Amazing Surprise @ Xena Con on Sat 1/31

[daleglen2003]

Can't tell you what I heard, but I heard something that's gonna knock Xena fandom's socks off tomorrow ~ All good! Have fun kids! http://www.creationent.com

[TheLastOne]

Rock the fandom? You mean Lucy showing up at the convention??



Jenn

[Amon]

So what was/is the big announcement? You know, for those of us who were unable to attend the con?

...Dan

[Akasha]

Lucy being in the audience in disguise and coming out of the crowed when ROC called her up. Apparently from what I can gather, no one knew she was even in the audience.

And that Rob is getting the rights to Xena now and that Katherine Fugate is on board to write the movie and that the movie would be set after FIN (Friend In Need).

[Zagor]

There's going to be a movie? I haven't even seen the 2nd half of series 5 or any of series 6 yet

[TheLastOne]

Change of pace: There's a *possibility* of a movie. *Apparently*, everyone is on board. But I wouldn't be a *bit* surprised if someone should jump ship at the last minute.


Jenn

[Zagor]

Sounds hopeful anyway. Hopefully it will be set during the earlier series as they were stronger (yes I know unlikely) Hopefully it won't be like that rubbish Xena in China special

[TheLastOne]

Originally posted by Zagor
Sounds hopeful anyway. Hopefully it will be set during the earlier series as they were stronger (yes I know unlikely) Hopefully it won't be like that rubbish Xena in China special

Eh, don't get yer hopes m'kay? It'll most likely take place after the series finale.

At least I won't pay $7-$9 for that rubbish at the cineplex. I'll wait till it comes to the cheap theater.


Jenn

[august]

Rob is getting the rights to Xena now and that Katherine Fugate is on board to write the movie and that the movie would be set after FIN (Friend In Need).

i.e. what they said this time last year.

[TheLastOne]

The story hasn't changed much, has it?




Jenn

[august]

As Bon Jovi so eloquently observed....It’s all the same, only the names will change....

[Tobias]

Katherine Fugate seems to think things have changed, she posted this on her site.

THE XENA MOVIE UPDATE: as it happens when i announce any updates on the xena movie's progress, of which THERE IS MARKED PROGRESS, at a xena convention, words are easily confused in a telephone game of facts that turn into fiction and speculation -- which leads to me getting tons of emails.

again, what i reported was: there has been progress. things are NOT THE SAME as they were last year. however, there is a rights issue that is taking place. whenever anyone buys the rights to anything, there are several options that can play out, usually within a specified time frame in the contract. during this time frame, studios can make the movie. or studios can pass, putting a script into turnaround so that other studios can buy it, paying back the costs the original studio paid out. when the rights revert back to the producer, he may then attempt to set the movie up elsewhere if the original studio chooses not to make a movie. there are all sorts of roads to travel based on individual contracts. they vary - but usually a time frame indicates some sort of action must take place or the creator can get his material/rights back. all rights are sold to a studio for anything to be made.

last year, the rights time frame was still in existence and rob was stalemated. he could do nothing except wait for 6 months to lapse so the rights issue can be raised. this year, that time frame has passed and now rob has hired lawyers to get the rights back so that he can make the movie. he is making progress. he believes he will get the rights. because of his work done in securing the rights, he has received my commitment to write the movie. i have written an outline for a movie. he has also received lucy and renee's commitment to reprise their roles in a movie. the commitment of a writer and stars is called a "package." rob now has a package for a movie. as a producer, his job is to get the rights and take this package to financiers in order to make the movie.

these are the steps required in getting any movie made and they must be done in order. the rights always come first. think of them as a pink slip. without the pink slip - he can't sell the car, or the movie, to any financier. that is what rob is doing. and he is doing this because he very much wants to make a movie. we all do. it is our goal. we all plan to achieve our goal. or we wouldn't be investing our time and money into this venture. period. we are all busy people with jobs so spending our time on a xena movie is only done because we want to make a movie. and because we care. i am not writing outlines and spending time talking about a xena movie to SPIN anything, as some have intimated to me. what is there to spin? i don't have the time to spin or hype something i have no intention of doing. do you? and what purpose would it serve?

[august]

Yep, If I were Rob or Katherine and had invested that much effort, I'd be proud of my progress too!

As a layman, though, I still see it pretty much as: they want to do a movie (like last year) KF will be the writer, has an idea but hasn't done a script yet (like last year) and Rob is working on getting the rights (like last year.) Which doesn't diminish their efforts and progress in the least bit, but also doesn't change anything in my day-to-day life either.

Also interesting that for the gazillionth time KF is making it clear that she's aware of negativity in fan circles, and she doesn't particularly appreciate it, and enjoys exposing it for what it is.
.......

edited to add: OH WOW!

This is alos part of what KF wrote, addressing the very issue I mentioned above:

....may i please ask: DO NOT SEND ME YOUR IDEAS FOR A XENA MOVIE.

not only legally can i NOT read what you send me, but what you are really doing is telling me how to write. or better yet, you are telling me what YOU think I should write. i understand some of you think i cannot write the movie YOU NEED TO SEE. that i don't get it "your way" - that you don't like my previous work on the show. i read your letters. i get that.

but as it stands now, i am the person writing the xena movie. and i write alone. i do not have writing partners. what i can promise you is -- i will write the BEST MOVIE I CAN. that's the only way i can write any movie. i will do my best to write a great xena movie that will stand on its own and fill the screen. that is what i can and do promise you.

Making it... is it 1004, or 1005? the number of people connected with the show that have verified what's taught in every college classroom, and adhered to by every artist: you don't create to please self-proclaimed "fans" - you create based on your own artistic instincts, come what may.

[Elisheva]

who is this katherine fugate, and why does everyone seem to hate her as a writer? What scripts has she written for Xena? Were they really all that bad?

Another thing, I'm somewhat looking forward to the movie,and I'm really hoping that they don't establish Xena and Gabrielle's sexuality. I think that such a thing would take away from the movie, because most people (some non-Xenites) will go to see only one thing if they're established as lovers, and that will be the only thing that everyone will be talking about![color=red]

Does everyone get what I mean? I mean, the movie should be about the adventures of Xena and Gabrielle, not the lifestyles of Xena and Gabrielle. Does anyone disagree with me? I would like to know.

[august]

Katherine Fugate is a screenwriter, who wrote one XWP episode, late in the 6th season - "When Fates Collide." "Everyone" doesn't hate her - "everyone" hasn't expressed an opinion. 95% or more of the US never watched XWP anyway. Of those who did, most don't even know who Renee O'Connor is, let alone who one of a hundred writers is. Of those fans who do follow such things, 99.99% have not expressed an opinion one way or another. Of the few remaining hundreds who do express such things, KF is fairly popular, since a) her ep was decent, and b) she interacts with fans.

Clearly, some have problems with that one script, though. I've really only read two gripes: a) she didn't out X + G as a couple, with lengthy open-mouth kisses, frank discussions of their sexuality, etc. and b) she *did* out them, presenting their souls as inseparable. In other words, some people will complain no matter what you do, while the rest of us just trust in the artist to do whatever they want to do.

I mean, the movie should be about the adventures of Xena and Gabrielle, not the lifestyles of Xena and Gabrielle. Does anyone disagree with me?

Actually, there are a few who utterly disagree, and feel that a movie should be all about emotions and empowerment and alternative lifestyles, and have little if anything to do with martial arts, slapstick comedy, and mythology. But, as Time Magazine several years ago bluntly observed "Hey - it's not called Xena Pacifist Princess."

[august]

This was posted at the Xena Online Community, but was a repost from a
mailing list... which has been forwarded to other mailing lists.... so I
have no clue who to attribute it to. Basically, if you want the entire
story, just go to any of the major sites, and there will be photos,
accounts, etc.

Anyway, this is how one fan described it. Renee had finished doing a
series of dramatic monlogues.

".....So, Creation (the organizers of the event) announced that there
would be a short question and answer period with Renee. Sharon Delaney (the main Creation staffer) would have a mike and she would go into the audience with it so we could ask our questions.

And of course, in the audience there was this one typically crazy fan.
The woman had wild and maniacally unruly black cork-screwed hair. She was somewhat heavyset (fit right in) and was dressed fairly casually. And she had a question for Renee.

As everybody knows by now, this was Lucy in disguise. And boy, does she know us. She was a perfect little presentation of how many of us look and act at the cons. She was playing the dorky fan....

(ed. note: this reminds me *exactly* of the SNL people who played fans
when Lucy did he ropening monologgue when she hosted some years ago.)

Anyway, Lucy spoke in a goofily excited,
overwhelmed-to-be-speaking-to-her-goddess type of voice. (She spoke a bit like Lily Tomlin's Ernestine but lower, slower, with more of a drawl and not much snorting. You know, I bet Ernestine would be a Xena fan. But I bet she'd like Gabrielle.) Just imagine how Ernestine would sound if she was deeply thrilled to be in the presence of somebody she was a big fan of - like if she met Gore Vidal in person.

Lucy's question was (now imagine this said in the above described voice) "What's it like to kiss Lucy Lawless?"

However Renee recognized her immediately, screamed out, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" and then ran off the stage and over to her and gave her a huge hug.

By this point, screaming pandemonium had erupted all over the hall. Now
fans who had been on the internet knew that Lucy was going to appear because of the coy little message that Creation sent out to their mailing list folks who had immediately blabbed it all over the Xena lists. But there are still many fans who are not online. It was a TOTAL surprise to them. People were screaming and yelling and applauding and laughing. Absolutely wild excitement.

So then they both got up on stage and Lucy said in her character's
voice, "What's it like to kiss Lucy Lawless".

And Renee answered, "C'mere and I'll show you". (But she didn't.) Later
Lucy said to Renee in her infatuated but stunned fan voice, "Your hair's real pretty". And Renee answered very graciously, "So is yours".

They mentioned that they hadn't been together in a while. And when Lucy had been scheduled to go to New Zealand for the looping of Boogeyman, they had planned a sleepover to get in a visit before she left. But one of their boys got sick and so the sleepover got cancelled. So this was the first time in a while they'd seen each other...."
==================================

This is why we love Lucy!!!!!