Post by MALCOLM XERXES™ on Sept 11, 2005 23:41:09 GMT -5
DISCLAIMER: The following account is my own Subjective Perception & interpretation of events, & has neither been approved nor endorsed by MR. ANDREW DYMOND, MR. JONATHAN BROWN, or any other individual connected with creation & production of STARHYKE™ - so please treat what you are about to read as a bonus DVD commentary track, the content of which has been legally disowned by the studio!
STARHYKE™ parodies & satirises the well-known tropes & conceits of popular SFTV & SF Cinema, so we fans of films like GALAXYQUEST™ & well-loved shows like STAR TREK™ will have a good time when the series hits the airwaves.
Because all 6 episodes of Season 1 are now in the can, in post-production mode, I now feel it safe to shed some light on the pre-production scenario insofar as it involved myself.
It happened that in summer 2004, I was approached by Creator/Writer/Director MR. ANDREW DYMOND to be auditioned for a role in Episode #3/6 of his new SFTV Comedy series, titled STARHYKE™, in connection with the Guest Star role of ROGAN.
STARHYKE™ stars MS. CLAUDIA CHRISTIAN (LT. COMM./COMM./GENERAL SUSAN IVANOVA, BABYLON 5™) as CAPTAIN BELINDA BLOWHARD, & because I have been an admirer of MS. CHRISTIAN'S work since first I had seen her in THE HIDDEN™, HEXED™ & HIGHLANDER: THE SERIES™, I was tremendously excited by this prospective opportunity to work alongside/opposite her, & to go home to England where I could see my adoptive parents once again.
I contacted MR. GARY DAVIDSON & MS. LURA MERRITT about helping me with the audition, then awaited receipt of the sides, which arrived on SAT. morning, & I, thrilled to pieces by the quality of the writing & the juiciness of the role, immediately showed them to my landlady so that she & her children would know I was not being antisocial when I sequestered myself to learn the dialogue.
On SAT. evening, my then-landlady willfully sabotaged my efforts to do the best job of which I was capable by calling Metropolitan Toronto Police™ & telling them that she & her 2 children were being endangered by me, & that I was “refusing to leave” her home, which was entirely untrue.
In fact, I had been invited to see the mother of her 2nd daughter's friend perform that evening as vocalist of a RUSH™ Tribute Band, & would be travelling to a venue in Etobicoke to see & hear them, something I had also discussed @ length with my landlady (I had invited her along; she declined), & which made her lying to the police about me an even more odious & insidious act, the motivation for which I dare not even guess @, since destroying my livelihood was in no way financially beneficial to her.
When MR. DYMOND rang to inform me of the producers’ collective casting decision, I was out of the house (likely being auditioned elsewhere) & my landlady intercepted the call (why?) engaging him for some 10 min. @ his own expense.
Again, why she would answer my line, I cannot fathom, but the upshot of it all was that when I finally did manage to speak with MR. DYMOND, the first thing he mentioned was “this strange woman”, & he wanted to know what my relationship was to her/with her, & whether my living under her roof had been an impediment to my career, as he thought that if she was doing that sort of thing to other producers, it was likely costing me work & I would not know of it, since most people would not bother calling back after such an incident.
He then went on to say that he & MR. JONATHAN BROWN had conferred with others involved with the programme about my audition, & that they were unanimous in their assessment that I had “nailed the part”, but that they did not feel that they could, “in good conscience”, hire me for the role of ROGAN when they could only afford to pay me B.A.E.A. scale, which would amount to less than what it would cost me for a U.K. round-trip, & when factored in with the cost of my accommodation, made it untenable for them: this was the sensible business explanation, but I inferred from his earlier implications about my landlady that the producers had concluded that hiring me would be a dodgy gamble because they would be uncertain about whether I could assimilate the dialogue for such a large role whilst living under hostile conditions in an environment that was counterproductive to the state of mind that is needed to act well & properly.
Consequently, when STARHYKE™ sees broadcast, I shall experience tremendous difficulty viewing Episode #3/6, because it “should” have been mine.
Furthermore, I had hoped that the gained increase in notoriety from having been seen & heard as ROGAN in that episode might serve to promote production/broadcast interest in FSQ™, since any fears & concerns a prospective investor might have about whether or not I had the skill & on-camera appeal to portray FINN effectively would have been allayed in the most meaningful way possible: the acquisition of profit.
MR. DYMOND concluded by telling me that both MR. BROWN & himself had decided that if I so wished it, I could be the North American Convention Liaison for STARHYKE™, & that I "should give serious thought to it"....
...So I accepted.
STARHYKE™ parodies & satirises the well-known tropes & conceits of popular SFTV & SF Cinema, so we fans of films like GALAXYQUEST™ & well-loved shows like STAR TREK™ will have a good time when the series hits the airwaves.
Because all 6 episodes of Season 1 are now in the can, in post-production mode, I now feel it safe to shed some light on the pre-production scenario insofar as it involved myself.
It happened that in summer 2004, I was approached by Creator/Writer/Director MR. ANDREW DYMOND to be auditioned for a role in Episode #3/6 of his new SFTV Comedy series, titled STARHYKE™, in connection with the Guest Star role of ROGAN.
STARHYKE™ stars MS. CLAUDIA CHRISTIAN (LT. COMM./COMM./GENERAL SUSAN IVANOVA, BABYLON 5™) as CAPTAIN BELINDA BLOWHARD, & because I have been an admirer of MS. CHRISTIAN'S work since first I had seen her in THE HIDDEN™, HEXED™ & HIGHLANDER: THE SERIES™, I was tremendously excited by this prospective opportunity to work alongside/opposite her, & to go home to England where I could see my adoptive parents once again.
I contacted MR. GARY DAVIDSON & MS. LURA MERRITT about helping me with the audition, then awaited receipt of the sides, which arrived on SAT. morning, & I, thrilled to pieces by the quality of the writing & the juiciness of the role, immediately showed them to my landlady so that she & her children would know I was not being antisocial when I sequestered myself to learn the dialogue.
On SAT. evening, my then-landlady willfully sabotaged my efforts to do the best job of which I was capable by calling Metropolitan Toronto Police™ & telling them that she & her 2 children were being endangered by me, & that I was “refusing to leave” her home, which was entirely untrue.
In fact, I had been invited to see the mother of her 2nd daughter's friend perform that evening as vocalist of a RUSH™ Tribute Band, & would be travelling to a venue in Etobicoke to see & hear them, something I had also discussed @ length with my landlady (I had invited her along; she declined), & which made her lying to the police about me an even more odious & insidious act, the motivation for which I dare not even guess @, since destroying my livelihood was in no way financially beneficial to her.
When MR. DYMOND rang to inform me of the producers’ collective casting decision, I was out of the house (likely being auditioned elsewhere) & my landlady intercepted the call (why?) engaging him for some 10 min. @ his own expense.
Again, why she would answer my line, I cannot fathom, but the upshot of it all was that when I finally did manage to speak with MR. DYMOND, the first thing he mentioned was “this strange woman”, & he wanted to know what my relationship was to her/with her, & whether my living under her roof had been an impediment to my career, as he thought that if she was doing that sort of thing to other producers, it was likely costing me work & I would not know of it, since most people would not bother calling back after such an incident.
He then went on to say that he & MR. JONATHAN BROWN had conferred with others involved with the programme about my audition, & that they were unanimous in their assessment that I had “nailed the part”, but that they did not feel that they could, “in good conscience”, hire me for the role of ROGAN when they could only afford to pay me B.A.E.A. scale, which would amount to less than what it would cost me for a U.K. round-trip, & when factored in with the cost of my accommodation, made it untenable for them: this was the sensible business explanation, but I inferred from his earlier implications about my landlady that the producers had concluded that hiring me would be a dodgy gamble because they would be uncertain about whether I could assimilate the dialogue for such a large role whilst living under hostile conditions in an environment that was counterproductive to the state of mind that is needed to act well & properly.
Consequently, when STARHYKE™ sees broadcast, I shall experience tremendous difficulty viewing Episode #3/6, because it “should” have been mine.
Furthermore, I had hoped that the gained increase in notoriety from having been seen & heard as ROGAN in that episode might serve to promote production/broadcast interest in FSQ™, since any fears & concerns a prospective investor might have about whether or not I had the skill & on-camera appeal to portray FINN effectively would have been allayed in the most meaningful way possible: the acquisition of profit.
MR. DYMOND concluded by telling me that both MR. BROWN & himself had decided that if I so wished it, I could be the North American Convention Liaison for STARHYKE™, & that I "should give serious thought to it"....
...So I accepted.