Painkiller Jane: Creator Jimmy Palmiotti's blog on SCIFI.COM

Last week Amanda Conner and I were in Monte Carlo for the 47th annual television festival, guests of the fine people of Starz media: http://www.tvfestival.com/. Got a lot to talk about there but going to go backwards a bit to last night and back track a few events in my life.Amanda & Kristiana on Boat

We went to the premiere of Live Free or Die Hard at radio city music hall in new York city last night. It was the red carpet premiere and all the actors and the director were on hand to introduce the film. I am a big fan of the action film genre, especially where Die Hard is concerned, so I was really looking forward to this. After a few hours of getting everyone packed into this gigantic theatre, the cast came out, said hello and then the lights went down. Man, not a person in the house was disappointed. The film delivers as the best action film of the summer and I think, after the first Die Hard, Its as good as the second film and much better than the third. It was a non stop adrenaline ride all the way that didn't let up to the final credits.

Amanda and I were lucky enough to get invited to the after party [ thanks to the beautiful Kim lane at Nike] where we ran into an old friend Kevin Smith and his wife and his usual crew of buddies. Kevin and I go way back to when Joe Quesada and I used to help him with his Indy films supplying artwork and even setting up our old comic booth to help him shoot scenes from Chasing Amy. Kevin and I talked about his role in the film and caught up on a few things. We also ran into another fellow comic creator frank miller. We talked about his latest film he is working on called The Spirit and mostly how the weather is in Vancouver. Frank is shooting his film there…which is where Painkiller Jane is shot , if you didn't know. The after party was first class all the way filled with cast, crew and local nyc celebrities…and us for some unknown reason. Lol.

Earlier that week I had the unfortunate task of putting my cat Frankie to sleep. It was heartbreaking. This cat was at least 15 years old and a great little gal that Amanda and I taken care of for a long time. I got the kittens as a pair, two sisters, and bought them for an old live in girlfriend for Christmas. the girl split and the cats remained in my care, which at first sucked, but then was ok, since I loved these little characters. Her sister Johnny died like 5 years ago, but Frankie hung in there, diabetic and all , till this week. The cat had been having episodes where she would literally zombie out and walk around the room, her eyes dilated, and try to climb the walls. This would last for like 15 minutes and stop and only happened a few times a year. Well, this week, she appeared sick and tired and started to convulse and we brought her to the doctors and they said she was ok. Later that night, she got really bad and we found a 24 hour vet and brought her there. Long story short, she didn't get any better and we had to put her to sleep. The poor thing was in pain and out of her head. A bad day in a good life of 15 years. Not the worst way to go, but heart breaking none the less. We will miss you good friend. you were one of a kitty kind.

A few days before I was guest at the wizard world Pittsburg con. It was a weekend long event but I could only make it for a day. Did a big signing at the DC comics booth, was one of 6 guests on a DC panel talking about my books and then did a Wizard school panel where I spoke for an hour about how to break into the business, create your own character and the perils of dealing with Hollywood taking the character and doing it " their way". was fun and as always, and I actually learn a lot from the questions thrown at me by the participants in the room.

Ok, now we worked our way to the 47th Monte Carlo TV festival. Amanda and I were there for almost a week and let me tell you…we were both treated like rock stars all the way. so…from the beginning.

I had received an invite from Tom Southwick at Starz to the festival in Monte Carlo, be a guest of the festival and do press with Amanda and kristanna. Duh…like I would say no? well, after the quickest e- mail reply in the history of man, we got a list of the events and places we would need to be and with the list what we would be expected to wear. For me, I needed two suits and a tux. I figured it was time to grow up, get off my ass and buy some suits. In the past, I have had a few which only came out for weddings and funerals…being an artist, no one ever expects us to dress up. Hell, I would attend meetings in los Angeles wearing sneakers and shorts and t -shirts and it never seemed to be a problem. Well, I think its time I grew up a bit and dressed with a little bit more respect and represented myself better and this week overseas was the perfect excuse to be fitted and look like a million bucks. Longer story short, I spent a shit-load of money, got the suits and a tux and off we went to Monte Carlo

HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES

Ok, first thing about this trip that stood out? our seats were in business class. I wish I could tell you this happens all the time, but truth is, it never happens. We comic book people don't understand what real special treatment is. There is a con that as we sit at the tables drawing, a guy comes by and throws us cheeseburgers from McDonalds and guess what? we are grateful for it! This first class treatment was alien to us and a welcome other world experience. We were on the second floor of the plane [ yes, I always wanted to know what was up there as well] and had our own little booth like seats that could lay flat down and you could actually sleep. I could go on and on about this but lets just say I never want to fly coach again for as long as I live. Damn you Starz media, you have ruined me!

After missing our connecting flight we finally arrived with another Starz person in tow , Neil Braun. [ great guy : they lost his suitcase for a day and he went to buy pants and the cheapest he could find were $800 bucks. I asked him if a hooker and a dry cleaning franchise came with it ] we got a very scenic ride from nice to Monte Carlo by a beautiful chauffeur named Eileen. How James bond.

Arriving in this city was , I guess, how Dorothy felt when viewing emerald city for the first time. It was surreally clean and beautiful…and it's the place that is a hub for all the beautiful and rich people in the world. The hotel we stayed at was The Hermitage, an extravagant classically royal looking place. When we checked in Bo Derek was checking in next to us . [ yes, I would still go all Dudley Moore on that in a heart beat…she looked fantastic!] Once settled into our beautiful room we dressed for the first event, the opening of the ceremony.

Once there, we walked the red carpet and settled into a corner of the bar and watched the celeb's . we saw Roger Moore, actors from Lost , Heroes and 24 and a ton of people I knew by face, but not by name. again, I turned to Amanda and asked her why in hell are we here. This was one of like 40 times I did this during our time there. After our cocktail time we went to a huge auditorium and watched the opening ceremony and got to see the head of Starz, John Hyde , walk on stage. This is the big man, the guy that treated Amanda and I to this once in a life time trip and a really cool dude to boot. Check out his credits here, its insane: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0404992/

After all this , Amanda and went for a walk to the big casino in town and had a bit to eat. While seated outside, we saw a fuss going on a few tables away and realized it was Hugh Hefner and his girls next door eating a meal and getting themselves filmed for the show. I don't watch the show at all because I really have no interest in these plastic fame obsessed women or Hugh Hefner. I guess he has to pay for that mansion some way, but it would seem to me when you are that age, you might be a little done with the whole " I need attention " thing. who knows.

Over the coarse of the week we attended many events and our big day was Tuesday when kristanna , Amanda and I had a day of reporters, a on stage interview and a screening of two shortened episodes of Painkiller Jane. The purpose of this trip was to get the show sold in overseas markets and we were there to push the publicity machine and represent the company as well. Well, for me, it was a day where I would finally earn all the special treatment thrown my way and the three of us went to town answering every question thrown at us. They were the usual boatload of " how did you come up with the character:" and " what do you think of kristanna" and such…and the funniest one I got was from a French reporter asking me if I hated the show heroes as much as he did. Lol…hate is a big word for me…I hate stupid people and I hate traffic, but to hate a show…man, I wish I had that kind of passion. For the record, I don't hate Heroes…or any TV show that pushes the idea and genre of comics. Personally Just wish the creator would give more props to the origins of the material is all…but it's a fun show…and yes, Painkiller Jane could kick that little cheerleaders ass any day of the week. Would love to see that by the way…I think kristanna would pick her up by her arms and legs and just rip her in half. Wonder if she could heal from that? lol.

We met two wonderful people that were also guests of Starz. Gary Leva and Lulu Leva own leva film works http://levafilmworks.com/ and are the sweetest couple we ever met. Gary directed a fantastic documentary called fog city mavericks. Its all about the history of the san Francisco film makers and interviews Francis ford Coppola and George Lucas and a number of others and give us insight into the day to day dealings with major studios and how these artists had to re- invent the wheel at times to get their creations seen the way they envisioned them. Not only is it fun, it is insightful and brilliantly directed and put together. Anyway, a great film by wonderful fun people that I insist you track down and watch. we like them, the film and their attitude. Real solid people with a vision. How rare.

There were so many other things going on but I'm just going to focus on two that stood out the most. First, the day we went to the palace. Amanda , kristanna, fashion designer and assistant to kristanna, ken Shapkin and I went to the palace and met Prince Albert for cocktails with about 100 other celebrities in town for the ceremony. There I got to talk to Dick Wolf, Dennis haysbert, bonded with Kathryn Morris, Eric Dane and his wife Rebecca Gayheart [ we spoke about the first Painkiller Jane TV movie that he was in] and a number of other celebrities as well as have a few words with the Prince. Look, this was the most surreal night of my life and I got to talk about it. A dope like me, from Brooklyn , meeting royalty in Monaco…what's the chance of that ever happening? The best part of life is when you can take a step back and realize, in the moment, that you are in another world and should absorb it as best you can. I really tried to take my own advice and do that.

The second event was not a planned one and I'm going to rant a bit about the star of Painkiller Jane a bit here, so please excuse me if I gush. This woman deserves every inch of it. We had a day off and Kristanna and Ken invited Amanda and I to her friends yacht which was docked a half hour away in Nice. We couldn't say no and off we went that morning to spend the day together. For me, it was a great opportunity to bond with Kristanna since we have only been on set together . we got to the boat and it was insane. It had a captain and a cook and a bunch of Kristanna's friends were onboard and they mad us feel like family. We took off, opened a bottle of champagne and headed to Saint Tropez for lunch. A few hours later we hit the shore and docked a quarter mile out from the beach which couldn't have been more stunning and a guy from the restaurant came out and met us on a small boat and took us to shore for lunch. We laughed, drank, told jokes, bonded and really…we were in such brilliant company with people from all over the world. Great stories, good laughs and good times had to come to an end and we had to leave to make the closing ceremony of the festival. Ken had made arrangements to get us back in time…by renting a private helicopter. We drove to a field and there it was, waiting for us. By now, you would have already guessed that I felt a bit like James bond. There I was with my beautiful lady Amanda, and on the other side of me by my beautiful leading lady kristanna and we were landing by private helicopter in Monte Carlo to attend a black tie ceremony. I do have to mention that ken was with us the whole time, but for the 007 thing to work, I imagined him as our bodyguard. Lol. I know, I need help. Anyway, it was a spectacular trip that I know is going to be something to remember for the rest of my life. I just want to thank the crew from Starz for this and especially Ken Shapkin, John and Kate Hyde, Tom Southwick, and Neil Braun for making this happen for us. I especially want to thank Kristanna Loken. I cannot rave about this woman enough to you people out there. Not only is she an amazing actress and producer, but she has a friend for life in me. Compassionate, selfless, warm and intelligent are just a few words to describe her and really, just being in her presence you get the feeling of being someplace special. I love her to death and to me, the best part of this whole Painkiller Jane show was getting to become her friend.

That all said, please watch the show and turn your friends on to it. We are almost at the halfway point and we need to gain a bigger audience each week. And just a heads up…painkiller jane #2 will be out in 2 weeks and on Friday, July 13th, my episode called THE LEAGUE will air. Thanks again for your time .

JIMMY

Posted by Jimmy Palmiotti at 10:23 AM | Permalink

Just got back from seeing Lucy lawless [ with special dance partner surprise guest Renee O Connor] Lucy & Renee and her band perform at the canal room bar downtown Manhattan. the room was the perfect size for an intimate show like this . Lana Kim, one of my favorite people at sci-fi invited Amanda Conner and I and a few friends to the gig and it was fantastic. we had an amazing time. We were joined by the famous Steve Bunche Steve and Amanda and really, if you are a fan of lucy and 70’s and 80’s music, it’s a show not to be missed. I actually have met Lucy a few times but never in a million years would I expect her to remember me and she really shouldn’t. I do get to say I met her a few times, but to tell the truth I really have never said more than one sentence to her at any time but the surroundings I met her in are interesting, so here goes.

Lucy Lawless at the Canal Room, NYC. Click pic for a larger image.

Steve Bunche and Amanda at the Lucy Lawless concert. Click pic for a larger image.

Lucy Lawless and special dance partner Renee O'Connor. Click pic for a larger image.

The first time was years ago when Amanda and I were working on a Xena comic for the Topps comic company and we did a story written by the actor Robert Trebor who played Salmoneus on the series. Robert, by the way…is not only a great writer, but a really funny dude. Creation conventions had a Xena convention happening at the Hyatt in nyc and we got invited as guests to the con by the comic company. We went there and watched Lucy on stage and Amanda handed her a page of original art as a gift, them we proceeded to go to the tops booth and sign one billion things. The joke was that Lucy was only gonna sign the first 200 autographs and it was like winning a prize. so there we were, outside a room full of thousands and we were the only people remotely related to the show that was giving autographs for free [ never charged in my life…lol] and we got bombarded. We signed anything they threw our way. we tried a number of times to tell people that we only did the comic, but they didn’t give a shit. They paid to get in, they carried their memorabilia and by Zeus, they were gonna get a signature. It was pretty amazing how celeb hungry this crowd was. It was still fun and we managed to give away thousands of free comics.

The second time was at the premiere of EURO TRIP in los Angeles. My good friend and fellow art collector David Mandel directed the movie and wrote it with his friends and my other good friend Phil Noto and I took the trip out for the premiere. If you remember , Lucy was a dominatrix at a whore house in Amsterdam and I think its one of the funniest scenes in the movie besides the scene with the brother and sister are making out. If you haven’t seen this movie, go out and buy it. That and Harold and Kumar go to white castle are my guilty pleasure Saturday night specials. At the after party I met many of David’s friend, got stalked by Larry David [ another story for another day and no, he didn’t actually stalk me] and finally met Lucy, gave her a handshake and parted ways. I know it sounds pathetic, but the third time I met her was even more sad…lol.

I was in san Diego last year and got invited to the Sci-fi party because they have just picked up PAINKILLER JANE as a series and I was there to meet all the people involved with the show from Starz and sci-fi for the first time. It was a blast and a who ‘s who of sci-fi actors. The only real other person I knew there besides the people I met that day and my friends was the one and only Stan lee. Stan and I go way back to when I was a freelance editor at marvel comics with Joe Quesada and we started up the marvel knights line. Anyway, I spotted Stan sitting on a couch/bed like thing chatting up a hot blonde. As I got closer I realized it was Lucy lawless and Stan looked like he was in seventh heaven. I did the polite thing and waited till they were done talking and went over and introduced myself to Lucy and gave Stan a big handshake. Stan and I spoke for a bit and Lucy split. See, I told you it was pathetic…no ride in an elevator and a black out happens, no walking down a beach and saving her from a tsunami, no…nothing really exciting…and yet, each place I have said hello to her , I was in a place that I never dreamed I would be. Me…just another regular guy that loved comics from Brooklyn New York.

Speaking about Brooklyn, I live in two places these days. The first and place I really call home is in Brooklyn N.Y.. I was born here in the beginning of the 60’s and have practically lived here my whole life. For some it’s a cliché in a lot of ways and I love it…even though with each season we are losing what has made this place so great. A perfect example of this is this summer of 2007 is the last summer of the old Coney island I have grown to love and cherish. The one where at any minute it felt like the cyclone was going to fall apart, the wonder wheel was going to loosen up and careen into the ocean and the one where the bumper cars were really not too safe and at any time I believed I could actually cause harm to that person who was “gonna get it” in front of me. This Coney island was the place I would escape to each weekend with my family and friends to go on rides, shoot out the red star and win crap that we really never wanted to win in the first place. Well, this summer is the last gasp of the old and with the resurgence of another summer we will see a new cleaner, shiny polished Coney island that will be someone else’s future memories. Attached to this blog is a cool photo of my mom and dad…I am guessing around 1946, with my dad trying to win her something in one of Coney islands amusement parlors. I love the picture for a million different reasons, but even someone not emotionally attached can appreciate the totally manly way my dad is going to bag my mom a prize and how…well, they just don’t take pictures like that anymore. My older brother Anthony is still, to this day, totally obsessed with Coney and I guess if you really wanted to gain an appreciation for it, I would give ken burns documentary featuring New York and especially Coney island a try.

The other place I live between an endless amount of trips is in Clearwater Florida. Its only been for the past year and a half and I cant wait to spend more time there. It’s the complete opposite of my two bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. It has a huge yard, tons of trees and vegetation and is a block off Tampa bay . the other thing is its 4 times bigger than my apartment , so right away it can hold more of my crap [ books, movies, comics, model guns, art supplies, artwork, and more comics]. The funny thing is , once I moved there I found that I am actually keeping less crap and enjoying the feng shui feel of the place. Big open spaces and windows from floor to ceiling. Down here I am a minute from a small town called safety harbor and its what I always dreamed life would be like outside the big city. Just minutes away is the first hooters ever built, the Dali museum, Clearwater beach and some of the biggest flea markets you have ever seen. The other best thing about the location is that I only know a few people there…fellow artists and fantastic neighbors, so I get a ton of work done there each and every time I visit, which is about once a month these days. Living in two places is an interesting learning lesson for me because it has taught me to hold on to less physical things in my life and enjoy each place I am living for what it offers.

Other random thing. painkiller jane the first issue of the comic by dynamite comics came out a week and a half ago and has gotten great reviews and more importantly is selling well, so happy about that and also happy that the new episodes started again of the show this week. Once again, I am never home on Friday so I have to wait till Tuesday to watch the show. When are they going to learn to send me the episodes? Never I think. Anyway, the feedback has been good and I know for a fact that the show is finding its legs and picking up new viewers which will pay off for them because the new episodes are a lot better as they go. Its really important for a show to find its voice and I think it finally has. If you watch closely, notice how much better the actors are interacting and especially kristanna who is doing a killer job on this. She is awesome on so many levels.

My next blog entry, I promise, will be much more interesting to you guys because kristanna and I will be traveling to Monte Carlo to attend the http://www.tvfestival.com/
We are going to show the pilot, show some scenes from other episodes and deal with about 300 reporters from all over the world. Trust me, this is not something I do very often. Come to think of it, almost never, so I should have some really cool photos and stories. All this courtesy of the fine people of Starz. This will be te real test of my bonding skills having Amanda and kristanna with me the whole week…and Dammit, I am up for that challenge!!!

See you in a bit. ‘

Jimmy 6/2/07

Posted by Jimmy Palmiotti at 4:58 PM | Permalink