Via George R.R. Martin, we’ve learned that the British Fantasy Awards have their longlist of nominees—all works recommended by a British Fantasy Society or FantasyCon member—posted, and Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honor of Jack Vance is included for Best Anthology. Edited by GRRM and Gardner Dozois, the anthology is a tribute to Jack Vance, containing a terrific groups of authors (including Martin) who share stories in Vance’s most famous setting, the Dying Earth.
Also on the long lists are three stories from the anthology, novellas by Matthew Hughes and Walter Jon Williams and the short story by Robert Silverberg. Congratulations to both of the editors and the writers so recognized, and our hopes they find their way onto the shortlists.
An online petition has been started by fans, attempting to bring composer Bear McCreary to the attention of HBO and the Game of Thrones producers. McCreary has extensive credits, having composed the music in part or in full for such series as Eureka, Human Target, Terminator: The Sarah Connors Chronicle (starring Lena Headey, cast as Cersei Lannister), and most famously Battlestar Galactica and its spin-offs Battle Star Galactica: The Plan and the currently-airing Caprica.
We’ve sprinted about the ‘net to try and learn more about Michelle Fairley, the actress now cast in the role of Catelyn Stark following Jennifer Ehle’s departure. From what we can find, Fairley is a very private person and maintain a low media profile, as noted in this Belfast Telegraph chat.
The Hollywood Reporter notes some very big news, and probably one of the bad pieces of news that GRRM has recently alludedto : Jennifer Ehle is out of HBO’s Game of Thrones. Replacing her is Northern Irish actress Michelle Fairley, who played Hermione Granger’s mother in the Harry Potter films.
Update: The Live Feed provides a little more information, stating that the source for this news revealed that Ehle’s departure is a behind-the-scenes issue, and not at all performance-related, apparently to knock down “blogosphere” rumors that claimed that HBO was not entirely happy with the pilot to begin with.
According to Harry Lloyd (Viserys Targaryen in HBO’s Game of Thrones), he’s also part of the new Jane Eyre film going into production next week in the U.K., joining Tamzin Merchant. At the 1:26.20 mark of this BBC Radio 1 interview with fellow cast members from “The Little Dog Laughed”, he states he has a small part and that he just came off the read-through for the script.
Thanks to shelikeswaves on Twitter for the heads-up!
It’s being reported in the media that the new Jane Eyre film, starring Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) and Michael Fassbender (300), will also feature Tamzin Merchant. The project starts filming next week in the U.K., according to the reports. Merchant, who’ll star as Daenerys Targaryen in HBO‘s Game of Thrones, can be seen in Showtime’s The Tudors beginning next month, as the young, doomed queen, Catherine Howard.
Hat-tip to Admiring Tamzin Merchant, a fan site for the actress, for pointing out this news.
In discussng Suvudu’s Cagematch 2010 competition, in which Jaime Lannister is now faced with the Great Old One, Cthulhu, GRRM shares a funny take on how things might fall out. Suffice it to say, if the Lannister brothers team-up, they’ll sort the Elder Being out. It’s definitely a must-read.
And if you’re convinced? Vote the Kingslayer!
It’s now Round Two for Jaime Lannister in Suvudu’s Cagematch 2010. After vanquishing Hermione Granger with ease, he’s facing one of the tougher contenders in the competition: the Great Old One, Cthulhu. Even GRRM thinks that he’d have to bet on Cthulhu taking the prize, but who knows: Casterly Rock’s favored son may pull this out of the fire.
The big news today is that Jane Espenson—a writer best known, perhaps, for her work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but also with significant writing and producing credits on Battlestar Galactica and Caprica—will be joining HBO’s Game of Thrones as a freelancer writing the sixth episode. The news was broken by Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune.
In the course of it, she also confirmed previous reports that Bryan Cogman would write the fourth episode and that George R.R. Martin would write an episode in the series. She added an additional piece of new(ish) information, as well: Benioff and Weiss will write the remainder of the episodes in the ten-episode season. While the original plan seems to have been Benioff and Weiss to write all the episodes but the one GRRM wrote, when the news of Cogman’s writing chores were announced this cast into doubt just how many more scripts they would personally pen. Now we know.
After much research and math, we’d like to share our newest article: A Budget to be Reckoned With. Taking the facts and figures made available in the wake of the greenlight, we exhaustively try to sort out what the purchasing power of the reported £30 million ($45 million US) budget is compared to similar productions, past and present. It’s not a straightforward calculation, as average wages, tax incentives, and other such things have to be worked into it. However, the end result is that there’s serious cause for some additional jubilation: this is a big production by any reasonable standard.
After chasing about for more information on the visual effects of HBO’s Game of Thrones—see our in-depth article—we now have some new information we can share via IMDB. There, a 2D supervisor from Look Effects is listed. Looking up their website, which is replete with demo reels and clips of their work from various films and television programs, one can see they have extensive experience. Among the projects they’ve worked on? Lost and Pushing Daisies on television, The Spirit and Speed Racer (major compositing projects which used green screen heavily) for film.
After contacting the supervisor (Brad Kalinoski), I’ve sent an update to IMDB to correct his listing: his role is a VFX, not SFX, position. He also clarified that his position is 2D supervisor at Look Effects, “Im the manager of the dept, I oversee all the artists, the comp/digital supervisors and answer and assist with the VFX supervisors internally and clients.”
What else out of the IMDB grab bag? We spotted the choreographer Javier de Frutos in the list. We can only assume he provided choreography for the dancers during the wedding of Daenerys Targaryen to Khal Drogo. And then there’s Simon Brindle, who’s listed as supervisor of the costume armour department. At least at some point he worked with Artisan Armours in the U.K., and his credits include A Knight’s Tale, Oliver Stone’s Alexander, and the upcoming Clash of the Titans remake. A sampling of his work from Alexander can be found here and here.
There’s also a music supervisor, Mary Ramos, whose credits include a number of Quentin Tarantino projects. From what sources have told us, the pilot does not have an original score or score composer as of yet, but presumably Ramos will be involved in that process, as well as working out how to work in the music from Corvus Corax into the Winterfell feasting scenes shot at Doune Castle.
North Ireland Screen is facilitating hiring for HBO’s Game of Thrones, with a lengthy list of some 90 positions. This goes to show how major a production this is, and there’s certainly a lot of opportunity for those with experience in film and television to find a place in the extensive crew.
Just remember to follow the instructions carefully. Note that there’s presently an unclear part to the instructions, however, which we’re clarifying here: provide CV with full contact details and in addition provide contact details for two references in the industry.
The BBC has a new report examining why the anticipation level for Game of Thrones has been so high, interviewing fans and booksellers.
Of particular interest are producer Mark Huffam’s comments, reiterating that the natural, unspoiled beauty of Northern Ireland played a part in convincing HBO to set the fantasy drama there. He cites several locations as examples: “There’s the Mournes, Tollymore, the Antrim Coast and Shane’s Castle to name but a few.”
And from the article, just because it’s amusing: “The demand for suitably hairy extras was so great that some had to be recruited from local heavy metal message boards.”
British actor Donald Sumpter, cast in the role of Maester Luwin in HBO’s Game of Thrones, has been announced to provide his vocal talents towards the new, direct-to-DVD motion captured Ultramarines film in the Warhammer 40k setting. At the 4:05 mark, Sumpter is interviewed, and it gives a great chance get a look a the actor playing one of the many memorable characters in the series. Alongside Sumpter, the likes of John Hurt and Terence Stamp (who has received some support among fans as a possible choice for Tywin Lannister) will also provide their talents to the production.
Much more about Ultramarines can be found at the Wertzone, which brought the video above to our attention.
George R.R. Martin has shared that he will be a guest of Avatar Press for the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo between April 16 and April 18. Besides the usual round of panels, autograph-sessions, and readings, Avatar Press has him listed as being a part of their special VIP event alongside World War Z writer Max Brooks.
Part of the reason for the visit to Chicago? Promoting the new comic book adaption of his much-admired vampire novel,Fevre Dream, which has been adapted by Daniel Abraham and Rafa Lopez into a ten issue miniseries. The first issue is due in April, in time for the convention.