CastleTV.net Special Guest chat
with Castle Producer/Writer Terri Miller
Wednesday October 28, 2009
Terri Miller wrote the episode Vampire Weekend and was invited to chat with fans about the episode and her experience on Castle. More than 50 people attended the chat session which began just after 10pm (Eastern Time) and while the formal part of the session finished about an hour later, Terri generously stayed on for annother hour to chat with fans in an open session.
Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control we lost the final part of the log so there is some discussion missing at the end.
Our thanks to Terri from CastleTV.net and Castle fans for being so generous with her time (and for not being scared away by the mayhem of the open session!) Read the rest of this entry »
CastleTV.net Special Guest chat
with Castle Producer/Writer Jose Molina
Tuesday November 3, 2009 beginning at 8pm PST
Jose Molina wrote the Castle episode “Famous Last Words” and was invited to chat with fans about the episode and his experience on Castle. Around 60 people attended the chat session which began just after 11pm (Eastern Time) and while the formal part of the session finished nearly an hour later, Jose generously stayed on to chat with fans in an open session.
Our thanks to Jose on behalf of CastleTV.net and Castle fans for being so generous with his time (and for not being scared away by the mayhem of the open session!) and also for allowing us to share this transcript with those who weren’t able to attend. Read the rest of this entry »
Jose Molina, writer of the episode “Famous Last Words” has agreed to join us for a special chat on Tuesday November 3rd.
In addtion to writing for and producing Castle, Jose’s past TV involvement includes series’ like Without a Trace and Law & Order SVU but he is perhaps best known for his work on Joss Whedon’s Angel and Firefly as a story editor and writer of the episode Ariel and co-writer of the episode Trash.
The chat session will be on Tuesday 3rd November (are we really in November already??), starting at 11pm Eastern Time (8pm Pacific Time). The rules will be simliar to last time but I will clarify a few things soon. Read the rest of this entry »
Terri Miller, Castle Producer and Writer of this week’s episode “Vampire Weekend”, has generously agreed to join us for a chat session this Wednesday night. “Vampire Weekend” is a Halloween episode and airs tonight at 10/9c.
The chat will begin at 9:30pm eastern time and Terri will join at 10pm. For times in other zones please see the bottom of this post.
There will be some strict rules in place during the session and failure to abide by these rules may result in you being removed for the remainder of the chat session. If you are unsure of any of the rules, please speak to one of the moderators before the chat session begins. These rules are subject to change so please look them over again before the chat session on Wednesday.
Please READ the rules, there is important information you must be aware of.
The chat room can be accessed at www.castletv.net/chat. We look forward to having you join us!
Special Guest Chat Rules
Only registered users can enter the chat room. If you haven’t registered you may do so right away via www.castletv.net/chat
Always remember to be polite to our guest and to others in the room.
Important messages from our moderators may be posted throughout the chat session, these messages will be posted in red. If you see a red message, please take the time to read it as it may contain important information. For this reason, please do not change your text colour during the chat session, all users must use the default black.
There will be two rooms running during the special guest chat session. The Question Room will be for people to submit their questions and the Guest Room will be where the actual chat with the guest takes place (this is different to our usual set up of General and Episode Chat).
The chat room will be open for 30 minutes before the chat begins to enable people to start submitting questions in the Question Room. Our moderators will track all the submitted questions to be asked once our guest arrives.
Once our guest arrives everyone will be invited to move over to the Guest Room.
A moderator will post the questions and our guest will be invited to answer them. If time allows and our guest is willing we will open the floor for direct questions and general chat later in the session.
Think of this chat session as a Q&A with a guest on stage (like at a convention). It is important that when someone is speaking – either to ask a question or our guest answering one do NOT interrupt.
DO NOT send private messages to our guest. Anyone caught doing so will be removed for the remainder of the chat session. Please respect our guest’s privacy.
During the chat session please avoid using smileys as they can be disruptive.
If the guest agrees a transcript of the chat session may be posted to our site after the chat is over.
While every effort will be made to ensure the chat goes ahead we ask you to understand that there may be circumstances under which the chat will be rescheduled.
Technical Issues
We haven’t had the opportunity to test the chat room at high capacity, please be aware that if we have a larger than expected number of people attending this may cause issues with the server. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
There are some known issues you may encounter, please read below carefully.
Internet Explorer 8: If you are using Internet Explorer 8 you must turn on compatibility mode. There should be a button to the right of your browser’s address bar to turn compatibility mode on. This will prevent some layout issues caused by this browser. The chat room seems to work best in Firefox so if you have FireFox on your computer we recommend you use it for the chat session.
Timeouts: There is a bug in the system that causes some people to time out even when they’re active in the chat room. If you see an orange bar with an error message saying you are not connected, please refresh the page. This usually solves the problem.
TIME ZONES: The chat session will be open starting from the following times (half an hour before our guest arrives). USA: Eastern Time 9:30pm, Mountain Time 7:30pm, Pacific Time 6:30pm. UK: 1:30am (Thurs). Australia: Eastern DLS: 12:30pm (Thur)
When I started working on CastleTV.net in April last year, almost a year before the first episode went to air, I never imagined that one day I d be standing on the set watching scenes from the second season being filmed.
Until recently I had no idea that any of the cast or crew even knew about the website so when I was invited to stop by the set to meet the cast and crew during my visit to LA I was both humbled and excited by the opportunity.
When I arrived at the studios I was greeted by John (Writer s Assistant) who took me onto set where I met Terri Miller (Producer/Writer). It was Terri that had arranged for me to visit the set. Terri introduced me to Nathan Fillion (Richard Castle) who greeted me warmly. I had met Nathan very briefly a few days earlier at the San Diego Comic Con so he knew I would be stopping by. We chatted briefly about the set. Nathan mentioned that last year it had been extremely hot on set and this year they were thankful for the improved air conditioning! As it was a hot day and was still quite warm on the set I can t imagine what they had to deal with last year.
I was then introduced to Stana Katic (Det. Beckett) who was as stunning in person as she is on screen. We chatted briefly before she and Nathan were called to film a scene (from episode 2) in the interrogation room. This was the first time I d seen working set so I found it fascinating watching how everything was done. The scene was filmed twice, the second time for close ups and it was interesting watching between filming how everything is measured out with a tape measure to make sure they get the focus points right.
While we were waiting for the shot to be set up I was introduced to some of the writers and crew that were on set. I was especially happy to meet Andrew Marlowe, the creator of Castle. Everybody I spoke to was friendly and warm towards me and never made me feel like I was in the way. While the scene was being filmed I was sitting in Andrew Marlowe s chair and listening through headphones while watching the action on the monitors.
After they finished filming the scene John walked me around the precinct set. The set is pretty much complete and looks just like it does on screen. We walked by Beckett s desk and into Captain Montgomery s office. John mentioned that he thought the family photos in the office are Ruben Santiago-Hudson s actual relatives which I thought was a nice touch. We took a ride in the elevator (ok, well we stood in it, it doesn t really go anywhere) and walked around through the lounge area and kitchen, seeing the coffee machine Castle donated in “Hell Hath No Fury”.
(click to enlarge) The photos above were pulled off my video camera so sorry about the poor quality
After exiting the kitchen John noticed that Seamus Dever (Det. Ryan) and Jon Huertas (Det. Esposito) were nearby and he called them over so he could introduce me. It was lovely to meet them both, they were both terribly nice and thanked me for my work on the site. It was great to be able to meet them face to face after having spoken to them via email and having interviewed Seamus on Skype!
After chatting with them briefly John and I headed over to Stage 3 where Castle s loft is. The set wasn t being used so the lights weren t on but we got to wander around and look at everything and I took a few photos. Unfortunately my camera was acting up so not as many photos to share as I would have liked. We talked about the books on Castle s shelves, it turns out that they re all real books (except the ones by Richard Castle of course) and most of them are mysteries. The thing that struck me most about Castle s loft is how nice it would be to live there! Well, ok, if not for the fact that there s no roof and no bathroom, small details like that! It really is a gorgeous set. The kitchen/living area, Castle s study and Castle s bedroom (which they redress and also use for Alexis room) are all set out just like a real house would be but the stairs don t go anywhere!
(click to enlarge)
While we were checking out the set I chatted with John about his experience working on Castle.
After having a good look around the loft and wishing I could live there we headed over the morgue. I took a couple of photos which included a number of dead bodies.
(click to enlarge)
Jon had something to take care of in the production office so we headed over and while we were there I was introduced to Jose Molina, one of the writers that was added to the team for season 2.
We headed back to the precinct set where they were setting up to shoot another scene with Castle, Beckett, Ryan & Esposito and I had a minute to chat with Nathan about Castle before he was called away to shoot the scene.
I got to sit in Andrew Marlowe s chair again and watch as they filmed the scene. There were several takes this time and it was interesting seeing the slight differences between each take, sometimes it was a dialogue change, sometimes it was a different tone or expression used and I ll find it interesting to see how that scene ends up on screen. The writer of the episode (Moira Kirland) made suggestions as did the director (Dwight H. Little). It was a fascinating hive of activity with people everywhere all going about their individual tasks rushing about and then the call “rolling” goes out and everyone comes to a stop while the scene is filmed.
After the scene was done I had the opportunity to sit down and chat for a couple of minutes with Seamus & Jon. (Seamus is whispering at the end because we needed to be quiet while they were filiming).
I found the visit quite overwhelming. One of the things that really struck me was how wonderfully friendly everyone was. I was introduced to a lot of people during my visit and every one of them greeted me with a smile and a “thank you for visiting” or “thank you for everything you do with the website” (it surprised me how many people knew about the site!). It seems like everyone gets along extremely well and I have little doubt that the people who work there enjoy going to work each day. It was truly an honour to be invited to visit the set and to meet the cast and crew. I have nothing but the highest praise for each and every person working together to bring us such a fantastic show.
Lastly, I d like to say thank you especially to John and Terri for looking after me during my visit, but also to all the cast and crew for being so welcoming.
Background music copyright Marian Call please check out her stuff, she’s awesome!
Castle is moving into full swing for season 2. Preparations for filming are well under way, the first chapter of the companion novel “Heat Wave” is due to hit the ABC website a month from today and the writing team has been assembled. This year some of the writers from season 1 will return and some new creative minds are being added to the pot with a notable inclusion. Read the rest of this entry »
Seamus Dever was recently gracious enough to agree to an interview with us here at CastleTV.net. During the interview we chatted about what “Castle” is all about, where Detective Ryan is coming from, what goes on behind the scenes and we even threw in a little discussion about Shakespeare.
Jon Huertas plays Javier Esposito, the Detective with a sardonic sense of humor in the television series “Castle”. CastleTV.net recently had the opportunity to ask him a few questions about working on the show.
Jon Huertas
When you first heard about “Castle†was it something you immediately wanted to be involved with?
Jon Huertas: Absolutely…When I first read the script, it was apparent this was no run-of-the-mill Procedural cop show. It had life, character and it made me laugh. There aren’t a lot of opportunities to be able to combine all of that into an hour long cop drama…so immediately I knew I had to be a part of it.
Was there anything specific about the character that interested you?
JH: My character, Esposito interested me because he appeared to already encompass a part of me; striving to be good at what he does ( a good detective), he’s protective with a tough exterior but he also has a sense of sardonic humor which seemed to push/encourage the lead (Castle) to play with Beckett even more just to get a reaction from Esposito.
Is there anyone or anything in particular that has inspired you or helped you determine how to play the character?
JH: Man, I have been inspired by so many great actors that I’ve worked with over the years. A few that come to mind are: John Leguizamo, Kurt Russell, Woody Harrelson…These are guys that gave me some of the best personal advice about acting I could have ever gotten. They all basically said to take risks and avoid traps. I think I could could show up to work everyday and just play a cop, you know? But where is the fun in that and what makes that interesting to watch. So I always try to bring something different and I think that’s where the quirky comedy seeps into the police work. A lot of what people see on the show comes from improvised moments that make the cut.
Jon Huertas who plays Detective Esposito in Castle has agreed to join us for a special chat on Monday November 23rd.
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