Tag: JMS

Babylon 5 Creator Teaming Up With The Wachowski’s For The Next Netflix Original Series!

by Shane O'Hare

Just announced earlier today, Netflix is already planning their next original series. Titled “Sense8”, it will have the creative powers of the Wachoswki’s and J. Michael Straczynski. We have the full PR Release below!

 

Only On Netflix: Sci-Fi Giants The Wachowskis And J. Michael Straczynski Team-Up To Create “Sense8”

 

Coming in 2014 from Georgeville Television, a new science-fiction thriller from the acclaimed directors of Cloud Atlas and The Matrix Trilogy and the creator of Babylon 5

 

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., March 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Netflix will bring Georgeville Television’s Sense8, a gripping global tale of minds linked and souls hunted, exclusively to its members to watch instantly in late 2014.

 

The 10 episode season one of Sense8 marks the first foray into television by the Wachowskis, the creative geniuses behind Bound, The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, V for Vendetta, Speed Racer and Cloud Atlas, and is the latest project from veteran show runner J. Michael Straczynski, creator of the Hugo Award-winning Babylon 5 TV series and whose film credits include Changeling, Thor and Underworld Awakening,

 

“Andy and Lana Wachowski and Joe Straczynski are among the most imaginative writers and gifted visual storytellers of our time,” said Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos. “Their incredible creations are favorites of Netflix members globally and we can’t wait to bring Sense8 to life.”

 

“We’re excited to work with Netflix and Georgeville Television on this project, and we’ve wanted to work with Joe Straczynski for years, chiefly due to the fact his name is harder to pronounce than ours, but also because we share a love of genre and all things nerdy,” said Andy and Lana Wachowski. “Several years ago, we had a late night conversation about the ways technology simultaneously unites and divides us, and out of that paradox Sense8 was born.”

 

“We are proud to be working with Netflix on this new series,” said Straczynski. “Lana, Andy, and I are fans of each other’s creations, and have been looking for something to do together for nearly a decade.”

 

Sense8 is being produced by Georgeville Television, in association with Studio JMS. Georgeville Television is a Reliance Entertainment company and independent television studio, formed by veteran film and television producer Marc Rosen, in partnership by Motion Picture Capital’s Leon Clarance and Producer Deepak Nayar. Formed in 2012, Georgeville Television currently has two series in pre-production, including NBC’s Crossbones starring John Malkovich. Rosen, Clarance, and Nayar will serve as executive producers on Sense8.

 

Studio JMS, launched last year by Straczynski and CEO Patricia Tallman, was founded to produce a wide range of film, television, comics and other media properties. In addition to The Flickering Light, Straczynski’s feature directorial debut, and Sense8, Studio JMS has created a new comics imprint, Joe’s Comics, published in partnership with Image Comics. Its first series, “Ten Grand,” will debut in May. In addition to Sense8, Motion Picture Capital is producing The Flickering Light, which begins filming in Berlin later this year.

 

“Sense8 is a dream-come-true creatively, and we look forward to working closely with our new partners at Netflix, with whom we could not be more excited to bring the Wachowski’s first TV series ever to life,” said Rosen.

 

The Wachowskis are starting production next month on their new sci-fi adventure Jupiter Ascending for Warner Brothers, starring Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis.

 

“We’re delighted to once again partner with Joe, and have the opportunity to work with Lana and Andy, two of our movie-making heroes, on their television debut,” said Clarance. “They have created a brilliant concept, which will be a wonderful story to produce, and a rich conceptual world for viewers to experience.”

 

I am already giggling with enjoyment. The Wachowski’s are two of my most favorite creative minds out there. I’ve never been a “fan” of Babylon 5, but I respect it for what it is.

House of Cards is a Juggernaut right now, and I believe Netflix is going down the right path. Is Netflix the next “Big Time Network”? Personally, I think so!

Geekscape Comics: ANOTHER ‘Before Watchmen’ Series Is On Its Way

by Shawn Madden

Earlier today at the Fan Expo in Toronto, DC Comics announced that this November and December will see the release of Before Watchmen: Moloch #1 and #2. Yes, you read that one right, this time around one of the villains is getting his own prequel. The series will be brought to us by the legendary writer J. Michael Straczynski and artist Eduardo Risso. JMS talked to Comic Book Resources more about his plans for the series and why exactly he believes that Moloch deserves his own prequel. Check out a few highlights below as well as a preview of Eduardo Risso’s artwork from the series.

Regarding how this series came about:

In our early conversations, Dan [DiDio] indicated that he really wanted to explore Moloch because he’s central to the mythology of the original “Watchmen,” even though only see him at the end of his life, and the rest is just a few facts and dates tossed around in text or dialogue. He would’ve liked to have included this from the git-go, but felt that everybody was maxed out on what was already on our plates. Fortunately, I got my scripts finished, done and in before anybody else, and long before they were due, so when I was done Dan asked if I’d be willing, and of course I said yes.


On why he felt this character deserved his own prequel:

If you step back and just look at his story, it’s a real tragedy, in a way the most tragic of all of the characters. He started out in great difficulty, turned to crime, was sent to prison repeatedly, found religion, converted to Catholicism, and came out of prison determined to lead a changed life. It was a new beginning, a fresh start…and what happens? He falls prey to Ozymandias’ plans and becomes one of the first sacrificial lambs to that slaughter. How is that not a compelling story worth telling? Most of what we know from the material in the first book is expressed in narrative, in bits and pieces in “Under the Hood” and elsewhere — we don’t actually see any of it, and thus we don’t understand the why of the what. Yes, we know he went through all these changes, but what prompted it? How did it happen and what did it mean? I wanted to give his history the same serious treatment we were giving to all the heroic characters. A character is stretched too thin when you can’t tell any more good stories about them, and with the Watchmen characters, we’ve barely scratched the surface, even though I kinda doubt they’re going to go back to the well on this again too often or too soon.

Does this mean we can expect more Before Watchmen series coming our way? Quite possibly. Is this a good thing or bad thing? I’m not really sure. I’ve been pretty let down by these books minus Ozymandias and Rorschach’s outings, but it could go either way.