Tue Apr 4 16:49:12 EDT 2000

Straczynski comments on Sci Fi move Via the b5 moderated newsgroup: Speaking for all of us, a fan commented: This is such great news!!! With the most excitement we've seen from him in a while, Strazcynski replied: Yes, it is. I'd heard about a week ago that they were in negotiations with WB to pick up the series reruns, but didn't want to say anything for fear of jinxing things or screwing up the negotiations. Suffice to say that I'm most pleased, and am looking forward to seeing the show finally get a good timeslot and the kind of support that SFC can give. So are we, JMS! So are we... Meanwhile, recent good news about B5 and B5: ITF has Crusade fans in a speculative fury... what will all of this mean for Crusade? Will there be new B5 movies? No one really knows. The timing of the deal is unusual, at best, and seems to an interest on Sci Fi's part in the B5 property as a whole. Stay tuned. I'll do my best to keep you posted!

Tue Apr 4 16:01:01 EDT 2000

Sector 14 announces plans to continue development on Into the Fire A letter from Rick, posted at www.firstones.com. You can follow developments there. I’d like to take this opportunity to announce that Sector 14 Studios (LLC pending) had it’s first staff meeting on Friday, March 31, 2000, in San Jose, California. Randy, Christy and I had our first organizational meeting, at which several topics were discussed. Among them were: · Plans on raising startup & venture capital · Licensing Plans · IP Acquisition Plan · Business model review. · Completion plan review · Staffing issues · Preliminary marketing plan and marketing research review · General discussion on new opportunities under the DirectX 8 feature set. This *is* happening. Do not take “no news as bad news”—it is a good thing, because it means we are busy with making things happen. And things ARE happening. We know that you are all very eager to help, however, the best thing you can offer at this time is your support, patience, and faith. We will need you. We always have. When the time comes, myself, Randy, or one of the other Sector 14 staffers will post a topic to let you know what you can do to assist us. It is very important to present a united front at this critical point —that alone helps more than you will ever know. Our action plan is solid, and in some ways, better than what we started with last fall. Opportunities for funding and publishing are already presenting themselves. "You must choose to create the future, or others will do it for you, and the choices you make will determine that future." Best regards, -Rick

Tue Apr 4 15:33:58 EDT 2000

From SCI FI Wire: SCI FI Picks Up Babylon 5 The SCI FI Channel has acquired exclusive rights to the Emmy Award-winning SF series Babylon 5, the cable network announced Monday, April 3. The series will premiere on SCI FI beginning Sept. 25 and will air Monday through Friday at 7 p.m. ET. In a deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Pay TV, Cable and Newtork Features, SCI FI picked up the rights to all 112 hour-long episodes of the series, as well as four two-hour telefilms based on the show. "Babylon 5 is one of sci-fi fans' favorite series. We are thrilled to be able to add it to our schedule," said Bonnie Hammer, executive vice president and general manager of The SCI FI Channel. The series, which won an Emmy for visual effects in 1993, was created by J. Michael Straczynski and was co-executive produced by Straczynski and Douglas Netter. It stars Bruce Boxleitner, Michael O'Hare, Richard Biggs, Andrea Thompson, Jeff Conaway, Bill Mumy, Jerry Doyle, Tracy Scoggins and Claudia Christian.

Sat Feb 12 21:00:50 EST 2000

Announcing Crusade for a Cure: A Call to Arms against AIDS Not exactly Crusade news, but the best news I've had in a while! Actually, I've known for months, since I'm the President of The Ulysses Foundation, but now it's time to let you all in on my latest project: Last year, when TNT canceled J. Michael Straczynski's Babylon 5 spinoff Crusade, a group of fans joined together in an effort to save the show. As we fought together, we discovered that we shared not only a love of Babylon 5 and Crusade, but also a passionate commitment to the progressive values advocated in these shows and other quality science fiction. To put this energy to use, a group of us have formed a new nonprofit corporation, The Ulysses Foundation*, which will raise money for research that melds scientific progress and social justice. The proceeds of our fundraising campaigns will be donated to reputable research institutions engaged in projects that reflect our interests. In the spirit of the Excalibur's mission and in honor of Crusade, The Ulysses Foundation is proud to announce our first campaign: Crusade for a Cure: A Call to Arms against AIDS ". . . to strive, to seek, to find and not to yield." Crusade for a Cure is a year-long fundraising drive culminating in a convention and gala dinner, the purpose of which is to raise money for research toward affordable AIDS vaccines and treatments. The convention and dinner will be held at the Doubletree Hotel, in Costa Mesa, California on September 15-17, 2000. David Allen Brooks and Maggie Egan are *confirmed* as guests, and Peter Woodward, Carrie Dobro, and Marjean Holden have expressed their willingness to participate. Invitations are also being sent to Daniel Dae Kim, Gary Cole, Tracy Scoggins, Richard Biggs, Bruce Boxleitner, Jeff Conaway, Tim Choates, Steven Furst, Fiona Avery, Evan Chen, John Vulich, and others. (Note: Guests reserve the right to cancel their appearances due to emergencies or other professional commitments.) All profits from the convention, dinner, and sales of related merchandise will be donated to a premier AIDS research foundation. Convention Rates: Weekend Membership $55 Saturday gala dinner plus Weekend Membership $110 Saturday gala dinner for non-members $70 Friday luau and Weekend Membership $75 Dinner, luau, and Weekend Membership $130 These rates are good until May 1, after which there will be a rate increase. From today through February 20 we are offering a special, introductory rate: subtract $5 from the above prices. Hotel contact infomation: Doubletree Hotel Orange County 3050 Bristol Street Costa Mesa, CA 92626 (714) 540-7000 - Fax:(714)540-9176 Room rates: Single Occupancy: $ 89.00 Double Occupancy: $ 99.00 Triple Occupancy: $109.00 Quadruple Occupancy: $109.00 Be sure to mention that you are with "Crusade for a Cure" to get these special rates. Also note: rates are only guaranteed through August 31st, so reserve your spot early! For further information and to order tickets for the convention and dinner come to the Ulysses Foundation website, www.UlyssesFoundation.org. In the near future, Crusade for a Cure merchandise including t-shirts, postcards, and more will also be available on the site. You can send questions about the convention to ulyssescon@ulyssesfoundation.org. Send all other inquiries to ulysses@ulyssesfoundation.org or president@ulyssesfoundation.org. *Note: The Ulysses Foundation is a registered corporation in the State of California. Until such time as state and federal tax exempt status is granted, contributions to Crusade for a Cure: A Call to Arms against AIDS are not guaranteed tax-deductible. For questions about legal issues, tax status, or contributions, contact Alisa Schreibman at president@ulyssesfoundation.org.

Wed Nov 17 21:48:43 EST 1999

Crusade Soundtrack Now Available Belatedly, I'd like to announce that the Crusade soundtrack by Evan Chen is now available. Sonic Images is selling the soundtrack from the web only. So if you're missing the sounds of the Excalibur and Crusade, run on over to Sonic Images and pick up your copy today!

Wed Nov 10 21:21:54 EST 1999

**** And Then There Was Hope **** A few of my readers have emailed trying to prod me into reporting some news, any news. I've been extremely busy, so my apologies for not keeping you all as up to date as you (and I) would ideally have liked. The truth is, however, that there really hasn't been anything much to report. So, with nothing new and exciting to say, I've left Voice of the Resistance simmering on the back burner. I promise that my time away has been productive and will bear fruit for you, but you'll just have to be patient another few weeks before I can tell you what I've been up to. But, I received an email today that sparked a bit of hope for Crusade. So, here I am. I want to caution you all that this report that I'm about to give you is not confirmed. A number of my sources received the same report from different locations, so it does seem like a reasonably well-founded rumor. But, it is, nonetheless still just a rumor. I'm breaking a promise that I made back at the beginning not to report rumors, so you can bet I'll be working over time to check this one out after the fact. In the meantime, use caution and don't invest too much hope in this rumor. And, I'll get back to you as soon as I hear anything else. Without further ado, here is the email that I received: "Ever since the first week of September, we've been left in a vacuum over the fate of Crusade. What if any effect the Save Crusade campaign had on Sci-Fi Channel and if TNT's first-run had ratings which were high enough to keep their interest. Now, after nearly 2 1/2 months, comes the first utterance official or otherwise.... Over at rastb5-moderated, there's an ***unconfirmed*** story about Sci-Fi Channel presently negotiating with TNT for the rights to do a back to back marathon of all 13 Crusade episodes. The original poster going by the name "Podkayne" says that a Californian friend of his who is a working screenwriter told him about this. It goes on to say the Skiffy execs will look at how well the marathon's ratings do and they'll base their Crusade decision on the strength of its performance, either picking up the second season of Crusade or the "back nine" of S1. Or, not renewing and permanently ending the Excalibur's televised mission. Although JMS' initial response was a denial -that this all was news to him and telling fans to treat it as suspect until it's confirmed- there's a chance this could be SFC's chosen route to pick up Crusade. These marathons are a big rating getters for SFC (even bigger than premiere airdates in some cases) and according to some subsequent posters to the thread, *the* way to chronologically tape a series' episodes for archiving." Sure hope this one's for real! I'll be keeping my fingers crossed in my sleep!!!

Wed Oct 6 17:05:15 EDT 1999

A Ray of Hope Perhaps? -- A Fan Reports from Galaxion in London Just when I was convinced that Crusade was over and done for, I received a report from the Galaxion convention in London. A fan, whose name I cannot at present disclose, indicates that Peter Woodward (and Carrie Dobro) said that the studio (which could mean Warner's or Babylonian) is still very interested in continuing Crusade and finding a buyer for it!!! I sure hope Peter's right!

Wed Sep 22 21:17:41 EDT 1999

Babylon 5: Into the Fire Scuttled? This isn't properly Crusade news, but I have a feeling that Crusade and Babylon 5 fans alike will want to hear this, the latest in a string of calamitous Babylon 5 events. It appears that the eagerly anticipated Babylon 5: Into the Fire Combat Simulation game has been cancelled (sound familiar to anyone?) just before production was completed. First, here's the press release from Sierra On-Line: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kathy Gilmore Miller Sierra On-Line, Inc. (425)649-9800 kgmcom@aol.com SIERRA ON-LINE, INC. ANNOUNCES REORGANIZATION AND ENHANCED FOCUS ON MARKET SUCCESS Bellevue, WA (September 21, 1999) Sierra On-Line, Inc., a leading developer and worldwide publisher of interactive entertainment and productivity software, today announced a reorganization into three business units; Core Games, Casual Entertainment and Home Productivity. This new structure enhances Sierra's focus on developing and publishing leading products for these three distinct marketplaces and is effective immediately. Each business unit, led by veteran Sierra talent, is outlined below: · Core Games, led by Sr. VP Business Unit Manager, Mark Hood and VP of Marketing Jim Veevaert, is recognized by the award-winning Sierra Studios(tm) label, publisher of Valve's mega-hit Half-Life®, and features several of the world's most renowned development teams including Impressions Games(tm), Papyrus(tm), Sierra's Northwest studio, and the Tribes(tm) team. In addition to Valve, other third party relationships include Relic (Homeworld(tm)), Troika Games, and Massive Entertainment (Ground Control(tm)). This Core Games group is the market leader in the core gaming genres, which include strategy, action, RPG and adventure games. · Casual Entertainment, led by Sr. VP Business Unit Manager, Steve Van Horn and VP of Marketing Barbara Schwabe, includes the Hoyle® line, the Trophy Bass(tm) Fishing series, Professional Bull Rider, the Field and Stream® Hunting series, the 3D Ultra(tm) series, YOU DON'T KNOW JACKŇ, and Austin Powers(tm): Operation Trivia(tm). This group has a 26% share of the casual entertainment market, one of the fastest growing genres in entertainment software. · Home/Productivity, led by Sr. VP Business Unit Manager, Dianna Amorde and VP of Marketing Anne Boswell, will continue phenomenal growth in the market with titles for cooking, gardening, home design, home publishing, family heritage, digital imaging and web page design. This reorganization comes at a time when Sierra is enjoying spectacular success. Its overall year-to-date net revenue is up 33% versus last year. Several of its titles are among the top 10 best selling titles in the US. For example, Half-Life is the number one selling game in its category and has won more than 45 "Game of the Year" awards from a variety of publications. Complete LandDesigner® and MasterCook(tm) dominate their categories, each owning 60% of the market. Hoyle® Casino has been the number one selling casual entertainment title in recent months, while the critically acclaimed YOU DON'T KNOW JACKŇ series recently released for the PlayStation® platform, has led the market in the trivia category. Many new and highly anticipated titles will be released later this year including Homeworld, Pharoah(tm), Gabriel Knight(tm) 3, Tribes Extreme(tm), NASCAR® 3, iStyle(tm) MakeOver, Professional Bull Rider, SWAT(tm) 3D and more. "Over the past year, Sierra has made huge strides in our growth and profitability," said Dave Grenewetzki, president of Sierra. "These changes will create an even better environment for the development of great titles and, as a result, increase our growth pace." This success illustrates the effectiveness of a strategy focused on publishing products that provide a superior experience and value to the customer. As a result, Sierra has elected to cancel several titles that did not meet its success criteria. Cancelled titles include Desert Fighters and Pro Pilot Paradise at the company's Dynamix studio in Eugene, Oregon. In addition, Babylon® 5, a project of Sierra Studios, and Orcs: Revenge of the Ancient(tm), a Berkeley Systems(tm) title, will be cancelled. The product cancellations will result in the loss of 105 jobs. This new structure clearly defines the organization in a way that streamlines processes, adds leadership and increases the momentum of Sierra's market success. Sierra On-Line, Inc http://www.sierra.com/ is one of the original developers and largest worldwide publishers of interactive entertainment and productivity software. Sierra is a division of Havas Interactive, a global leader in interactive content. It is one of the world's largest publishers of education, entertainment and home productivity software. Its divisions, Blizzard®, Coktel, Knowledge Adventure®, Sierra(tm) and WON.net(tm) are famous for releasing critically acclaimed and award winning titles. Havas has operations in the US and in Europe and is a subsidiary of the French publishing house Havas, part of Vivendi Communications. Well, when it rains it pours. Rank this one right up there with the cancellation of Crusade and Netter Digital's loss of Voltron. A bunch of folks are scratching their heads over this one, including the guys at IGN/PC. Here's what they had to say on the subject of the cancellation (courtesy of Edwin Astacio: thanks Ed!): What we do care about is the fact that due to this reorganization, Sierra has cancelled four of their upcoming titles including Desert Fighters and Pro Pilot Paradise (for which we shed no tears), and, more seriously, Babylon 5 and Orcs: Revenge of the Ancients. Worse news still is that the company has laid off more than 100 people who were working on those titles. The late afternoon press release explained the decision to jettison these four titles by pointing to its past accomplishments saying, "This success illustrates the effectiveness of a strategy focused on publishing products that provide a superior experience and value to the customer. As a result, Sierra has elected to cancel several titles that did not meet its success criteria." We're not sure what their criteria is, but if strapping yourself to a longhorn falls within it, and a 3D space combat game based on one of the biggest television licenses available does not, we have serious doubts about whether or not it will stand the test of time. (emphasis added) Well, thank Valen SOMEONE had the guts to say it! Fortunately, this one may not be in the bag yet. When approached about the game, J. Michael Straczynski, who's been involved with production on the game, had this to say (courtesy of Yu Kailin; thanks sister!): Yeah, I got word of this today from one of the developers on the game; apparently the problem is two-fold: 1) because Sierra has taken so long to get the game out, it has become expensive, and the additional million bucks used to relocate the facility north (and everyone involved) was charged against the game, and 2) they made a deal with WB for X number of games in Y years, and they've chewed up most of that time already, and WB is (I'm told, haven't had a chance to verify this yet) loathe to renegotiate since it's now taken --what?-- three, four years to get this first game out. There's rumors that another studio might be interested in picking it up and finishing it off -- it was literally inches from being finished, and it's a spectacular game -- but again that's only rumor, I don't know anything beyond that. (The game would have allowed players to go through all of the major wars of the B5 universe -- the Dilgar War, the Earth/Minbari War, the Shadow War and the Earth Civil War -- with a chance of affecting the outcomes and dealing with the temporal stresses caused by that.) ISN News reports that: "First Ones will have more info on this, and have set up boards dedicated to the future of the game." I visited the First Ones site myself and found quotes from and links to a number of other gaming sites, as well as plans for a save campaign. You'll want to bookmark their site for news on the game. Meanwhile... anyone else smell Crusade redux?

Wed Sep 22 20:09:13 EDT 1999

Crusade Wars From the makers of Babylon Park comes the hilarious not-quite-sequel Crusade Wars. GWARBCO Studios has produced a laugh-a-second Crusade crisis spoof in the style of South Park. This is definitely worth the download time. Here's a message from Alyssa Gobelle of GWARBCO: Greetings everyone! This notice is going out to everyone we could find who has a love for "Babylon 5" and/or "B5:Crusade". As some of you have already heard through the grapevine, GWARBCO Studios, the ones who made the first "Babylon Park" animated short of the series, has taken their parodies of the B5 universe a step further. Running with the fiasco that is now surrounding "Crusade", GWARBCO Studios has created "Crusade Wars", a riotous lampoon of all the bureaucracy that has torn the show apart and merged it with the theme of the original star wars. The offending network taking on the role of the "TNA Empire" vs. the intrepid crew of the Excalibur who are on a daring mission to rescue Straczynski from the clutches of the Emperor and his black clothed lackey. The final 10 minute production is available from our site at http://www.gwarbco.com in RealVideo format. Feel free to offer your own reviews, feedback, or even link to our site. We are also offering a section on our "Crusade Wars" pages that will be dedicated to the "Save Crusade" movement. If you would like your site added to the area (if it is relevant), we will be happy to do so. I hope each of you will enjoy the production and laugh heartily. Thanks for your time! Alyssa Gobelle Producer and Director GWARBCO Studios - www.gwarbco.com PS: There is an infamous B5 actor also lending his chords to the production. Can you guess who he is and what characters he is playing?

Wed Sep 22 19:59:28 EDT 1999

Crusading Again -- Crusade re- and second- runs As promised, here's some more info on Crusade reruns and non-US and Canada air dates. Thanks go to Stephen Christian for the Canadian information, David Boyd and ISN News and their sources for other information. KVOS (ch. 12), in Bellingham, WA (also lower British Columbia), Crusade reruns are airing on Wednesday nights at 9 pm PST beginning September 29th. CKVR, in Barrie, Ontario (also Toronto area) will be carrying Crusade beginning Saturday September 18th at 7pm ET. CHWI in Windsor, Ontario will be carrying Crusade beginning Saturday September 18th at 7pm ET. CFPL in Kitchner, Ontario will be carrying Crusade beginning Saturday September 18th at 7pm ET. CKNX in Owen Sound, Ontario will be carrying Crusade beginning Saturday September 18th at 7pm ET. UK: England's Channel 4 has acquired the rights to Crusade, the dates and times are TBA. Norway: Norway's TV2 has acquired the rights to Crusade, there are, as yet, no air dates, but expect Crusade to begin there soon. Finland: Finland's YLE has acquired the rights to Crusade Israel: From ISN News: "Israel's Channel 3 reports in its faq that Crusade will be aired from Jan 8th 2000 on every Saturday at 23:40 (Israel time)." Australia: Channel 9 will be airing Crusade beginning September 30th, on Saturdays at 11:00 pm.

Wed Sep 22 19:27:41 EDT 1999

JMS at NASFIC On Saturday August 28th, Joe Michael Straczynski (JMS) appeared at the NASFIC convention in Annaheim, California. A fan, Peter, took notes -- thank you! Peter reported this exchange between JMS and the crowd: Q. "Will B5 be given to another network?" A. NO. TNT has the rights to it for the next 2 years. Q. "After 2 years, can Crusades be picked up by another network like Sci-fi?" A. No. Probably Not. I contacted JMS about this exchange to find out what he meant. Here's what he said: What I meant by that was that, after two years, nobody's going to want to pick up a show that only went 13 eps. But yes, TNT's rights to Crusade are over in terms of new episodes as soon as 13 are aired. Anybody can pick it up thereafter, but I just don't think it's going to happen at this point. That, sadly, is the norm in TV...going five years is the exception to the rule. Another fan, Kailin, asked him a related question at NASFIC. She "asked him if Crusade were to be picked up, would he even have the time to work on it, or what would happen." In Kailin's words, JMS responded: He said that if it were picked up, being an Executive Producer usually isn't as time consuming as what he did with B5, which was write everything. His comment was that he would still be a consultant on the show and work with the storyline, but that it would mostly be written by other people, leaving him time to work on other stuff as well. The good news for us is that if Crusade were to be picked up, JMS would still be around. The likelihood of that coming to pass grows daily slimmer. JMS seems to feel that Crusade will not be picked up, a sentiment which is confirmed in his closing of the B5 fanclub and is echoed in David Allen Brooks comments on September 13th. We are left with hope but that is, in the last analysis, almost all we are left with.

Wed Sep 22 19:04:09 EDT 1999

Cult Times interview with John Copeland My apologies for the out of chronological order news. I'm just attempting to get everything I have up on the site! Thanks to Andrew Robson for sending me the entire text version of "Crusading Ambition" in September's issue of Cult Times. Here are a few choice bits, but keep in mind that the interview was probably done some time ago and is NOT newer than David Allen Brooks comments at the TNT chat on September the 13th. On Crusade, Babylon 5, and digital television: Like Babylon 5 before it, Crusade has been filmed in the 16:9 widescreen ratio (as suggested by the shows opening sequence). Although each of the show's directors have shot their episodes in a manner which ensures that no important details are cropped by current 4:3 transmission, this decision means that Crusade will enjoy a new lease of life on digital TV and, possibly, DVD. On the "demise" of Crusade: Of course, most of Crusade's ambitions have been eclipsed by the news of its swift demise. Following a series of creative disputes between the show's makers and TNT, Crusade ceased production after just 13 episodes. And in the wake of it's disappointing ratings, the show looks unlikely to be acquired by another network. Copeland, however, remains philosophical about crusade's fate. As a veteran TV and film producer, he is all too aware of the fact that most shows are cancelled in their first season. Babylon 5 was, after all, simply one of the exceptions which prove the rule. Whatever the future holds for Crusade, Copeland insists that its cast and crew have a lot to be proud of. He feels that each of the show's 13 episodes have something to offer, and ultimately maintains that the series' greatest feat was to establish a format which is radically different from that of Babylon 5. On Copeland's own future and that of the Babylon 5 universe: Since completing the first season of Crusade, Copeland has continued to work with Netter digital. Should Crusade manage to find anew network to pick it up, he would be more than happy to produce the show’s second season. Failing that, there are plenty of other projects in the pipeline. When quizzed about the long term plans for the Babylon 5 "franchise", John Copeland becomes uncharacteristically tight- lipped. He refuses to be drawn on the subject of potential telemovies or even the oft- mooted B5 feature film. Instead, the producer draws the conversation to a close with a cryptic, but distinctly optimistic, remark. "You haven't seen the last of Babylon 5", he declares with a grin.

Wed Sep 22 18:49:55 EDT 1999

David's Thoughts on Crusade On September 13th, David Allen Brooks participated in a chat hosted by TNT and moderated by T.E.D. Andrick. Thanks go to Sandra Bruckner who served as David's fingers. When asked the question on everyone's mind -- "is there any news?" -- David responded: Yes. That it's probably going to metamorph into other projects, but as an entity, it is gone. There's been mixed response to David's pronouncement from fans. So far, no one besides David has come right out and said Crusade is gone. Harlan Ellison suggested it months ago when he told fans at a convention to "Let it go."