Lost Fan? Middlefan? It's All Gravy

Tonight we've got something special on The Middlecast for both Lost fans and Middleman fans. It's a special guest. Yes. Special. Special.... I wish I could think of another word to highlight the special-ness of this guest without using the word special. I think special is the norm. People just expect the guest to be special, even if they aren't. But this one is, making the guest a proper special guest.

This guest, who will be joining us tonight at 9pm EST on TalkShoe for The Middlecast has written for both The Middleman and Lost. So fans of both shows are encouraged to join.

The Middlecast Episode 5 - With Special Guest Andy Reaser!

In this week's Middlecast we discuss The Flying Fish Zombification with the writer of the episode, Andy Reaser. Listen in as he discusses the show with us and answers some personal questions (NONE about his underwear, however). Listen!

Middlcast Recording Wednesday

The Middlecast is taking a day off, but not a week off. We'll be recording tomorrow (Wednesday) instead of tonight.

Plus, we MAY have a special guest join us. No, it's not my mother.

To join us and chat with us live check out all this info. Keep in mind you don't have to call in if you listen live, you can simply listen or even use the chat room to chat with us as we record. You may also be able to chat with said "guest" if they materialize. :)

See you all tomorrow at 9pm EST on TalkShoe. And if you can't make it then keep an eye on the blog or your feeds for the podcast later this week.

"Lost": Kuroloft's Michael Giacchino Interview

Check out this interview with Michael Giacchino. He discusses his process on scoring for Lost among other things. Thanks to Denise for sending this one in.

Via Kuroloft

Submit Your Questions To Michael Emerson

Lostpedia has scored an interview with Michael Emerson. If you have something you'd like to ask him then submit your questions here asap.

Via Lostpedia Forums

Michael Emerson And Terry O'Quinn Interviews

Thanks to DarkUFO and ODI for getting me the the players for these interviews.


Via DarkUFO


Via DarkUFO

Michael Emerson Audio Interview On Kiss 98.5

Here's an interview Michael Emerson did just before the finale last week.

Via Spicedogs

Michael Giacchino @ Varèse Sarabande's 30th Anniversary Party

Here are some clips which include interviews with Lost composer Michael Giacchino from a recent Varèse Sarabande 30th Anniversary Party:

Wow. Lostpedia <3's Kris White.

Click the image to read my interview, which Lostpedia is referring to. ;)

Via Lostpedia

A Tale Of Two Spoilers

[Author's Note: There are no Lost spoilers contained in this article.]

When, if ever, is it ethical to post detailed spoilers about the biggest plot twists on Lost? I am in no way attempting to answer that question, but I am trying to show that there are seemingly logical reasons for several arguments regarding major Lost spoilers.

Last year, someone by the name of Lostfan108, spoiled the big twists of the Season 3 finale. Andy Page, of DarkUFO, ultimately re-released the same spoilers and, due to the popularity of his website, became the primary source of the material for many readers and other spoiler hunters.

Andy explains his motives:

"They were posted by Lostfan108 directly into an open discussion forum at AICN, without any warning, causing choas. They were then deleted but the cat was out of the bag. Lostfan108 told us we could post them but if we didn't by a certain date he would release them into the wild. We then slowly reposted the spoilers to try and limit the damage and to give people warnings that these big spoilers were about to break. We released them in snippets over a 3-4 day period."

The backlash from DarkUFO's decision is now widely debated. Some claim because of the spoilers the Lost creators backed away from talking to fans over the hiatus. However, Damon Lindelof, one of the creators of Lost, speaking just after the season ended last year, denied that their lack of willingness to talk to fans resulted from the spoilers.

"Honestly, the reason for the silence is we don’t want to tell the audience what to think about where the show is going to be next year."

"Next year" is now, and a similar scene is playing out across the internet. Andy has posted details of the Season 4 finale on DarkUFO and what followed was seemingly a bit chaotic. For example Lostpedia, the popular Lost wiki, was victimized by vandals spoiling other users about next week's finale. They have now locked their spoiler section and prevented new users from registering to the site as defensive measures to prevent the thousands of users that edit the wiki daily from unintentionally being spoiled. Part of this preventive measure, on Lostpedia's part, was due to alerts from DarkUFO that the spoilers were eminent. Unlike last year, the spoiler details were directly released through DarkUFO. Andy told me that this was partly done to help other websites, like Lostpedia, curb people from ruining it for those who did not want to be spoiled.

"I personally would rather Lostfan108 did not release the info at all, but once he does it's not going to stop him. We tried this year to give as much warning to users and fellow Lost sites/message boards to "batten down the hatches" so to speak."

The preventive measures seem to have worked, to a degree, as Lostpedia's actions show. Many Lostpedia users were still spoiled unintentionally, which is something that Andy, from my impressions, would in no way be happy about. Jon Lachonis, "DocArzt" of DocArzt.com, also posts spoilers about Lost on his blog.

Jon told me that as far as spoilers are concerned "If it's been in a preview, it's fair game." That seems to be a very different mantra to that which Andy is using for his choices regarding spoilers. Jon elaborates.

"If you're out there with an exclusive, the only reason you are running it is to enhance your business.  Now what separates something like Star magazine from Entertainment Weekly?   Star doesn't care who they hurt when they publish their exclusives, Entertainment Weekly goes for a more complimentary and collaborative approach."

Notice Jon uses the word "hurt." He again used the word when referring to Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse's opinions of spoilers.

"Those are two very nice guys who are way more geeky about this story than we are, you can hear it in their voices, and who wants to hurt them?  And it does, it hurts them to put so much effort into creating a unique viewing experience for us, and the spoilers just reduce it to a pantomime of what they originally intended."

Jon thinks that the readers have their impressions of the show pre-determined by the opinions that spoiler leakers, in this case Lostfan108, have on an episode.

"It creates a false impression of the episode.  It's like somebody walking into a gallery, looking at a painting, then going and telling someone about it.  They'll have an emotional impression of that person's reactions, and they'll only know the subtleties that he remembered."

Andy and Jon's stances may seem almost opposite, but when you start thinking about the bigger picture they may not be. Both are huge fans of Lost. They each say they love the show more than they've loved any other TV show. At the end of the day, I'm sure they both would tell you they do what they do out of love for the show.

The two have kind words for each other as well. It is my understanding that they consider each other friends, albeit friends with slightly different viewpoints when it comes to spoilers. Neither of their sites simply focus on spoilers. Each have insightful reviewers posting articles about the show. Each have enthusiastic communities that go hand in hand with their sites. And the message boards that accompany these communities have many more discussions about theories, easter eggs and Jater/Skater arguments than they do about spoilers.

Spoilers aren't going to disappear by any means, and the community seems to be evolving with this idea even more as the seasons pass. I wouldn't be surprised if by Season 6 the release of the episode synopsis about the final episode of Lost would be something that was coordinated by many sites, to ensure that those who want to read it can. And those who don't want to read it, don't. Lostpedia's actions this year seem to be a step in that direction.

Is it ethical to post these detailed spoilers? Many will say yes. And many will say no. Either way they exist, and it is up to the community to embrace this fact as elegantly as possible to ensure the best viewing experience for everyone involved.

Interview With Kris White Part 1: Something Nice Back Home

UPDATE: To read Part Two of the interview click here.

Any listener of The Official Lost Podcast knows Kris White. He's the guy who Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, the Executive Producers of Lost, make fun of from time to time.

He also created the podcast, produces it, and does much more. He works in Broadcast Publicity for the Disney ABC Television Group. Podcasts, internet "featurettes" and electronic press kits are all part of what he and his team create to promote the many shows Disney/ABC offers to both fans, casual viewers, and the press.

Kristopher White, 31, spent most of his childhood in Kentucky and always had an interest in art and writing. He was a creative kid. His first grade teacher got mad at him for spending too much time chatting with imaginary friends on the phone. He says this might be why Hurley is one his favorite characters on Lost.

"Creating stories is definitely what I enjoy doing most." Kris attended the University of Southern California Film School (USC) and earned his Bachelors with an emphasis on Production. Kris has a passion for writing and is hoping to get one of his screenplays produced.

Kris was kind enough to take some time out of his busy finale-filled week and do a Q&A with me about him, his job, and The Official Lost Podcast.

Here is Part 1 of the Q&A:

Audibly Lost (AL): You seemed to have a glimmer of many happy thoughts in a recent video podcast for "Something Nice Back Home." So tell me Kris, what's nice back home?

Kris White (KW): “Something Nice Back Home” for me is in Kentucky. That’s principally where I grew up. Though, of course, after I left, my parents went and bought a big ol’ farm with horses and plenty of land to hike and fish on. In other words, they got all the cool stuff after I left. I’m a little bit jealous. But I visit them when I can.

Right now, I live and work in Los Angeles. And instead of riding horses, I get to sit in traffic. Which is about as good, because horses don’t come with satellite radio.

AL: How old are you?

KW: I’m 31. Twice, I’ve recorded podcasts with Damon and Carlton on my actual birthday. But I’ve “neglected” to tell them both times. Not that I don’t want them to sing me an “unapproved happy birthday” song like the one Damon sang to Carlton on his birthday, it’s just I’d rather they be the focus of the podcast, not me. That’s what the fans tune in for.

AL: Since podcasts didn't even exist ten years ago, did your professional goals evolve through childhood and adolescence?

KW: When I went to college, I was starry-eyed. People would ask me what I wanted to do and I’d say, “direct.” I see that response from a lot of kids going into film school. The thing is, at the time, I really had no idea what else there was out there. And the great thing about USC’s film school is they teach you first and foremost to tell stories. Then they force you try on the different hats for the people involved in making those stores, from the PA all the way up to the producer.

As I went through school, my goals did change, and I really felt I started to find my voice and what direction I wanted to go. Right now, I’m still writing scripts on the side and hope to get one of them produced. In the meantime, I’m really enjoying the work we do here at Disney ABC. It’s very creative and requires a lot of the skills I’ve learned from film school onward.

AL: What did you do before working with Disney/ABC? When did you start working there?

KW: Before working at Disney/ABC, I held down a variety of jobs. Everything from being a Production Assistant on sitcoms, to helping other writers hone their scripts in Development. When I started at Disney/ABC in 2004, I never imagined I’d be producing podcasts, featurettes and the like for their shows.

In fact, Lost was my first podcast. It was the one that got the whole ball rolling. At the time, I was managing the tape library to help make ends meet. And I said to my boss, “have you heard of this podcasting thing?” Basically, I told her we had to do a podcast for Lost. It was just an obvious fit for me. Plus, as a writer, I really loved the show and wanted to have any part I could in the creative process. The next thing I knew, I was sitting in a small room with the two Executive Producers across from me producing the first podcast. I was a little more than star-struck. I was quaking in my shoes. These guys were writing g-ds to me.

That concludes the first part of the interview. Stay tuned for the second of three parts, to be released early next week, when we will discuss his job, team at ABC/Disney, other shows he promotes and The "Lost in 8:15 & 4:23" videos among other things.

To listen (and see) Kris White in action check out The Official Lost Podcast and The Official Lost Video Podcast on ABC.com.

UPDATE: To read Part Two of the interview click here.

Podcaster Interview

Prior to the Season 4 finale (part 2) I will be posting an interview with a Lost podcaster. Just who is this person and which podcast is it? Well... I suppose this wouldn't be a Lost-related blog without a bit of mystery and suspense. Stay tuned for the interview. I hope to have it up by the end of this week, though it has yet to be conducted so no promises.

Lost Season 3 Soundtrack Interview: Producer Robert Townson Of Varese

Here's an interview with Robert Townson, a producer for Varese Sarabande. He worked with Michael Giacchino to put together the Lost soundtracks for Seasons 1, 2 & 3 and discusses the Season 3 soundtrack in this interview. Listen @ 39:00 for talk about the new Lost score and how it came together.

Via Varse Sarabande

Official Lost Podcast: Video Podcast To Be Released Friday

According to the last Official Lost Podcast this Friday (April 18th) should bring us a video fan-question podcast from the executive producers of Lost. Let's hope that the people who got their questions answered didn't submit really dumb questions as people in these circumstances tend to do. If nothing else I'm hoping for confirmation that Danielle's story didn't die with her (if she's even dead) in Meet Kevin Johnson. I have heard that the podcast has already been recorded so it is too late to submit questions for the video podcast... but not to late to submit questions for the audio podcast. Oh, and still no word from Kris White.

Darlton NAB Session Info Coming In

Very exciting stuff (minor spoiler warning!):

Some highlight's from this morning's Q&A at the National Assn. of Broadcasters confab with "Lost" stewards Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.

We will find out more back story as to why the late Libby was in the same mental hospital with Hurley, prior to the plane crash, and presumably after she gave her boat to Desmond for the race.

Will we at some point catch up with Emma and Zack, the two kids from the tail section group of survivors who were kidnapped by the Others in season 2's "The Other 48 Days."

To the question of whether we'll ever see Katey Sagal's Helen character (Locke's former flame) again, Darlton indicated that they hoped so.

To the question of whether the DeGroots, the hirsute couple who founded the Dharma Initiative, are still alive, Cuse and Lindelof paused a bit and then pressed for more specificity on the time frame of the question. As of where the time line of "Lost" will be when the series returns on April 24, Darlton would only say: "One of them is."

Lindelof let it be known that in a recent episode when one of the castaways (Locke? Hurley? Sawyer? I can't remember offhand) asked Ben if he knew what the island's smoke monster really was and Ben responded that he didn't know -- big lie. "Ben was lying about the smoke monster," Lindelof said.

And once again, Darlton made it clear that they do in fact have a blueprint for the series, stem to stern, and that "the last scene has been in our heads for a long period of time."

More to come from the sesh, which mostly focused on big-picture business issues and production processes, once I transcribe the tape.

So to re-cap here are the major points:

• More info on Libby in the institution with Hurley.
• More of Zach and Emma to come.
• D&C hope to bring "Helen" back at some point.
• One of the DeGroots is still alive as of 4.09.
• Ben was lying when he said he didn't know what the smoke monster was.
• The final scene of the series "has been in our heads for a long period of time."

Via Variety Blog

Battle In Seattle Trailer And Michelle Rodriguez Interview

There it is folks. :)

Audibly Absent

This week I will not be around to do much posting, but fear not as I have already written more than a dozen items that will be appearing daily on the blog this week. :)

The week will inlcude music from the show, more music from Barenaked Hurley, as well as a few podcast updates/reviews for the few shows actually recording during the Lost hiatus (which ends April 24th.) I also have some news coming up about some actors on the show as well as info on the NAB conference regarding Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.

I will still try and post a few things here and there as they come up, but like I said I have a great line up for this week (as I send my computer to Apple to have some problems with it resolved.)

Feel free to email me or post comments about anything note worthy you find, and see you all next week!

Many Thanks To Al Norton

Al Norton, TV Editor of Boston Now, was kind enough to get back to me about an email I sent him in late March regarding a Michael Emerson interview he conducted. The interview can be found here, and I also posted it over on DarkUFO's Media Mentions section. Thanks again Al!

Taller Not-Ghost Malcolm

Malcolm David Kelly's voice has changed, that much is clear. What remains a mystery is how we will see him re-appear on the show, though at this point I'm guessing it will have to only be in flash-forwards.



Via TV Guide

DarkUFO Commenter Reveals Details Of Matthew Fox Interview

This interview, posted on DarkUFO yesterday, has to be one of the oddest yet most entertaining press junket interviews to come out of the film Vantage Point. The interview was conducted in Germany and the interviewer, Torgen Schneider, was apparently very sick (as in diseased) at the time. He also claims that Matthew Fox had been out all night partying which added more to the uniqueness of the interview. The interview caused a tirade of comments on the DarkUFO post in question. Here is what Torgen wrote about his interview with Matthew Fox in the DarkUFO comments:

Hi, this is the interviewer, Thanks for the mostly kind comments. For those who thought the interview was weird, let me bring some light into this. These so-called interview-"junkets" never give you enough time to really "talk" - they (the pr people) tell you shortly before the interview, how many minutes (average: five to six, Robert de Niro only 1:45, I'm not kidding) each interviewer gets and they warn you not to ask anything but questions about the movie. For this particular interview they gave me exactly 5 minutes and 30 seconds counting down the moment I enter the interview room. What made this interview admittedly look so different to most of my other interviews, was the fact that I was sick that morning and Matt was hun g-over because he partied till 8am, the lucky bastard!! Okay, so then you sit down and as an interviewer you start thinking, how soon can I start asking questions about something other than the movie he is promoting??? In this case my spiking fever made me talk about other stuff right away which caused the pr person in the room to make hysterical signs with her hands and eyes... however, Matt was really nice and we actually went overtime a bit, which I'm sure caused the pr person an almost heart attack because she had to reschedule the day after ONE interview. So, what I'm trying to say is this: I know that little chat looks a bit weird and is probably not my best interview, but considering that I felt and looked like shit and Matt was very tired, it came out okay. If you check the interview I did with Dennis Quaid half an hour later, you will see that was even "weirder" because I was gettng sicker by the minute. So, I hope I could explain the "weirdness" a little and if you want, you can watch other interviews I've done on youtube or myvideodotde. And for the remark that I don't care for LOST - wrong!! I am a BIG Lost fan and I am thrilled season four has me on the edge of my couch again!
Cheers from Berlin, Torgen

For a journalist Torgen should really master the art of not posting large blocks of text. That's quite a paragraph there!