Dylan Neal
VIP
Hello from a long winded Cap\'n Dave
Hello everyone. I feel I must apologize for arriving a little late to the party. However don't think for a second that I and the rest of the cast haven't been lurking around for several months now. JMS told us all about this site from day one, and on behalf of the entire cast and crew, let me thank you all for your enthusiastic support and for such a beautiful and professionally run website.
I know you are all ravenous for inside info on just about anything and everything concerning LOTR and I will certainly do my best to help in that regard - Warren you're such a chicken.... By the way hello to all my friends from the cast, I know you're here somewhere (yes it was good to see you the other week Warren, thanks for the note).
I guess I should begin like everyone else and share a little of my experience with the production. I had very little knowledge of B5 walking into this and needless to say it was an eye-opening experience. I had simply known there was a sci fi series that had lasted a few years on UPN and maybe I had caught a few minutes at some point. When I started the audition process for my character I thought it was just another MOW (movie of the week) that also happened to be a back door pilot for the Sci Fi channel. In my experience that meant take the money and don't hold your breath. No that's not me being negative again Enid-Raye, it just means that I've been around a long time and had more than my fair share of disappointments. It's just part of the business that you have to learn to accept. I'll give you an example. In 1999 during a five month period I had eight network deals all fall through at the last minute - a little frustrating to say the least. My point being that when I joined this project I had no real expectations, particularly since I had no comprehension of the B5 universe and of the huge loyal fan base. What a wonderful surprise this whole venture has become! As everybody already knows, JMS is a terrific guy to work for. On top of what is always mentioned in regard to him, first and foremost, this is a man of great integrity. I think that matters to me more than anything. Recently I've had some nasty encounters with two producers (ironically Joe has also had some run-ins with these two) and I can't tell you what it means to me to be working with such high class guys as Joe and Doug Netter.
The production itself was a lot of fun and as you've read the cast really got along well. By the way if anyone wants to send Warren a gift, he's a big fan of cider, enough said...
Of course we're all anxious to see where this is going. I don't have any inside info in regard to this, only my experience with pilots and networks. On the one hand I'm very encouraged that the network has paid to have all the sets saved and stored. This was not always the plan. The sets for LOTR were originally to be torn down and discarded after production. At some point during shooting the network decided to spend the cash to have everything carefully disassembled and then stored. This obviously is a good sign and was perhaps a decision based on well received dailies and a growing "hype" within the network itself. On the other hand I will be somewhat disappointed if the network waits to see what the ratings are before a final decision is made. This is for two reasons primarily. One, I feel we had a certain momentum going and would hate to lose that within the network. Weird things happen when projects are left hanging too long. The other reason is purely selfish. I love this project, I love the people involved, I think it has a great future with Sci Fi and I don't want to lose it. However I and the rest of the cast are not under contract. This is because of a legal snafu between Warner Bros. and Sci Fi. The longer the network takes to make up their mind the more likely it is that one or more of us may be snatched up by another project, particularly with pilot season approaching at the beginning of the new year. Now I'm certainly not sending off any alarm bells here. I feel very positive that this show is going to go and that we are all going to be a part of it. Come to think of it, after viewing the movie there may be more than a few of you who would be happy to see me go! That reminds me. All of us on the cast are very aware of the high expectations and of the very large shoes we have to fill. We took this very seriously and gave 100% of ourselves to this project. You can never please everyone, but please know we did our best and I think you'll be pleased.
Well I wrote far more than I intended here and must rush off. I will do my best to answer any questions that I can.
All my best,
Dylan
------------------
Hello everyone. I feel I must apologize for arriving a little late to the party. However don't think for a second that I and the rest of the cast haven't been lurking around for several months now. JMS told us all about this site from day one, and on behalf of the entire cast and crew, let me thank you all for your enthusiastic support and for such a beautiful and professionally run website.
I know you are all ravenous for inside info on just about anything and everything concerning LOTR and I will certainly do my best to help in that regard - Warren you're such a chicken.... By the way hello to all my friends from the cast, I know you're here somewhere (yes it was good to see you the other week Warren, thanks for the note).
I guess I should begin like everyone else and share a little of my experience with the production. I had very little knowledge of B5 walking into this and needless to say it was an eye-opening experience. I had simply known there was a sci fi series that had lasted a few years on UPN and maybe I had caught a few minutes at some point. When I started the audition process for my character I thought it was just another MOW (movie of the week) that also happened to be a back door pilot for the Sci Fi channel. In my experience that meant take the money and don't hold your breath. No that's not me being negative again Enid-Raye, it just means that I've been around a long time and had more than my fair share of disappointments. It's just part of the business that you have to learn to accept. I'll give you an example. In 1999 during a five month period I had eight network deals all fall through at the last minute - a little frustrating to say the least. My point being that when I joined this project I had no real expectations, particularly since I had no comprehension of the B5 universe and of the huge loyal fan base. What a wonderful surprise this whole venture has become! As everybody already knows, JMS is a terrific guy to work for. On top of what is always mentioned in regard to him, first and foremost, this is a man of great integrity. I think that matters to me more than anything. Recently I've had some nasty encounters with two producers (ironically Joe has also had some run-ins with these two) and I can't tell you what it means to me to be working with such high class guys as Joe and Doug Netter.
The production itself was a lot of fun and as you've read the cast really got along well. By the way if anyone wants to send Warren a gift, he's a big fan of cider, enough said...
Of course we're all anxious to see where this is going. I don't have any inside info in regard to this, only my experience with pilots and networks. On the one hand I'm very encouraged that the network has paid to have all the sets saved and stored. This was not always the plan. The sets for LOTR were originally to be torn down and discarded after production. At some point during shooting the network decided to spend the cash to have everything carefully disassembled and then stored. This obviously is a good sign and was perhaps a decision based on well received dailies and a growing "hype" within the network itself. On the other hand I will be somewhat disappointed if the network waits to see what the ratings are before a final decision is made. This is for two reasons primarily. One, I feel we had a certain momentum going and would hate to lose that within the network. Weird things happen when projects are left hanging too long. The other reason is purely selfish. I love this project, I love the people involved, I think it has a great future with Sci Fi and I don't want to lose it. However I and the rest of the cast are not under contract. This is because of a legal snafu between Warner Bros. and Sci Fi. The longer the network takes to make up their mind the more likely it is that one or more of us may be snatched up by another project, particularly with pilot season approaching at the beginning of the new year. Now I'm certainly not sending off any alarm bells here. I feel very positive that this show is going to go and that we are all going to be a part of it. Come to think of it, after viewing the movie there may be more than a few of you who would be happy to see me go! That reminds me. All of us on the cast are very aware of the high expectations and of the very large shoes we have to fill. We took this very seriously and gave 100% of ourselves to this project. You can never please everyone, but please know we did our best and I think you'll be pleased.
Well I wrote far more than I intended here and must rush off. I will do my best to answer any questions that I can.
All my best,
Dylan
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