Josh Becker: Q & A

Name: Nativeblood66 - Tim
E-mail:
Date: 5/20/13

Good Morning Josh :

It's interesting sometimes to note how vicious some people will get with their comments on here. I guess the dynamic exists of being able to hide behind the keyboard. I've watched all the Spine Chillers episodes and have found them all entertaining in their own groove so to speak. You guys have done a great job putting this together on a super tight budget. I think even after you stated up front that the budget wasn't there perhaps some were expecting a Hollywood quality outing or something. It looks like to me you guys were having fun with it and that's part of what it's all about. Just keep plugging Josh. Rome wasn't built in a day. One tech question for you. It refers to a segment in "Frontier" starting at about 8:20. The blue lighting,reminiscent of the Exorcism scenes in "The Exorcist", was pulled off how? Filters? Actual blue lights? That particular lighting lends to a feeling of uneasiness and I find it interesting. Have a great day Josh. Tim

Dear Tim:

Thanks for the encouragement, it's always appreciated. I think we may have already found our groove, and as I've mentioned several times, the next three episodes are a quantum leap ahead. The key was to just get this machine up and running, which we have. Regarding the blue lighting in "Frontier Style," that was achieved with blue gels on the lights. I believe the DP's concept was to put you in mind of "Blue Velvet," not that that film was lit in blue. I think Paul Harris' performance really kicked ass in that scene.

Josh

Name: CELKali
E-mail:
Date: 5/20/13

Dear Josh :

I'm in film school at the moment, hopefully going to major in screenwriting next year. I say hopefully because my teacher seems to really dislike my writing style, and that's seriously dragging me down. My question (more of asking for opinion) here is, what do you think is more important in screenwriting: A flat but specific and easy to follow script, or a wordy script that leaves a lot of interpretation for the actors/director/etc.? I'd rather hear from someone who's actually written and filmed their stuff than what I get in school. I mean, this teacher is really making me feel like a terrible writer, and making me hate doing it, too. Also, just saw Lunatics and loved it. I read the script here on your site and it was great.

Dear CELKali:

It's a shame you have such a crappy screenwriting teacher. Writing screenplays is one of the great joys in my life, and the process ought to be a joy to anyone who does it. I disagree with the word "flat," but "specific and easy to follow" is the way to go. There's no reason to get too wordy in the descriptions, nor, as I constantly see in other folks scripts, is there any reason to describe how it ought to be shot, which is not the domain of the screenwriter. Regarding the dialog, I put in every single line I think the actors should say. That doesn't mean that if it actually gets shot the actors, with the director, won't improvise to some extent or another, but, once again, that's not the writer's issue. I say state the action as simply and clearly as possible. "INT. LIVING ROOM -- NIGHT Frank and Olivia sit in the living room talking." Then we get the dialog. Why make more out of it than that? Good luck.

Josh

Name: Justin Hayward
E-mail: justinhayw@gmail.com
Date: 5/15/13

Hi Josh :

Why do all the main characters in the Spine Chillers episodes talk to themselves explaining everything they\'re doing? Is that a motif you all are exploring? And if so, why? Thanks

Dear Justin:

I detect a note of sarcasm in your question. No, it's not a motif, it's a coincidence. I just had to do a quick mental review of ep #4, and it doesn't occur in that one, nor in ep#5.

Josh

Name: Francie
E-mail:
Date: 5/14/13

Hi Josh :

Are you going to be at Motor City Comic Con this year?

Dear Francie:

No. I stopped doing the conventions because I never made any money at them and generally lost money. If you're a big enough bigshot to get an advance, then it makes sense. If you're just selling DVD-Rs, posters and stills, as I was, it just didn't work out.

Josh

Name: Kelly
E-mail: Mahar888@gmail.com
Date: 5/13/13

Dear Josh :

Don't worry about the quality of the first couple being less than stellar (do you REMEMBER the first Simpson's episodes?), the important thing is that they will get even better with time, resources, and experience. I enjoyed the first episodes and oddly enough, I think Paul Harris is a natural in front of the camera. I'm serious. You should use him more. Keep up the good work!

Dear Kelly:

Paul has the starring roles in both ep#4 and #5. It's funny that you bring up the first season of "The Simpsons" because so have we quite a few times. All the characters looked weird and sounded weird, and it wasn't until the second season that they straightened things out. I wrote the story for the very first Xena episode shot "Chariots of War" (although it wasn't shown until #3 or #4) and there wasn't even a Gabrielle character yet. Most shows take some time to get things figured out. I'll make sure to tell Paul what you said.

Josh

Name: JesseMartin
E-mail: jmartinez1992@gmail.com
Date: 5/13/13

Dear Josh :

So your episode of SPINE CHILLERS was pretty good up until the twist. How is it possible that the man had not heard about his ex-girlfriend, who lives in the same town, or one town over, hanging herself just five years prior? Especially if his current girlfriend had heard about it, don't you think she would have mentioned, "Hey, your ex killed herself today."

Seems like way too big of a stretch to believe.

Dear JesseMartin:

SPOILER ALERT. As I've mentioned earlier, the character of Leigh is based on a girl I went out with in high school who actually did kill herself. I didn't find that out until quite a bit later when an old friend happened to mention it. You'd have thought, given that she was my old girlfriend, that someone would have told me earlier, but they didn't.

Josh

Name: Weird Hal Blumberg
E-mail: hal@mexicodirect.com
Date: 5/13/13

Dear Josh :

Watched your episode of "Spine Chillers" (will watch the rest later). (Spoilers within, so nobody read this if you haven't watched yet.) I thought it was a good story and the actors had charisma. The only real quibble I had was that the transition between Chad getting stood up at the bar and Beth's return was a little confusing to me as I didn't remember what Chad's car looked like so I assumed that was him returning to his driveway from the bar, and wondered why it was suddenly daytime (so I rewound the video to see if I was remembering correctly that the previous scene took place at night, to see if this was a continuity flub). That reaction could be totally idiosyncratic on my part, though. I think the story had some extra resonance for me because I recently met a woman I hadn't seen in 20 years and was waiting for her looking over my shoulder at the entrance in the exact same way (though fortunately I was only drinking coffee and she did show up). It also seemed to me that the story had a nice melancholy feel to the ending. It wasn't just a cheap gotcha because it resonates with how we leave behind people we might have connected with and often never quite know what happened to them. There was a bittersweet sadness to the idea of the spirit of this woman who died in mental and emotional suffering being touched by him reaching out to her. Felt like a nice commentary on life rather than a meaningless scare.

Dear Weird Hal:

Thanks for the interesting and insightful comments. I've been stood-up enough times in my life to understand what it feels like. Regarding the cars, you see her car first when she leaves and it's a white Toyota, then you see him go to the bar in a blue PT Cruiser, so I felt from a directorial stand point that it was sufficiently set up.

Josh

Name: CDC
E-mail:
Date: 5/13/13

Dear Josh :

I thought your episode of "Spine Chillers" was solid. I wanted to relate a personal experience in response to the premise of this episode (which has something to do with the twist so SPOILER ALERT to those who haven't watched Josh's episode): long after high school had ended, and single like your protagonist, I found my old notebook of hand-written phone numbers. There was an elusive, statuesque beauty who was always kind to me, who I even kissed once, but whom I hadn't thought of in many, many years. When I saw her name and her number I gave her a call, and while I didn't reach her, it was her old house's landline so I did reach her mother, and the girl had committed suicide. Did you go through a similar experience, or was this an idea you came up with yourself? In any case, what I went through made your tale all the more haunting.

It was a little rough visually, but I thought that was intentional in most cases, and you also had some very nice, wide long shots in there and it

Regarding the music, it doesn't "suck" the one guy below me said. It is, however, a very different approach than I was expecting from Joe. It's a combination of hard rock and ambience. Not a direction to sneeze at, but perhaps not the expected approach.

Your episode was definitely the best of the three, but the others were fun. Please keep this up.

Also - does Jessika Johnson have a modeling page? I wasn't able to find one but I was thinking either you or the Tres Hombres know. Of course she's a babe, but I'd be pressed to assume that she's not out there doing commercial modeling of some sort.

Dear CDC:

Glad you liked it. Interesting that you had a similar experience. I've had several and then I'm not sure if I should erase or cross out the late person's from my phone book. Jessika can be found on Facebook as Jessika Alaura, and yes she is a model and there are some great shots of her.

Leigh Henderson is actually Leigh Anderson and we went out in Junior high school. I've written of her before and you can read a bit of her story in my book, "Going Hollywood." But yes she did kill herself which I didn't find out about until quite a bit later when my friend Jim said, "Hey, did you hear? Leigh Anderson killed herself." Everybody doesn't always find out everything right away, or even soon. But anyway, it's a story.

Josh

Name: Brian Dotan
E-mail: bd4567@hotmail.com
Date: 5/13/13

Dear Josh :

Wow. I just wanted to write in and tell you how "spine chilling" your short film was. It was really ominous and creepy. I like how you didn't go for the cheap scare. What is the current schedule like regarding future episodes? How many have you written at this point? Also, how much input do you "hombres" have on each other's pieces? One final question...why did you leave Ernest Borgnine out of your logo???? Is Bruce Campbell the unofficial fourth "hombre"?

Thanks,

Brian

Dear Brian:

I'm glad you got your spine chilled. I've written at least eight other scripts. We hombres decided up front to stay out of each other's way regarding the scripts. And since there are tres hombres, but four in the wild bunch, someone had to go. As we've rationalized it, Paul Harris is Warren Oates since both of them are from Kentucky, Chris Dinnan is Ben Johnson because he has the thick black beard, and I, of course, am Wlliam Holden, which doesn't make me in charge, but I did come up with the whole thing. Bruce isn't part of Tres Hombres beyond that he'll appear in an upcoming episode. Regarding future episodes, ep #4 is nearly done--it's shot and cut and just needs some tweeking and to be scored--ep#5 is half-shot and ep#6 is being written.

Josh

Name: Diego
E-mail: diegiedo@gmail.com
Date: 5/13/13

Dear Josh :

With 159 or so hits after several days of play, I don't think you're going to be needing that bank account, mate.

I remember someone writing in when you first announced this venture and they asked what your release/promotion strategy was. You didn't have much of an answer, said Bruce Campbell was going to tweet out the link. Did you just expect that when you release something on youtube, people are able to find it on their own? Do you have any idea how crowded the world of web series is? You need a publicist and a social media expert if you hope to get anyone near your project. Probably also an aggregate site, something like Funny or Die that can promote your video (that would certainly not be right for Spine Chillers, but something of that ilk.) Unfortunately, the product you put out is inferior to what's on sites like Crackle and Funny or Die - quality wise - so no one is going to flock to see it.

Dear Diego:

You may be right. Who knows? We do have a plan, however, that will go into effect once we have six episodes posted. That's when Bruce Campbell will tweet about the show and the EPK will go out to everybody. The reasoning is that we believe having gotten our machine up and running with the first three eps, the second batch is turning out better. Also, we're just going to keep making these things no matter how many hits we get. The process is the point.

Josh

Name: Jim K
E-mail:
Date: 5/13/13

Dear Josh :

Hey, enjoyed the first episode. Nice to see some locations obviously not California or New York. The final little beat was effectively humorous/creepy. Good luck with it.

Dear Jim:

Thanks. Michigan is a great location, and a nice place to live.

Josh

Name: Russ
E-mail:
Date: 5/13/13

Hello Josh :

Roadkill was great. That one really reminded me of Twilight Zone. A lot of suspense. Is that really a true story? The hysterical woman was very funny in this one.

Hello Russ:

It was certainly the most complicated of the first three episode. The hysterical woman, Carol Ilku, my former girlfriend and very good buddy, is also the associate producer of the series.

Josh

Name: Nick el Ass
E-mail: therealnickelass@yahoo.com
Date: 5/13/13

Dear Josh :

Congratulations on Spine Chillers & especially "Sorry I couldn't Make It." It was well worth the wait. I really got a kick out of the cigarette frowny face thing... mostly because I have been there before.

Dear Nick:

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. The cigarette frowny face was an improv by Chris Dinnan. As I've mentioned, the next episode, which I wrote and directed is about 75% done, so it shouldn't be a very long wait.

Josh

Name: Justin Hayward
E-mail: justinhay@gmail.com
Date: 5/10/13

Hi Josh :

Very interesting work on Spine Chillers. Were there any films in particular that inspired, "Sorry I Couldn't Make It"? And if so, what were they? I did notice the sound dropped out a few times. Was that a consequence of the ultra low budget? Did you have a sound editor? Thanks and I'm excited to see more.

Dear Justin:

My inspiration for that episode was "Twilight Zone," specifically the episode about the old lady who keeps getting calls at night and then you find out the phone lines are down and the wire is running directly into the grave of her late husband. I haven't seen that in maybe 40 years and though I could look up the title I'm simply too lazy. But Richard Matheson is my main inspiration for this show. Regarding the sound, that was entirely recorded with the little mike on the DSLR. By the time you get to "Frontier Style" we actually has a sound man and a boom operator.

Josh

Name: Russ
E-mail:
Date: 5/10/13

Hello Josh :

Pretty good stuff on the two videos. I liked the first one the best. Is that your PT Cruiser in both? Will it be in all of them like Sam's Delta 88?

Dear Russ:

Yes, that's my PT Cruiser and it's already in another episode, but I'm not nearly as attached to it as Sam is to that silly Delta 88.

Josh

Name: Elise
E-mail: elise-holmes@hotmail.com
Date: 5/10/13

Hey Josh :

I got around to watching both episodes of Spine Chillers today and I enjoyed. I've spread the word around on my Evil Dead blog and a few other places since more people definitely need to know about it. I'm also currently reading The Egos Have Landed: The Rise and Fall of Palace Pictures, but when I finally finish this book since I'm a slow reader, I have Rushes here to read next. I bought it awhile back but I had already started the last book by then. I did cheat however and read a few things in it and I already know that I'm going to fall in love with this book. Looking forward to it.

Dear Elise:

I really had to think for a second about who is/was Palace Pictures. Then I remembered, "Oh, yeah, they released 'Evil Dead' in England." Anyway, once you've read "Rushes" please write back with your thoughts and impressions.

Josh

Name: Nicholas La Salla
E-mail: nicholaslasalla@yahoo.com
Date: 5/10/13

Hi Josh :

I am thrilled to see the Spine Chillers online. I write for the up and coming blog, Forest City Short Film Review, and I'm going to be posting a review soon. I'm a long time fan and I was hoping to maybe exchange some questions via e-mail for an exclusive interview to appear alongside my review. Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon! Best, Nicholas La Salla Forest City Short Film Review http://forestcityshortfilmreview.blogspot.com

Dear Nicholas:

I would be more than happy to answer you write me.

Josh

Name: Daniela
E-mail: cox@hawinkels.de
Date: 5/10/13

Dear Josh :

I sort of like Spine Chillers episodes so far. At first I was a little put off by some of the cinematography and the acting, but then I came to realize that it sort of satirizes on some TV formats, like scripted reality. And yet there are these shots that show that you most certainly know your craft. I also love the wry sense of humour :D. Daniela

Dear Daniela:

Thanks. They were all shot on a shoe string and I know it shows, but we got the series off the ground which is the important thing. And, as I've mentioned before, they get better and more interesting as they go along. At least I think so. Episode #4, which is shot and cut (though it needs a bit of recutting), will be ready very soon. Episode #5 is half-shot and is entirely different than the previous episodes. We all knew that this series wasn't going to start right off with a big bang, but we're hoping that what we've done is interesting enough to keep people tuning in as the new episodes keep coming. Anyway, thanks for watching.

Josh

Name: lou
E-mail:
Date: 5/06/13

Dear Josh :

thank u 4 finally posting spine chillers! i can't believe it has finally arrived. i just watched ur episode and havent had a chance 2 watch the others yet. ur episode was amazing. its good 2 have u back josh.

Dear lou:

I truly appreciate your kind words.

Josh

Name: Ryan V.
E-mail:
Date: 5/06/13

Dear Josh :

Duuuude. Loved the first couple of Spine Chillers. Especially your episode. It was really creepy and well done. Some amazing shots in there like out of a Hitchcock movie. The other episode was much weaker. Who is that actor who starred in both? He is not very good. Looks like he is Sam Raimi's twin cousin. And the music sucks, it is the weakest link. You should use some Skrillex or something next time. When will the next episodes be posted, including the next one that you directed? I think the other guy could take some tips from you. Who was that chick though? She was hot. Ryan

Dear Ryan:

Thanks for your comments.

Josh

Name: Diego
E-mail: diegiedo@gmail.com
Date: 5/06/13

Dear Josh :

I got 5 minutes into the first episode of SPINE CHILLERS directed by you. How is it possible that someone who is as particular and sophisticated and experienced and critical and has SUCH GOOD TASTE in most films...HOW IS IT POSSIBLE that such a horribly shot, poorly edited, poorly sound-recorded piece of amateurish web junk could come from YOU - a true cineaste if there ever was one? It is simply baffling that even with the no-budget model, that is the best quality you could come up with. Now I'm not AT ALL criticizing your writing, which seemed to be fine...but when your cinematography, editing, sound, and composition are so undeniably shoddy, it's impossible to see beyond it. I'm sorry dude, I was really looking forward SPINEC CHILLERS as a fan, but even on a web-level exercise, you have GOT to put more into it than that. Always your fan, Diego

Dear Diego:

Thanks so much for your comments.

Josh

Name: LolaFalana
E-mail: notyourordinarygrandma@gmail.com
Date: 5/05/13

Dear Josh :

Why can't you start a bank account again? I thought that just took money and ID.

Dear Lola:

Apparently we can. They turned us down with our DBA, but we went live anyway.

Josh

Name: CDC
E-mail:
Date: 5/05/13

Dear Josh :

There's an idea! Get Tori Black for a future episode of "Spine Chillers."

Dear CDC:

No, I've got a perfect part for Tori Black in this script I'm writing. The Russian keyboard player, Maria.

Josh

Name: Stan Wrightson
E-mail:
Date: 5/02/13

Dear Josh :

I can't wait for SPINE CHILLERS. I love horror and I'm eager to see your take on the genre. I just re-read your essay READING BOOKS. Like all of your writing, it's terrific. What have you been reading lately?

Dear Stan:

I've been reading "Plain Speaking" by Merle Miller, which is an oral biography of Harry Truman, one of the great people who ever lived. He was the Kwisatz Haderach. There has never been anyone since Harry Truman who spoke their mind so plainly. What he liked he liked; what, or whom, he didn't like, he was perfectly happy to tell you. As an example, he only refers to Eisenhower as "that fella that followed me in the white house," and Truman couldn't stand him and referred to him as "a coward."

Love,
Josh

Name: lou
E-mail:
Date: 4/30/13

Dear Josh :

wtf already? where is spine chillers? at least give updates if u r going 2 fuck us over.

Dear lou:

I agree, WTF? We have three completed episodes and a fully built website. We have a fully-shot fourth episode, and we just shot ep #5 this weekend. Yet somehow the button won't get pushed. We attempted to open a bank account yesterday, and though we have a DBA, we didn't have a federal tax ID number, thus no bank account. Now Paul's going out of town for a month. We don't actually need him here to start this, but we still can't start the fucking bank account. That's what's going on.

Josh

Name: Bob
E-mail:
Date: 4/29/13

Dear Josh :

Did you ever hear of a 1959 West German movie called Stalingrad: Dogs do you want to live forever?

Dear Bob:

Never heard of it. I did just see "Downfall" with Bruno Granz, which was terrific if you like a dramatic arc that goes straight down.

Josh

Name: Justin Hayward
E-mail: justinhay@gmail.com
Date: 4/29/13

Hi Josh :

Do you still feel the same about some of the films you literally smashed in your old reviews on this website? I'm curious about all of them, but I'll ask you specifically about "Saving Private Ryan". After your years of experience and exposure to the hollywood system, would you acknowledge (In my humble opinion) the superior craft of photography, performance, and writing behind "Saving Private Ryan"? Or do you still think its a crummy film? Thank you.

Dear Justin:

It's a great first twenty minutes, then none of the rest of it makes any sense. General George C. Marshall never said, I know this is the D-Day Invasion but save that guy because his brothers died, which is the whole plot of that film. It's asinine, and it didn't happen. I do not forgive it its trespasses.

Josh

Name: CDC
E-mail:
Date: 4/22/13

Dear Josh :

Do you have any favorite pre-code Hollywood movies?

Dear CDC:

I quite like "Babyface" (1933) where Barbara Stanwyck sleeps her way to the top of a company, bypassing young John Wayne along the way because he's just a secretary. I just watched "Eskimo" (1933) which has a crazy, wonderful sexual code for the Eskimos, who have their wives fuck visitors, as long as the husband says it's OK. If they haven't given permission then all hell will break out. Excellent stuff.

Josh

Name: Trey Smith
E-mail: vgntrey@gmail.com
Date: 4/19/13

Dear Josh :

Any chance you'll ever post "Film: The Lost Art" online? Maybe free or as a cheap PDF or Kindle file for sale? I'd like to read it and I'm sure others would as well! And fantastic cover art, by the way. Hope all is well, looking forward to "Spine Chillers." -Trey

Dear Trey:

Every essay and review in it is or was on the site. It's all just a bunch of negative essays and reviews that don't fit together all that well. As I said, the best thing about it was my cover art.

Josh

Name: CDC
E-mail:
Date: 4/19/13

Dear Josh :

Whatever happened to that book you were writing called "Hollywood: The Lost Art" or something of the ilk? Will you ever post one of the earlier, more r-rated drafts of "Lunatics" online? It sounded interesting from your description, with Nancy being the phone sex operator. I saw "Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except" for the first time, and just speaking strictly of the script, boy did it move. Very refreshing to see a legitimately well-paced low budget film. I wonder if any of the soundtrack labels have ever expressed interest in release LoDuca's orchestral score? I can see it now - "Thou Shalt Not KIll... Except" the complete score, plus suites from other Josh Becker films ;-) You have a lot of admirers and we're all looking forward to your latest work. That script you're writing sure sounds promising. Crossing my fingers you get to direct it!

Dear CDC:

Thanks for the kind words. Yes, a record company called La La Records expressed interest in releasing a CD of all of Joe's scores for my films, but alas, it never came to be. Meanwhile, I wrote "Film: The Lost Art," but it was mainly a lot of bitching about bad movies so I didn't pursue it's publication. I did, however, like my cover art for the book, which I include. Regarding earlier drafts of "Lunatics, I have every draft on paper, but the ancient floppy disks, which can no longer be accessed, don't exist. Therefore, I'd have to scan the scripts into the computer, which I certainly don't feel like doing.

Josh

Name: Peter Siegel
E-mail: peteyseegs@gmail.com
Date: 4/19/13

Dear Josh :

Fair enough regarding your answer to directing more of Xena and Herc, but how do you explain Jack of All Trades? You say you were more instrumental and yet guys like Chris Graves and Charlie Haskell had two times the amount of episodes you did. I\'m not look to instigate a fight I'm just saying it doesn't seem right for them to not give you more work. Even now. You\'re a childhood friend. I mean, they keep putting Bruce and Scott Spiegel in their movies!

Dear Peter:

I was the only American director to work on "Jack Of All Trades." American directors cost four times as much as New Zealand directors, with first-class flights, car rentals, per diem, etc. Meanwhile, I'm not an actor and don't want to be in anyone's movies. What those guys think is right or is not right hasn't got a damn thing to do with me. You can't play off childhood friendships your whole life.

Josh

Name: CDC
E-mail:
Date: 4/18/13

Dear Josh :

Also, never saw this linked on here, but the very positive review of "Lunatics" by Kevin Thomas is online: http://articles.latimes.com/1992-02-21/entertainment/ca-2428_1_low-budget

Dear CDC:

Yes, that was a wonderful review and my vindication at the time (as were the other, mostly positive, reviews). "Lunatics" was sold to Columbia Tri-Star before is was finished being edited, then went straight to video. The producers were perfectly happy with the deal. I was aghast, so I arranged the screening in L.A. Kevin Thomas's half-page positive review made it all worthwhile, although I still didn't get a theatrical release.

Josh

Name: CDC
E-mail:
Date: 4/18/13

Dear Josh :

I am looking very forward to "Spine Chillers" and anything else you do. How is Joe LoDuca's score coming along? Does the series have theme music? And as a complete aside just because I'm really curious: do you have any favorite movies starring Myrna Loy?

Dear CDC:

I love Myrna Loy. My favorite is "The Best Years of Our Lives," but I also like: "The Prizefighter and the Lady" (with World Heavyweight champ Max Baer giving a very good performance), "The Thin Man," "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer," "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," "The Red Pony" and "Cheaper By the Dozen," to name a few. Meanwhile, Joe's music is coming along fine and yes, there is a cool main theme.

Josh

Name: Steve
E-mail: mccoolster@yahoo.com
Date: 4/17/13

Dear Josh :

What do you make of the people who visit this site? Seems like a mix of people you know (or knew), maybe a handful of regulars, and then random passerbys who like to razz you or push your buttons... How do you think the jackasses find your site? For the record, I'm a long-time reader, first time writer. Thanks, Steve

Dear Steve:

Welcome, sir. In its heyday there used to be hundreds of regulars. Way back when, when I said that I didn't think that Xena and Gabrielle were gay, I got hundreds emails calling me a homophobe. But alas, unless I'm working on something that folks can actually watch my popularity wanes. Honest-to-god, "Spine Chillers" will be on very soon. I'm also writing an absolutely wonderful script that could possibly get produced, hopefully with me directing. But of course, that remains to be seen.

Josh

Name: Peter Siegel
E-mail: peteyseegs@gmail.com
Date: 4/17/13

Dear Josh :

I feel like Sam and Rob gave you the reins on Hercules or Xena and then sort of took them away. Why didn't you become showrunner or series director? Or at least have MORE episodes to direct...not to bite the hand that feeds or anything, just a question, but were they unhappy with your work?

Dear Peter:

If they were unhappy with my work they wouldn't have kept hiring me. I was the only director who made it all six seasons on "Xena." I believe that I was the only American director to get hired after the fourth season. Meanwhile, I was never given "the reins" of those shows for a single second. Rob Tapert was always the boss and completely in charge. Also, I'm not a show-runner, which they already had, nor were there any series directors. I had a bit more to do with "Jack Of All Trades" because I directed the first two episodes, so I sort of got to set the tone (when I got the script Jack was British and Emilia was French). As an aside, I just saw the "Star Trek" prequel, written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orcci, who wrote "Jack Of All Trades," and co-starring Karl Urban as Bones, who I directed in "Xena."

Josh

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