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By
Suzanne
 
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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