Aug-09-2012
David Duchovny Talks About a Possible Third THE X-FILES Movie and What Went Wrong with THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE
Collider.com
Christina Radish

[Original article]

Earlier today, I had the opportunity to sit down with David Duchovny at the members-only Soho House in West Hollywood to chat about his indie feature Goats.  In the comedy, he plays Goat Man, a goat-herding sage who has lived with Ellis (Graham Phillips) and his New Age hippie mother (Vera Farmiga) since Ellis was a child, teaching him the meaning of expanding one’s mind.

While we will run the full interview tomorrow, we did want to share what Duchovny had to say about the possibility of a third The X-Files movie, especially after what writer/producer Frank Spotnitz told me about it a week ago.  Clearly up for it, he said that he doesn’t understand why Fox isn’t more enthusiastic to get it going, when it’s a homegrown action franchise that they own, and he talked about where he thinks the second film went wrong.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Collider: When I spoke to Frank Spotnitz about a week ago, he said that he feels it’s a cultural crime that you guys haven’t gotten to finish The X-Files story, and that he doesn’t think it’s too late to do, but that it will be, if it’s not done soon.  How do you feel about it, at this point?  Have you closed the book on The X-Files, or would you like to continue it with a third film?

DAVID DUCHOVNY:  Do you know something I don’t know?  Am I dying?  No.  That book doesn’t close until somebody dies, really.  One of the greatnesses of the show was its open-endedness.  It was about possibility.  It wasn’t about closure.  It just couldn’t be.  There is no such thing as that story ever ending.  Those characters are forever searching.  That’s what they do.  Even if we’re not watching them, they’re out there, in some dimension.  Mulder and Scully are still doing their thing ‘cause that’s their nature.

I would love to do another film, or more.  I think we’re all game for it.  I know I’m kind of perplexed that Fox isn’t more [enthusiastic].  Here’s a homegrown property that you don’t have to go buy, like fuckin’ Green Lantern or something, to make it.  Here you’ve got an actual action franchise that’s your own.  It’s weird to me, but I’m not an executive.  I don’t know if they made the Green Lantern either, but I’m just using that as an example of, “Why make that film?  Why not make a homegrown franchise that is excellent, and that has proven to be excellent and interesting?”  I don’t get it, but that’s not my business.

I think Chris [Carter] is probably working on an idea, so we’ll see.  Unfortunately, with the last one, they didn’t spend the money to compete in a summer fashion, and they brought it out in the summer.  It should be a summer film.  It should be an action film.  But, the last one we made was not.  The last one we made was a dark, contemplative, small $25 million film.  It was basically an independent film.  When you come out against Batman, it’s not going to happen.  You’re not going to be sold as an independent film, and you’re not going to compete against Batman with $25 million. 

Aug-07-2012
Frank Spotnitz (‘The X-Files’) interview
CultBox
William Martin

[Original article]

CultBox caught up with The X-Files writer Frank Spotnitz today to chat about his new spy drama series, Hunted.

From the makers of Spooks, the eight-part series begins on BBC One this autumn and stars Melissa George (Grey’s Anatomy) as a highly skilled operative for an elite private intelligence firm.

Best known for writing nearly 50 episodes of The X-Files, Spotnitz was also co-executive producer of Millennium and co-wrote both The X-Files movies.

Our full interview will go up next month, but in the meantime here’s what Frank had to say on the subject of The X-Files…

Were you disappointed that it’s not been possible to make a third X-Files film focusing on the 2012 alien invasion to be released this year?

“Yes, I’m hugely frustrated to be honest! The studio wanted the second movie to be more of a low-budget ‘story of the week’ and I’m proud of that film, but I think what we learnt is that that’s not what the audience wants. To the movie-going audience The X-Files means aliens.

“I think it’s one of the great franchises in television history and it hasn’t been given an ending. I think that’s shameful. I know there is a great movie story to be told with these characters that would bring an end to the saga and I think it’s wrong that they haven’t done that.

“They’re running out of time. I don’t think it’s too late, but it’s going to be pretty soon. I’ve been saying for four years now that they should end this story the way it deserves.”

Would a third movie be a final conclusion then?

“Yeah, I think it would end the story. The aliens were prophesised to be coming back in December 2012 and ideally this movie would have been made to be released by that date, but I’ve never stopped talking to [the show’s creator] Chris Carter and we have a way to do it still. I would still jump at the chance to do it!”

How long have you been living in the UK now?

“I’ve been here two years and I’ve consumed as much British drama as I could! There’s so much that it’s almost embarrassing how much good stuff you guys do here. I loved The Shadow Line, Any Human Heart, so many other shows… I feel very proud to be associated in any way with the BBC.”

Are you fan of any British cult TV shows like Doctor Who, Being Human, Misfits, etc.?

“I love all of those; my children love Doctor Who in particular.”

Would you like to write a Doctor Who episode at some point?

“I’m so intimidated by it because it has such a rich heritage. I would need to just lock myself in a room and watch 100 episodes to determine whether I could add anything to it, but I think it’s superb, yes!”

Aug-02-2012
Frank Spotnitz on how ‘The X-Files’, Hitchcock paved the way for ‘Hunted’
Examiner
Danielle Turchiano

[Original article here]

“When The X‑Files started, the word ‘mythology’ was not in the vocabulary to describe television, and I think we kind of stumbled upon the whole method of telling stories that way by accident, because of Gillian Anderson’s pregnancy at the end of season one,” Frank Spotnitz considered how his old series paved the way for his new one, Hunted for Cinemax.

“But it amazed me, because the Internet was just sort of coming online at that point, and I remember news groups that I would look at at the beginning of the second season of The X‑Files to see how observant fans were. These are the die-hard fans, not most of the audience, but I think we began to realize that you could thread clues, and you could wait quite a long time. You could wait sometimes two or three years in the case of The X‑Files before you picked up that thread again, and not only would people follow it, they would love you for it, because you were rewarding their loyalty and their intelligence.

“It’s hard to think back to the mid ’90s, but at that point, people thought television was not particularly sophisticated, and I realized just the opposite was true. It’s very hard to be as smart as your audience, and so it emboldened us to be very ambitious with the ideas we tried to convey…I took many, many things away from The X-Files experience, but the main things were: Be ambitious, be as great as you can be, and trust in the intelligence of your audience.”

Those are the things Spotnitz is now trying to do with Hunted, a certainly ambitious series shot and set in Europe about a woman (Melissa George) working for a secretive and elite espionage service. Since she is not working for a government but instead a private sector, questions start to set in regarding if she can actually trust the intelligence she is given and the people hiring her.

“In our show, the reality is these operatives are not told who their employers are, so if you’re trying to do a paranoid spy thriller, as well, I thought that’s really interesting, not knowing. Should you succeed? Maybe it would better if you fail– better for the world if you failed. So I met many, many people who are in this business and they have many very frightening stories to tell, and I put as many of them as I could into the first season!” Spotnitz revealed.

Calling the spy genre one of his favorites and referencing The Prisoner, The Saint, Mission Impossible, I Spy, Man from U.N.C.L.E., and the James Bond franchise as his influences, Spotnitz wanted to take storytelling back to a simpler time with Hunted. He pointed to Hitchcock as that kind of master of paranoia and suspense in genre storytelling, hoping to model himself and his projects on some of Hitchcock’s early (silent) works.

“I would always rather do it without dialogue,” he bravely admitted. “I would always rather let the picture tell the story. And that’s one of the first things you give up usually in series television because there is so little time and so little money, you’re churning through directors, you can’t trust it will work without dialogue. In this case, [though] I was incredibly fortunate to have great directors, beginning with S.J. Clarkson, who directed the first two hours, and we worked so closely together…we didn’t need to have words. And so there are long sessions with no dialogue, and to me, it’s pure; it’s cinema.”

Additionally, Spotnitz pointed out that this kind of storytelling allows the audience to be more engaged with the show because they’re not being “spoon-fed everything.”

“There are things in this show where it happens in an episode and you don’t know why that was there, and you wait two or three episodes and you go, ‘Oh, that’s the connection.’ And we’re not telling you; we’re trusting you as a viewer that you’ll piece it together, and it’s more exciting, I think,” Spotnitz considered.

Over the course of eight, one-hour episodes, Hunted will visit Morocco, Scotland, Tangier, and London, to name a few, each time delivering a little bit more information about what’s really going on with the greater mystery in which George is mixed up.

“It’s one of those shows that when you get to episode eight, if you were to go back and watch episode 1 again, you’d see it was all there,” Spotnitz previewed. “It was all hidden in plain sight. You know, it’s not a mystery that’s cheating, withholding pieces. It was there if you were paying attention, and that’s very satisfying for me as a viewer when I watch mysteries like that, so there’s a lot of clues in those images that will make sense when you get to the end.

“We wanted it to be cinematic, and that meant really going to the locations, [too]” Spotnitz, who credited Cinemax for their support in allowing his big ideas to come to fruition, explained.

“It’s a lot harder and a lot more expensive, but you see it. I mean, it looks fantastic, and you see London in a way that people, especially in America, that you rarely get a chance to see. So it was really exciting for me to have the opportunity, especially as an American, to go to Europe and have the opportunity to take advantage of all these unbelievable locations that we just don’t get to see that often in this country.”

Hunted premieres on Cinemax in October 2012.

Aug-02-2012

Writer/Producer Frank Spotnitz Talks His Desire to Make a Third X-FILES Movie and the Possibility of a MILLENNIUM Movie

Collider.com

Christina Radish

[Original article]

The X-Files writer/producer Frank Spotnitz has created the compelling eight-episode international espionage series Hunted for Cinemax, to premiere on October 26^th.  The story follows Sam Hunter (Melissa George), a skilled operative for Byzantium, a secretive private firm involved in global intelligence and espionage, that may have personally been responsible for orchestrating an attempt on her life, leaving her with no idea who to trust.

While at the TCA Press Tour, Collider spoke to Frank Spotnitz for this exclusive interview.  We will run what he had to say about that series closer to its premiere, but we did want to share what his comments about whether he still wants to do a third The X-Filesmovie, why it would be a cultural crime not to finish the series, how it would need to happen pretty soon, and what he’s most happy about when he looks back at his work on the series and movies.  He also talked about what it might take for a Millennium movie to happen.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Collider: Do you feel like you’ve closed the book now on The X-Files, or is there still another chapter to tell there?  Do you still want to do a third movie?

FRANK SPOTNITZ:  I absolutely do!  I think everybody should write to 20^th Century Fox.  I’ve been saying for years now that I feel it’s a cultural crime that they have not finished the series.  The second movie did not perform the way anybody wanted it to at the box office.  I’m proud of that movie, but it makes sense to me that it didn’t.  It was released at the height of summer, and it was a story-of-the-week.  That’s not what the movie-going audience wanted.  The movie-going audience wanted the aliens.  That’s what they know The X-Files for.  And that story is not done, and it should be finished.  I don’t think it’s too late, but I think it’s gonna be, pretty soon.  I’m still agitating with everyone I can grab to say, “Let’s make this movie while we still can!”

When you look back at the time you spent making the show and the movies, what are you happiest about, and are there things you still wish you could go back and change?

SPOTNITZ:  Oh, yeah, always!  Unfortunately, my personality is that way.  It’s true with Hunted, too.  I’m like, “Oh, that’s good, but this wasn’t good enough.”  I just look to what I consider failures.  Other people might be like, “Oh, that was great,” but I’ll be like, “No, to me, that was not.”  I’m sure with The X-Files, there are plenty of things that I wish had been better.  But, The X-Files was the central experience of my professional life.  It was my first job in television.  It taught me everything that I’ve taken with me since, and it was a huge success.  I just feel so blessed to have something like that in my life.  How many people get to be a part of something like that?  I really made a lot of close friendships, with Chris Carter and Vince Gilligan, and I’m still friends with a lot of the actors.  I still see Gillian [Anderson] and talk to David [Duchovny].  It’s a treasure and a blessing to have something like that. 

Lance Henriksen recently talked about his desire to make a Millennium movie.  Is that something you’d like to go back and revisit?

SPOTNITZ:  I would!  It’s a harder case to make for Millennium because Millennium was one of those shows that was a critical darling, but never found the mass audience that it deserved.  But, I get asked about that.  There are amazing fans for both series.  The Millennium guys are publishing a book this summer.  They’re really clever about trying to make this happen.  If they knocked on my door and we could do it, I would absolutely do it, but it’s a tough sell.

Jul-23-2012
Vince Gilligan: I’ve never Googled “Breaking Bad”
Salon.com
Erik Nelson

[Original article here]

[Extract]

You went to the “Chris Carter School of the Dramatic Arts” with “The X-Files.”  What did you take away from there? I’m interested, as you now approach the ending of “Breaking Bad.”  Because, I don’t remember “X-Files” really ending.  I remember it just sort of dissipating.  Maybe that is unfair, but I don’t get a sense that there was closure. And is that something you keep in the back of your mind as you approach the end?

I think about it all the time because I can tell you we worked our butts off from that show. And it’s just a function of raw numbers.  We had 202 episodes of that show when we were done, after nine years. I was, I am proud of that show. I have to admit, I’m more proud of “Breaking Bad” because it is my personal baby. But it was a wonderful, wonderful job. But when you have that many episodes, you’re going to have some clunkers, especially when you’re working at the pace that one works at in network television. That’s why people say, “Oh, you know, cable is better than network.” You hear that a lot. Network is the hardest work going. My hat is off to anyone doing a network TV show because they’ve got to do 24 in a season, 25, 26 in a season, and we’re dilettanting around doing 13 or 10 or eight or whatever. And that’s the way I want it, by the way. I don’t ever want to go back.

With a show like “X-Files,” I learned a lot of lessons. Chris Carter was a great boss, a wonderful boss. And I learned how to produce television. I learned how to write for television. I wouldn’t be doing this job now. Wouldn’t know how to do it if it weren’t for “The X-Files.” But, honestly, ”The X-Files” was a bit of a cautionary tale for me, because we were busting our asses all through Season 9, but the rest of the world, in hindsight, felt like they had moved on around Season 6. They were into other things.  And that was an unpleasant feeling, and it would’ve been even more so, if I had actually created the show. So a big lesson I’ve taken away from it is I want to end “Breaking Bad” as well as I can possibly end it. But I don’t want to end it a season or two or three too late. I want to go with people wanting more. I’d rather go out with people saying, “You are absolutely out of your mind to be ending this thing now. You’re at the height of this thing, you’re crazy to end it right now.” I’d rather have people say that to me with bewilderment, than to hear people in passing say, “’Breaking Bad,’ I used to love that show. Is that thing still on?” One is far worse than the other.

Jul-13-2012
‘X Files’ creator Chris Carter coming home to Bellflower
Press-Telegram
Phillip Zonkel

[Original article here]

BELLFLOWER – “The X-Files” creator and Bellflower native Chris Carter will be a special guest and featured speaker at an upcoming youth talent show.

The 13th annual Youth Cultural Arts Foundation Talent Show is hosted by the city on Sept. 29 at the William and Jane Bristol Civic Auditorium, 16600 Civic Center Drive.

Auditions and registration will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 14 at the auditorium.

“Chris’ artistic achievements are part of our cultural fabric,” said Steven Dollinger, president of the Bellflower-based Youth Cultural Arts Foundation. “This year’s theme is `Follow Your Dream,’ and nobody is a better inspiration to our participants than Chris, who grew up in Bellflower.

“By following his own dreams, Chris helped redefine science-fiction television,” Dollinger said.

Auditions are open to the public and will be divided into two age groups, 5-12 years old and 13-18 years old.

The top three winners in each division will be awarded a trophy and cash prize. More than $3,000 in cash prizes will be awarded.

Carter, 54, began his career as a writer for Surfing Magazine.

Eventually, he developed projects for 20th Century Fox, where he created “The X-Files” in 1993. The show, which became a cultural phenomenon with its stories about aliens and government conspiracies, ran nine seasons and was nominated for 52 Emmy awards.

The show won the Golden Globe twice for best TV drama. Carter was nominated for three writing and directing Emmys and won three Golden Globes, among other accolades.

Founded in 1998, the arts foundation is headquartered at the Bellflower Theater. Its sole purpose is to foster self-esteem in children of all ages, races, sexual orientations and religious affiliations by allowing them to participate in arts projects.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call 562-867-3524 or go to www.bellflowertheater.org