Sci-Fi Storm

Syfy’s upcoming drama series 12 Monkeys, based on the 1995 Terry Gilliam movie starring Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt, has the potential to really pull out all the questions regarding time travel, and twist your mind while it does.

The show follows the journey of a time traveler, Cole, from the post-apocalyptic future. Using a dangerous and untested method of time travel, Cole arrives in the present day on a mission to locate and eradicate the source of a deadly plague that will eventually decimate 93.6% of the human race. Will Cole be able to save the fate of mankind or is mankind bound by fate? Taking place in the ravaged future of 2043 and the present day (2015), 12 Monkeys explores themes of destiny, fate, love and the possibility of second chances.

Could you go back on a mission to kill someone, especially if killing that person will create a paradox that will wipe you from existence? What if it would save 7 billion people? And what if you fell in love in the process?

Check out the preview below, along with some behind the scenes looks and a transcript of the panel from the Syfy Press Tour. But first, a few thoughts about the show.
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I met Al Sapienza, who plays Councilman Rose on the upcoming Syfy event series Ascension which debuts next Monday night at 9/8c, in October with the rest of the cast (check out our previous article on the show and cast discussion), and then had a one on one discussion with him recently to talk about the upcoming series.

Rose is the head politician of the show. On the face of it, he’s second only to the Captain, played by Brian Van Holt, who is still an elected official but is ultimately in charge, followed by a council – something similar to a city’s mayor and council. But Rose has eyes on the Captain’s uniform – as well as for the Captain’s wife (played by Battlestar Galactica‘s Tricia Helfer).

Al’s a busy guy too…he recently appeared in a recurring role as a detective in Person of Interest, he played Mikey in The Sopranos, and many many guest roles. IMDB lists 24 future roles as well!

Al LOVES to talk about the show. He genuinely seems enthralled by all the various thought-provoking aspects of the show – the history (or lack thereof – see below), the culture, and yes, the politics. Alas, this stretched in to areas that would be some serious spoilers…so I can’t tell you a lot of what was said…yet. Next week, maybe. 🙂

Doc: One thing you said [during the press panel] that I thought was very interesting was that when researching the role, as opposed to trying to learn a new role, one thing you have to do in this show is you actually have to forget everything you do know.
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We’ve seen several version of what happened to the planet Krypton when Jor-El sent his only son Kal-El to Earth to escape its destruction…but we’ve seen little about what got them there.

Syfy and Warner Horizon Television announced today they are developing a one-hour drama series project Krypton, which will reveal a chapter of the DC Comics universe that has rarely been told.

Years before the Superman legend we know, the House of El was shamed and ostracized. This series follows The Man of Steel’s grandfather as he brings hope and equality to Krypton, turning a planet in disarray into one worthy of giving birth to the greatest Super Hero ever known.

Krypton is being executive produced by David S. Goyer (Constantine, Da Vinci’s Demons, Man of Steel, The Dark Knight trilogy, upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) and Ian Goldberg (Once Upon a Time, FlashForward) for Warner Horizon Television.

Goldberg is writing the pilot teleplay, based on a story conceived by Goyer & Goldberg.

Australian actor Aaron Jakubenko (Neighbours, Spartacus: War of the Damned) will join the MTV straight-to-series fantasy series Shannara from Sonar Entertainment and Farah Films. Jakubenko will play Ander Elessedil, an Elven prince with the reputation for being the wild party boy who has yet to find his way in the world.

The fantasy drama is based on the popular Shannara series of novels by Terry Brooks. MTV has committed to 10 episodes.

At Syfy, another regular cast member for pilot The Magicians was announced, with Summer Bishil (Towelhead, The Last Airbender) playing Margo Hanson, a brilliant young student at the Brakebill’s Academy.

The Magicians is an adaptation of Lev Grossman’s best-selling fantasy book series from Universal Cable Productions, the pilot script was written by John McNamara (Prime Suspect) and Sera Gamble (Supernatural). The one-hour drama follows 20-somethings who, while studying magic in New York, discover that the magical fantasy world they read about as children is all too real and poses a grave danger to humanity.

Syfy has finally named the leads for its upcoming pilot The Magicians.

Jason Ralph will star as Quentin Coldwater, a brilliant, withdrawn yet strangely compelling young man who feels like an outsider among his accomplished peers – including beautiful Julia, upon whom he has had a hopeless crush since childhood. Dangerously depressed and disaffected, Quentin has always been a huge fan of a series of books set in the magical land of Fillory – books that still hold immense fascination for him, even though they are intended for children. When he’s recruited as a new student at the mysterious Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, he realizes that magic is very real, and that he himself is a potentially gifted practitioner. Versatile actor Ralph began his collegiate studies at the acclaimed theater program at Colin College in Plano, Texas. He is known for his roles in the feature films Brightest Star, I’m Obsessed With You (But You’ve Got to Leave Me Alone) and Those People. He has also appeared on HBO’s Looking and Blue Bloods, and will have a key recurring arc on NBC’s new series Aquarius opposite David Duchovny.

Sosie Bacon will portray Alice, an intensely shy and delicately lovely young woman. Born of a magical but neglectful family, Alice is an outcast among her fellow students at Brakebills, but nonetheless emerges as the most brilliant magical practitioner in her class. Bacon recently wrapped production on the independent film The Lost Boy, in which she stars opposite Virginia Madsen, as well as supporting role in the film Wishin’ And Hopin’ based on the novel of the same name by acclaimed writer Wally Lamb. Bacon began her acting career at the age of 11 when she appeared in the film Loverboy directed by father Kevin Bacon. She also appeared in a major arc on season five of the hit TNT series The Closer, opposite her mother Kyra Sedgwick. Bacon’s additional on camera credits include the thriller Off Seasons directed by Robert Cole. In 2013, Bacon was selected by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as 2014 Miss Golden Globe.

Syfy may be heading back to the stars with drama, but they are still keeping their feet on the ground in the unscripted world. But, if we’re ever going to get a real phaser, it might be from these guys…

Syfy president Dave Howe announced today that Syfy has greenlit The Bazillion Dollar Club, a high-adrenaline, high-stakes docu-series that immerses viewers in the brilliant and cut-throat world of today’s forward thinking innovators.

“The Bazillion Dollar Club gives our audience of imaginative thinkers the opportunity to literally invent the future by bringing to life their visionary ideas and dreams,” said Howe in making the announcement. “This show is important to Syfy’s unscripted strategy to engage fans with entertaining and informative real-world drama that taps into their curiosity, passion and creativity.”

The show follows Dave McClure, a relentless drill sergeant who founded software accelerator 500 Startups, and Brady Forrest, the quirky and creative mind behind the hardware accelerator Highway1. Their companies offer two of the world’s most aggressive accelerator programs that mentor startups leading up to the launch of their billion dollar idea.

McClure has invested in over 800 companies worldwide including 3D printing company Makerbot, which was acquired by Stratasys for 400 million dollars; the social media startup Wildfire, acquired by Google for 350 million dollars; financial monitoring service Credit Karma, recently valued at over one billion dollars; and telephony innovator Twilio, which has raised over 100 million dollars in venture capital. In just five years, his venture capital firm has funded thousands of entrepreneurs and helped them raise over two billion dollars. McClure is regarded as an innovator and influencer in social networking, and he was also an early employee at PayPal, working with the infamous “PayPal Mafia,” a group of tech entrepreneurs who later founded multiple billion dollar startup companies including LinkedIn, YouTube, Yelp and Yammer.

Forrest is a technology evangelist, obsessed with opening doors for makers, entrepreneurs and inventors looking to launch the world’s next game-changing product. Forrest is currently vice president at Highway1, the hardware accelerator that is part of PCH, and is responsible for some of the hottest names in the hardware renaissance including: CUE, the mobile medical testing kit; Navdy’s iPhone HUD for cars; Drop’s connected baking assistant; and Ringly’s fashionable connected rings. Under his leadership, PCH & Highway1 have funded over 35 companies with a focus on innovative consumer products. Forrest also co-founded Ignite, the worldwide global talk series that has been embraced by geeks in over 200 cities.

“Part of the fun of science fiction is seeing all of the fantastic gadgets and technologies, and imagining how they could exist in the real world,” said Bill McGoldrick, Syfy’s EVP, Original Content. Added Heather Olander, SVP, Alternative Series Development and Production, Syfy, “The inventors that are part of Dave and Brady’s program are developing products and technology that seem like they are ripped straight from the world of sci-fi, but these innovations will be our future reality.”

The series is produced by Zero Point Production (Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown; The Hunt with John Walsh) with executive producers Lydia Tenaglia, Christopher Collins and Craig H. Shepherd, and co-executive producer Abigail Shafran. The six episode, one-hour series begins production later this year and will air on Syfy in 2015.

It’s just a few weeks away – Syfy’s three night event series (and backdoor pilot) Ascension starts Wednesday, December 15th. Check out this first look at life aboard the U.S.S. Ascension and some behind the scenes featurettes!

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Recently as part of last month’s Syfy Press Tour, I had the chance to talk with some of the executives with Syfy, notably Dave Howe, President, and Bill McGoldrick, Executive Vice President for Original Programming, who had just joined the channel about a year earlier. They talked about where the channel is heading, trying to get back on track with genre programming.

First, I have to say, these guys take a lot of heat. Of course, someone has to be the lightning rod, and they are at the focal point. But they have to make a lot of hard business decisions and canceling a show is never good for those that watch it, but many complaints are from people who really don’t have any idea of how television works or how the programs they watch really get paid for. No network is going to keep a show that isn’t making money for them, just because what viewers it has are loyal. Loyalty doesn’t pay the bills. If it is borderline they may take a chance – but they need to get advertisers to pay. So many times I see, “They canceled X just so they could show wrestling and reality shows…I’m never watching Syfy again!” First off, such a statement is stupid. It means they are willing to not watch a great program just because they perceive that they were personally slighted. Aside from that, Syfy’s never canceled a show just to show wrestling or anything else. A show gets canceled because the advertisers won’t pay enough for it to be produced. In rare cases as show might be “profitable”, but if the margin is slim and can be improved by something else, it gets replaced.

It isn’t about pure ratings numbers either. Why would a scripted show that gets 2 million viewers per episode get canceled, to be replaced by a unscripted show that gets less than a million? Because that unscripted show is a LOT cheaper to produce, and therefore doesn’t need as many eyes watching it to have better profitability. Every network has done this, and it is a slippery slope (not helped that many were pushed down that slope by writers strikes a few times), but eventually there is a bounceback to original scripted programming as audiences tire of the heavy derivative reality stuff. Networks have learned more moderation is necessary in the mix of programming.
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With Syfy’s renewed focus on the genre from which it was born, the upcoming event series Ascension leads the way on full thrust.

The concept is interesting – part science fiction, part period drama, part murder mystery. At the height of tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, in order to unsure that the Human race will survive, in 1963 the U.S. launches the U.S.S. Ascension, a secret mission to launch humanity to the stars. Carrying 600 men, women and children, the Ascension is 50 years in to their multi-generational mission and approaching the point of no return, when the first ever murder takes place on board. With no way to get advice back from Earth and no one trained in murder investigations, a web of intrigue and secrets might get unraveled and reveal the true secrets about the Ascension.

One of the intriguing parts of the show is going to be at the society level. If you took 600 people from 1963 – before women’s liberation, the Civil Rights movement, technological advancements, modern terrorism, and all the other things shaping our society, and placed them in a town with no outside influence but with the technology and a library of written knowledge and entertainment available at the time. Place a fixed restriction on resources, which would necessitate a strict limitation on population – forced birth control (something that was even more controversial back then), birth rights, etc.

What would happen over time?
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A few casting additions were made today. First up, Syfy and Universal Cable Productions have cast Stella Maeve (Chicago PD), Hale Appleman (Teeth) and Arjun Gupta (Nurse Jackie) in key roles for the upcoming pilot The Magicians, an adaptation of Lev Grossman’s beloved #1 New York Times best-selling book series, which begins production in New Orleans this December. Acclaimed independent film producer Mike Cahill (I Origins, Another Earth) is signed on to direct.

Stella Maeve will play the beautiful and confident Julia, a wealthy and brilliant Ivy-Leaguer who seems destined for success. But Julia’s future plans are forever altered after she is denied admittance to the mysterious Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy. Unaccustomed to failure, Julia finds life meaningless now that the possibilities of a previously unseen magical world have been denied to her. But she may get another chance to pursue a career in magic when she’s recruited by a secret society. Maeve can currently be seen in a recurring role on the NBC series Chicago PD. She most recently starred in the independent features Dark Summer opposite Keir Gilchrist, All Together Now, which premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival, and Independent Spirit Award-winner Starlet. Previously, Maeve co-starred with Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart in The Runaways. Maeve is repped by Paradigm Agency and Principato-Young Entertainment.

Hale Appleman will portray Eliot, a student at the Brakebills who is an odd combination of a preppy with intrinsic coolness. Effortlessly hip, with his air of self-possession, Eliot is accustomed to commanding any clique, and he’s a natural leader of his fellow magical students. He will prove a sometimes frustrating ally in Quentin’s fortunes — and may soon factor into a series of perilous adventures. Appleman played Tobey Cobb in the 2007 film Teeth. He made his film debut in Chad Lowe’s feature Beautiful Ohio, and portrayed cartoonist Judd Winick in Pedro, Nick Oceano’s 2008 film dramatizing the life of AIDS educator Pedro Zamora. He also recurred on NBC’s Smash. His theater credits include Alex Timbers’ The Last Goodbye, which was at the Old Globe in San Diego, and Streamers on Broadway. He is represented by Innovative Artists and D2 Management.

Arjun Gupta will portray Penny, a young man with an edgy look and attitude. He’s deliberately intimidating to Quentin, his new roommate and fellow magic student at Brakebills. A reluctant telepath, he is bedeviled by voices that hint at pathways to other worlds. Gupta played Sam in the first three seasons of Nurse Jackie opposite Edie Falco, and currently recurs on ABC’s How to Get Away With Murder. Gupta is repped by Gersh and Untitled Entertainment.

Also announced is that Bridget Regan, who we loved in Legend of the Seeker and has also appeared in Beauty and the Beast, White Collar and most recently in Jane the Virgin, is joining Marvel’s Agent Carter in a recurring role as Dottie, a small town Iowan girl who will have a big impact on Agent Carter.