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Post by PokerKitten on Aug 28, 2003 13:17:11 GMT
I posted this in the Harry Dresden thread in artie-fartie too. Can never have too much James or Harry!  You know how I said the books have been optioned now? Well, there is a campaign just beginning to have James considered for Harry shgould a movie or  series ever find its way into production. Our friends at Marsters Mobsters have set up a fledgling site to start the ball rolling. take a look - www.angelfire.com/alt2/jamesasharry/ Slayerchick says: Right now, I would like to get the campaign started off with a write in postcard campaign. Go ahead and use the artwork at the top of the screen and print it off as a postcard and send it to the adress listed. I am hoping that letting the studio know that we see James as Harry will get things rolling for the first phase. Post this to as many sites and forums as you like. I am also looking for any help any one wants to give. Any ideas are more than welcome and anyone who has artistic/and or web building skills would also be more than welcome to lend a hand *hint, hint* |
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Post by PokerKitten on Sept 9, 2003 18:13:53 GMT
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Post by PokerKitten on Sept 9, 2003 23:03:11 GMT
Oh my goodness gracious! Jim himself has taken the "Get the Dresden Files on and JM as Harry" campaign by the scruff of the neck and is urging us to make our presence felt as fans of the series (and of James!). And it so close to happening guys!! He has even suggested the wording for a campaigning email, gawd love him!! As this is a campaign Jim is launching, I am hoping it's okay to paste his message. It certainly is okay for the template. Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2003 17:17:29 -0500
From: Jim Butcher
Subject: [mcanallys] BIG ANNOUNCEMENT
Hey guys!
Let's cut straight to the chase: the Dresden Files are on the home stretch
in Hollywood.
In two weeks, Morgan Gendel, together with Nick Cage's production company,
Saturn Films, will be meeting with some heavyweight network types about the
Dresden Files. Morgan is aiming at an hour-long weekly series, and if the
suits like the idea and think it could be a winner, they'll buy it, and it
will be the real deal.
It's more than I ever dreamed or really hoped might happen to my career, or
to the stories I wrote.
But let's give credit where credit is due: you guys, the fans, are the
ones who really made the Dresden Files fly. I know that there are more
than a few people out there who have proselytized the books with fanatic
intensity, rearranged bookstores, casually loaned copies out to hook a new
reader, or otherwise gone out of their way to spread good words about my
work. I do not doubt that there are some people out there who have spent
more time selling other people on my work than I have writing it. Thank you.
Others have come to the books more recently, through the dulcet readings of
the good Mister Marsters, and James' fans are more than simply
welcome. They've been an enormous boost in terms of sales and a worried
young writer's morale. So also to the more recent Marsters fans who have
helped me out, again, thank you.
That said, I need everyone's help.
One of the critical factors in the negotiations over the series will be the
presence (or lack thereof) of a grassroots fanbase for the series. IE, the
suits want to know that SOMEONE is going to want to watch this show. So I
got together with Morgan, and here's the deal. He's setting up an email
address for the sole purpose of receiving mail from fans in support of the
books as a series.
Let me say that in a slightly different way: FANS are going to have some
say over whether or not this show is going to go into production, as WELL
as over who might be approached to be cast in the series.
How many SciFi fan groups have rallied together in an effort to save their
favorite cancelled show? It worked once, with original Star Trek. Other
efforts were made with equal intensity but lacked success, and the corpses
of shows like B5: Crusade, Farscape, Beauty and the Beast, Jules Verne, and
many, MANY others now lay in the Hallowed Halls of Syndication or are lost
in the Catacombs of Obscurity.
But I don't think ANY of them had a fan base helping them get STARTED.
This is pretty much a historical first, guys. For people who have longed
to have a voice of any kind in the future of SF television, here is a place
to begin. If you want to see the Dresden Files launched as a television
series, you need to send email to the address below and SAY SO. If you
want a particular actor playing a particular role
(*kaffkaff*MarstersasDresden*kaffkaff*), you also need to send email to the
below address and SAY SO.
A strong fan presence behind the Dresden Files is going to make a huge
difference when everyone bellies up to the negotiating table. I mean come
on, how many producers could show film execs a few thousand fan emails for
a show that hasn't even been CREATED yet. What's more, if that same
fan presence has a strong desire to see a particular actor playing the
part, it is going to send a big old message to the producers, who will
treat that desire seriously.
At the end of this email, I'm including a template email that you can use
to send to the fan-support mailbox for the Dresden Files going to . Feel
free to write your own should you wish, but I want to provide the template
so that all you will need to do is cut and paste the template below,
filling in your own answers.
I cannot stress enough how perfectly serious I am about this. If Dresden
is to hit the screen, I will need as much support (and as many emails) as
we can possibly get. So don't feel you have to be a member of a fan club
or mailing list to send in your opinion. You don't. Your opinion counts
just as much as everyone else's, and I urge everyone who loves SF&F
television to lend their voice to Dresden's cause, and to asks other fans
of the genre to do the same.
This is beyond exciting, and of course I will keep the list posted as I get new information. Email template follows.
Jim
TEMPLATE
******************************************
To: dresdenfiles@linkline.com
Subject: Dresden Files Television Series
Dear Morgan,
I am in favor of the production of the Dresden Files to television and/or movies!
On a scale of one to ten, I would watch the series with the following frequency. _______ ("1=Eh, whenever" to "10=Each and every week, possibly in costume.")
Given a choice of actors to play the part of Harry Dresden, I think that
________________________________ would be an excellent choice.
Sincerely,
(Your name here) |
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Post by marilyn on Sept 9, 2003 23:25:54 GMT
Whoa, PK....exciting news.....I've copied the template to give me guidelines of what to mention and I will email them.....do you think only one email per person or should we flood them....lol?? I've already told Travis he's gonna do one, too....he's listened to the audio book of Storm Front and liked it, too. ;D
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Post by PokerKitten on Sept 9, 2003 23:34:21 GMT
Lol, emails aren't like postcards, coz they are more identifiable. I think we'd lose credibility if too many came from the same email addy. However, some of us have more than one address! And you have offspring, lol! ******************** I sent my first email this morning. I'll do another one in a coupla days using a different addy. I used Jim's template very loosely and fleshed it out a bit, making it more personal  |
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Tikva
Rev Harding
Posts: 1
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Post by Tikva on Sept 10, 2003 12:19:19 GMT
I too sent of an email and contacted a bunch of friends to ask them to do the same. Wish the boards weren't so slow this time of year. What can we do to increase visibility. I mean to reach those folks who are just returning to school and probably think there is nothing much going on til Angel premiers ?
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Post by PokerKitten on Sept 10, 2003 12:30:05 GMT
Hi there Tikva! Well, if they look at James-related sites as well as boards they'll find the info springing up there too (I've just added the info to the James Spotting page at Bloody Spike, for instance). And if people know others who would be interested, they could email them this info from Jim as you have done, to make sure they knew about it and could take part.
James fans come in all ages and levels of devotion, but we are pretty doggedly determined and like to wave our man's banner! I think the message will get across ;D
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Post by PokerKitten on Sept 10, 2003 23:14:54 GMT
So, while we are emailing like crazy, you may want to ring the changes and send some postcards as well.... Evenstar has adapted her lovely Harry paintings to make postcards for this very reason. Check 'em out - mypage.uniserve.ca/~sithean/dresden.htmBob - hubba hubba!! Harry ain't too much of a slouch either  |
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Post by nightnurse on Sept 10, 2003 23:21:26 GMT
;D great minds PK I've just been looking at those fab postcards, and was coming in to post the link!!
I just said in my e-mail that James Marsters IS Harry, and that with his huge fan base it couldn't be anything other than successful!
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Post by PokerKitten on Sept 10, 2003 23:50:10 GMT
And Evenstar has kindly said I can use the icons for the postcards as links to the info aout the campaign.... so I have!
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Post by PokerKitten on Sept 14, 2003 13:43:37 GMT
Yay for Jim Butcher - love him to bits!! Some folks have been a bit hung up on the fact that in the books Harry is getting on for 7' tall... LMAO, well we all know James falls somewhat short of that. But I have never thought it was too important. And now the author himself says it ain't and gives damn fine reasons why. I had better not repost his whole post at McAnally's about this, but he doesn't pull his punches! Here's some snippets: He is absolutely right of course, it is all about the characterisation. If the actor can convey the essence of the character, who gives a damn whether they physically resemble the book description. And especially when many people who would watch a Harry Dresden series would see that first and THEN go looking for the books. |
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Post by mushmouse on Sept 17, 2003 5:40:10 GMT
I just lurve Jim Butcher to bits! He's absolutely right! And boy can he rant with the best of 'em! Some more great lines: "So the important thing to represent is what's on the inside--their attitudes, personalities, and personal presence. ...I would cast a five foot three Inuit as Harry if he was the best at pulling off his attitude, no problem. " I can't understand fans who are so fixated on casting an actor who "looks" the part that they miss how much more important it is to get an actor who is so good that he can "embody" the character and breathe life into it. That's why James is so fecking brilliant! And Jim Butcher is brilliant for understanding that! Okay, guys, time's awasting! We need those emails sent this week! That's all the time we have! If you haven't sent them yet, what the heck are you waiting for? A moment of emailing could bring years of more Jamesy goodness! And please spread the word to any other fan boards for BtVS/AtS or James/Spike! Feel free to quote Jim Butcher's initial announcement or link to his homepage: www.jim-butcher.com/Jim has advised Spicy that as soon as he gets any news, he'll let us know. At this point all he knows is that Gendel is wildly busy preparing for this big meeting with network honchos. We don't know how many emails they've gotten, but we can't afford to take it for granted, so let's get out the vote! Get all your family and friends to send an email too! Last night, I forced my sister to send out emails under her name, her husband's, and both their kids'! |
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Post by PokerKitten on Sept 17, 2003 9:15:14 GMT
Lol! Do your family think you are crazy, or understand you completely? Mine fall into the former....
Be assured, everywhere you go in Jamesland this campaign is a-foot. ;D
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Post by PokerKitten on Oct 6, 2003 22:20:26 GMT
Here's the latest from Jim B:
POSSIBLE SERIES PRODUCTION REPORT
*************************************
The three-week meeting about the project apparently got tossed out. But I swapped email with Morgan Gendel last week just before I left town, and learned that he is working 24/7 to get ready for not just a meeting, but a series of meetings over the next three weeks. I choose to interpret this
as a very encouraging sign, so huzzah and my fingers are crossed.
Feel free to join me.
Reader's Digest version: it's still moving and my hopes are still high!
MARSTERS FOR DRESDEN EMAIL CAMPAIGN REPORT
********************************************
After receiving a hundred emails in the first HOUR after dispatching the announcement, Morgan was impressed with the obvious support the project had. He received a total of 1300 emails or so which was a bit less than I
had hoped for, but still.
The good news is that there is still time to send in a support letter! So if you're behind the notion, I invite you to get your own email into the support email address in the original announcement asap. Or I could beg you, if the invitation doesn't float your boat. Please. Pretty please. Don't make me go all Gollum with the begging.
Under good advice, I'd like to ask a favor--please, when you send the email in, send in your own letter rather than using the form. That way, it won't look like it's an automatic web-form process. If and when you do, maybe you could add in a bit more emphasis on being excited about the series, even independently from being excited about the Marsters/Dresden notion. The studio might not be impressed with a core fan group sending email in if they're just bubbling for more James, and don't much care how they get him. That's not a pan on Marsters, btw. I'd love him in the role. But ya can't see James as Dresden if they don't get enough support to do the Dresden project in the first place.
At the risk of sounding like Jackie Chan's animated Uncle, one more thing. If you're a male fan, particularly, the project needs your help. Send email. A more balanced gender demographic (surprise surprise, women make up about 80 percent of the emails to date ) will look a lot stronger.
One more thing--if you aren't a fan of the series or of the inestimable Mr Marsters, I'm not asking you to write in with an insincere letter. I would LOVE to have the support of total strangers, don't get me wrong, but I'm not trying to hustle this project through under a cloud of donated spam. I think it would bother me if that was the reason the project went through, and I hate botheration.
To sum up: There is still time, so please please please help!
I think that's about it. If I forgot something, I'll get it out to the list as an addendum.
Jim
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Post by PokerKitten on Oct 31, 2003 17:35:55 GMT
Someone followed up on the campaign with Jim yesterday and this was his response:
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Post by PokerKitten on Apr 5, 2004 21:01:33 GMT
 WTF?! This was just posted at McAnaly's, as aprt of a larger blurb about the new projects for the Sci-fi Channel... The fact that it looks like it's a goer as a pilot (which would then hopefully be picked up for more if it was any good) almost was lost on me, so stunned was I to see our wonderul hero being called Erik Dresden.... Erik? Dresden Files (working title)
Based on the best-selling "Dresden Files" novels by Jim Butcher, this 2-hour backdoor pilot film will be executive produced by Academy Award(R) winner Nicolas Cage and Norm Golightly of Saturn Films. Erik Dresden is a detective with extraordinary powers, the kind that could belong only to the descendant of a long line of wizards. Where others see the typical crimes of assault,
kidnapping and serial killings, Erik sees otherworldly forces at work -- which only he knows how to combat. Whether consulting for the police on inexplicable crimes or following his own cases, Erik has a unique outlook on the world, and wields a wry sense of humor as one of his most potent weapons. The project is produced by Lions Gate Television and Cage's Saturn Films (The Life of David Gale, Shadow of the Vampire), with Morgan Gendel (Law & Order, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Next Generation) writing; Gendel and Anthony Peckham
(Don't Say a Word, 5 Days to Midnight) are executive producers.
www.scifi.com
I think the story came from www.prnewswire.comJim was a bit stunned the news had broken...
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Post by nightnurse on Apr 6, 2004 0:22:51 GMT
 Erik?....will we get Odin the skull? Looking good....if James gets the gig....and they revert to Harry!
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Post by azazel on Apr 6, 2004 9:11:44 GMT
Urgh to Eric it should stay as Harry. And NN leave my Spikebot alone poor Odin doesnt want his head chopped off <Well not again anyway>
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Post by PokerKitten on Apr 6, 2004 9:18:18 GMT
Jim Butcher doesn't even know if the Erik thing is a definite. Got the impression last night that it was the first he'd heard of it  I can sort of see why they would want to change the name, and as some folks pointed out, Erich was the real name of Harry Houdini, so it at least would be on the right track. Still don't like it though. Oh, and apparently a 'backdoor pilot' means it will be made as a two hour movie, which could in theory stand alone and be 'it', but if that movie was successful, then it would be considered for a series/mini-series. If anyone feels like lobbying again for James in the role, postcards can be sent to the appropriate folks... I'll get some details and bring 'em back. |
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Post by azazel on Apr 6, 2004 9:22:46 GMT
See the point in the name, but Erik Dresden does not ring right. Some names go together and some dont Erik doesnt.
Will there be an e.mail lobby too?
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I can sort of see why they would want to change the name, and as some folks pointed out, Erich was the real name of Harry Houdini, so it at least would be on the right track. Still don't like it though.