SCIFI - PULSE

By John Freeman

RealtimeUK is an animation studio directed and guided by some of the industry’s most creative producers and directors from the games and television industry.

Just 12 years ago, Tony Prosser set up RealtimeUK from the bedroom in his Lytham home, with great aspirations for the future. The company grew at a remarkable pace and today the Lancashire based firm is one of the UK’s largest CG animation studios.

As a lifelong Star Wars fan, Tony was inspired to create his studio by his love of the film. After taking a degree in technical and information illustration at Blackpool College, he set up RealtimeUK after graduating. “I started out in 1996,” he explains, “but the business very quickly took off and grew to where we are today, an internationally successful, bespoke CG animation studio in the heart of the Lancashire countryside, employing 26 people and still expanding dramatically,” explains Tony

The company’s recent work includes creating dinosaurs as part of ITV’s Prehistoric Park promotions, which won a Creative Showcase Award, race footage for Evolution Studios MotorStorm 2 game, and an intro animation for the fourth title in Sony’s Buzz! Junior series, Buzz! Junior: Dino Den (pictured).

He’s naturally proud of his achievements, and this month those endeavours are also being recognised by regional screen agency Northwest Vision and Media, which works on behalf of the region’s film, TV, radio and digital content industries. RealtimeUK has been awarded the accolade of becoming Facility of the Month, in recognition of its success. It’s a success which Tony puts down to one single, over-riding ambition.

“Right from the start I had a very clear vision to always focus on producing high quality work for high profile jobs. That’s why we quickly got a reputation for offering exceptional work, produced by quality creatives. More and more clients came to us wanting that expertise,” he says.

All of RealtimeUK’s clients are household names, with Sony, Microsoft, Jaguar, Disney Interactive Studios and Audi just a tiny selection of the many companies who go to the Lancashire studio for support.

“We produce animations for digital advertising campaigns and for the games industry – both in product development and marketing,” explains Tony.

RealtimeUK recently produced the launch animation for the new Audi R8 super car, and the company’s track record and impressive client list has enabled then to win some of the most exciting contracts in the industry.
But Tony has plans to expand even more. The business is currently recruiting more animators and digital artists, in order to pursue his ambition to move further within the games industry.

“We would certainly like to expand into other areas now, especially within the broadcast industry,” he confides. “It’s early stages at the moment, but we are in discussion with a major London production company about two projects that combine life-like CG animation with live footage. We’ve also got two very large games projects in production, although I can’t say too much about them at the moment,” he adds.

Whatever his plans for the future though, there’s one element to RealtimeUK that Tony doesn’t want to change. “We’re determined to stay in Lancashire,” he says. “The region is a great place to work and coupled with that we have state-of-the-art facilities,” says Tony, who is convinced his studio offers a very attractive alternative for world class talent to work on world class projects within an attractive and affordable part of the country.

• For more information about RealtimeUK, log on to www.realtimeuk.com

By Ian Cullen

For the last 25 years Jane Badler has been in the hearts and minds of many SciFi fans for her role as the sexually charged, domineering leader of the Visitors landing party in the classic 1983 Science Fiction mini series V. So it will probably surprise many genre fans that there is another more musical side to Jane, who is releasing her new Music CD With Sir/The Devil Has My Double in June 2008. The album had been described a compulsive mix of fame, sex and solitude, set to a sweeping soundtrack of cold soul and passionate synthetics.

I recently got the chance to chat briefly with Jane about her music as well as her acting work, and as you can see Jane was generous with her time and made some pretty impressive revelations about her career which has been a mix of music, television and theatre.

SCI FI PULSE: You got into acting quite early in life. Where was the transition from acting to singing? As in how did it all come about? Did you do both acting and singing from the start?

JANE BADLER: I’ve always sang and acted at the same time. I started singing at five, as we probably all do. I was in a talent contest in New York. So I guess it was always my passion. For me, singing is also acting and although they use different techniques, they both demand a connection with yourself to be truly exciting.

SCI FI PULSE: As far as the acting goes, did you ever have any aspirations to do musical theatre at all and if so is there any role in particular you’d either liked to have done or would still like to do?

Jane: I’ve done musical theatre in the past. I was in the musical Fantastiks at a huge theatre in Dallas, with an all-star cast. I also did an off-Broadway musical in New York City and last year, I appeared in the musical Archy and Mehitabel by Mel Brooks here in Melbourne.

That said, there’s definitely a musical theatre sound and I don’t have that sort of voice. If I were to do more musical theatre I would be interested in doing more quirky kinds of musicals, but I can’t really think of any role I am dying to play.

SCI FI PULSE: What music do you like to listen to and which musician, if any, do you feel has influenced your music?

Jane: I love all sorts of music — if it’s good, I like it! I love soul and RnB. My favourites are probably Al Green, Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight. I love Amy Winehouse, Portishead — and quirky bands like Feist, jazz divas like Diana Krall, Dinah Washington and Kurt Elling. I Love old Prince, George Michael etc. Also love classical. Great music is great music.

SCI FI PULSE: The title of your new CD With Sir/The Devil Has My Double sounds a little dark, what does it mean and what kind of songs can people expect to hear. Having listened to a little of the songs on your MySpace page, it kind of put me in mind of an indy rock and blues influence.
In fact, the vocal style on the first song kind of reminded me of early Alice Cooper and Shakespeare’s Sister.

Jane: Yes, The Devil Has My Double refers to a woman who is out of control with her impulses to the point of destruction and has burnt many bridges in her life because of her addictions. It is all a bit dark but also humorous and cheeky with many musical references.

I’m very flattered by your comparison to Alice Cooper and Shakespeare’s Sister, both of whom I like.

SCIFI PULSE: Do you think you will be taking these songs on tour?

Jane: There’s definitely that possibility and it would be very exciting if we did.

SCI FI PULSE: Moving onto your acting. The part that myself and many people who read Scifipulse will know you for is the role of Diana in V – The Mini Series and its subsequent spin-offs: The Final Battle and the TV series. Can you tell us a little about how you got the role and what it was about Diana that appealed to you?

Jane: I was living in New York doing the soap opera The Doctors with Alec Baldwin when I flew out to Los Angeles to audition for Diana. I thought it looked like a lot of fun. It was so exciting when I got the role, as it all happened so fast and before I knew it there I was with lizard skin. Diana was such a fun role. A real fantasy I loved every minute.

SCI FI PULSE: Were you aware that the show was going to be so big, and if not, what made you aware of its following?

Jane: I had no idea the show was going to be so big. To be in it was a great job, nothing more. I think I realized it was huge when I saw people dressed up as Diana on Hallowe’en and when I was asked to be in the Macy’s Christmas parade as Diana and thousands of people cheered me as we went by… amazing.

SCI FI PULSE: Writer, director and producer Kenneth Johnson who wrote directed and produced the original mini series was and still to this day unhappy with the decisions that Warner Bros made with both The Final Battle and the series. Hindsight being 20/20, what were your thoughts having experienced working on all three?

Jane: It certainly changed when Ken left after the first miniseries. I think there was a lot of dissension among the ranks after he left. When Ken was involved, we all felt we were in something really special and it didn’t matter how hard we worked — it was for a common goal. That seemed to disappear and it became a job.

The series certainly became a bit of a joke as it descended into a soap opera in outer space — and I was the alien version of Joan Collins!

SCI FI PULSE: While on the subject of Kenneth Johnson, he’s written a book called V: The Second Generation that picks up the story 25 years after the original 1983 mini series. This book was originally the script he pitched to the studios a few years ago. If the opportunity ever came up for you to reprise the role of Diana in a follow up would you do it?

Jane: Absolutely — especially if Ken was involved. It would be amazing.

SCI FI PULSE: Given that Kenneth Johnson’s premise for a continuation is set 25 years on from where the first mini series left off, what do you think Diana would be up to now, and what in your gut as an actress do you think would have changed about her in those intervening years?

Jane: Ah, well… Obviously Diana would be a lot more mature now and most likely she’d be more fearful of losing her power, looks and sexual appeal that she used so often.

SCI FI PULSE: You worked on quite a few soaps in the US, yet you went on to do V as well as guest spots in the 1990’s TV series Flipper and then played a witch in The Lost World series as a guest star. How did all those experiences differ for you, and, aside from V, what was your favourite to work on?

Jane: Every job is different, some more satisfying than others. The Lost World was a lot of fun as once again I played a real fantasy character, which I would rather play than a character with no power. Flipper was just a bit a fun, nothing to taxing. I worked with Jessica Alba before she became a huge star and Gus Mercurio, the boxer.

SCI FI PULSE: I believe you have done a bit of theatre work as well. How do the two mediums of television and theatre differ and which one is your favourite to work in?

Jane: Yes, I just finished a wonderful play called the Mercy Seat. It was probably the most satisfying acting experience I’ve ever had. All the components worked and I was very sad to see it end as it gave me great pleasure.

I love the theatre as there’s continuity to it, whereas in film everything is shot out of sequence and it takes a lot of effort to keep track of where you are emotionally. It’s very challenging.

SCI FI PULSE: Jane, thank you very much for your time. Best of luck with the new CD

• You can pick up a copy of Jane’s new music CD via her MySpace account (www.myspace.com/sirmusic), where you can also listen to a few songs from the CD.

If you’re reading this in Australia, the album is officially launched on 14 June at the Toff venue in Melbourne, where Jane will be performing with her awesome indie band, Sir

Related Links

• Jane Badler and Sir on Last.fm

• Jane Badler IMDB Entry

• Jane Badler’s Entry on Wikipedia

• UGO Jane Badler Mission: Impossible Page

• The Quotable Jane Badler

V ON DVD…

• V: Series 1 (amazon.co.uk)

• V: The Mini Series

• V: The Final Battle

By Ian M. Cullen

According to a report over at SciFi Wire Bioshock the hit video game by Take Two Interactive is on course for a movie.

The game will be joining the ranks of games such as Resident Evil and Tomb Raider which have both had fairly strong movie adaptations.

Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) has apparently signed on to direct the movie.

Take Two the games publisher have apparently received a multimillion dollar advance against gross points on the movie deal. This is said to be the biggest video-game-to-movie deal since 2005, when Universal and Fox signed on to the since-aborted Halo movie adaptation.

Gore Verbinski is also attached to produce, and Aviator writer John Logan is in talks to pen the screenplay.

Bioshock takes place in an underwater city, which is based on the principals of free market. As you soon figure out with most games. Nothing is as it first appears and inevitably things go horribly wrong. Players control a pilot who crash-lands at a secret entrance to the city, called Rapture, and is drawn into a power struggle, during which he discovers that his will is not as free as he’d thought.

Verbinski told trade paper Variety that Rapture’s art-deco design and visually arresting characters–such as the mechanical Big Daddys, who protect genetically mutated girls called Little Sisters–inspired him to see the game as a film.

At present no release date has been set for this movie. However plans are afoot to begin word on this movie once Star Trek Nemesis, and Gladiator Scribe John Logan completes work on the script.

By John Freeman

The BBC has just published an 88-page full-colour online interactive comic called Crash Course drawn by top British comics artist Neill Cameron.

Neill told downthetubes he spent “a good chunk of last year working on the comic for the BBC” which can be read for free via: Neill Cameron has just gone live, and can be read and enjoyed for free via www.bbc.co.uk/schools/studentlife/games/crashcourse

In Crash Course, eight students embark on a school trip where they end up learning more than they expected. Some find love, some find courage and others find goats. Join them on their journey and choose where the story takes you.

In other news, Neill reports he is still working his socks off on Mo-Bot High, my strip for The DFC, the new British subscription-only weekly children’s comic launching later this month from Random House.

“It’s all starting to get rather exciting,” says Neill. “The official press launch is this Thursday at the British Film Institute, so if all goes to plan you should all be hearing all about it in various papers, radio programmes and what-have-you very soon.

“Apparently there’s a chance I may be on the BBC’s Newsround, if you can wrap your head round that. (I doubt this will happen, and if it did I’m sure it would only be for a split-second, scuttling around in the background wile they interview Philip Pullman. Which, frankly, I could live with.)”

By John Freeman

ROK Entertainment subsidiary, Fun Little Movies won the Content Award for its Fun Little Movies Channel at the prestigious 2008 Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) in Cannes last week, which includes plenty of animation that may appeal to SciFi Pulse readers.

Fun Little Movies, based in California, specializes in the development, production and distribution of original video content for global distribution to mobile network operators and was the first US company to produce comedic films for mobile phones worldwide, when it launched as a channel on Sprint TV back in in 2004. Shows include the animated series such as Hoota N Snoz, Doodlez (right), produced by Cellar Door Productions, Ms. Rabbble and more.

The Meffy awards, which received applications from 21 countries across four continents, are judged by an independent panel of national media and leading trade journalists and analysts. The Content Award shortlist, which received the third highest number of entries, included FLM, MTV Networks International, and Orange.

This isn’t the first award for the company: FLM’s “Fun Funny Phone Films” have won 22 awards to date, including CTIA’s “World Smallest Film Festival” and two Golden Eagles at the American Cine’ Awards, as well as The Content Award at Cannes in 2008, over MTV and Orange. FLM was also a finalist at the Cannes Film Festival for Best Short Film and the 2008 Mobile Content Award in London.

Commenting on FLM’s success, Rimma Perelmuter, MEF Executive Director, said “With distribution from Brunei to Bethlehem to Burbank, Fun Little Movies’ collection of funny, short, made-for-mobile comedy films has proven the universal appeal of laughter and snackable content.”

“Our gratitude goes first to ROK Entertainment Group,” said FLM’s President and Chief Creative Officer Frank Chindamo, “who, since acquiring FLM in 2007, have supported and helped enhance our product offering, such as in partnership with ROK Motion.

“We would also like to thank the MEF, our own creative staff, and all the filmmakers with whom we have partnered or whose work we have licensed. In fact, look for our latest production, HighSpeed Dating, written and directed by Terry Rossio and Jocelyn Stamat. Terry wrote and/or produced the Shrek, National Treasure and Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and we have high hopes for the series release later this year.”

“We’re delighted to have won this award and congratulate the FLM team,” added Laurence Alexander, Group CEO of ROK. “This award demonstrates the success of ROK’s growth strategy as well as recognition that the creation and delivery of relevant, funny and fast-paced mobile content is great for mobile consumption. FLM faced tough competition and this award is proof of their position in the market for the production and delivery of mobile content.”

Fun Little Movies have played on numerous US TV networks worldwide including HBO, Showtime, CBS, Playboy, MTV and Comedy Central. FLM’s mobile comedy can be watched on Sprint, Verizon, Nokia, Motorola and ATT mobile phones, on Veoh.com, Revver.com, Vuze.com and many other top video sites, and on other mobile and Internet platforms. FLM also has distribution deals with several handset makers and overseas partners, from China and Japan to Europe, Africa and South America.

• Visit the Fun Little Movies website

By Ian M. Cullen

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be able to share a few E-Mail exchanges with the great Kenneth Johnson who during the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s brought us shows such as Bionic Woman, The Incredible Hulk, V The Mini Series, and Alien Nation.

Since the release of the first V Mini series a couple of years ago Ken has been trying to sell a continuation story idea to the studios. He recently transcribed his V The Second Generation Script into a book, which has only furthered the fan hunger for a continuation of Johnson’s original story.

Below is a short interview I conducted with Kenneth Johnson about his varied career where we discuss a few of his past projects and talk a little about his ‘V: The Second Generation’ which is a fantastic read.

I’ve just finished reading your book ‘V The Second Generation’ which I had difficulty putting down. I liked the way in which you managed to keep the core characters in the story, but am wondering as many others are what happened to some of the other characters such as Elias who seemed to become a pretty strong character in your original mini series, and is there likely to be another book to fill in some of the events that transpired in the 20 year period such as the great purge.

“I haven’t thought about it yet, but many have suggested doing something like that.”

The last 10 years we’ve seen a number of classic TV franchises and movies being remade by the studios. Shows such as Battlestar Galactica and most recently a remake of your creation ‘The Bionic Woman’ have been done. What are your views about this particular trend and what thoughts on ‘Bionic Woman’ that seems to have failed to retain its audience do you have.

“The new Bionic Woman sank like a rock because it didn’t resemble in any way the humanism and humor we had in the original. Nor did they have an actress like Lindsay Wagner. Everything that is a Brand Name eventually gets remade because nervous executives think that’s a way of insuring an audience. As you can see, they’re often wrong.”

For some time now you have been trying to get a new continuation series or reboot as one Network has asked for of your classic work ‘V’. Have noticed that it is listed as actually being in production on the Internet movie database. Could you give us any updates on this.

“We are not yet in production, though we’re working hard to get V before the cameras. The imdb is more often wrong than right. See all the latest information at www.kennethjohnson.us“

I read somewhere that you and someone else actually wrote a script for ‘V The Final Battle’ but for internal studio political reasons your version of the script and much of your story was messed with beyond recognition. One of the major things that bothered me about the televised version of Final Battle was the ending. It totally lacked any sense of suspense. The Star Child saving them all in the last 30 seconds just sucked could you tell us how your version ended.

“I haven’t looked at the script for 25 years so I don’t remember the details. Though I supervised the writing of the 6-hour sequel, I left Warners over creative differences before it was produced. To this day I have never seen it, except for one minute by accident - in which I saw them make every wrong choice possible, so I knew I’d never survive watching the entire thing. I never saw any of the series at all, but my friends who were in it said it was pretty awful and certainly missed the essence of what I had been attempting to create. There was no bullshit “Star Child” and many of the Visitors’ motherships got away - but Mike and Julie secretly flew aboard.”

In the early 90’s you were brought in by Fox to produce a TV adaptation of the movie Alien Nation which made the bold move of changing format from buddy cop action film to a more thoughtful allegorical series which depicted real world topics. What prompted you to do that and what do you think that shows strengths were.

“I realized I could do a drama about intolerance and prejudice. The entire development process is described on the DVD commentary of my pilot.”

Sadly I do not own this particular DVD set, so I borrowed the following quotes with regards to the shows origins from Movieweb were Johnson explains most of the story.

“Well, I had created The Bionic Woman and I did The Incredible Hulk and I did V, my big epic mini-series. My friend Harris Cattleman, who was the head of Fox Television at the time, called me up and said, ‘We’ve got this movie coming out. We’d like you to take a look at it. We think there’s a series in it.’ I said, ‘Sure, Harris. I’d be happy to.’ He said, ‘It’s called Alien Nation’ and I said, ‘You know Harris, I really don’t want to see it. I’m so tired of aliens.’ I was trained in the classic theater, Brian. I went to Carnegie-Melon. We studied Sophocles and Shakespeare and Strindberg, all the classics. I’ve always been drawn to that, but you create The Bionic Woman, you create The Incredible Hulk, you do V and pretty soon you’re the sci-fi guy. I always tell my students in UCLA and USC, ‘Be careful of what your first success is, because that’s what they’ll want you to do the rest of your life.’

“I sort of walked in the screening room over at Fox with a chip on my shoulder as big as a block of ice and said, ‘O.K., show me.’ The movie came on, and I don’t know. The movie always struck me as Miami Vice with Coneheads. But there was one scene where the alien cop was waving goodbye to his wife and two little children standing on the porch. There’s only one shot of them in the movie, but when I saw that moment, Brian, the bell went off. I went back to Fox and I said, ‘You think you’ve got Lethal Weapon with aliens, right?’ They said, ‘Yeah, yeah!’ and I said ‘No, no. What you’ve got is In The Heat Of The Night. Let me do a piece about what it’s like to be the latest folks off the bus, the newest minority that arrives in town.’ That’s a show that can go on and on and on because it’s about societal conflicts.”

If you were given the opportunity to make a cinematic movie of Hulk what approach would you take and who can you see out of today’s batch of actors best being the embodiment of the tragic character of Doctor Bruce Banner.

“I have no idea. I would never take on the project. I did my Hulk already.”

You developed ‘The Incredible Hulk’ for television back in the 70’s. Was the late Bill Bixby always your first choice for the role of David Banner “YES. My one and only” – and can you tell us a little about the process you went through in order to get the show to the screen given that it was very different to the comic books and far more entertaining than that boring movie version we seen a few years back.

” It’s all described in great detail in the commentary on the DVD of my Hulk pilot.”

While listening to the commentary I learned a great deal. Certain scenes of the pilot movie were made up of stock footage, for example when the lab blows up near the end of the film, that footage was taken from ‘The Bionic Woman’ two part episode ‘Doomsday’ which Johnson also wrote and directed.

However what you get the most out of Johnson’s commentary is how much respect and admiration he had for the late Bill Bixby and the following excerpt from the DVD pretty much sums Johnson’s feelings up on the matter.

“Bix combined the qualities of solid actor and emotion and class that I was looking for to try to bring to this project that of course had its origins in Stan Lees comic book ‘The Incedible Hulk’”

One of the characters that I enjoyed in your book ‘V The Second Generation’ was the Pop Singer Emma as well as Ruby who struck a real chord with me. Could you tell us who these two characters were based on.

“Much of Emma’s story (including the theft from the bad guys’ safe) is based on a real woman who was an American Mata Hari for the OSS during WW2. She was not, however a singer or popular figure. - Though Ruby appears to be like Charles Dickens’s Artful Dodger, she is actually more like Gavroche, Victor Hugo’s fictional child in Les Miserables, who sacrifices himself on the barricades to save his fellow revolutionaries.”

Growing up back in the 70’s I was a huge fan of ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’ and the ‘Bionic Woman’ both of which you were involved with. Can you tell me a little about how you got involved with those shows?

“Steve Bochco, a classmate from Carnegie Tech, was working at Universal and introduced me to Harve Bennett who was doing 6 Mill and needed some scripts in a hurry. I wrote The BW for him and he asked me to become a producer on 6 Mill/ Then ABC asked me to spin off BW into a separate show. Like living in a garbage disposal!”

As someone who has acted, written, produced and directed what do you think makes a good drama.

“Great characters with strong objectives facing great conflicts.”

How much do you feel the industry of television and film has changed since you got your start in the business, and do you feel things have gotten worse or better since you began.

“It’s never been easy. Today it’s even more bottom-line oriented and there are far fewer visionary entrepreneurs like Brandon Tartikoff. - The execs are mostly former agents or other non-creative types who have never made a movie themselves.”

• See Movieweb Interview
• See Kenneth Johnson Website

By Ian M. Cullen

In the new issue of Star Trek Magazine just out in the UK actor Simon Pegg talks in great detail about his newly acquired role of Scotty in JJ Abrams Star Trek.

When asked the extent of his knowledge on Star Trek the actor admitted unashamedly that he has been a life long fan of the series.

“Obviously I watched the original series when I was a kid, and I knew The Next Generation well enough to know all the characters. I watched quite a few episodes, and I was a big Seven Of Nine fan when Voyager came out. Certainly, I was pretty familiar with it.”

When asked about researching the role, the actor vehemently reassured that he has done his home work and doesn’t intend to do an impersonation of Scotty as done by James Doohan.

“One thing I wanted to do was make the performance pretty much a tribute to James Doohan but I didn’t want to impersonate him in any way, because I didn’t want it to look like that. It’s important that this film has no parodic element - it’s a very straight film, and a none - ironic Trek movie. Obviously, it’s walking a tightrope because it’s going back in time a little bit to the original characters, so the tendency might have been to watch Jim Doohan and try to ape him. I personally didn’t, I just drew on my memories and affection for the show.

“I was actually given the chance to work alongside James Doohan’s son who came on set to do a little bit of background work, which was very nice. We had a little chat about his father. But as far as research was concerned I felt pretty much like I knew what I was doing - it wasn’t unfamiliar territory in any way.”

You can read more from Simon Pegg about his Star Trek experience in the new issue of Star Trek Magazine, which is out now in the UK.

By John Freeman

When it comes to famous science fiction fans you don’t get more of the moment than singer Sandi Thom, who has claimed that losing all her Star Wars figures as a child was the “saddest moment” of her life.

The Scottish singer, whose new single The Devil’s Beat is released 19 May, told Metro this week that her entire collection was lost when her mother made her lend the toys to her cousin Robert.

“Me and my brother had all the Star Wars figures and the Millennium Falcon when we were children,” Thom revealed. “My mum made us lend them to our cousin Robert. The night we lent them to him, his house burnt down and all our toys were destroyed. It was the saddest moment of my life.”

Thom recently told web site Digital Spy that her new single The Devil’s Beat was inspired by the George Lucas’ Star Wars movies.

The chart-topping singer says she doesn’t go to conventions but she likes her sci-fi. “When I was little, I’d come home and want to watch Neighbours but my brother would make me watch Babylon 5 or Star Trek,” she told Metro. “I had to watch the Borg attack Star Trek people all the time – it must have left an impression.”

• The Devil’s Beat is released 19 May 2008 in the UK. Visit Sandi Thom’s official web site

By Ian M. Cullen

JJ Abrams may well be keeping busy with post production on the new ‘Star Trek’ movie, but that hasn’t got in the way of his television projects.

Hollywood Reporter revealed today that JJ Abrams new SciFi Project ‘Fringe’ has been given the go ahead by Fox Network, who according to TV Guide has cancelled ‘New Amsterdam’ which was about an immortal cop to make room for ‘Fringe’.

Though no premier date is set for Fringe, it’s clear that it will join Joss Whedon’s new SF show Dollhouse in the 2008/09 Schedule. Dollhouse already has a 7-episode commitment from Fox.

ABC is finally looking to give a Green Light to the David E. Kelley version of the Cult Brit Hit ‘Life On Mars’.

Abrams new series ‘Fringe’ will centre on an FBI agent who has to work with a group of scientists to help solve some rather strange cases. It stars Joshua Jackson, Charlotte Rampling and Kirk Acevedo.