Interview with Aaron Douglas of Battlestar Galactica and The Bridge

Dork Shelf had a chance to chat with Canadian actor Aaron Douglas at FanExpo a few months ago. Douglas, best known to audiences for his work as Chief Tyrol on the acclaimed Sci-Fi series Battlestar Galactica, had just wrapped filming on the new police-drama The Bridge when we spoke with him. We talked about his new show, his work on Battlestar Galactica, what’s on his dork shelf and most importantly who he thought would win in a drunken brawl: the Chief or Colonel Tigh?

For the best viewing experience be sure to hit the 480p button.

The two-hour series premiere of The Bridge airs March 5th at 9 p.m. on CTV.

For more info check out The Bridge at CTV.ca and The Bridge Fansite

Interview with Gareb Shamus of Wizard Entertainment

Local convention fans have been abuzz since it was announced that Wizard Entertainment had purchased the long running Paradise Toronto Comic Con. Wizard Entertainment is a well known quantity amongst dorks, not only for putting on some of North America’s largest comic conventions, but also publishing the popular Wizard and Toyfare magazines. Originally started in 2003 by Paradise Comics proprieter Pete Dixon, the newly minted Wizard World Toronto Comic Con will be Wizard’s first show outside of the United States. Where the original Paradise show was a comic book focused event, the new Toronto Comic Con will be multi-genre event similar to Wizard’s other conventions.

So what can fans expect from the upcoming Wizard World Toronto Comic Con? Jeff recently had a chance to find out in a conversation he had with Wizard Entertainment CEO Gareb Shamus. The two discussed the upcoming Toronto Comic Con, the Wizard World brand and how Wizard is adapting to the changing magazine marketplace.

Listen:  
Download: Dork Shelf Interview: Gareb Shamus (18 MB, MP3, 25:50)

Wizard World Toronto Comic Con runs March 26, 27 and 28th 2010 at the Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place in Toronto. Featured guests include Dollhouse’s Eliza Dushku, Battlestar Galactica’s Kandyse Maclure, Iron-Man artist Adi Granov and Wonder Woman writer Gail Simone. Be sure to check out the official Wizard World Toronto Comic Con site for more details and to see the constantly growing line-up of guests.

Interview with Ubisoft Toronto’s Employee #1

Ubisoft Toronto's Employee#1

We recently had the chance to sit down with Derek Lebrero, Ubisoft Toronto’s Employee #1.  As the public face of Ubisoft in Toronto we wanted to find out more about him: who he was, how he became the first employee of Ubisoft’s new studio, and what he thinks of the Toronto video game scene.

Would he reveal to us the location of  the new Toronto studio?  Would he tell us which triple A franchise the company was bringing to the GTA?  Find out after the jump.

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George Lucas: Maker of Films

The Binary Bansai has unearthed a rare hour long interview with Star Wars creator George Lucas from 1971.  Filmed hot on the heels of his first feature film THX 1138, the piece entitled George Lucas: Maker of Films features a 27 year old Lucas discussing the movie industry, film theory and his hopes for the future with media theorist Gene Youngblood.

Footage of Lucas at this age is extremely rare; it’s even more rare to see the man who would make Star Wars and Indiana Jones being so candid.  You have to give Lucas credit for following through, even in 1971 the guy knew exactly what he wanted: independence from the studio system.  Francis Ford Coppola and Lucas tried to achieve this independence with their company American Zoetrope, but the commercial failure of THX 1138 nearly ruined them. The irony of this failure is of course that Coppola was then forced to make a little film called The Godfather to make ends meet.

They also discuss some of Lucas’s early student films, there is so much potential in them.  While no one can argue that Lucas has been a visionary and clearly been very successful, you can easily make the case that he never lived up to his potential as a maker of films. He hasn’t made an original film since Star Wars; his greatest success, but probably not his best film.  It’s a really fascinating interview, to see where Lucas came from and now to see where he is. But who am I to judge the man, he has made good films (THX 1138, American Graffiti), has his studio independence and has billions of dollars. I recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about the man behind the beard.

Check out the Lucas interview and the excellent accompanying article @ The Binary Bonsai

Or just download the interview directly: George Lucas: Maker of Films (650mb)

Thanks to Peter for the link.