Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
Subject: Doctor Who Movie News!!
From: john.ewin@pcb.batpad.lgb.ca.us (John Ewin) 
Date: 23 Nov 92 06:26:00 GMT
Reply-To: john.ewin@pcb.batpad.lgb.ca.us (John Ewin) 
Distribution: world
Organization: The Batchelor Pad PCBoard ~ Long Beach, CA ~ +1 310 494 8084

The following was found on another net:


THE FOLLOWING IS FROM THE NOVEMBER 1992 ISSUE OF THE PRYDONIAN RENEGADE

GREEN LIGHT FOR DOCTOR WHO MOVIE? By TOM BECK
    Green Light Film Productions is "closing the gap" with the European
company considering backing production of the Doctor Who movie, said
Felice Arden, a partner in Green Light.

    Arden was in Los Angeles talking to a Hollywood studio and several
writers, when we spoke to her on October 16. She was then going to a
film festival in Milan, Italy, for further negotiations with the
prospective European backers.

    It's "the nature of trying to close a deal. Nothing is finalized yet
but it's looking very good," Arden said, adding the Hollywood end looks
good. Instead of going with just one or the other, she said the current
outlook "may well be to bring them both together."

    Arden said she has been talking to several writers, but won't engage
one until she  has made a deal with the financiers. However, she
described all the writers she is talking to as "bankable," meaning they
are well-known in Hollywood and will be more  than acceptable to any
studio. The interesting thing is, "they all know the Doctor.  They're
American writers but have long been fans of the show," she said.

    It was quite a search to find them. "I found it enlightening," Arden
said. "They had a much purer take. We had gone away from our original
vision. These writers brought us  back. It will be great to have a
writer who won't lose sight of the character of the Doctor."

    Arden said she feels very encouraged by the possibility of having
committed, cash-rich partners. This will be the first step on the road
to producing the picture.

    We asked her about how long Green Light has the option to do a
Doctor Who movie.  Arden said their contract spells out various
performance conditions. "We'll meet them, and we have an option for a
total of three pictures," she said. "The BBC know our human resources,
and that we've spent lots of money to promote this property. They have
been supportive and flexible."

    There are problems in making a movie about a very specific character
for an American audience most of whom will not be familiar with him,
Arden said.

    "We have to assume that no one has heard of him and create a new
front," she said.  "We have to make it inviting and relevant to nonfans.
That's a tall order. But we're not going to fool around with something
that has worked for almost thirty years. We have  to find a hook. We
need a writer who can do both. This is not going to be a Superman.  We
will not be doing a 'genesis' story."

    Green Light wants to do it in a way that will begin by introducing
the Doctor and then quickly segue into a typical, strong Doctor Who
adventure, leaving open the possibility of making more films, Arden
said.

    Despite this progress, Arden is quick to warn fans not to expect
anything soon.  "Developing the script alone could take a year," she
said. "It might then be another year before we could put together a
shooting schedule. Of course, we could be lucky  and get everything done
much faster. But we can't assume that."

    Arden is now talking with many fan clubs, trying to get straight
information out.  When the film is in production, Green Light will begin
a publicity campaign that will reach out both to diehard fans as well as
to Americans who know nothing about Doctor Who, she said.

    What fans should take away from all this at the moment is that Green
Light is talking to people who are seriously considering backing them
with a substantial amount of money, which would represent a real
commitment to seeing the project through to completion. Although
anything can happen, at the moment the signs are all good for a Doctor
Who movie.

Let's keep our fingers crossed!

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 . SM 1.06 *0020 . To shoot a mime, do you use a silencer?
                                                                                   
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho