Interview with Greyston Holt and J.B. Sugar of "Bitten" on Syfy - Primetime TV Show Articles From The TV MegaSite
 

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By Suzanne

Greyston HoltJ.B. Sugar

Interview with actor Greyston Holt and Executive Producer J.B. Sugar of "Bitten" on Syfy 1/14/14

NBC UNIVERSAL
Moderator: Gary Monrgenstein
January 14, 2014
1:00 pm CT

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Syfy conference call for Bitten.

During the call all participants will be in a listen only mode. Afterwards we will conduct a question and answer session. At that time if you have a question press the 1 followed by the 4 on your telephone.

If at any time during the conference you need to reach an operator, please press star 0.

As a reminder this call is being recorded Tuesday, January 14, 2014. I would now like to turn the conference over to Gary Monrgenstein. Please go ahead sir.

Gary Monrgenstein: Welcome everyone to the Bitten call, Week 2. Last night Bitten premiered on Syfy at 10 pm to (bookabuzz). And to talk about Episode 2 next week and the rest of the season, we have star Greyston Holt and Executive Producer, J.B. Sugar. Welcome.

Man: Hello, thanks.

Man: Hi everybody.

Gary Monrgenstein: (Patrick) please put forward the first call.

Man: We’ll take a big bite out of them. I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist.

Gary Monrgenstein: Nice.

Man: Had to throw it in.

Operator: If you would like to register to ask a question please press the 1 followed by the 4 on your telephone. He should here three toned prompt to acknowledge your request.

If your question has been answered in you would like to withdraw registration, please press the 1 followed by the 3. As well, if you are using a speakerphone please lift your handset before entering your request.

So our first question comes from the line of Jamie Ruby with SciFi Vision.com. Please go ahead.

Jamie Ruby: Hi guys. Thanks so much for doing the call. And Greyston, it’s great to talk to you again.

Greyston Holt: Hey, thanks for calling.

Jamie Ruby: So can you both just talk about what, out of everything just, you know, from filming the show, what have you found the most challenging?

Greyston Holt: J.B. do you want to start with that one?

J.B. Sugar: Sure. Was that for Greyston specifically or was that?

Jamie Ruby: No, for both of you.

J.B. Sugar: Sure. The most challenging, I mean it’s always a big feat as a producer developing a project and being fortunate enough to see it come to life and get finance into production.

So I mean it’s a process filled with myriad challenges to overcome. And were just, were so blessed and fortunate to have been able to get the show made and financed through Space, BellMedia’s specialty channel that’s our commissioning broadcaster in Canada.

And just thrilled beyond belief that Syfy has picked us up for airing in the US. So, you know, getting the show into production is - was a huge challenge. And then of course production in itself is one big ball of challenges as well.

We’re very fortunate to have assembled just an amazing ensemble of actors to carry the beautiful characters that Kelley Armstrong and her Otherworld series novels layout. And to see them brought to life by these dynamic talented actors has just been such a great joy.

So that really - other than identifying them in finding them is the challenge. Once they’ve been cast and once they were cast rather, the challenge was alleviated significantly because they just performed and brought these characters to life in such brilliant fashion.

I will say one of the biggest production challenges for us had to do with how we were going to portray our characters when they were in wolf form. And as they are in Kelley Armstrong’s novels, they’re photo real wolves. They look like very large yet very real wolves that you would see in the wild.

So to craft a series that honors that and also brings to life the wolves when they have such specific action, one of the biggest challenges was trying to figure out whether or not we should train real wolves. Whether or not we should use puppets and animatronics.

And ultimately we decided to go full CGR with our wolves. And in most of the talents of a visual (site) from Vancouver called Atmosphere. And they’ve done some truly groundbreaking work in the intelligence space to bring these wolves to life. And we’re extremely proud of them and the work that they’ve done.

Jamie Ruby: Okay Greyston.

Greyston Holt: Yes. One of the main challenges for me was just keeping my clothes on. No, I - you know, there’s so many small challenges. You know, and they’re all fun challenges. So to come I mean from, you know, I’m pretty low-key. I’ve never been in a fight in my life.

And then, you know, this Clayton character has this, you know, this kind of instant switch to rage at points. So that was fun and challenging to find that. And I did a little research, you know, watching wolves and how they can just switch into this aggressive mode and fast. So that was a fun challenge for me.

And then, you know, down to the fight sequences we did. It you know, this was kind of a bit of a learning curve for me because there were some, you know, pretty long and intricate fight sequences that were created by our stunt coordinator, John Stead. And so he was patients with us. And, you know, I think the final product was amazing.

And it was a lot - it was a big challenge. We had - I mean our rehearsals would be eight hours, nine hours sometimes. So by the end of it you’re just dead. But you feel it’s fun, you know.

Jamie Ruby: Great. And then overall for both of you, what was your favorite part this season?

Greyston Holt: Just bonding with our cast. I mean we were super fortunate that we all got along rate from the get-go. We had this kind of strong bond in this trust with one another.

So it was, you know, and we go through a lot emotionally and physically. And it’s nice to know that you have this trust in support from your cast mates. So that was an amazing part of it.

J.B. Sugar: Yes it’s, for me it’s also harder to choose. It was just a series of favorite moments throughout the entire process. But one of the best moments was when we were doing our final casting and doing our chemistry reads.

And to see Laura Vandervoort and Greyston Holt performing together, as well as Paul Greene who plays Philip. Just finally after, you know, years of developing the material and just to see it come to life and to see these characters embodied in these amazing actors. It was just a real thrill and bolt of energy.

Greyston Holt: Yes I can’t imagine that for you because like we come in after you guys have done so much work. And we just step into this, you know, this world. And I can’t imagine that for you, all that waiting and to finally see everyone come together.

J.B. Sugar: Absolutely. And then again, most recently one of our - one of my personal favorite moments is we were fortunate to have a screening for our cast and crew on the night before the Canadian premiere that was just this past Friday night.

And to show this work that, you know, all these amazing talented craftsmen from our actors of course through our director of photography and the whole camera department in the postproduction team. And just to see everybody come together and watch the fruits of their labor together. It was just a real thrill.

Jamie Ruby: Great. Well thank you both of you.

Man: Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Robin Burke with Fan Girl Confessions.com. Please go ahead.

Robin Burke: Hi. Thank you both for talking to us today.

J.B. Sugar: Hey thank you.

Robin Burke: My first question is actually for Greyston. We’ve only seen one episode. So were really starting to just kind of learn a little bit about the characters. What more can you say about the character? What is he like?

Greyston Holt: One of my favorite things is, you know, upon reading the scripts in the books is sort of (unintelligible) this call from, you know, (unintelligible) them. Sorry. I’m kind of fuzzy here.

(Unintelligible) (Jeremy) our (back alpha) and his love for (unintelligible) conflict between us, you know, who was rated to go (unintelligible), you know, love this life basically and their struggle to (quit).

Robin Burke: Great, okay and this is actually for both of you. What do you think separates Bitten from other supernatural shows that are on TV?

J.B. Sugar: Well we take pride in the fact that despite the supernatural premise of Bitten that it’s really a story about the themes that resonate for fans of any kind of genre. Characters that have real dimension, that are grounded in a real-world despite their supernatural abilities to shape, shift into werewolves.

And at its heart it’s a real character drama and with themes that deal with identity and family and kind of quelling the beast that’s inside of all of us, quite literally and figuratively.

Robin Burke: Great. Thank you. I can’t wait to see more.

J.B. Sugar: I can’t wait for you to see it.

Operator: Thank you.

J.B. Sugar: I wanted to say I think Greyston you got to drop your famous line about Clayton and, you know, him being a - (and when somebody asks), she wants to see the bad guy.

Greyston Holt: What’s that?

J.B. Sugar: Somebody asks (she wants a fan expo) if Clayton is a bad person.

Greyston Holt: Yes.

J.B. Sugar: And what did you say?

Greyston Holt: Who he’s not a bad person. He just does bad things to bad people.

J.B. Sugar: Yes, love that.

Greyston Holt: You like that hey?

J.B. Sugar: I do. I like that.

Operator: So our next question comes from the line of Steve Eramo with Sci-Fi and TV Talk. Please go ahead.

Steve Eramo: High Greyston. Hi J.B. A pleasure to speak with you both today.

J.B. Sugar: Hey.

Greyston Holt: Likewise.

Steve Eramo: Enjoyed the first episode last night. Cannot wait to see more. You guys did an awesome job, you really did.

Man: Thank you.

Steve Eramo: And to my first question is for Greyston. I was wondering if you could tell us a little bit about how you first became involved in a series. And perhaps if you don’t mind about your audition process for your role.

Greyston Holt: Yes. You know, it’s, you know, it’s always a drawn out process. And, yes so I - it was actually almost exactly a year ago I sent...

((Crosstalk))

Greyston Holt: To Vancouver. We sent the tape out to Toronto for the show for Clay. And, you know, and it sat for a little bit. In a couple of weeks later we got some positive feedback. And we ended up doing a Skype audition so I could talk to the producers a little bit and J.B. on the phone and on the Skype.

And then a couple weeks after that they flew me into Toronto for a screen test and a chemistry read with Laura Vandervoort who plays Elena. And then about a week after that I got the good call. And I was a very, very happy boy.

Steve Eramo: Awesome.

J.B. Sugar: Well even before Greyston laid his first audition for Bitten onto tape, the writers and I had a writing room back in...

((Crosstalk))

J.B. Sugar: Yes November of 2012 we were breaking the scripts for the season. And a couple of our writers and our head writer and our exec producer, creator for TV, Daegan Fryklind was working on Motive and an episode of Motive that she wrote was literally shooting while we were in the writing room. And Greyston Holt was a guest star on Motive.

And she literally brought up the dailies when we were in the writing room. And had us all take a look at him. And from right then we were very excited about the prospect of Greyston bringing Clay Danvers to life and...

Greyston Holt: Which still shocks me because like I look back at that episode and I feel like I look younger. I’m like super clean cards and the like nothing like, you know, what we eventually, you know, shaped Clay into being. So it’s amazing that you saw through that.

J.B. Sugar: We saw the beast within.

Greyston Holt: You saw the beast within, yes.

Steve Eramo: And then just follow up for J.B., the pilot episode, the last ep - the first episode drew me right in. Great writing. Great characterizations, everything. And I just wanted to ask if maybe you could talk a little bit about the production of the pilot? What sticks out for you most about shooting that first episode? Anything in particular come to mind J.B.?

J.B. Sugar: Well we had been developing Bitten as a series for a couple of years even before we went into production. And that the first two episodes actually were the first to written.

And we had a really healthy amount of time to work on crafting those. And it’s always a huge task trying to introduce, you know, a huge ensemble cast of characters as well as establish the unique mythology that’s inherent in the other world and Kelley Armstrong’s books.

And I think, you know, Daegan, Daegan Fryklind, our creator and our writing team just did such a great job staying true to the beginnings of Bitten, as well as calling from the mythology that’s present throughout the entire Otherworld series to make for a satisfying pilot experience.

And I don’t know. I mean again back to the visual effects. That was always a big challenge for us in production. So as we were filming the show in filming the pilot episode, you know, that we had all the elements. This beautiful set designed by our production designer Rob Gray and amazing cinematography by Steven Rice.

It seems we were able to really see what the show was going to look and feel like. But one of the biggest unknowns was how these CG wolves were going to look in our place. We’re extremely proud of what’s on screen now.

Greyston Holt: Yes they look really good. I watched it here in Maui last night, or the second half of it at least. And (unintelligible) how did you train the wolves like that? And I’m like well wouldn’t you like to know.

Steve Eramo: Hey thank you again both for your time and for all your hard work on the show. Looking forward to seeing more.

Greyston Holt: All right.

J.B. Sugar: Thank you so much.

Steve Eramo: Take care.

Operator: Our next question...

J.B. Sugar: Great accent.

Operator: Tony Tellado with Sci-Fi Talk. Please go ahead sir.

Tony Tellado: Hi guys, it’s a pleasure to talk to you. Really enjoyed the show last night. Speaking of those roles, can you kind of walk us through the process a little bit about how that came together?

And also one of the things I liked is the Wolf vision too that you have. And especially when she’s like just about to transform. You see the wolf coming out. It’s a very subtle way of doing it. Can you talk about that a little bit? And certainly Greyston give your opinion about that as well.

Greyston Holt: Just so you know, there’s a lot more (unintelligible).

J.B. Sugar: Wolf vision, for lack of a better term, is something we worked on and discussed stylizing early on in the process. And then of course once we shot those shots and took them into the color timing suite, we were able to really play around in kind of subtle on a look and approach for wolf vision.

And the intention and spirit of - and design of those shots really are inspired by the K9 color palette and that the way that K9s see the world and have a bit of an enhanced ability to see at night.

And contrary to popular belief, K9s are not colorblind. They just have - their (rods and) cones are as such that they really don’t see any reds and browns. So we really kind of isolated the blues and yellows and had that in form how our wolves would see when we go into their point of view.

Tony Tellado: Cool. And Greyston, I mean you’re going to be involved for - I guess is it a challenge to kind of keep a level of, you know, of not seeing what’s going on with her so far? Is that going to be a challenge for you? Or does he eventually kind of put two and two together?

Greyston Holt: Sir do you mind repeating that? It’s just, it was a little quiet there.

Tony Tellado: Yes, is it difficult to play this role because you kind of have to, you know, approach it honestly and kind of not know what’s going to be up ahead? And try to play it is honestly as possible when you might have a clue as to finding out exactly what she is and things like that.

Greyston Holt: Yes I mean that’s acting for you, right. You know, you read the scripts. You know the ending, right. I mean I, you know, I definitely didn’t give much attention to, you know, the parts in the scripts that were her (Toronto) lines, because really I wouldn’t know that.

But, you know, I need to know the whole story obviously. So obviously I read all the scripts. And then, you know, it’s just, you know, I just focus on my world at Stonehaven.

And, you know, you try obviously as an actor to just, you know. But these facts that you know in the script. But, you know, that’s just part of acting so.

Tony Tellado: Cool, enjoying it so far guys. And yes, the wolves are really well done. I was really surprised. It’s so hard with CGI, especially with hair. Yet, you know, these wolves look pretty good.

J.B. Sugar: Yes I mean the fur, as you said, you nailed it. I mean fir is one of the hardest things to do in the CGI world and environments. And the technology has evolved so much. And we have such talented artists.

I mean three of our core animators and designers on our visual effects team were on the tiger rigging team for the Life of Pi. And we’ve got some real the effects rock stars behind the scenes working to bring those to life.

Tony Tellado: Well thank you guys.

J.B. Sugar: Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of (Vicki Delango) with (3FI) Space.net. Please proceed.

Vicki Delango: Hi guys. Thanks so much for taking the time today.

J.B. Sugar: Hey.

Vicki Delango: I have to tell you that I am a huge Otherworld novel fan. So seeing this come to life in such an accurate and amazing way last night was just wonderful. So thank you very much.

Greyston Holt: Accurate, I like that. Thank you.

Vicki Delango: It’s true.

J.B. Sugar: It’s just all very, very pleased to hear for sure. We definitely strive to do that.

Vicki Delango: I’m happy to tell you that. And I’m looking forward to seeing more. So of course, that leads me to my question. How much of the books did you read? And did you get a chance to talk to Kelley at all?

And if so, what was one of the amazing things that you really brought out from either reading or talking to her that really helped with either your characterization Greyston or, you know, what you were doing behind the scenes J.B.?

Greyston Holt: Yes, I hadn’t met Kelley previous to filming. I’ve actually just met her last week at a dinner, which was amazing. But leading up to it I read Bitten. And I kind of was skimming through Savage as we were filming a little bit too.

And, you know, you get the (draft) from source material a little bit. But we also take some artistic license and, you know, kind of try to create our own versions of these characters a little bit.

You know, it’s just a suggestive type of thing reading a book and, you know, people’s opinions in your personal opinions. And, you know, and just kind of did my thing. And I, you know, I’m just hoping people like it. So it’s a very contentious subject with bookies so. But yes.

Vicki Delango: In my opinion you’re doing a good job so far.

Greyston Holt: Yes, thank you. It only gets better so.

J.B. Sugar: So having us wealth of material to draw from is such a blessing to have when you’re crafting a new show. And the first season of Bitten follows very closely to the plot of the first novel in the series, Bitten.

And of course there are still some surprises and Easter eggs and new element introduced just by virtue of translating it to a different need him. But we’ve been very conscious of the how loyal and passionate the Kelley Armstrong Otherworld fans are.

And collaborated with Kelley pretty closely during the two-year development material, the period. She had read Daegan’s bible for the show, which kind of outlines the whole first season and character breakdowns and tone and style of the show.

And we’re very pleased to get sanctioned by Kelley. And once we got into production and the (rolls) for running so to speak, Kelley was focused on, you know, her new book series that she was launching. And was very - was peripherally involved once we went production.

But at the same time we felt very confident that she was pleased with the direction we were headed in.

Vicki Delango: That’s great. I’m so happy to hear that. And I can’t wait to see the next episode. Thanks so much guys.

Greyston Holt: Absolutely.

J.B. Sugar: Thank you.

Operator: The next question comes from the line of Sabienna Bowman with TV Equals. Please go ahead.

Sabienna Bowman: Hi guys. Thanks so much for talking with us today.

J.B. Sugar: Hey.

Sabienna Bowman: Okay, my question is Clayton and Elena, they seemed to have parted on bad terms. And I’m not sure how much you can tell us about this without it being (spoiled). But what can you tell us about their relationship, or at least their dynamics of how they interact with each other?

Greyston Holt: Yes, you know, (unintelligible) werewolf and she was turned into this werewolf by myself. You know, I bit her for reasons that, you know, you will find out as the season progresses. They were good reasons and I have good intentions. But, you know, there’s complications in the werewolf world. It’s not like being a human. So it’s not that simple.

But yes, and it was fun. I mean as far as our relationship and, you know, how we were sort of scene. It really played out with the animal side of it. It you know, the scene with dogs is so you don’t (unintelligible) eye contact is huge, right. And we played on them a lot.

And, you know, being very careful and cautious when you approach. And so we played around with that a lot, especially when we kind of first meet each other, you know, just really assessing each other out and feeling their energy and playing off that. So that was really fun.

Sabienna Bowman: Awesome. And J.B. I really enjoyed seeing Elena interact, having like this strong female friendship with her boyfriend’s sister in New York. Will we see that character again throughout the season? Or is she kind of out of the picture now that Elena went back to Stonehaven?

J.B. Sugar: Well that’s Diane who is played the beautiful and talented Natalie Brown. And she will definitely be appearing throughout the season. And one of the things that we’ve done in the series which is a bit of a departure from the book is really blown out the whole McAdams family, which is Philip, Elena’s human boyfriend.

We really worked hard to develop that world so we can really highlight this push and pull that Elena undergoes throughout the first season. Despite her love and affection for Clayton, she also has this desire for normalcy.

And by casting such great actors in crafting such great characters, are writing came - really kind of really helped bolster that dynamic and that push and pull of the two worlds. So I’m so happy that you connected with that Diane character. And that’s definitely something that you’ll be seeing more of throughout the season.

Sabienna Bowman: Well I loved the pilot. And thank you guys both so much.

Greyston Holt: Thank you.

J.B. Sugar: Well thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Simon Applebaum with Tomorrow Will Be Televised.

Man: (Unintelligible).

Simon Applebaum: Yes you guys, it’s Simon Applebaum from Tomorrow Will Be Televised. It’s a radio show that covers television and blog talk radio. And first of all to both of you congrats on last night’s premiere on Syfy and the premiere Friday night on Space (unintelligible) very well.

J.B., two questions for you. First, Kelley was on our - on the Bitten call last week that Syfy did. And the (interesting) thing about what she said was that she has given you basically creative freedom to do whatever you want with adapting her work.

And I’m curious what kind of an impact that had on you and your writers to do the show the way you do. Do you ever get like thoughts and the writers room of what would Kelley do based (unintelligible) or whatever? I’m curious sort of your feelings about getting that kind of creative freedom from Kelley to do the show you want to do.

J.B. Sugar: Well, an absolute blessing to get that kind of freedom from Kelley. But at the same time our intention is to really satisfy the tremendous and loyal fan base that she’s built over the years.

So any time we have that question about what would Kelley do, we are so fortunate to be able to just open up, whether it be Bitten or any of the subsequent novels. Particularly, you know, Tales of the Otherworld and Men of the Otherworld, which really goes back into the back stories of each of our characters and the kind of creation stories of how the relationships were built.

And it’s just such a tremendous resource for us to build upon. And like I said earlier, there’s a lots of little Easter eggs peppered throughout the first season that coal from those later novels and speak to that mythology.

So it is such a blessing to get that kind of that freedom from Kelley. And at the same time, you know, we have her voice always ever present because, you know, she created these characters. And we have the resources to go back and look into the way that the stories are crafted in the motivations for the characters.

So despite the lack of day-to-day involvement, Kelley was always on the forefront of our minds. And even more so the fan base and playing that balancing act of keeping the show grounded in the source material. And at the same time bring something new for fans who are already familiar with the material. And also for fans who are going to be coming to a fresh.

Simon Applebaum: J.B. one other thing, I read your bio. And one of the fascinating things was that you did a show that I was a big fan of called WinTuition. For those of you that don’t know, it was a game show with Marc Summers that the contestants had the opportunity in question and answer format to win college tuition.

And what was it like doing that show? Do you ever think hey, maybe we should try it again?

J.B. Sugar: I was very, very proud of that show. It’s certainly nowhere near as sexy and violent as Bitten. But eight very fun, clean game show concept that was created by myself and my brother Michael Sugar.

And were very proud to have worked with Marc Summers on that. And to bring a chance to get sponsored and scholarships for individuals who wouldn’t otherwise have been able to afford going to University.

Simon Applebaum: Was your brother Mike involved with Bitten at all?

((Crosstalk))

J.B. Sugar: No. Michael is now working on his own new show. He’s got a show he’s in production with with Steven Soderbergh right now for Cinemax called The Knick.

Simon Applebaum: Oh yes, The Knick.

J.B. Sugar: Yes the Clive Owen show. So he’s going to be I’m sure maybe talking to you guys sometime soon about that.

Simon Applebaum: The Sugar brothers are just getting it done. You guys, J.B. great and again congratulations. And hope for a great run.

J.B. Sugar: Think so much. Loved the shout out to WinTuition. Thanks for that.

Simon Applebaum: You’re welcome.

Operator: And ladies and gentlemen as a reminder, you can register for question by pressing the 1-4. Our next question is a follow-up from the line of Jamie Ruby with Sci Fi Vision. Please proceed.

Jamie Ruby: Hi again. I was curious, is there any specific scene that you can think of that you are looking forward to the fans seeing that you can talk about?

Greyston Holt: Oh my God, so many. You know, later on in the series - this one - is that a giveaway? Shit. Damn it. You know, I’m walking on eggshells here.

J.B. Sugar: Well here, while you think about it all talk about one. And maybe it is the same one you were deliberating on. But the origin stories and history that I was alluding to earlier and peppering those in, Episode 5 is one of my favorite episodes.

Jamie Ruby: That’s my dog. Sorry about that.

J.B. Sugar: That’s okay. Maybe there’s some mutts cruising around. But, you know, one of my favorite scenes is the scene that actually takes us to the moment where Elena is bitten into the pack and the circumstances that led to it.

The performances are just fantastic and that whole episode. And it features some of the best and most effective CGI shots we’ve built. And you get to really see Clay in his full wolf form. And it’s just beautiful.

Jamie Ruby: Greyston.

Greyston Holt: I had a lot of fun with, and I guess this is in the books so there’s no spoilers there. But when (hurts the world) arrive finally. And Clay meets Philip. J.B. is that too much?

J.B. Sugar: Sorry, I didn’t even - say that again.

Greyston Holt: When I meet Philip. Is that a spoiler?

J.B. Sugar: Yes I mean it’s - it is in the books. But for those who have not read the books it might be a little bit of a spoiler.

((Crosstalk))

Greyston Holt: It’s a tough line to walk when you know so much about the books. And you’re like, you know. It’s really hard. That’s a really tough question. It’s like asking what your favorite band is or your favorite song.

J.B. Sugar: Was there any moment in Episode 5 that you like to doing the most? Like when you got to go back in time and meeting Elena.

Greyston Holt: Yes, the flashbacks were fun playing and how we met. And, you know, fall in love and that whole thing. So that was fun to play for sure.

Jamie Ruby: Okay. Well thank you so much both of you. Again, sorry about my loud mouth dogs.

J.B. Sugar: Well maybe he’s just protecting you. That’s good.

Jamie Ruby: No, UPS came. Thanks.

J.B. Sugar: Thanks.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Ernie Estrella with BuzzFocus.com. Please go ahead.

Ernie Estrella: Hi guys. Thanks for speaking. I want to ask about whether or not be - how much of this first season will be exploring that year that Elena’s been gone? And from Elena’s perspective as well as maybe some of the other characters like Clay. What’s he doing the year that she was gone?

Greyston Holt: Clay was at Stonehaven. I mean that’s - my loyalty is ultimately to Jeremy. So in this year off I’d be at Stonehaven wallowing in my sorrow and, you know, missing Elena.

J.B. Sugar: Yes, I mean much like the book Bitten, the series starts off very similarly with Elena already being gone for a year. And neither the book or the series really explores that one year period.

There’s a lot of alluding to it and a lot of angst and tension that comes as a result of it. But we never actually flashback and go into the details of what happened within that year period.

Ernie Estrella: Okay. And then in the second episode there’s a lot that you show in terms of building Elena’s relationship with the pack. How much - was there kind of a trick to try to balance that out throughout the season as far as Elena with the pack versus Elena with her life in Toronto?

J.B. Sugar: It’s very much an ebb and flow throughout the entire season. And again, another credit to the great writing and grafting of - that our writers have accomplished with the show.

So some episodes, as you saw like Episode 1, the pilot is probably about I’d say 70/30 Toronto to Stonehaven. Whereas Episode 2 kind of reverses that ratio. Episode 3 pretty much stays within that 70/30 Stonehaven to Toronto. Episode 4, kind of the same. Episode 5 still keeps that balance.

And then later in the season through Episode 6 we’re actually flipping that again and we’re in Toronto a little more. And then towards the end of the season, you know, the two worlds really do collide. So there’s a healthy balance and ebb and flow of Toronto and Stonehaven.

Ernie Estrella: And then for, you know, for Greyston. What was, you know, in terms of trying to portray this romance that you have and in trying to repair that, it seems like your character also has some - I mean it’s all motive.

Could you go may be a little bit more into kind of his, you know, his arc that we’ll see throughout the season?

Greyston Holt: Yes. I mean it’s - it really is this inter conflict between my loyalty towards Jeremy and my love for Elena. And, you know, that comes to the forefront as the series progresses. And I - sorry. Could you repeat the question? Sorry.

Ernie Estrella: Well it just seems that from what we’ve seen in watching the first two episodes, it seems like, you know, your character has obviously this desire to try and get Elena back.

But as well as he has kind of his own agenda as well that might be separate from the pack. And we have like these interesting arc that looks on him. And maybe you can go into your character’s arc (unintelligible).

Greyston Holt: Yes, I mean I don’t really have another agenda. I mean my agenda is to protect the pack and be loyal to the pack. And then Elena, she’s my love, my only and ever love.

But ultimately my loyalty lies with Jeremy. He’s our pack alpha. But, you know, as the season goes on you’ll see that loyalty tested for many reasons. For, you know, mutts and for my love for Elena and then Jeremy.

But yes, as the season goes on, you’ll see this inner struggle that I have to deal with at every turn basically.

Ernie Estrella: Okay great. Thank you.

Greyston Holt: Thanks.

Operator: Our next...

Greyston Holt: Brain fart.

J.B. Sugar: Well that’s a tough one to answer too because there’s a lot of story nuances that inform Clay’s arc that are probably best not revealed at this point too.

Greyston Holt: I was kind of picking my words wisely.

J.B. Sugar: Yes.

Operator: Our next question is a follow up from the line of Tony Tellado with Sci-Fi Talk. Please go ahead sir.

Tony Tellado: Hello again gentlemen. It’s great to talk to you again. What I found interesting is the one thing that Elena has already done in the pilot is that she’s eating a lot it seems. I guess that must be some of the, I guess part of what you have to do as all werewolf or a (safe shift), or whichever way you want to approach it.

If you can’t comment on that little bit. And is that - she was commenting with us when she did the call that she did it in the pilot. And you kept it in. So is that something that’s going to be throughout the series as part of the iconography of it?

J.B. Sugar: I’m very pleased to see how the fan reaction has been to that. I’ve had a lot of women and men for that matter commenting on how that’s a bit of a wish fulfillment like having an appetite like Elena and our other characters have yet remaining assets and (spries) as they do.

It was definitely something we felt an important to explore throughout the show. It’s certainly accented a little heavier in the first couple of episodes. But the appetites, both sexually and dietary our ever present in our Bitten universe.

Greyston Holt: Yes and it’s, I mean it’s just the animal side of it. Everything is just kind of, it’s immediate and urgent, you know, the violence, the fear, the sensual and the sexuality, the hunger. I mean these things are - these are very primal feelings that we have that are really fun to play with.

Tony Tellado: I got to credit you both for, you know, for taking on, you know, the sexuality part of it. And I know you have to walk a line for television. But that’s got to be a challenge in itself to. I mean you have to make it realistic. But you can’t - you can only go so far to.

J.B. Sugar: Yes I mean again that’s paying honor to the eroticism that’s just layered into the Otherworld series. And it really does, as Greyston says, inform the primal nature of our characters. And it kind of goes hand-in-hand.

So it really does work within our world. And it’s organic to our characters. And it’s certainly ever present. But it’s never gratuitous. And we wanted to keep it sexy. We’ve always, even in the early days of developing the show, always intended to maintain a really sexy, erotic and adult kind of show.

Greyston Holt: Yes I mean that’s - J.B. put it well. It’s definitely not gratuitous. It’s just - it just, it’s primal and it’s real and it’s present. And, you know, it’s just the way these wolves are.

Tony Tellado: Cool. I think it’s great so far. I’m really looking forward to seeing what you guys do with it. But I like the look and the feel of the series so far. I think you got something special there.

Greyston Holt: Well thank you so much.

Tony Tellado: You’re welcome.

Operator: And ladies and gentlemen as a final reminder, to register for a question press the 1 followed by the 4 on your telephone keypad.

J.B. Sugar: Register for a question, what does that mean?

Greyston Holt: That’s to get in line I guess.

J.B. Sugar: Oh for the other people.

Operator: And Mr. Monrgenstein there appears to be no further questions at this time. So I’ll turn the call back to you for any closing remarks.

Gary Monrgenstein: Thank you all. Thank you J.B. Thank you Greyston. Thank you everyone. Bitten Monday’s at 10 pm on Syfy.

Man: Thanks guys.

END

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