DUTIES AT RENAISSANCE PICTURES
GETTING THE JOB
BACKGROUND
THE XENA SCROLLS
SEASON THREE
ON-LINE
THE EFFECTS OF THE SHOW

Duties at Renaissance Pictures

BRET RUDNICK:
[01] I notice your title is Production Assistant. This has a ring to me of being shorthand for doing absolutely anything and everything necessary to get the show made. Is there such a thing as a typical day for you, or is it more a case of crisis of the moment at any given time? I think I can guess the answer to a question like how busy is your work?

ROBERT MELLETTE:
[02] My regular credit is Producer's Assistant, a.k.a. Writer's Assistant, a.k.a. secretary. Let there be no doubt, my job description is: Answer the phones; enter the script changes into the computer and make sure there are no version control problems; modem the scripts down to New Zealand; and other secretarial types of stuff.

[03] But, of course, I am an opportunist, so I do much more than that. For the first season and a half, I wrote the ADR, which is the dialogue written and recorded after a show is cut together. I had to quit that when work on THE XENA SCROLLS (#34) started into higher gear.

King Arthur -- oops, Mel Pappas pulls the chakram out of the stone

Getting the Job

RUDNICK:
[04] What is your very first Xena memory? How did you first become associated with the show?

MELLETTE:
[05] A fax came to the wrong number. I had just finished working on the TV show, M.A.N.T.I.S (1994). Not the good pilot by Renaissance [Pictures], but the bad TV show mostly by...someone else. While waiting for another Producer's Assistant job to turn up, I was temping on the Lot at Universal [Studios] in some architectural department...real world stuff. Someone handed me a FAX and said, "This came to the wrong number. Throw it away, would you?" Well, instead of throwing it away, I read it. It was the pattern budget for XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS -- that is a per episode budget -- with a note to Rob [Tapert] saying that this is what they would have to do the show for, since it was a go. In other words...insider information. I had temped for Renaissance before, so I called them up, and forwarded the fax with a note on it asking for a job interview. I got it -- got the job.

Background

RUDNICK:
[06] What did you do before coming to XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS? Have you always been into production or did you train or study for something entirely different? Did you see yourself doing this sort of thing when you were a kid?

MELLETTE:
[07] Actually, I wanted to be Janice Covington when I was a kid. Then I wanted to be an astrophysicist. That lasted until I was a Junior in High School when I took Freshman College level Chemistry. Liking something and being good at it are two different things. I like science, but I am not good at it. I was good at theatre, though. Always had been. I also liked it and still do, so I decided I would give that a shot. After a year at the University of North Carolina Charlotte, a year at North Carolina School of the Arts, and a year off, I finally graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a BFA in Theatre, with an acting concentration.

THE XENA SCROLLS

It has the power to turn myth into history, history into myth

RUDNICK:
[08] There are some fans of XENA who pay close attention to details. It has been noted you got the writing credit for the episode THE XENA SCROLLS (#34). Are you also the author of the Scrolls that show up on the NetForum?

MELLETTE:
[09] Well, let's just say that Professor Marvin and I look a lot alike! There is a reality to the Scrolls that is fun to play with, sort of a WAR OF THE WORLDS for the Internet. I have heard of students using them to defend their arguments in college mythology classes, which I think could be very clever, especially if they compare, say, Homer's version of the Trojan War, to Euripides', to ours...but I digress.

[10] There is a direct answer to your question, and it appears in plain sight on the internet, but so few people take notice of it, which is the way it is designed. I will give you a choice of answers. Either I write them or Dr. Hasson sends me ALL of the E-mail messages, and I go through them to pick out which ones best tell the story.

RUDNICK:
[11] Obviously you are close to the episode THE XENA SCROLLS (#34). What can you tell us about the background and making of that episode? Was this kind of episode planned for some time? Was this something born out of a lot of advance work prior to the show being a reality?

MELLETTE:
[12] The answer to all of these questions is, "Yes." THE XENA SCROLLS (#34) is the second of what may become another signature of XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS as a series, the off-the-wall clip show. The first was THE ATHENS CITY ACADEMY OF THE PERFORMING BARDS (#13). Clip shows are used to help make the shooting schedule work. We have an absolutely terrific producer in New Zealand [Eric Gruendemann], who constantly juggles the shooting schedule in order to make some of the impossible stuff that the writers and producers come up with work. But only so much magic can be done with schedules, so eventually bottle shows (few sets and characters with 5 to 6 days for shooting) and clip shows (even less sets and characters with 4 to 5 days for shooting) are needed to balance out the schedule.

[13] On most shows, this means the characters sit around on the couch and talk about old times, while the fans change the channel. Not so on XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS. Our clip shows have become something to look forward to. After all, how many TV shows get Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Sir Lawrence Olivier, and THE CURSE OF THE MUMMY as guest stars?

[14] As for the production of THE XENA SCROLLS, it was a trip. Originally, we were going to tell the 1990's story of Janice and Mel. Then for various reasons, the story was changed to the 1940's story of their grandparents, also named Janice and Mel. For a brief moment, the story was going to go back to the 1990's, but by then the art department had come up with such neat period stuff that we stuck with the 1940's.

[15] The Scrolls being presented on the web came about in the very early stages of production, before the show was on the air, possibly even before the first episode was shot. From there, it was a natural jump to make an episode out of it.

RUDNICK:
[16] It has been noted you appeared as Mad Marvin at the [January 1997] Burbank convention. Was that really Janis Covington's jacket you were wearing?

MELLETTE:
[17] You would have to ask Marvin. I was sick that day. I told you we look a lot alike.

Janice Covington patiently waiting for a response

RUDNICK:
[18] Enquiring minds want to know just what is the proper spelling of Janis Covington? Whereas her name was spelled Janis in the shooting scripts, Steven Sears in February of this year released a list of proper spellings and it came out Janice. Was that deliberate or just a misunderstanding?

MELLETTE:
[19] The proper spelling is Janice. The name has been in her family for years. I am a terrible one for changing spellings, as I am dyslexic. I still have a Post-It Note from early on with Poteidaia written out on it. And yes, I had to refer to it to type it just now.

RUDNICK:
[20] We have seen other spellings change too, like Perdicas and Perdicus.

MELLETTE:
[21] You should see the scripts before Maggie [Hickerson, XWP Script Coordinator] does the proof reading!

RUDNICK:
[22] Will you be writing future episodes?

MELLETTE:
[23] Don't know. Here's hoping. I know there will be a lot of writing in my future, most of it XENA related.

Season Three

RUDNICK:
[24] What can you tell us on record about the upcoming season?

MELLETTE:
[25] We have got another season coming? Yeah, I guess we do. All I can say is hold on tight, it is going to be a bumpy ride!

RUDNICK:
[26] We have read from other sources that Lucy Lawless may not be too keen to continue after season three.

MELLETTE:
[27] I have not heard that, and I would not put any credence to it.

RUDNICK:
[28] How does the future of the show look to you?

MELLETTE:
[29] Funny that you mention the future. I was just at a conference at the Writer's Guild regarding new media. They mentioned some websites that have TV deals in development, saying that such-in-such will be the first web-to-TV project. After the conference, I quietly corrected them. The Xena Scrolls was the first web-to-TV project. The Future is coming so fast that it has already happened. My future on Xena is going to be working with The Xena Restoration Society -- to do what we can do to pave the way for entertainment on the internet.

On-Line

RUDNICK:
[30] Your online persona is VCU. Does VCU stand for anything in particular?

MELLETTE:
[31] Virginia Commonwealth University. The original plan, which lasted about 2 seconds, was that everyone in the office would use the Xenastaff log-on and then sign with their alma mater. That way we would know who wrote what. Well, I was the first and only person to do it that way, so it stuck.

RUDNICK:
[32] How do you feel as regards the internet and all of the fan activity and interaction that takes place there? Even though fans that have internet access are a small percentage of total viewers, they seem to be very well-connected and in touch about episodes, appearances of actors and actresses in other venues, etc. Does the volume of Xena internet activity have an impact or influence on the production of the show?

MELLETTE:
[33] I will answer your last question first: The internet effects the show the way the wind effects the movement of an iceberg. The wind will blow on an iceberg, but its final vector is going to be affected as much by water currents, rate of melting, size, shape, etc., and of course, several powerful tugboats called producers pushing on it.

[34] As for my general feeling of the Internet, I think it is great. During Lucy [Lawless]'s accident particularly, it proved to be a powerful tool for getting the truth out. In fact, I think that was a model for why more companies should have forums like Universal's. A great deal of attention has been paid to how quickly rumors and lies fly over the web. During Lucy's accident, we proved that the truth can fly just as fast and twice as far *if* a reliable source is already in place and ready to handle a crisis.

[35] Besides, it is a fun thing to do when work is slow.

The Effects of the Show

New Zealand: Where it all started and still goes on

RUDNICK:
[36] Have you ever been to New Zealand?

MELLETTE:
[37] Not yet.

RUDNICK:
[38] Is the pace of production any less frenetic in the trenches than it is back in the USA?

MELLETTE:
[39] Oh, I think it is more frenetic for the crew down under.

RUDNICK:
[40] What impact has the show had on you personally?

MELLETTE:
[41] Well, it has not improved my love life, if that is what you are asking.

RUDNICK:
[42] Nah, we are entirely too classy at WHOOSH! to ask such a thing.

MELLETTE:
[43] But I did buy a car (used, but nice), and am looking for a new apartment, something with a view of the city.

[44] Seriously, R.J. [Stewart, XWP co-executive producer and writer; also see the interview with Stewart in this same issue], Steve [Sears, XWP supervising producer and writer], Rob [Tapert], Liz [Friedman, XWP and HTLJ producer] and Chris [Manheim, writer] are all great to work with, and they have given me a chance to make some headway in this crazy business. I do not believe in "big breaks," but rather a series of small ones. XENA has given me several of those.

RUDNICK:
[45] Has it been a better or worse experience for you than you perhaps thought at first?

MELLETTE:
[46] I think everyone who has ever been interviewed for this show says the same thing and it really is true: This show is great to work on. There is a good chemistry with everyone, and I know that shows up on screen. We are all, collectively, Xena and Gabrielle. New friends who have an adventure to accomplish. That adventure pulls us together, most of the time, and makes us all happy to have been through it.

[47] I should add how rare that is. Television is an unbelievable pressure cooker. A show with bad chemistry in the office or on the set can make everyone's life hell. Also, it is rare to work on a show that you actually *LIKE*. Then you have to spend 10 to 14 hours there a day. NOT fun. But XENA is fun. It's as much fun to make as it is to watch.

RUDNICK:
[48] What, if anything, would you personally like to see changed about the show, the direction it's going, etc.?

MELLETTE:
[49] A Janice and Mel spin off?

Janice Covington and Melinda Pappas making plans for the future