WEBSITE: AssignmentX.com

WRITTEN BY: Abbie Bernstein

DIRECT LINK: http://www.assignmentx.com/2011/exclusive-interview-v-producer-steve-pearlman-join-the-resistance/

Behind the scenes, executive producer Steve Pearlman, the production team member who supervises filming in Vancouver, stands up for the forces of budget, schedule and special effects. He talks to us about some of the complications of making the otherworldly aspects of the show look good, and also hints at what’s to come.

Assignment X: What do the Visitors do when they reach a new planet??
Steve Pearlman: They take the best features of every place where they’ve been, meaning they’ve been traveling around inter – galactically, from planet to planet, and taking the best of what each planet has to offer.. It’s about their own survival.. The human soul, which is something that we explore a lot this season, is something that is unique to humans that they haven’t found anywhere else in their travels around the galaxy.. Anna [ Morena Baccarin ] starts to realize that there’s something to this thing called the human soul and she needs to pay attention to it..

AX: Given guest star Marc Singer’s physical appearance and the physical appearance of series regular Joel Gretsch, who plays Father Jack, are their characters meant to be related?? They look like they could be members of the same family in reality..
SP: That has not been a part of our conversations yet.. We literally just cast Marc a week and a half before we started shooting.. The process, much like when we cast Jane Badler [ Who, like Singer, was a regular in the 1984 - 1985 original V series ] into the show, was not, ” We need to write a part for Marc Singer..” The script had been written and it was a great character where we thought, ” Wow, that would be interesting if we were to have Marc come in and read for that,” and he did.. He came in and read for it and he was great.. There was a lot of very positive fan reaction to our casting of Jane Badler.. It made a lot of sense for us to cast him in this role.. He was terrific, so we’re very happy that we brought him into the show and if we get picked up for a third season, there are a lot of places where we can go to explore that character..

AX: Since you’re on the ground in Vancouver running the show day to day, and most of the creative staff is back in L.A., can you envision working with this kind of set – up before the invention of Skype and the Internet??
SP: Well, certainly a lot of shows were produced on distant location before the Internet.. Years ago, I was an executive at Warner Bros.  and we had shows shooting in New York, we actually shot a pilot in Australia one year, so it’s not a totally new thing that shows would shoot out of town..

The thing that is unique on this show is the amount of visual effects work that we do, and just the technology in general.. It’s enabled us to do so much more than what we were able to do even a few years ago.. So to answer your question, the way we do produce V would be very challenging for us to do that without the Internet.. Even editing – I edit all the shows over iChat, so I sit at my desk in Vancouver looking at my computer screen, and I’m watching the Avid in Burbank live as the editor is cutting the show.. [ There is ] a video output of the Avid [ Editing computer ] that goes into iChat and appears on my computer.. Instead of seeing a person, I see the Avid..

After we lock a show, but before the visual effects are in, we have what we call a spotting session with me and our visual effects company Zoic.. They’re in Culver City, and our editorial is in Burbank, so we do a three – way video chat and there’s another program that’s called Cinemascope that we’re on where we run the show and we can draw on the picture.. So if we want to have sparks coming out of lightning, or we want to have the mothership or a shuttle traveling across the sky, any one of us who’s logged into this can literally draw on the screen and the other people can see it.. So again, it’s Internet technology that, if we didn’t have that, it would be very difficult..

AX: What are some of the most challenging effects or sequences you’ve done on V??
SP: In the season premiere, we did red rain.. That was one of the more challenging sequences and it wasn’t even that long of a sequence in what was actually in the program, but having red liquid fall out of the sky was very challenging.. We were shooting on location at a place in Vancouver that did not want us to stain the pavement, so we had to have a red liquid that wasn’t going to stain anything.. We had a hundred and fifty extras that were going to get wet, so we needed to have doubles and triples on their wardrobe, so that we could shoot the scene multiple times.. That wasn’t really even a visual effect, but that was one of the more costly, complicated, difficult practical effects that we did all season.. In terms of the visual effects that we’ve done this [ Season ], that sequence where Anna whips out her tail and stabs the captain of the ship, that one sequence, which was probably about a minute long, took eight hours to shoot..

AX: Were there any concerns about how to do that sequence without making it funny that something is coming out of an area of the body that is somewhat humorous??
SP: Similar to last year, where we had the episode where Anna laid her eggs, she was in water and she had these little small eggs coming out of her nether regions and you don’t want it to look silly, so yes, that’s something that we spend a lot of time talking about when we’re designing what these shots are, that they can look scary, the can look cool, but we really try to stay away from the laughable, jokey thing.. When SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE does the spoof on us, then we’ll know that we’ve really made it..

AX: Since you are in charge of making sure production runs smoothly, how much input do you have into what’s going on in the writers’ room??
SP: I work very closely with Scott [ Rosenbaum, the show runner ] and the writers at all stages, so when they break the story, I’ll be involved in giving them creative notes and discussion, just in terms of the story itself, but also about production and what we can do.. When we did the first episode [ Of the season ], for example, the notion of the red rain was something that was added very late.. After there was already a script, we added the idea of the rain, which was something that I came in and said, ” Why don’t we do rain??” and the writers said, ” Well, we didn’t think we could do that,” and I said, ” Let’s do it.. It’s the season premiere, we’ve got to make it great..”V So Scott and I work very closely and I have a lot of input, certainly with production and the visual effects and the design and the locations and all that, that’s what I do in Vancouver..

AX: Do you know what the series finale will be, whenever that comes??
SP: You’d have to ask Scott Rosenbaum about that.. He and I haven’t had conversations yet about, if we were to go on five seasons or so, where the series would wrap up.. We look at each season as like the chapter of a book.. So the second season, we’re exploring a lot about the human soul.. There are some other themes that we deal with in second season.. The first season, we spent a lot of time talking about how Tyler [ Logan Huffman ] is the one, Tyler’s special, and we explain that in second season.. The season finale I think closes this chapter of Season Two, but we do also introduce Marc Singer, who comes in in the finale and he plays an interesting character that, if we’re picked up for a third season, will provide us with a whole new kind of direction to go in Season Three..

AX: Do you have ideas for what the end of the series could be??
SP: The Visitors could either leave or they could be assimilated completely, Anna could die, Erica [ Elizabeth Mitchell ] could die …

AX: The Visitors could blow up the planet …
SP: Yeah, that would be bad, wouldn’t it?? If you wanted to look back on how other series have ended creatively, you could realize the entire thing was a dream in some kind of weird way.. I don’t know.. I think that we live in a world of science – fiction with this show – we also live in a world of soap opera.. So I think either of those genres can take us to a lot of very interesting and unexpected places..

As for what I would hope for for a series finale is something that the audience just doesn’t see coming and doesn’t expect at all. I think that’s what we try to do in every episode, is give the audience at least one pretty big thing that they’re not expecting.. I think in the season premiere this year, we got to see Anna murder one of the captains of her ships in a way that, if anybody saw that coming, I’d like to meet that person.. That was pretty out there.. So hopefully we’ll be able to give that to the audience.. We’ve got a lot of really cool stuff.. Every episode [ Has been ] a little different.. We’re trying very hard to not make it seem formulaic, and I think that we really are going to deliver for the fans of the show..

Executive Producer of V, Steve Pearlman, was kind enough to answer a few questions from The V Files and fans, in a quick little interview..

The V Files: What are the challenges that you encounter in producing a show that not only is based off a previous program, but is a sci – fi story that incorporates CGI and green screen effects??
Steve Pearlman: Whenever you take on a legend, as we’ve done with V, you need to honor the source material but also figure out a way to go beyond what was done before.. So it’s more of a reboot than a remake.. There are certain iconic images from the Original V that we have paid homage to, taken to a new level, tried to top, without just repeating what was already done..

Obviously new technology has given us the opportunity to do a lot that they were not able to do in the Original Series..We have a lot of special effects and visual effects in the New Series that are state of the art – no one else is doing this kind of work with this kind of volume in series TV..

TVF: Fans are fearing that we won’t see a Season Three, and that the Season Two Finale will leave fans with a cliff hanger, due to ratings ( Which are still pretty good ) and ABC’s decisions..
SP: We’re obviously hoping for a Third Season.. We have deals in place for the Cast, and out sets and sound stages are still there waiting for us.. The Studio is actually spending a lot of money protecting for the possibility of a Third Season.. But as with any show, it all comes down to ratings.. Are people watching?? Facebook chatter is great, and DVR recordings is great, but the one thing that makes the biggest impression to a Network is waking up the next morning and seeing that the overnight ratings have gone up..

As for a cliffhanger, out Season Two Finale definitely wraps up several stories that we’ve been telling throughout the Season, but we wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we didn’t leave the audience wanting more.. So yes, there are a number of cliffhangers at the end of the Season.. Hopefully enough people will be watching by then that a Third Season is a foregone conclusion..

TVF: Fans of the Original are getting excited that Marc Singer ( Mike Donovan from the Original ) will be Guest Starring in the Finale.. If V gets a Season Three, will we see a scene between Jane Badler and Marc Singer??
SP: In the world of V, I suppose anything is possible..

TVF: Talking about Guest Stars, if V gets a Season Three, will fans get a chance to see any other Original cast?? Someone like Bobby Englund ( Willie ), Michael Ironside ( Ham Tyler ) or Frank Ashmore ( Martin / Phillip )??
SP: Jane and Marc were great additions to the show this Season, partly because of the tribute it paid to the Original Series and to honor the loyal fanbase, but also because they were great in their new roles in the New Series.. For us, it’s less about a ” stunt “ and more about casting the right person for the role.. Could we see other actors from the Original Series?? Absolutely, if it feels right..

TVF: Is there anything you can tease fans about the remaining episodes of Season Two??
SP: Every episode between now and the end of the Season is like a mini – movie.. We go to the Vatican in tonight’s episode.. Next week we have a Gala Celebration in NYC.. The week after is a hostage crisis, and the week after that Erica and Hobbs travel to Hong Kong and Tokyo to seek answers to questions about what the V‘s are actually doing here.. And in the Season Finale, we reveal the Full Monty – The whole lizard.. There’s a lot jam – packed into 10 episodes.. And we’ve got a lot more stories to tell.. But you gotta keep watching!!

The V Files would like to thank Steve for taking time out to answer a few fan questions..

Be sure to tune in tonight for Episode 2.04 ” Unholy Alliance “ at 9pm on ABC..

WEBSITE: BlastR.com

WRITTEN BY: Tara Bennett

DIRECT LINK: http://blastr.com/2010/10/v-sneak-peek-how-the-new.php

New footage from the upcoming second season of ABC‘s V reboot debuted at New York Comic Con over the weekend – but more importantly, Executive Producer Steve Pearlman shared how they’re going to get more desperately needed eyes back on the show..

While the revamped pilot debuted to great numbers last November, the show’s first season got split in half and the spring run of episodes averaged 4 million fewer viewers.. Pearlman told Blastr that reversing that trend was priority one for their creative team..

” We want to make the show louder, bolder and faster,” he said.. ” We want to give the audience some new iconic images that they didn’t get the first season or in the original series..”

Because of the six – month gap between the season finale and the start of Season Two, Pearlman said the new season hits hard..

” Our feeling is we need to come out of the starting gate really strong.. The DVD set is going to be out the first week of November, so the timing of that is really great.. But in terms of the show itself, we spent a lot of time back in May and June laying out the new season and how we were going to grab people.. The two things we came away with that are most representative of the direction of the new season is, one, in the first season we started off in the pilot and most of our characters were not connected..”

” We had a newscaster, a priest and an FBI agent.. It was a challenge to get all of our characters into stories together.. By the end of the season, we had moved the characters strategically so we could legitimately get them into scenes together and you wouldn’t go ‘ Why are they in a scene together?’”

” We got Chad [ Scott Wolf ] to the point where he was talking regularly to Father Jack [ Joel Gretsch ].. We got Ryan [ Morris Chestnut ] to a point where he was liaising with Erica [ Elizabeth Mitchell ].. We had strategically moved our characters into a position where we can tell stories with them all in a room.. That took the better part of the first season to do that because you can’t just jump that; you have to get there.. Going into the second season it’s making it easier to find stories..”

He continued, ” The other thing we found looking over the first season was we needed one story in an episode that each of our characters could bounce off of.. For example, the last two episodes of the season involved all of our characters in different ways.. The second – to – last episode Lisa [ Laura Vandervoort ] was injured and Anna [ Morena Baccarin ] and Erica came together dealing with her injury and had Chad reporting on it.. Stories like that are more indicative of where we are going this year.. For example, in the episode we shot last week, Anna is throwing a big gala in New York City and each of our characters is bouncing off that gala in some form or another..”

And then there’s Jane Badler..

As reported before, the actress who originated the role of the lizard queen is coming back to the mythology as Diana, Anna’s mother.. Pearlman revealed that the fans were really the arbiters of that decision..

” We didn’t set out to bring Jane Badler to the show,” he said.. ” We set out to introduce Anna’s mother.. The goal was to cast the best actor for the role.. There was always the intrigue of ‘ What if it was Jane Badler?’, and I think the fans certainly spoke very loudly and clearly, and we got the message from that.. But we had a lot of actresses interested in the role.. We had a lot of people come and read for it, and Jane won the part.. It’s not the same character that she played in the original series, but there are opportunities to play tribute to the original, like the fact that she wears a red dress..”

Badler’s Diana will also add a new dimension to the show’s mother – Vs – daughters theme that is central to its core.. ” Anna represents aliens, and Erica represents humanity and mankind.. The addition of Jane at this point for the season has played only with Anna.. But what that’s allowed us to do is to be able to play mother / daughter.. And we’re also playing mother / daughter on various levels, like the one between Erica and Lisa, which we saw the beginnings of last season.. Seeing Anna and her mother and playing off how they are similar and different has been a real fun area for us to go to in the storytelling..”

WEBSITE: IGN.com

WRITTEN BY: Eric Goldman

DIRECT LINK: http://au.tv.ign.com/articles/112/1126929p1.html

A ton of new footage from Season Two debuts at New York Comic Con, including the return of the iconic villain..

A very impressive amount of new footage was shown from Season Two of V today at New York Comic Con – rather than simply show us a montage, or even a scene or two, we were treated to several long sequences from the new season..

During the Panel that followed, Executive Producer Steve Pearlman was joined by Morena Baccarin, Laura Vandervoort and Jane Badler.. Pearlman said, ” The release of the Red Sky gave us a whole launching pad for the next season,” noting, ” We had the opportunity to map out the entire season this year, which we didn’t have the opportunity to last season..” He also promised more to come with Valerie’s baby, and quite a ” puberty story ” for Lisa..

A funny moment occurred when a fan apologized for her poor English, noting she was French and then added, ” The Resistance kind of sucks, I think..” Pearlman admitted, ” four people a Resistance does not make,” but added, ” That is something our little ragtag group realizes pretty early in the season..” He said Season Two will include ” the globalization of the Fifth Column.. That’s where Oded Fehr’s character comes into play.. We’ll go to several international locations and meet several Fifth Column cells around the world..”

Badler said she was playing, ” A very different Diana,” than the one from the original.. She described her as, ” Older and wiser.. She has more restraint..” She said that should Diana get free from Anna’s clutches, she certainly would have plans, noting, ” The driving factor behind the queen is power and control of our race..”

Now that Anna’s felt her first human emotions, might she find herself loving a person? After joking, ” Clearly, she’s in love with Chad Decker,” Baccarin said, ” I think that would be the next, interesting thing, is for Anna to fall in love.. To feel a human, emotional connection to a human being – whether it be to a male or a child.. To feel that sort of emotion.. We’ll see!”

Vandervoort said Lisa is ” starting to figure out what she wants.. What side she’s on.. It’s a very mature Lisa this season..” She also described a scene she had recently shot where something dramatic has happened to Lisa.. ” I wake up and don’t know how to feel about it..” Vandervoort then turned to Baccarin and laughed, ” And you’re sitting in a corner like a creepster!”

Pearlman promised that, starting with Anna’s tail, more and more of what is truly underneath the Vs human skin will be revealed in Season Two, ” And it’s not going to be what you think it is..” When he was asked if we should believe that every male and female V is actually the gender they appear to be, he replied, ” We’re going to learn something in the sixth or seventh episode of the season that has to do with gender..”

So, will V finally do their version of the famous rat – eating moment made famous by Badler in the original? Said Baccarin, ” Let’s just say I had a really unpleasant day at work the other day..” Said Pearlman, ” We did have a rat on set one day.. Morena came up to me and said, ‘ I was told it was going to be a mouse..’”

WEBSITE: VirgilsAllNightDiner.wordpress.com

WRITTEN BY: Virgil

DIRECT LINK: http://virgilsallnightdiner.wordpress.com/2010/10/09/huge-reveals-at-nyccs-v-panel/

Joining Executive Producer Steve Pearlman on stage for the NYCC V Panel are the three women who make up the most dysfunctional family in sci – fi history:  Morena Baccarin, Laura Vandervoort, and Jane Badler..

The panel kicked off with an extensive preview of Season Two.. If you do not want to know any of the details of what’s to come in V, stop reading now.. If, however, you want a little taste of the future and a description of a few jaw dropping moments, read on after the break..

The preview kicks off with a fast paced recap of the first season.. The first image we see of Season Two takes place right after the Season One cliffhanger of Anna’s release of the ” Red Sky..” It looks like a scene out of Flash Forward.. The city is bathed in garish red light.. We pan up from a blood stained bridge and see a city in ruins, scores of people unconscious.. Erica ( Elizabeth Mitchell ) slowly comes to.. She’s looking for Tyler.. She finds him nearby, huddled over.. He turns to her in anguish and asks her why she did it.. He reddens and his skin wastes away before he dies in Erica’s arms.. Anna is there suddenly, chastising Erica for killing her children and vowing that Erica will pay with her own children..

Erica wakes up.. It was a dream.. A television in the background tells us it is four days after the Red Sky.. Anna has broken off communication with Earth..

We cut to Anna’s ship, where she and Marcus are discussing how to handle the humans.. Marcus tells her that a human scientist might be close to discovering the truth about the Red Sky.. Anna wants him eliminated.. Marcus tells her that the other ship captains are expressing doubt over Anna’s leadership.. Her release of the Red Sky was premature and signals an emotional reaction.. We cut to Anna meeting with the other ship captains.. She chooses one and for the first time we see that Anna has a tail: a giant, green pointy tail, which Anna proceeds to use it to beat and shred the captain.. She pulls the decimated captain off the floor and shows his ripped up face to the others.. For the first time we see almost the full face of a Visitor.. Anna then runs him through with her tail..

Erica comes home, looking for Tyler.. Lisa comes to the door.. She is distraught; she doesn’t want to be the person her mother wants her to be.. Erica and Lisa bond..

Anna is in a strange cave – like setting.. A woman emerges from the shadows; it is Diana, played by Jane Badler – the original Diana from the original series.. We learn that Diana has been exiled to this cavern by her daughter because she had became too emotional and hasn’t even seen her daughter for fourteen years.. In any event, Diana chastises her daughter and mocks her for showing emotion.. Anna is visibly upset by her mother’s words.. We also learn that Diana came here years ago.. Humanity’s first use of the atomic bomb was the signal to them that we were here.. Diana learned quickly, however, that interbreeding was impossible.. There would be a generation of half – breeds that would refuse to bow to a queen.. Anna wants to put her faith in Lisa and Tyler; Diana scoffs – Anna’s infertile and the next nearest viable planet is too far away..

Chad Decker is having a heart – to – heart with Father Jack.. He knows he’s being manipulated by Anna and he wants to commit himself to the Fifth Column.. Father Jack wants him to meet the others and he wants Chad to stay close to Anna.. The clip ends with Chad meeting the other members of the Fifth Column..

Overall, the reaction was wildly positive, especially the appearance of Jane Badler.. The follow – up panel discussion had its own fair share of interesting information..

WEBSITE: UGO.com

WRITTEN BY: Hilary Rothing

DIRECT LINK: http://www.ugo.com/tv/nycc-2010-v-abc

I really do think they’re going turn this mothership around, folks!! At this afternoon’s V panel Warner Bros. and ABC unloaded a ton of new footage featuring some seriously amped up special FX, a very toothy Morena Baccarin and original V femme fatale, Jane Badler..

On hand to discuss the second season which premieres this November ( Season one comes to DVD and Blu – ray on November 2nd ) were new showrunner Steve Pearlman and the V queen triumvirate, Morena Baccarin, Laura Vandervoort and Jane Badler..

The panel opened up with a very spoilery sneak peek of the new season which included a scene where we see Bacarrin’s Anna address a council of Visitor captains who’ve traveled to the mothership to present their concerns over Anna’s questionable leadership after the early release of Red Sky..

Spoiler Warning! She kills one of them with her tail.. Yup, they aren’t playing around this season..

So what’s the difference between V‘s lackluster Season One and the upcoming new run of episodes.. Well, it’s pretty simple, as showrunner Steve Pearlman explained, this time around the producers actually had a chance to map out the season, as opposed to last season’s chopped up run of ” pod “ as ABC tried to pass it off as..

This season we can look forward to the long awaited scene between Baccarin and a rodent, as well as several showdowns between Anna and her exiled mother, Diana, who was sent off to a dungeon like dwelling after letting her human emotions get the best of her.. According to Badler,  the estranged mother and daughter will even come to blows..

Many fans may think Badler was a shoe – in for the role of Diana but not the case said Pearlman.. The original V badie had to audition for the role along with tons of other potential evil lizard alien candidates but in the end, she really was the only actress who truly embodied Diana, according to Pearlman..

When she first heard about the reboot of the show that made her a campy ’80s television icon, Badler was beside herself and was determined to be a part of the remake, a role which Pearlman confirmed, she ” fought for..”

I have to say after seeing the footage of Badler and Baccarin, I’d say she’s still got it.. But what of the rest of the original cast. Will Marc Singer be showing up anytime soon? Pearlman was non – committal on that matter but I wouldn’t be surprised..

Another positive note fans will appreciate regards the V‘s rag – tag Resistance, the Fifth Column.. There’s been a lot of criticism over the idea that a militia consisting of a handful of people would attempt to take down an alien presence with technology that’s literally light years ahead of our own.. Pearlman said we can expect to see the Fifthth Column beef up this season, with a focus on global cells and their leaders working with the core New York group..

While the Fifth Column battles the Vs, their leader will have her hands full with a daughter that’s considering defecting, her peers questioning her, a meddling mother and these strange new human emotions to deal with..

Oh and a tail and serious set of choppers, ala Bat Boy.. For that alone, I’m willing to give V a second chance..

Digital Spy got the chance to talk with Steve Pearlman ( Executive Producer ) at Comic – Con..

At the San Diego Comic – Con, TV.com‘s Beth Lisick caught up with Executive Producer Steve Pearlman, Elizabeth Mitchell ( Erica Evans ), Joel Gretsch ( Father Jack Landry ), Charles Mesure ( Kyle Hobbs ) and Morris Chestnut ( Ryan Nichols )..