Once again I want to say a big thank you to Mr. Tapert for anwering not just 20 questions but over 80
!!!! Hope you all have fun reading the answers and be sure to catch Rob's comments at the end.
Dear Fans of the show, what fun it is to have these questions asked and have people still care. To see all of the old handles brings back fond memories. This period of my life from 1994 to 2001 was thus far the most creatively satisfying time anyone could hope to experience. I knew at the time that what was happening was special. I enjoyed it as much as I could and knew that it would one day end. Thus I enjoy looking back upon Xena. I know that there is no going back but, like Star Trek, there is still something left in the franchise and the characters that merits at least continued support and hope that somehow something will arise from the ashes I left behind.
xenawp7706
1. Lucy spoke about a project after Battlestar Galactica with you. Is it going to be the musical she talked about, some time ago or is it something else?
I sure would still like to do a musical with Lucy. It has lost some momentum as of late. Lucy doesnt love the script and that is a problem. My Buddy, Mark Beesley, who wrote it, loves the script. He is thinking about the rewrite to try to address Lucys problems. Then there is the financial issue.
I had this tv project at Oxygen that was called Escape from Graphic City but through the development process became JUMP. An entirely different project. Oxygen has just been sold (just as I turned in the draft) and in a couple of months I will know if they are interested in that.
Also the original Graphic City didnt work as a series. It was a movie idea. It is still a CRAZY idea and I recently got a piece of inspiration that might let me fix it.
Oldchakram
Very cool, thanks Mr. Tapert.
2. Q.: Is any of the next Ghost House projects going to have you as the director?
No, I doubt it. At least for the time being. I like directing and if I did produce something with Lucy and Renee I would want to direct that!
3. Q.: In most TV shows / series I've seen, none of the characters are so well developed as Gabrielle was in X:WP. Do you think it's the public who doesn't want changes or it's just the producers not taking risks?
You (like many who have written ) must be a Gab Fan!!! Certainly there have been other characters on tv who have changed and grown. It is harder for the lead like a Xena to change as the audience wants that consistency.
Producers do want to take risks. They want to please the audience, break new ground, and get ratings. As long as they do not alienate the audience, the studio lets them take some risks. Later I touch on this in detail.
As far as Gabrielles growth, we are glad that she grew. Now, with hindsight, maybe the series was about her growth. Thanks Renee for bringing this character to life!
4. Q. From Xena to 30 Days of Night: how different is it now to film in New Zealand? Has it become easier, or more expensive, for instance?
NZ has become more expensive and better trained. There are more crews. The people that started on Herc in the early days are now 15 years older. The next time I work in NZ I am going to try using people that I have not worked with before. Give the new younger folks a try.
Hatshepsout
Great! Thank you Mr Tapert.
5. Question: Do you plan to be at the helm of a new tv show? If yes, what type would it be (horror? action? fantasy?...) ?
I am desperate to do a Fantasy TV show. This darn writers strike put a crimp in my plans. I have a script that Lucy and I love that we wanted to do at Oxygen. It got stalled with the sale of Oxygen to NBC and now with the strike. It is a what if modern-day show about jumping to all the lives you could have led if you had made different decisions in your life. In the coming months I will have news in this arena.
I have also been working with Sam on bringing a new fantasy show to Tribune. That will be either a go or a no in the coming days.
Gabfan23
Very kind of Mr Tapert, I would echo those sentiments. Sorry I have to ask about FIN.
6. Any regrets about how Xena ended? And how long do you feel as a fan/director/producer of a series (any series) is the optimum number of seasons, assuming the studio agrees? Thanks!
The optimum number of seasons is one of the how long is a piece of string? questions. The usual speech about going out on top etc., is a bunch of hooey.
As far as how things ended. Well, I failed as producer (on Hercules and on Xena) in that things ended and I didnt want them to end. I thought the end of the series was the lead into something new with Xena. Elsewhere I talk about the possible TV movies. What I should have done at the end of XENA was over any objections by Lucy, Renee and anyone else, secured some sort of tv commitment for a mini series or something when it was on the table. Then if the actresses didnt want to do it, I could have pulled out. Unfortunately, based on Lucys and Renees sentiment at the time, I called and said NO to the tv movie offer when I should have said Yes. Unfortunately, I was drinking my own Kool Aid at that time. I failed Producing 101---- Never EVER turn a Green light into a Red Light.
I have NO regrets with killing Xena at the end of FIN. I do have other issues with those episodes. I should have reigned in some of the performances and fixed some of the lame script moments. It would have been nice to see what Gabrielle warrior princess was capable of going forward. Like having an episode after FINs which shows the ongoing dynamics. Kind of like Dj Vu was at the end of season IV after IDES. I actually do not think people would have had a problem if Gabrielle died with Xena at the end of FIN or knew that Gabrielle was not traumatized. It is the reality of Gabrielle having to go on alone that people found objectionable.
For those who really cared about Gabrielles journey and growth they know that Xenas death was not a tragedy but a step in life. For those who only cared about them as lovers, Xenas death was the ultimate tragedy.
Laughing Andy
7. What was your best memory of making Evil Dead with Sam Raimi?
Poking Bruce Campbell with sharp sticks in his sprained ankle; eating the cooks, David Goodmans, famous chili and waking up on the floor 10 hours later; drinking mountain Dew; smoking Marlboro lights and eating Moon Pies as a lifestyle.
It was actually a learning process. In the year of post in NYC we hung around with Joel and Ethan Coen and Barry Sonnenfeld. Ate Friday nights at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central, and generally gained a bunch of good memories. Bruce Campbells book IF CHINS COULD KILL really covers this era and its high and low points.
Gabsfan
Thank you very much to Mr. Rob Tapert for this rare opportunity.
8. Question: Do you have any plans or foresee any future plans to bring the unique chemistry of Lucy & Rene together again on the big or small screen in a non-Xena project?
NOTHING WOULD MAKE ME HAPPIER!!!!!!!!!!!! I am but one person
9. Question(s): At the NJ Xena con in June, you said that Universal had offered a small budget for a Xena movie which was not enough to produce the film you'd like to do. Are there any other sources of financing that could be explored to supplement Universal's offered budget so a Xena movie could be produced for TV, theaters or direct to DVD? Are there any ways that fans could help with financing such as how we helped Rene with Diamonds & Guns?
Ultimately the home video/dvd people say that the franchise is worthless to them or not worth the effort and the promotional cost. The reason they say this is a long boring story but Panzer Davis Corp who licensed the video and dvds from Universal/Studios USA during the turmoil of the sale of the tv division in the late 90s are on the surface crooks. They owe Lucy, Renee, and I money for our commentaries and are years in arrears. They have not reported sales to us for 2006. They have done a bad job marketing the dvds and, as such, the units sold are lower than Universal Home Entertainment is willing to bother with. Panzer Davis says or reports that only 225,000 sets were sold (although) I think this is rubbish. I believe that more sets were sold but, equally, I do not see it for sale in any chain stores. The problem is that they are not a distributor but a merchandising company.
As far as fans helping to finance something, that is a bad idea. I would never take their money if I wouldnt use my own first. There really isnt a deal to be done. The rights are a mishmash and complicated. The real cost to do something is a lot. If an episode was 1.25M 10 years ago when the kiwi dollar was at $.55 ( it is now at $.78), a two-hour movie would easily be 3.5M at a minimum. Something like THE DEBTS, SIN TRADES OR FIN would easily be 6M or more.
Something tells me that a Renee and Lucy movie that hinted of XENA would work for the 200,000 people who bought the season box sets. By studio calculations (200,000 x $9.00 per dvd ) that would justify a budget of around 1.8M with tv as the potential profit center. That isnt much money.
10. Question: What are your thoughts about the Xena comics? Are the comics true to how you see the characters? Do you as the original creator of the characters and TV series get any say or input on how the comics develop or portray the characters from the TV series?
I hate the comics and dont even glance at them. The people who publish them have done the series a disservice. They also have the Army of Darkness comics and Sam, Bruce and I feel that they have overstepped the boundaries with that franchise. We have nothing to do with the publishers or the content. You would think they might have called and asked about doing business together. But they just license the properties from Universal and then do as they please.
11. Question: I recently saw a story about Hollywood's latest successful trend to bring comic books and graphic novels to the big screen like Sam's Spiderman. Do you think this trend would pique Universal's interest in bringing Xena to the big or small screen as a property that went from a TV series to a comic book to a movie? Would you want a Xena movie to happen that way or is the comic book version too different from your vision of Xena and Gabrielle?
If the comic people could help get a movie made great, but they cant.
12. Question: Considering the rapidly changing technology and the current trends in the entertainment industry, do you feel that the future of films is more in home entertainment like direct to DVD than the commercial movie theaters?
Great question. There will always be a BIG movie that creates a group experience. You want to see SUPERBAD or 300 with a big group of people. Equally there are more and more niche movies that do not deserve or command the 25M plus needed to launch a movie to the general audience. Thus it seems like home entertainment is a growth industry. I believe that traditional TV is a dinosaur. Kids play games or watch Youtube. The dvd market is shrinking. Too much crap out there. Thus something is changing. My fear is that the movie business will become like the music business and will be file sharing and really then a business of contraction.
This all says that I dont know anything about what is happening!!
13. Question: At the NJ Xena convention in June, you said that Universal made a mistake in how they marketed Xena the series. What do you think they should have done differently?
If I said that, I misspoke or was misunderstood. Universal as a corporate entity was in turmoil in the mid to late 90s. Edgar Bronfman of/and Seagrams bought the company and mismanaged the assets. They starred Kevin Sorbo as KULL. Well, the tv division was spending huge money promoting Sorbo as HERCULES and the feature people were creating confusion by marketing him as KULL. They were confusing their own brands.
Then Barry Diller bought the TV division of Universal. However, he didnt want to grow the business. He fought with Universal and licensed (or allowed) the home video/dvd on Herc and Xena to be licensed to Panzer Davis. There was no Sid Sheinberg (one time head of Universal) who looked after the asset for the corporation. It was just divisions looking out for themselves. This problem continues today. Even though Diller sold the entity back to Universal and made a Billion dollars for adding no value, there is no one in the NBC/GE Corp who looks at the franchise from a big picture overview.
A movie or miniseries or a dvd series would freshen up the library on the 134 episodes they have that continue to play around the world. There just isnt a division that sees a huge profit center from doing a one off. However, from a corporate overall strategy, freshening up the series with new material would increase the value of the assets they already have.
Dear Fans of the show, what fun it is to have these questions asked and have people still care. To see all of the old handles brings back fond memories. This period of my life from 1994 to 2001 was thus far the most creatively satisfying time anyone could hope to experience. I knew at the time that what was happening was special. I enjoyed it as much as I could and knew that it would one day end. Thus I enjoy looking back upon Xena. I know that there is no going back but, like Star Trek, there is still something left in the franchise and the characters that merits at least continued support and hope that somehow something will arise from the ashes I left behind.
xenawp7706
1. Lucy spoke about a project after Battlestar Galactica with you. Is it going to be the musical she talked about, some time ago or is it something else?
I sure would still like to do a musical with Lucy. It has lost some momentum as of late. Lucy doesnt love the script and that is a problem. My Buddy, Mark Beesley, who wrote it, loves the script. He is thinking about the rewrite to try to address Lucys problems. Then there is the financial issue.
I had this tv project at Oxygen that was called Escape from Graphic City but through the development process became JUMP. An entirely different project. Oxygen has just been sold (just as I turned in the draft) and in a couple of months I will know if they are interested in that.
Also the original Graphic City didnt work as a series. It was a movie idea. It is still a CRAZY idea and I recently got a piece of inspiration that might let me fix it.
Oldchakram
Very cool, thanks Mr. Tapert.
2. Q.: Is any of the next Ghost House projects going to have you as the director?
No, I doubt it. At least for the time being. I like directing and if I did produce something with Lucy and Renee I would want to direct that!
3. Q.: In most TV shows / series I've seen, none of the characters are so well developed as Gabrielle was in X:WP. Do you think it's the public who doesn't want changes or it's just the producers not taking risks?
You (like many who have written ) must be a Gab Fan!!! Certainly there have been other characters on tv who have changed and grown. It is harder for the lead like a Xena to change as the audience wants that consistency.
Producers do want to take risks. They want to please the audience, break new ground, and get ratings. As long as they do not alienate the audience, the studio lets them take some risks. Later I touch on this in detail.
As far as Gabrielles growth, we are glad that she grew. Now, with hindsight, maybe the series was about her growth. Thanks Renee for bringing this character to life!
4. Q. From Xena to 30 Days of Night: how different is it now to film in New Zealand? Has it become easier, or more expensive, for instance?
NZ has become more expensive and better trained. There are more crews. The people that started on Herc in the early days are now 15 years older. The next time I work in NZ I am going to try using people that I have not worked with before. Give the new younger folks a try.
Hatshepsout
Great! Thank you Mr Tapert.
5. Question: Do you plan to be at the helm of a new tv show? If yes, what type would it be (horror? action? fantasy?...) ?
I am desperate to do a Fantasy TV show. This darn writers strike put a crimp in my plans. I have a script that Lucy and I love that we wanted to do at Oxygen. It got stalled with the sale of Oxygen to NBC and now with the strike. It is a what if modern-day show about jumping to all the lives you could have led if you had made different decisions in your life. In the coming months I will have news in this arena.
I have also been working with Sam on bringing a new fantasy show to Tribune. That will be either a go or a no in the coming days.
Gabfan23
Very kind of Mr Tapert, I would echo those sentiments. Sorry I have to ask about FIN.
6. Any regrets about how Xena ended? And how long do you feel as a fan/director/producer of a series (any series) is the optimum number of seasons, assuming the studio agrees? Thanks!
The optimum number of seasons is one of the how long is a piece of string? questions. The usual speech about going out on top etc., is a bunch of hooey.
As far as how things ended. Well, I failed as producer (on Hercules and on Xena) in that things ended and I didnt want them to end. I thought the end of the series was the lead into something new with Xena. Elsewhere I talk about the possible TV movies. What I should have done at the end of XENA was over any objections by Lucy, Renee and anyone else, secured some sort of tv commitment for a mini series or something when it was on the table. Then if the actresses didnt want to do it, I could have pulled out. Unfortunately, based on Lucys and Renees sentiment at the time, I called and said NO to the tv movie offer when I should have said Yes. Unfortunately, I was drinking my own Kool Aid at that time. I failed Producing 101---- Never EVER turn a Green light into a Red Light.
I have NO regrets with killing Xena at the end of FIN. I do have other issues with those episodes. I should have reigned in some of the performances and fixed some of the lame script moments. It would have been nice to see what Gabrielle warrior princess was capable of going forward. Like having an episode after FINs which shows the ongoing dynamics. Kind of like Dj Vu was at the end of season IV after IDES. I actually do not think people would have had a problem if Gabrielle died with Xena at the end of FIN or knew that Gabrielle was not traumatized. It is the reality of Gabrielle having to go on alone that people found objectionable.
For those who really cared about Gabrielles journey and growth they know that Xenas death was not a tragedy but a step in life. For those who only cared about them as lovers, Xenas death was the ultimate tragedy.
Laughing Andy
7. What was your best memory of making Evil Dead with Sam Raimi?
Poking Bruce Campbell with sharp sticks in his sprained ankle; eating the cooks, David Goodmans, famous chili and waking up on the floor 10 hours later; drinking mountain Dew; smoking Marlboro lights and eating Moon Pies as a lifestyle.
It was actually a learning process. In the year of post in NYC we hung around with Joel and Ethan Coen and Barry Sonnenfeld. Ate Friday nights at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central, and generally gained a bunch of good memories. Bruce Campbells book IF CHINS COULD KILL really covers this era and its high and low points.
Gabsfan
Thank you very much to Mr. Rob Tapert for this rare opportunity.
8. Question: Do you have any plans or foresee any future plans to bring the unique chemistry of Lucy & Rene together again on the big or small screen in a non-Xena project?
NOTHING WOULD MAKE ME HAPPIER!!!!!!!!!!!! I am but one person
9. Question(s): At the NJ Xena con in June, you said that Universal had offered a small budget for a Xena movie which was not enough to produce the film you'd like to do. Are there any other sources of financing that could be explored to supplement Universal's offered budget so a Xena movie could be produced for TV, theaters or direct to DVD? Are there any ways that fans could help with financing such as how we helped Rene with Diamonds & Guns?
Ultimately the home video/dvd people say that the franchise is worthless to them or not worth the effort and the promotional cost. The reason they say this is a long boring story but Panzer Davis Corp who licensed the video and dvds from Universal/Studios USA during the turmoil of the sale of the tv division in the late 90s are on the surface crooks. They owe Lucy, Renee, and I money for our commentaries and are years in arrears. They have not reported sales to us for 2006. They have done a bad job marketing the dvds and, as such, the units sold are lower than Universal Home Entertainment is willing to bother with. Panzer Davis says or reports that only 225,000 sets were sold (although) I think this is rubbish. I believe that more sets were sold but, equally, I do not see it for sale in any chain stores. The problem is that they are not a distributor but a merchandising company.
As far as fans helping to finance something, that is a bad idea. I would never take their money if I wouldnt use my own first. There really isnt a deal to be done. The rights are a mishmash and complicated. The real cost to do something is a lot. If an episode was 1.25M 10 years ago when the kiwi dollar was at $.55 ( it is now at $.78), a two-hour movie would easily be 3.5M at a minimum. Something like THE DEBTS, SIN TRADES OR FIN would easily be 6M or more.
Something tells me that a Renee and Lucy movie that hinted of XENA would work for the 200,000 people who bought the season box sets. By studio calculations (200,000 x $9.00 per dvd ) that would justify a budget of around 1.8M with tv as the potential profit center. That isnt much money.
10. Question: What are your thoughts about the Xena comics? Are the comics true to how you see the characters? Do you as the original creator of the characters and TV series get any say or input on how the comics develop or portray the characters from the TV series?
I hate the comics and dont even glance at them. The people who publish them have done the series a disservice. They also have the Army of Darkness comics and Sam, Bruce and I feel that they have overstepped the boundaries with that franchise. We have nothing to do with the publishers or the content. You would think they might have called and asked about doing business together. But they just license the properties from Universal and then do as they please.
11. Question: I recently saw a story about Hollywood's latest successful trend to bring comic books and graphic novels to the big screen like Sam's Spiderman. Do you think this trend would pique Universal's interest in bringing Xena to the big or small screen as a property that went from a TV series to a comic book to a movie? Would you want a Xena movie to happen that way or is the comic book version too different from your vision of Xena and Gabrielle?
If the comic people could help get a movie made great, but they cant.
12. Question: Considering the rapidly changing technology and the current trends in the entertainment industry, do you feel that the future of films is more in home entertainment like direct to DVD than the commercial movie theaters?
Great question. There will always be a BIG movie that creates a group experience. You want to see SUPERBAD or 300 with a big group of people. Equally there are more and more niche movies that do not deserve or command the 25M plus needed to launch a movie to the general audience. Thus it seems like home entertainment is a growth industry. I believe that traditional TV is a dinosaur. Kids play games or watch Youtube. The dvd market is shrinking. Too much crap out there. Thus something is changing. My fear is that the movie business will become like the music business and will be file sharing and really then a business of contraction.
This all says that I dont know anything about what is happening!!
13. Question: At the NJ Xena convention in June, you said that Universal made a mistake in how they marketed Xena the series. What do you think they should have done differently?
If I said that, I misspoke or was misunderstood. Universal as a corporate entity was in turmoil in the mid to late 90s. Edgar Bronfman of/and Seagrams bought the company and mismanaged the assets. They starred Kevin Sorbo as KULL. Well, the tv division was spending huge money promoting Sorbo as HERCULES and the feature people were creating confusion by marketing him as KULL. They were confusing their own brands.
Then Barry Diller bought the TV division of Universal. However, he didnt want to grow the business. He fought with Universal and licensed (or allowed) the home video/dvd on Herc and Xena to be licensed to Panzer Davis. There was no Sid Sheinberg (one time head of Universal) who looked after the asset for the corporation. It was just divisions looking out for themselves. This problem continues today. Even though Diller sold the entity back to Universal and made a Billion dollars for adding no value, there is no one in the NBC/GE Corp who looks at the franchise from a big picture overview.
A movie or miniseries or a dvd series would freshen up the library on the 134 episodes they have that continue to play around the world. There just isnt a division that sees a huge profit center from doing a one off. However, from a corporate overall strategy, freshening up the series with new material would increase the value of the assets they already have.