips…is YOU?”,

“*grovelling* I’M SORRY!! IT’S JUST A JOKE, IT GOT OUT OF CONTROL, I’M SORRY…I’M TERRIBLY SORRY, I KNOW YOU HAVEN’T SLEPT”

He goes, “*STARES*…..*breathes* WOW…(LAUGHTER)you know…you know, you’ve been writing me emails for, like…three YEARS! (LAUGHTER)”.

So, “YEAH I know”,

He’s like, “YOU’RE A SERIAL KILLER…I DUNNO!” (LAUGHTER). I mean…IT’S BRILLIANT don’t get me wrong! But you’re …CRAZY!…You need a HOBBY!” (LAUGHTER). So yeah…I’m yet to be trumped. But you see the PROBLEM is when you get to do a show, where everybody plays practical jokes on everyone else. EVERYBODY gets super, like, suspicious, and you know. No…I mean, because of ME, nobody leaves computer unlocked! (LAUGHTER) It’s not happening, you know! Everybody’s like, you know, Martin’ll be like, you know, installed in his chair, and he’ll be like, “Okay, for this scene, I think…WOAH…where’s my phone?! Where’s…(LAUGHTER). I don’t care WHAT we’re doing, I don’t care if we’re doing the most brilliant scene in the world, you are NOT getting my phone!” One day, I’m like…my like, computer broke, you know, the boy who cried ‘Wolf’ right? I’m like,” I don’t have a computer today *SIGH*, can someone…lend me theirs?”, and they’re like “SORRY PAL! Guess who’s not getting any emails today!” (LAUGHTER). So…

God you guys are gonna be like…I will NEVER shut up (laughter). “Who gave this guy a microphone?” *dorky voice*, “THIS IS FUN! I CAN…MY VOICE IS REALLY LOUD! (chuckles)”. Who’s got a question?

Moderator: This is the last question.

(AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!)

Q15: Hey Robin, how you goin’?
Robin: *fails Aussie accent* How you goin’ mate, you alright? (laughter)

Q15: HA…HA…HA funny, what are you…?

Robin: No no, I’m just trying! Trying to learn…is that okay?(YEEEEAH!) When I…when I try to talk in an Australian accent I just start talking *impression* like Russell Crowe (laughter): “ You alright? Yeah…yeah just going down to Dundee…” (LAUGHTER and claps) *continues impression under his breath*….

Yeah, go ahead. I’m going well thank you! HOW ARE YOU GOING? (chuckles) Are you GOING? I’m gonna GO after I finish this panel…(LAUGHTER) to the autograph line!

Sorry, go ahead.

Q15: Um, we were just watching the first episode of ‘Sanctuary’, and …just up here today…

Robin: The very first? From the first Season?!

Q15: YEAH!

Robin: Back when I was young and innocent! (LAUGHTER)

Q15: You still ARE young and innocent (LAUGHTER AND AWWWWWW)

Robin: *stares* *dorky voice* THANKS EVERYONE! THAT’S GREAT! (LAUGHTER) That’s really nice…!

Q15: So, I just wondered…that Will, the Will that we …that was written in the first episode was before you got pummelled along. I just noticed, I guess, that over the three years of the character’s evolution, ummm, there’s quite a difference, in the first episode…you know, he was not the kind of character that would walk into a scene, and he knows exactly what’s going on…

Robin: Just enough to know that he’s a beautiful man, thank you. (laughter)

Q15: Um, I just wanted to ask you, you sound like you seem to know a lot of the episodes by their titles, which a lot of the actors who come to these cons do NOT know, and you sound like you watched the episodes. And I was wanting to find out your method as an actor, and how you evolved his ongoing character, and…do you go back and WATCH the…your parts, and EVOLVE the character. And how much word do you have with the writers, on where you think Will as the person, and the plot, should very much run. As for Will’s character, do you have…a method?

Robin: NO…No there’s no method! (laughter) There’s no method…no method whatsoever!

Um, yeah. The thing about…the evolution of the character I think, is very organic, I mean I think..it…it’s a character who has got…BELIEVES in this type of world, you know, was convinced that it was out there. But when it was FORCED upon him…*awkward pause* Not in that way!! (LAUGHTER), dirty mind….umm…when it …when it was REVEALED to him, by Magnus that, this thing that you believe in, it actually exists, and why don’t you come and live in this world, and actually help me DEAL with this. Uh, it was very DAUNTING for him, so I think the evolution of the character being kind of, nervous about it, to continue on, and get to the sort of, more cavalier…I wouldn’t say, completely cavalier, you know, as we know him now in Season 3. But certainly he is…MORE so..than when we…first saw him. Um, but you know…*sighs* YES there are times when I’ll…you know…I’ll add a line or sort of…do something, but REALLY, the …the credit to the character and the story, are REALLY…goes to Damian Kindler and the writing team. You know what they do, and how they do it, you know how they…crafted this character. And ALL their characters, I mean, we have such AMAZING…CHARACTERS on the show…um…characters obviously taken out of history, and turned on their ear, and I think THAT’S the real feel of the show! SO…YES…it’s pretty much done up in the…in the writer’s room, which I like to call ‘The Lab’, you know it kind of…sort of…trickles down to us…NOT ‘trickles down’ in that way! (LAUGHTER) But um, but it is kind of nice to know, being so…we’re all kind of really close, because we’re all friends, you know…You DO find aspects of your own character are worked INTO the character you’re playing. You know, I’ll find, you know, that I’ll be out…with Damian one night, and it’s sort of, *slow and deep* “Hey Damian, how’s it goooin’?” (laughter), “Would ya like anutha DRINK? I think I’D like wun!” You know, it’s just terrible…that was Jack Nicholson by the way! (LAUGHTER) It’s really awful when you do an impression and you have to explain afterwards, I shouldn’t HAVE to do that! But you know, I’ll sort of do something, and then a couple of episodes later you’ll see it sort of…you know… WILL AS JACK NICHOLSON “MAGNUSS…please down’t give me a hard time here, I’m working with a SASQUATTCH!” (LAUGHTER). Yeah, so that IS kind of cool…to see…the evolution of the character comes through with sort of the, ‘cause…all our relationships, PERSONAL relationships, are strengthened. NOT personal relationships in that way…(LAUGHTER) *chuckling*Yeah…but REALLY it’s all really crafted upstairs.*Hillbilly accent* “Aye just…aye just reed the wurds that they write daown!” (LAUGHTER, CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Moderator: We want to ask if you agree to wear one of these wonderful personalised teeshirts, which will be auctioned off for the Starlight Foundation…

Robin: *deep voice* YES (applause) (as moderator approaches with teeshirt) *British accent* Hello darling, how are you? I like having this microphone (laughter) You know why? Power. (LAUGHTER) *normal voice* OH MY GOD I’m gonna buy a megaphone! I want to… carry it around *mimics*”HI! HOW MUCH IS THIS NEWSPAPER?!” (LAUGHTER) Um, I should never be allowed to have one of those, maybe you should take it *shoves toward moderator*…take it…(laughter) She took all my POWER!

Moderator: You’re going to have to take your shirt off

(WHISTLES, CHEERS AND LAUGHTER)

Robin: I mean can I…go all the way? (LAUGHTER AND CHEERS)

(Robin takes off his teeshirt amidst a barrage of cheers and laughter, pretends to be embarrassed. Once off, begins to undo the fly of his jeans, exposing his underwear. People are laughing hysterically!)

Robin: I wasn’t going to wear underwear today! (LAUGHTER) BECAUSE IT’S SUNDAY! (laughter) *mumbles*…look!..*chuckles* I’m kidding! You’ll be like…Oh my God…it doesn’t STOP with Robin Dunne! (laughter)

Moderator: What we’re going to do, is we’re going to get you to draw on it, write something…

Robin: WELL, I think maybe…maybe the thing to do , might be to have..someone come from the audience to come and write something! (LAUGHTER) Uuuuuuuuuuh…UUUUUUUUH.

(The first girl comes down and writes the word ‘Sanctuary’ across Robins chest)

Hey cool, it kinda looks like the ‘Sanctuary’ logo!

(The second girl approaches and writes ‘I <3 U’ on Robin’s right shoulder)

OKAY. WHO WANTS TO MAKE THIS INAPPROPRIATE?!?!

(Yells of ME! From the back. A Kiwi girl runs down and kneels in front of Robin. When she comes away, his teeshirt reads “GOT YOUR SANCTUARY RIGHT HERE vvvv”. Uproar of hysterical laughter and cheers!)

Robin: I warned you that I was going to be inappropriate…BUT YOU GUYS..!!!! (LAUGHTER)

(Suddenly everyone hears a familiar yell from the back of the room: “I WANNA DRAW ON IT!!” After a moment, everyone breaks into cheers of laughter and clapping as Amanda Tapping comes running down the stairs, giggling madly and rubbing her hands together. She approaches Robin with her arms thrown wide open, and an evil grin on her face, and gives him a massively warm cuddle. Robin has a look of doomed shock on his face, he knows what he’s in for!)

Robin: *heartbroken voice* I DIDN’T KNOW YOU WERE HERE! (LAUGHTER)

(Everyone is cheering and laughing, as Amanda crouches down, and when she backs away, there is an extra “KEEP GOING vvv” on the front of his teeshirt. People are giggling and laughing madly as Amanda moves behind Robin with a massively cheeky grin on her face, smoothing his shoulders sweepingly and rubbing his muscles. Robin’s knees crumble and he shivers, as everyone breaks with laughter. There is much cheeky banter going on between them, and then Amanda begins writing on his back. When she finishes, there are shouts of TURN AROUND!! and his back reads: “AND THIS IS MY BUM vvv. Squeals of laughter echo through the theatre and the grin on Amanda’s face is splittingly HUGE. There are shouts of PULL YOUR PANTS DOWN etc, Robin is standing there with a look of amused weariness on his face, as he endures the mockery brought on by Amanda, who is laughing and giggling manically in the background)

Carissa: We’re starting the bidding at 370, for those who’d like to make a contribution, going once at 370!

(Amanda is making comments in the background , Robin is responding. Shouts of ‘WHAT DID YOU DRAW’, “WHAT DOES IT, SAY WE CAN’T READ IT” and “CAN YOU COME UP SO WE CAN SEE IT?”)

Amanda: *demurely* I just drew a heart! (LAUGHTER)

(Robin runs up the right hand aisle, and walks across the middle of the theatre so we can have a good look at his teeshirt)

Robin: MODELLING ITH FUN! (LAUGHTER)

(He makes his way to the left aisle staircase and stand so people can see the shirt)

I’m too sexy for this shirt! (LAUGHTER)

(The whole auditorium is riddled by hysterical laughter, giggles and thrown out comments. The moderators are grinning hugely down the front, and Amanda is alternately laughing her face off, and giggling with a splitting grin)

Carissa: So going once at 370!…380!…400! 400 going once…..400 dollars going twice…

(420!)

OOH 420! (claps and OOOOOOHs from around the theatre)

(450!)

450! (OOOOOOOOOOOOH!) You could claim your …name Robin Dunne! (LAUGHTER) (call from audience, LAUGHTER)

Robin: For the sake of everyone I work with…DON’T (LAUGHTER)

Carissa: So it’s 450…going once…

Amanda: He’s a little shifty…so it’s nice and *contours his shape* (LAUGHTER)

(460!)

460…SEE? *grinning* (LAUGHTER)

Carissa: 460 going once…

Robin: I’ve never known what it felt like to be a piece of MEAT! (LAUGHTER)

(500!)

Carissa: 500 DOLLARS! (applause and cheers) So 500 dollars going once, 500 dollars going twice…

Sold to the….(drowned out with cheers and applause!)

Carissa: Now the winner can take your shirt off…(LAUGHTER, CALLS AND CHEERS)

(Robin goes to the winner, a lady in the very front row. She is shy, and as he stands there waiting with his arms straight out to the sides, she wraps her arms around his middle in a big hug. Eventually she pulls his shirt off, and he runs back to his clothing hugging his naked torso in a big show of awkward embarrassment. THE LAUGHTER IS HYSTERICAL)

Robin: WOW LIKE….(laughter)…Um…I’ll never forget Melbourne! (LAUGHTER)

(Audience member) So are you coming back?

Robin: I’m not leaving!! (LAUGHTER)

Carissa: Ladies and Gentlemen, can you please put your hands together for the amazing…(IS DROWNED OUT WITH CHEERS AND APPLAUSE. Robin dons his clothing, and runs up the stairs high-fiving the audience, while Amanda remains behind, still laughing, applauding and grinning like crazy)

Robin: Goodnight everyone! Thank you so much! (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Amanda: Oh my God you guys are really FUN!! (LAUGHTER) Who’s up next?!?! *sits in seat* (shouts from audience) I’M SO EXCITED! *bouncing and clapping* (LAUGHTER)

(Amanda’s intro video begins – transcription coming in next report )

I sincerely hope you all enjoyed the stint as much as we did! Stand by for Amanda’s fabulous hour. Thank you for stopping by WormholeRiders News Agency and reading.

Please feel free to contribute to the discussion below, or visit me on Twitter by clicking the button down there, or my avatar at right!

CHEERIO!

JandyraCJM

December 23, 2010
Hollywood Auction 43 Day One Video Interview with Brian Chanes of Hollywood Treasure!
Hello again Hollywood Auction, Profiles in History and Hollywood Treasure fans,

The fantastic Hollywood Auction 43 auction by Profiles in History began yesterday December 17, 2010! WHR was honored to be live at this super event where season two of Hollywood Treasure was being filmed and to let you all learn more about the happenings in Beverly Hills California!

Upon returning to Hollywood, we headed over to Beverly Hills California to bring you live coverage of the latest Profiles in History event!. The two-day event began Friday December 17, 2010 taking place at the Saban Theatre, 8440 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California (click here for map and directions).

Profiles in History, the world’s largest auctioneer of Hollywood memorabilia and the “star” of the hit Syfy Network television show, “Hollywood Treasure” began presenting over 1,300 lots of iconic items from film, television, music and more at the two day event marking the exciting continuation the series which was being filmed right on spot by SyFy!

WormholeRiders News Agency is certain you will appreciate this historic event! AND you and your friends can join in on the fun today by either attending or by registering to bid LIVE or by visiting the Profiles in History web site to register to bid on-line registration, or by telephone or absentee.

Before sharing the details of the Profiles in History Hollywood Auction 43, we were granted the privilege to bring you an exclusive interview with Brian Chanes and a few moments with the talented and often humorous Stacy Roman, the auctioneer of Profiles in History in a special behind the scenes report about Joe Maddelena and his fantastic Profiles in History Team from the recent Hollywood Charity auction featured on the mid season finale earlier this month!
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We therefore suggest you please review the comprehensive Profiles in History press release below for additional information on these incredibly rare pieces of television and movie history and do not forget to download the entire fantastic Hollywood Auction 43 catalog!

Since the event was being recorded live for Hollywood Treasure, we cannot discuss the auction results. Tune in to future episodes of the show for details. However, we can include high resolution photography from day one of Hollywood Auction 43 for your enjoyment as well as some of the highlights of this wonderful two day event!

We will have move news about Hollywood Auction in the near future. As an overview, included in the two day event is an original movie poster from the Universal horror classic The Invisible Man, valued at over $200,000;

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An original screen-used Johnny Depp costume and display from Edward Scissorhands;

An original full-scale, screen-used battlefield T-800 Endoskeleton from Terminator 2: Judgment Day (below – scroll down); a complete Brandon Routh Superman costume from Superman Returns;

The Wizard of Oz vintage clothbound book signed to Jack Haley’s son by virtually the entire cast and crew, including Judy Garland and Toto!;

Desi Arnaz “Ricky Ricardo” custom made kimono worn in The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour; Michael Jackson’s stage-worn custom jacket from the 1993 American Music Awards; Arnold Schwarzenegger “The Terminator” leather jacket and leather glove from The Terminator; James Cagney’s original tap shoes for his sole Oscar-winning performance in Yankee Doodle Dandy and Santa himself—complete with sleigh and reindeer— the original prop Santa Claus, sleigh and reindeer from the opening scene of Miracle on 34th Street.

A PDF of the entire catalog of Hollywood Auction 43 for you to download is available from Profiles in History! Thanks Joe!

We include the entire press release and images below courtesy of Profiles in History for your pleasure.

As always, thank you for reading and visiting WormholeRiders News Agency. Please feel free to leave a spam free comment or question here or click one of the social media icons below to share this news article. if you prefer (as so many of our visitors do) you may also visit and follow WHR on Twitter with your comments or questions.

Best Regards,

Kenn

PRESS RELEASE:

For Immediate Release

THE ORIGINAL MOVIE POSTER FROM THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933)—VALUED AT OVER $200,000; JOHNNY DEPP’S “EDWARD SCISSORHANDS” COSTUME DISPLAY; A FULL-SCALE SCREEN-USED BATTLEFIELD T-800 ENDOSKELETON FROM TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY; BRANDON ROUTH’S SUPERMAN COSTUME FROM SUPERMAN RETURNS AND SANTA AND HIS REINDEER—FROM MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET—HIGHLIGHT PROFILES IN HISTORY’S WINTER HOLLYWOOD AUCTION DECEMBER 17-18

Star Wars Cantina Creatures;

Bela Lugosi “Ygor” costume from Son of Frankenstein;

The Wizard of Oz—signed to Jack Haley’s son by virtually the entire cast and crew including Judy Garland and Toto!; a large panel of Johnny Carson’s monologue curtains; “Ricky Ricardo’s” kimono worn by Desi Arnaz on The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour; Harrison Ford heavily-annotated complete shooting script for Raiders of the Lost Ark and James Cagney’s original tap shoes for his sole Oscar-winning performance in Yankee Doodle Dandy, The Terminator leather jacket (shown below, scroll down) and leather glove are among other highlights of 1300+ lot auction.

Calabasas, CA—An original one-sheet poster from the Universal horror classic The Invisible Man ($200,000-$300,000); an incredible offering of material from Academy Award-winning visual effects genius Stan Winston, including an original screen-used Johnny Depp costume and display from Edward Scissorhands ($100,000-$200,000) an original full-scale, screen-used battlefield T-800 Endoskeleton from Terminator 2: Judgment Day ($150,000-$250,000); the stunning collection from Academy Award-winning visual effects pioneer, Phil Tippett, including multiple Star Wars Cantina Creatures ($60,000-$120,000 EACH), an AT-AT Imperial Walker from The Empire Strikes Back ($40,000-$60,000).

Stop-motion RoboCop puppet from RoboCop 2 ($25,000-$35,000);

Original iconic matte painting from the opening scene in The Wizard of Oz ($80,000-$120,000);

A complete hero Brandon Routh Superman costume from Superman Returns ($50,000-$70,000); Bela Lugosi “Ygor” green suede costume from Son of Frankenstein ($80,000-$100,000), and Santa himself—complete with sleigh and reindeer— the original prop Santa Claus, sleigh and reindeer from the opening scene of Miracle on 34th Street ($20,000-$30,000) will be among the 1300+ items being offered by Profiles in History, the world’s largest auctioneer of Hollywood memorabilia and the “star” of the hit SyFy Network television show, “Hollywood Treasure,” at their upcoming Winter Hollywood Auction, December 17-18, 2010. The two-day event will take place at the Saban Theatre, 8440 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills.

Worldwide bidding begins at 12:00pm (noon) PT both days. Bids can be placed in person, via mail, phone, fax or live on the internet by visiting Profiles in History or iCollector. If you’re looking for a “one-of-a-kind” holiday gift for the film or television fan that has everything, you won’t find anything better than this.

In addition to aforementioned iconic props, costumes and set pieces, Profiles in History Auction #43 will include an incredible selection of items that sprung from the mind of visionary filmmaker, Tim Burton, including stop-motion puppets and artifacts from The Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, James and the Giant Peach, Sleepy Hollow and Mars Attacks!, an unprecedented selection of pieces from the collections of Academy Award-winning visual effects geniuses, Phil Tippett, Stan Winston and Richard Edlund, (featuring pieces from such landmark films as Star Wars [Trash Compactor Creature from ‘A New Hope’ illustrated below], Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Terminator, Jurassic Park and Edward Scissorhands) and one of the most important collections of original camera negatives from the Golden Age of Hollywood to ever reach the auction block.

“The scope of this sale is unprecedented. We literally have something for everyone. Be it The Wizard of Oz, Universal horror, Star Wars, The Terminator or Tim Burton. This is the finest offering of Hollywood memorabilia we’ve ever assembled for collectors…and just in time for the holidays!” —Joe Maddalena

Other auction highlights include:

Harrison Ford heavily-annotated complete shooting script for Raiders of the Lost Ark ($50,000-$70,000)

The Wizard of Oz vintage cloth-bound book signed to Jack Haley’s son by virtually the entire cast and crew, including Judy Garland and Toto! ($40,000-$60,000)

Desi Arnaz “Ricky Ricardo” custom made kimono worn in The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.($40,000-$60,000)

Michael Jackson’s stage-worn custom jacket from the 1993 American Music Awards ($40,000-$60,000)

A Large panel of Johnny Carson’s memorable monologue curtains from The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson ($40,000-$60,000)

Screen-used ¼-scale Batmobile filming miniature from Batman Returns.($30,000-$50,000)

Original Martian rocket ship filming miniature from Zombies of the Stratosphere.($20,000-$30,000)

Carved wood home door knocker from The Munsters ($25,000-$30,000)

Original “stretch room” painting featured in the Disneyland Haunted Mansion attraction.($30,000-$50,000)

Walter Pidgeon “Dr. Morbius” signature costume from Forbidden Planet ($30,000-$50,000)

Screen-used “Lex Luthor” rocket filming miniature from Atom Man vs. Superman. ($20,000-$30,000)

Bleeding “Lawgiver” statue from Beneath the Planet of the Apes ($20,000-$30,000)

Michael J. Fox hero hover board with handlebar from Back to the Future II ($20,000-$30,000)

Arnold Schwarzenegger “The Terminator” leather jacket and leather glove from The Terminator ($20,000-$30,000)

Eyvind Earle original concept artwork from Sleeping Beauty ($15,000-$20,000)

Jimmy Stewart “Charles Lindbergh” leather flight helmet from The Spirit of St. Louis.($8,000-$12,000)

Arnold Schwarzenegger “Conan the Barbarian” Atlantean sword from Conan the Barbarian ($10,000-$12,000)

Bruce Lee signed check payable to “The Green Hornet,” Van Williams! ($12,000-$15,000)

Green Goblin mask worn by Willem Dafoe’s character in Spider-Man ($8,000-$10,000)

James Cagney’s “George M. Cohan” tap shoes from Yankee Doodle Dandy.($8,000-$12,000)

NOTE: *Prices are auction estimates

About Profiles in History:

Founded in 1985 by Joseph Maddalena, Profiles in History is the nation’s leading dealer in guaranteed-authentic original historical autographs, letters, documents, vintage signed photographs and manuscripts. Profiles in History has held some of the most prestigious and successful auctions of Hollywood memorabilia. Their auctions include costumes, props and set pieces from both vintage and contemporary film, television, and rock ‘n roll. Profiles in History’s location in Calabasas Hills, CA– virt ually a stone’s throw away from every major Hollywood studio – ensures a constant flow of fantastic and rare collectibles. With an extensive network of dealers, collectors, and institutions, they are proud to play an important role in the preservation of motion picture history.

Prior Profiles in History Hollywood auctions highlights include the “Cowardly Lion” costume from The Wizard of Oz ($805,000); a full-scale model T-800 Endoskeleton from Terminator 2: Judgment Day ($488,750); Marilyn Monroe’s “Diamonds” dress from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes ($356,500); a King Kong six-sheet movie poster ($345,000); the Command Chair from the “U.S.S. Enterprise” ($304,750); the original “Robot” from Lost in Space ($264,500); Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber ($240,000); Margaret Hamilton’s “Wicked Witch” hat from The Wizard of Oz ($230,000); the Black Beauty car from The Green Hornet ($192,000); George Reeves’ Superman costume from The Adventures of Superman ($126,500); the H.R. Giger designed Alien creature suit from Alien ($126,500); a full-scale T-Rex head from Jurassic Park ($126,500), the Leaping Alien Warrior figure from Aliens ($126,500), Christopher Reeve’s ‘Superman’ costume from Superman: The Movie ($115,000), C-3PO’s helmet ($120,000), The Wizard of Oz ‘Winkie’ Guard Costume ($115,000); a “Ming the Merciless” cape from Flash Gordon ($115,000) and the Hydraulic screen-used Velociraptor from The Lost World: Jurassic Park II ($115,000).

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Press Contact – MJK Public Relations:
December 18, 2010
Gate to the Sanctuary: Melbourne – An Experience Like No Other,The Taster!

Even as I sit writing this, I wipe away the tears on my cheeks from the joyous comradeship of the weekend, and the pain of parting with old and with new friends. Even now, the newest of friends have made the familiar stamp on my heart, and the torn feelings of unashamed uproarious snorting, inappropriate jokes (GALORE), soul-touching anecdotes and overwhelmed tears gives a promise of even more exciting things to come!

Hub Productions‘ and Culture Shock‘s Gate to the Sanctuary is the first exclusively Stargate/Sanctuary event from the Aussie-based organising team. With two consecutive events taking place in Sydney and Melbourne, they brought four loved and admired guests closer to the hearts of Australian and Kiwi fans.

It is a downside of living downunder, the expense and time of travelling so far makes it extremely difficult to host such admired and loved artists. This year, however, several hundred very lucky Stargate and Sanctuary fans managed to finally meet their some of their favourite actors and role models.

Gate to the Sanctuary this year dual hosted by Culture Shock Events was host to four very special (in OH so many ways….) artists: Grand Empress of Scifi, mother and giver, Amanda Tapping; professional actor/crazy person, Robin Dunne; the wise and spiritual Carmen Argenziano; and the spontaneously quirky Chuck Campbell.

If you’re a fan, none of these incredible human beings need any introduction, and they each shared with Australia their unique energy. Considering the scope of the convention, the organisers (Hub Productions) had organisation down pat and wrapped up in the neat package of one day.

The schedule was well planned, and thoughtful for both the fans and guests: Breakfast with the guests (Platinum pass holders), photograph opportunities followed by a series of panels, auctions, and concluding with the autograph sessions and cocktail party (for VIP and Platinum holders). All proceeds of Hub auctions go towards the Starlight Foundation, and items bidded on included an authenticated panel from the ‘Aurora’ ship (from the set of Stargate Atlantis), framed photos signed by almost the entire Stargate cast, and an original zat-gun in a case signed by Amanda Tapping.

For me, it was a particularly sweet occasion: What’s better than visiting your beloved hometown and meeting (for the first time) your favourite actors and mentalists. And on top of this, mixing with the oldest of friends and newest of dorks. Words fail. I dare Shakespeare to attempt it!

On arriving to registration queue outside the main doors of the Business Faculty, University of Melbourne, early last Sunday morning, I quickly skimmed around to see what the energy of the patiently waiting fans was like. It was pretty early in the morning (MichelleDaGreek and I had ended up catching a taxi to the city…IN MELBOURNE! BLASPHEMY, I KNOW!), so people weren’t very talkative (I’m on the national register for motormouths).

And then I saw this guy in full SGA combat gear. Epic SGA combat gear. And this Rob-guy said “Hey come join us over here!!” So that was it! From there on in we blabbed to all and sundry, and everyone blabbed back. That’s how AMAZING Australian Scifi fans are. I’d forgotten how friendly a people we are. C’mon Kiwis, time to flash those teeth and wag those tongues…!

My ticket was ready and waiting, so I breezed through registration and made contact with the chief. It’s a pity we couldn’t catch upon the day, she was utterly swamped!

All of the main action happened in the Spot basement theatre. It’s exactly that, a basement, so tweets were nigh impossible from down in Hollow Earth! So my apologies for the sporadic twitter updates. It wasn’t long before all the minions had torn themselves away from the pretty merchandise, and seated in what looked like a gigantic Repli-Carter cave. There’s no other way to describe it, though Robin Dunne called them teeth. I was waiting for a gooey Samantha Carter to emerge from the walls…any moment now…

The Hub people are true Aussies; openly friendly, you can strike up a conversation with any of them (provided they’re not chasing an emergency!). As we were welcomed, it was straight into business, and while VIP and Platinum pass holders were called up first for their photo opportunities, we played celebrity heads Stargate-style (NO HE’S NOT A GOA’ULD. GOOD THING HE CAN’T HEAR YOU OR HE’LL SMITE YOUR FACE!), then watched the Season 1 pilot of Sanctuary in epic, cinema-scale! There’s nothing quite like watching Druitt looking into the barrel of a gun held by his former lover, on a screen that’s twice the size of your living room. Yes, you heard correctly! TWICE.THE.SIZE.

So as row by row, we were called up for a massive cuddle and photo with the actors, Stargate SG1 was played on that gigantically epic screen. At some point Amanda came dashing down the stairs (she could hear it playing) with her handlers straggling in her wake as she cringed and facepalmed at seeing herself in ‘The Tok’ra’. As Amanda said later, she practically had a whole ten, no wait… fifteen (‘Okay, I’ll be serious!’) years of her life documented on camera. Olivia has some things to say about it. But more on that in the transcript!

Let me just say a word or two about the attendees here. Oh, wow. My mind is blown. Like Amanda once said, as much as these conventions are about the guests, it is the fans who make them what they are. Sitting in the midst of the cheery, diverse crowd, I couldn’t believe it. EVERY.SINGLE.PERSON here…WAS A FAN! It’s a bit like what I imagine heaven to be. Finally, we can squee and debate and totally geek out, with pretty much every single person in the building. Utter paradise! It’s as if one can finally be oneself and stand tall, because you know that you have your own part to play in this family, and everyone shares in the humour, the laughter, the tears, the strangling hugs, and the outrageous dorkism. I arrived there with five friends, and came away with fifty. THAT is what Australian scifi fans are like. BEAUTIFUL.

In the queue for photo with Amanda. Meeting her was nothing like what I’d expected. For all you people out there who respect this incredible woman, please take note: She may be generous, loving, talented, genuine, sincere and darn good-looking. But she is, above all, human. Don’t ever forget it. So walking up to her, big fat grin on my face, I said “I come bearing the love and hugs of EVERYONE *gestures* on your website!” Her face melted with an ‘AWWWWW’ as I was smooshed against her in a gigantic cuddle. “See you at AT5! “GREAT!!! :D”. One flashbulb later, I came away with an even fatter grin on my face, knees slightly wobbly, and ready to bring on whatever was in store!

Whilst hanging out with a group of these wonderful fans, we heard Robin Dunne raucously yelling from the photography corner. On trotting curiously over, we found that Robin and Amanda were just hanging out..you know, chilling. She quickly kissed him on the cheek and padded away to sounds of ‘awwwwww’ while Robin stood there pointing emphatically at his other cheek. With a sigh, Amanda shuffled back to him, pecked his other cheek, and walked away to the sounds of his claps, bounces and squees of “SHE KISSED ME, SHE KISSED ME!!!”

First up was the adorable Chuck Campbell Q&A panel. All of the panels were delightfully informal, the atmosphere throughout the whole day was relaxed and somewhat on the mental side. As most of you will know, Chuck Campbell has appeared semi-regularly on Stargate Atlantis, and recently on Sanctuary as two-face man (“I WANT TO EAT YOUR FACE!”), and he is as quirky and fun as he seems onscreen. Chuck told many hilarious anecdotes about working on SGA and Sanctuary.

Most awkward moment? He had an…um…an embarrassing man moment in the middle of shooting a scene. “Who was the scene with?!” someone in the audience yells. Chuck flicks his nose and replies, “well that’s the embrassing thing, it was with a guy!”. Said guy headed straight to his trailer afterwards, and wouldn’t speak to poor Chuck for the rest of the day. Ironically enough, Chuck got engaged this year! CONGRATULATIONS CHUCK!

When asked about his funniest prank onset, Chuck thought for a moment, pensively staring up at the Repli-Carter ceiling. Amidst a barrage of grins and chuckles, he related a time he had secretly turned David Nykl’s (Dr. Radek Zelenka) SGA computer screensaver into an explicit photo of the male anatomy. When the screensaver loaded in the middle of filming a scene, David didn’t know what to do.

As for Sanctuary, Chuck spoke a fair bit about working with Chris Heyerdahl. As fans well know, that revered actor is one of the best character artists in Canada, and an absolute gem. Sometimes, when in prosthetics for Biggie, he’d forget, and it was almost impossible to have a normal conversation with him for the enormous hair and flat nose staring you in the face. More than once, Ryan Robbin’s little daughter (who normally ADORED Chris) was too scared to go near him, until he started telling her about his new kitten and she relaxed somewhat!

Beef jerky? Apparently on a visit to his hometown In Nova Scotia, Chuck found a brand of it called ‘Sasquatch’, and the guy on the poster looked frightfully like Biggie. When he asked if he could buy the advertisement to take to set with him, the wary shopkeeper just told him to go home.

Who would he like to play as himself if a movie were made about his life? “Colin Farrell! Have you seen ‘In Bruges’? FANTASTIC film!”. How would he feel about Chuck Norris playing him? “EVEN BETTER!”

Chuck has nothing but the utmost respect for Amanda Tapping and Christopher Heyerdahl.

Dear Carmen Argenziano is a Pandora’s Box of wisdom and graciousness. His entire panel had a spiritual zen about it, and his pride and adoration for his wife Eileen (who was sitting in the audience) was beautiful to behold. Carmen had many beautiful and personal memories about beloved Don S. Davis, and moved the audience almost to tears. He discussed much about working with Amanda Tapping in Stargate SG1, on developing their relationship as father and daughter, and he described her as a Meryl-Streep class actress: When she comes into a scene, she never takes the limelight. Instead, she challenges your reactions and tries to drag it out of you in the humble manner of a true artist. The relationship just sort of happened.

What character would he most like to play? Carmen stared thoughtfully at the back wall, and after a pause, pronounced “God!” Laughter!

For Robin and Amanda’s panels, the transcripts are currently in progress!! There was too much gold and hysteria in every passing second with each of these fabulous people, so they deserve nothing but a full narrative. Robin Dunne had the audience in hysterics throughout his hour, dramatically re-enacting every anecdote he had to tell…including their trip to Tokyo, and the Holden MacPhillips saga. The first thing he warned on arrival was “I WARN YOU, this may become very x-rated!!” and then proceeded to vent his excitement and admiration for the beautiful city that is ‘Melbun’.

After a somewhat failed Aussie impersonation, and many successful Christopher Walken, Jack Nicholson and Russell Crowes, the questions began. In the last ten minutes of his panel, the organisers gave him a blank white teeshirt, on which audience members could volunteer to write or draw. The teeshirt was to be auctioned in favour of the Starlight Foundation.

The first fan wrote “Sanctuary” across his chest. After a few more demure notes, Robin bawled “WHO WANTS TO MAKE THIS INAPPROPRIATE?!”. A Kiwi girl ran down the stairs, and knelt in front of him. When she came away, the front of his teeshirt read ‘GOT YOUR SANCTUARY RIGHT HERE vvvv’. Oh the hysterical laughter! As Robin stood there astonished and exclaiming “Well I warned you that I would get inappropriate, but YOU GUYS…!!!!”, there was a familiar yell from the back of the room: “I WANNA DRAW ON IT!!”. As everyone turned, Amanda Tapping came running down the stairs, giggling madly and steepling her fingers to the accompaniment of screaming cheers and laughter.

A massive hug, some feeling up of deltoids, and many giggles later, Robins’ teeshirt had an extra ‘(keep going vvv)’ on the lower front, and ‘AND THIS IS MY BUM vvv’ on his lower back. “I’ve never felt like a piece of meat!” He bawled, and proceeded to strut his catwalk around the aisles with Amanda grinning massively under the enormous screen. “Modelling ith FUN!…..I’m too sexy for this shirt…”.

The auction winner got to take his shirt off…the poor girl was so shy!

Robin: “I WILL NEVER FORGET MELBOURNE…NEVER!”

As Amanda had crashed his panel, she was told to sit down and wait for her film reel to be played. After a second of flopping in a corner seat, she spun around clapping and bouncing excitedly and cried “I wonder who’s next?! I’M SO EXCITED!!! 😀 :D” Laughter!

Amanda’s panel began with a passionate talk about Sanctuary for Kids support of the Nepal Orphan’s Home, which moved the very ground beneath our feet, before heading into Question time. I will leave it entirely to the transcript for you to see what the experience was like. Ever question asked was thoughtful, intelligent and Amanda’s humble and eloquently dorky answers made the entire panel absolutely soul-touching, moving, hysterically funny and an experience all in itself! Amanda Tapping ‘Owns her Dork!’, and I have never laughed, nor cried as much as I did that day!

It’s an incredible experience. When you ask Amanda a question, she wholly absorbs herself in you, and her reply is always from the bottom of her heart. She does not stare at the floor, nor around the room in general, but directs her answer straight at you as if it were a heart to heart discussion on the topic at hand. I was lucky enough to ask the very last question in her panel, before she was dressed with a white teeshirt, and the hilarity began. I wanted to go down and write ‘CHECK OUT MY NUBBINS ^^^’ But thought better of it.

Amanda grabbed the pen herself, and tried to write on her own chest while someone held the mic up to her, and she started pulling faces with “GRNNGHGHREEEEEEERRRRRRR”. She ended up drawing a huge heart over her own, “because I think we should all wear our hearts on the outside” and proceeded to tell about the necklace she had given her dear friend, Cynthia Semon, and how Olivia had started to love painting hearts. Amanda took off her teeshirt and wrote her own inspirational quote on the front: Live Peacefully, Speak Kindness, Dwell in Possibility.

True to form, Robin Dunne returned the gate-crashing favour splendiferously, to much laughter and roaring!

He rubbed Amanda’s shoulders until her knees buckled and began writing on her back. Amanda stood nervously with a ridiculously goofy grin on her face, and when Robin turned her to face him, her back read ‘MAGNUS IS HOT!!!’ at which the audience exploded into laughter and cheers. Robin flipped Amanda around to face the back, and as he began signing her shoulder, she threw her hair back seductively and assumed a pin-up pose…after which he wobbled away squeezing his legs together awkwardly, squeaking out: “Okay…I’m…gonna go now!”.

Then the bidding began! At $450, a guy near the front cried out “ONE THOUSAND”, and Amanda flipped up her head and stared at him like he was some sort of crazy person. Needless to say, the guy won the bidding, and was given the chance to take her shirt off. Oh the hysteria! As he nervously tried to grasp the bottom of her teeshirt, Amanda grabbed his wrist and coyly tried to drag him into a dark corner of the room. The teeshirt came off without too much inappropriateness, and after a massive hug of gratitude, Amanda wobbled around fanning her face and giggling. I have never. Laughed. So much. In my life!

After a cacophonic standing ovation complete with cheers, screams and applause, Amanda Tapping was whisked away upstairs for the lengthy autograph process. As every single person queued up for an Amanda autograph, she was signing for a solid two hours. That woman has stamina! I tried to pick a slightly more dorky or relaxed photo of Robin. I said to him “You look so relaxed, utterly fabulouth”, “It is rather!”

I then thanked him for coming so far, as it’s rare that we have the opportunity, down here in the basin of the world, to meet these incredibly wonderful people. I managed to have a wee heart to heart talk with Amanda during the session, and then it was all over. We couldn’t believe it. The day seemed full, yet when it was over …it felt so painfully short.

I had completely underestimated Gate to the Sanctuary, a mistake never to be made again. All of we who attended are still swamped in the experience that was December 12th, every moment of hysterical laughter and moved hearts is stamped in our minds and souls for many years to come.

Even now, we are still swimming in the memories and emotion of this last epic weekend, and it’s impossible to drag ourselves away. Every moment is reliving itself in our hearts and minds. From the rare chance to meet such phenomenal guests, to the warmhearted love of all the fans who were there…and an ENORMOUS bouquet of gratitude to Hub Productions for making such a precious experience possible! I feel blessed to have been a part of it.

Stay tuned for transcripts on Amanda and Robin’s INCREDIBLE panels. Buckle up, it’s a wild ride!

A massive, UBER, HUGE thank-you to the wonderful PaganX, MichelleDaGreek and abydos71 for donating some of their priceless photography skills!

Thanks for popping by WormholeRiders New Agency and reading! If you have any comments, please feel free to contribute below, or you can visit me on Twitter by clicking my avatar at the right.

CHEERIO!

JandyraCJM

December 15, 2010

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