Prime Time Replay:
Pen Densham on
The Outer Limits and Poltergeist: The Legacy
MsgId: *emedia(2)
Date: Mon May 5 19:31:07 PDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 206.214.136.47
Good evening--and welcome to E-Media for Monday, May 5, 1997. Tonight's guest is writer/director/producer Pen Densham, whose works include "The Outer Limits", "Moll Flanders", "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves", and "Larger Than Life".
MsgId: *emedia(3)
Date: Mon May 5 19:31:45 PDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 206.214.136.47
Is Pen Densham here?
MsgId: *emedia(4)
Date: Mon May 5 19:33:49 PDT 1997
From: pendensham At: 152.163.233.108
pen densham and mark stern are on line
MsgId: *emedia(5)
Date: Mon May 5 19:35:02 PDT 1997
From: pendensham At: 152.163.233.108
Pen is joined by Mark Stern, the head of production for Trilogy and one of the people most intimately involved in The Outer Limits
MsgId: *emedia(6)
Date: Mon May 5 19:37:07 PDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 206.214.136.47
Great! My first question is about "The Outer Limits", which, of course, appeals most to Omni's audience. Why did you decide to revive "The Outer Limits"? Do you consider yourself a big fan of sci-fi TV programming from the '50s and '60s?
MsgId: *emedia(7)
Date: Mon May 5 19:37:31 PDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 206.214.136.47
MsgId: *emedia(8)
Date: Mon May 5 19:40:27 PDT 1997
From: pendensham At: 152.163.233.108
All of us here at Trilogy are incredibly enthusiastic about creating tv shows and films that use a great deal of imagination. We all grew up enjoying being scared by original OUTER LIMITS and other similar films and shows
MsgId: *emedia(9)
Date: Mon May 5 19:41:47 PDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 206.214.136.47
But not "Night Gallery"? :-) How did you go about getting the rights to use the program? What was it about the original show that appealed to you, enough to bring it back?
MsgId: *emedia(10)
Date: Mon May 5 19:45:58 PDT 1997
From: pendensham At: 152.163.233.108
MGM approached us with the idea of trying to revive the OUTER LIMITS as a series with on-going characters, like an X-FILES and FRIDAY THE 13th. We felt that this missed the point and that the original series had succeeded in staying on tv for 30 years b/c of shows that were dangerous and fresh anthology stories. Our favorites of the original show include DEMON W/THE GLASS HAND, THE INHERITORS, ARCHITECTS OF FEAR (which we paid homage to last season in AFTERLIFE.
MsgId: *emedia(11)
Date: Mon May 5 19:50:31 PDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 206.214.136.47
How long did it take to get the new "Outer Limits" from idea to reality? Was the new show considered for network TV first? I watched the first episode when it first appeared--and really enjoy seeing it on both network and cable TV.
MsgId: *emedia(12)
Date: Mon May 5 19:55:29 PDT 1997
From: pendensham At: 152.163.233.108
The initial discussions were over a period of 2-3 months before we confirmed the anthology approach. MGM always had Showtime in mind as its primary outlet and a syndication, which means selling the show to independent stations and small groups, as their second market within three months. This was an innovation in tv selling as most shows take 5 years to get to syndication and this second tier of sales allowed the series to go forward as a sound business venture for the studio. This also guaranteed a 2 year period for us to attract the finest talent and to experiment and fine tune our show.
MsgId: *emedia(13)
Date: Mon May 5 20:01:30 PDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 206.214.136.47
How many episodes of "The Outer Limits" have you written? Did the short time you have to produce the first episode give you two the biggest headache, or was "Sandkings" much easier to do than other shows?
MsgId: *emedia(14)
Date: Mon May 5 20:02:28 PDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 206.214.136.47
Whoo! Bad English there? I meant, "had to produce..." :-)
MsgId: *emedia(15)
Date: Mon May 5 20:05:41 PDT 1997
From: pendensham At: 152.163.233.108
Whilst many of the first year of the series episodes were inspired by ideas that we gave to our writing team, we really believe in letting writers come to us with original and challenging stories. SANDKINGS was filmed after we had already produced two one hour shows so that we could "prime the pump" and break in our crew. It was definitely one of our most ambitious and elaborate episodes.
MsgId: *emedia(16)
Date: Mon May 5 20:07:24 PDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 206.214.136.47
What have been your favorite episodes from "The Outer Limits" so far? What are some innovative episodes coming up for the next season?
MsgId: *emedia(17)
Date: Mon May 5 20:12:17 PDT 1997
From: pendensham At: 152.163.233.108
A few of our favorites are: Quality of Mercy, Sandkings, Valerie 23, Stitch in Time....there are so many. This season (which has already started on Showtime) we all love Bits of Love, which was our premiere episode, Second Thoughts with Howie Mandel. We just completed a show based on a Stephen King story directed by Steven Weber called The Revelations of Becka Paulsen. Plus we did a re-make of Feasibility Study, updated by the original author and creator of the 60's series, Joe Stefano.
MsgId: *emedia(18)
Date: Mon May 5 20:16:58 PDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 206.214.136.47
Yes--Steven Weber, who just starred in "The Shining" on ABC. Did you enjoy the TV version of King's novel? We should also talk about how Trilogy Entertainment Group began, and your backgrounds in film and TV....
MsgId: *emedia(19)
Date: Mon May 5 20:22:26 PDT 1997
From: pendensham At: 152.163.233.108
Trilogy is named for the three partners, John Watson, Richard Lewis and Pen Densham. Watson and Densham worked together in Canada in the 1970s making independent shorts. They met Lewis in the early 1980s where they decided to write and produce their own material in Hollywood. Mark Stern joined Trilogy in 1987 and was very material in encouraging Pen to write his story for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, which with all the group's efforts went on to become a $460 million worldwide grossing film. We consider ourselves a maverick independent company that likes to do films that are not copies of last years hits which the studio system seems to be constantly looking for.
MsgId: *emedia(20)
Date: Mon May 5 20:22:56 PDT 1997
From: pendensham At: 152.163.233.108
Trilogy is named for the three partners, John Watson, Richard Lewis and Pen Densham. Watson and Densham worked together in Canada in the 1970s making independent shorts. They met Lewis in the early 1980s where they decided to write and produce their own material in Hollywood. Mark Stern joined Trilogy in 1987 and was very material in encouraging Pen to write his story for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, which with all the group's efforts went on to become a $460 million worldwide grossing film. We consider ourselves a maverick independent company that likes to do films that are not copies of last years hits which the studio system seems to be constantly looking for.
MsgId: *emedia(21)
Date: Mon May 5 20:23:14 PDT 1997
From: pendensham At: 152.163.233.108
Trilogy is named for the three partners, John Watson, Richard Lewis and Pen Densham. Watson and Densham worked together in Canada in the 1970s making independent shorts. They met Lewis in the early 1980s where they decided to write and produce their own material in Hollywood. Mark Stern joined Trilogy in 1987 and was very material in encouraging Pen to write his story for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, which with all the group's efforts went on to become a $460 million worldwide grossing film. We consider ourselves a maverick independent company that likes to do films that are not copies of last years hits which the studio system seems to be constantly looking for.
MsgId: *emedia(22)
Date: Mon May 5 20:25:45 PDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 206.214.136.47
You've done "Moll Flanders" and "Larger Than Life," too, which is being released on video now. How did the idea for "Larger Than Life" come to you? What was it about "Moll Flanders" that made it movie material?
MsgId: *emedia(23)
Date: Mon May 5 20:31:02 PDT 1997
From: pendensham At: 152.163.233.108
Many years ago I saw a profoundly moving photo of an old grizzled character hugging an elephant's trunk. He had tears in his eyes and his skin was as wrinkled as the elephant's. I kept the photo as an emotional signature and slowly, over a number of years, formed a story about a clown who had lost contact with his son and when he died he willed his son the elephant. Moll Flanders was a work of personal passion. after Robin Hood, I wanted to attempt to create a film that was as positive for a female character as Robin had been for a male. I think I was influenced by the fact that I had been lucky enough to have a daughter, as well as a son
MsgId: *emedia(24)
Date: Mon May 5 20:34:48 PDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 206.214.136.47
Last part: What are other projects that Trilogy is working on--for TV/cable/film? Are you exploring more ongoing series projects?
MsgId: *emedia(25)
Date: Mon May 5 20:39:11 PDT 1997
From: pendensham At: 152.163.233.108
We have a ton of stuff both in development and production. We have just completed production on a pilot for CBS based on the original MAGNIFICENT SEVEN film, which we shot on location in Arizona. We are also about to go into production on 22 hours of a series called FAME LA, which takes its inspiration from the original Alan Parker movie. We are also prepping a four-hour miniseries called WHITE SHARK, which is based on the book by Peter Benchley. This is all in addition to THE OUTER LIMITS which returns to production in the fall on its Fourth Season; and POLTERGEIST: THE LEGACY which has just completed its second season. AND THAT'S JUST TV!...
MsgId: *emedia(26)
Date: Mon May 5 20:42:39 PDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 206.214.136.47
I've heard there were auditions for the new "Fame" series. Unfortunately, our time's over. Thank you, Pen Densham and Mark Stern, for coming online to discuss Trilogy Entertainment and "The Outer Limits"! Again, "Larger Than Life" is out on video from UA. Catch the award-winning"Outer Limits" on Showtime this season as well!
MsgId: *emedia(27)
Date: Mon May 5 20:44:03 PDT 1997
From: pendensham At: 152.163.233.108
Thanks! This was fun...
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