Painkiller Jane

The League of Five

2007-07-12T22:00:01Z

A while ago I got the opportunity — because it was written into my contract — to work with the writers' group a couple of times in Los Angeles, in particular to work on an episode that I was going to write. That episode is called The League, and it's on this Friday night (July13th).

Sniper hunt
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Everyone in the writers' room had a ton more experience writing TV than I did, and their assistance sure helped me, along with the episode. Special thank yous go out to Larry Hertzog, Gillian Horvath, Lisa Klink, Gil Grant, Matt Carpenter, Charles Heit, Kerry Glover, and Mike Goldberg for being patient, considerate and great teachers as well as comrades. I have to mention that without Larry on board and at the wheel, this would have been one rough ride. Larry, I owe you an extra-large pastrami sandwich when you come to New York.

Andre's secret meeting
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So… we outlined for a week what would be going on, broke it into acts and then I was sent on my merry way to write the full script based on the outline. Well, as with anything I do, I went in and did my best. I changed some stuff that made no sense to me, questioned the pacing on other things and then changed and added a few scenes as well. This is what you do when you get down to the details of the script.

Jane and Conner hunt
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I found it interesting that I wrote only two scenes in the main "subway station/computer room," but by the time Larry got the final copy to Canada it was up to five or six scenes in the room. Stuff like this drove me nuts, but at the same time I totally understood what he was doing and it wasn't something I was thinking about at the time. Changes were made because of budget, limited shooting and prep time, and so on. Years of experience taught him how to work these things out, and I was very much still the student. I wanted a lot in my first draft and am glad a lot of it stayed in — but things were lost as well, which was, again, a learning process all the way for me.

Director Paul Ziller
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The cool thing is, writing the episode meant I got to head out to Vancouver to the shoot. When I arrived at the main show office, a revision of the script was waiting for me. A few things had been taken out and moved around… and this is normal. I met with the whole crew while I was there, went out daily with the director, Paul Ziller, and the heads of the art department, Paul McCulloch and Rudi Grant. Also along for the ride was the producer of the show, Richard Bullock, Abraham Fraser and a few more people I'm forgetting. We scouted locations, hit Starbucks like clockwork, and Paul, Matt Hastings and I did the casting for the episode the first week. I had a blast working with such cool people and watching so many excellent actors try out for the smaller parts. I think when you watch the episode you'll understand why these people were picked. All did a great job.

Click on the link to read more.

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Cover of The League of Five
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We also had some artwork that was needed for the episode and I enlisted Amanda Conner and Paul Mounts to draw a fake comic-book cover that the main bad guys of the episode used to read as children. This is where the title "The League of Five" came in. Originally it was just "The League," but we had to change it for legal reasons. My guess: another comic named that out there.

Jane, post car crash
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Anyway, long story short: Paul started shooting with the supertalented Todd Williams with the director of photography by his side (the trusty Linda Strathdee, who I found was probably the most knowledgeable person on the set). I was there for over a week, probably annoying the hell out of them. I'm a detail freak, so it goes with the territory. I got to once again bond with the cast — they had a ton of ideas for their characters, and with me around for the shoot they were able to voice those ideas, and I got to put some of them into the episode. Some were used, and some were dropped in the final cut. Thank you, Matt Hastings, for once again being open-minded and just a down-to-earth nice guy. Matt is the consulting producer on the show, by the way, and he let me put back into the script a scene where Jane comes out of a crash and re-aligns her shoulder and arm, among other things.

Kristanna and Noah
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The day-to-day details are probably interesting only to me, so I won't bore you with them… I'll just let the photos speak for me.

Overall, the episode is about 80% what I envisioned, and I hear that's pretty damn good for a first-timer's script. The great thing is that this gig led to other things; since then I've written or co-written with Justin Gray everything from episodes of Speed Racer for Nickelodeon to a screenplay for an animated feature and have sold a screenplay for a horror film, with more on the way.

Please give the show a shot this coming Friday. Please visit the message boards and ask me anything you want. And yes, its OK to say it sucks — just tell me what sucked and why. The general "it sucks" helps no one.

Thanks, and enjoy.

Jimmy Palmiotti
Paperfilms.com
Brooklyn, NY

LIVE FREE, DIE HARD, GODBYE FRANKIE AND HELLO MONTE CARLO

2007-06-24T14:23:23Z

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

Jimmy, Kristianna and Amanda in Monte Carlo.
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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.

Frankie as a kitten.
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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.

Frankie and her sister Johnny.
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Frankie in a bag.
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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.

The Festival in Monte Carlo.
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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.

Amanda and Jimmy in Monte Carlo.
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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.

Amanda at the Casino.
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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.

Amanda at the Festival.
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Kristianna at the Festival.
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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.

Jimmy, Kristianna and Amanda out on the boat.
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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.

Jimmy being very happy.
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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

Xena sings, Brooklyn dreams and Monte Carlo awaits.

2007-06-04T20:58:57Z

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.
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Lucy Lawless and special dance
partner Renee O'Connor.
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]]> 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.

Mom & Dad at the shooting gallery.
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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

All Over the Map Today

2007-05-08T21:08:53Z

Tribeca just happened in the past week in New York and I am glad that's over and done with. For the record, I didn't attend any of the screenings except the Birth of a Nation screening the last night after a spectacular meal, all set up sponsored by my pals at Starz. What I did manage to attend was a bunch of dinners, get-togethers and drink fests that were exhausting beyond words. I met a great deal of wonderful people, ate at some of the coolest swankiest eateries in New York and even managed to find myself out dancing one night at the Hudson Hotel and closing the place.

It was a wonderful experience that I am glad only happens once a year. Maybe next festival I will actually attend more than one screening, but to tell the truth, I like to go to the movies in the middle of the day when no one is around and dive into the experience. An empty theatre, some popcorn and a Coke. Nothing better in my book.

For the record, I want to thank the crew from Starz once again, especially Stacey Smart for taking good care of me this week and Julie Kroll for entertaining the hell out of me, and to that dickhead cabbie that didn't think 60 bucks was enough to clean the vomit out his back seat… dude, it's a NYC cab…the vomit only made it actually smell better.

On to business, sort of. I am one of the last holdouts on earth to get a Tivo. That's right…I'm just not in one place long enough these days to do anything regular and have never gotten around to hooking myself up with the system. I am the guy that goes out and buys the box sets of shows when they are available and waits till I get sick or have flu like symptoms and slows done enough to play catch-up with my TV viewing. Yesterday I was out and missed the last aired episode of Painkiller Jane, which is a problem since I have a time dated interview in my mailbox that I have to do that is episode specific. Got to check the channel programming today to see when they are running the show again… and no, I don't get the show sent to me on disc… at least not in advance. I agree, I thought they do that kind of thing, but it comes down to costs and that would be another Fed-Ex package a week and that adds up. Hey, I don't want to cut into anyone's salary, so I can watch it like the rest of the planet… except for the fact that I am usually lost in a pint on Fridays. I will figure it out.

May 16th. Not far away and the day that the first new issue of the Painkiller Jane comic book hits. That's PAINKILLER JANE No. 1 written by yours truly, co-plotted with my old partner Joe Quesada. [PIC -COVER]It's the first of a 3 part story where Jane is investigating some high tech crimes around New York, gets messed up pretty bad, takes a vacation break on Fire Island and makes out with a girl on the beach.

]]> You may think I now have ruined the story, but its much more complicated than that and I am pretty proud of the book. The artist on the series is a good friend and amazing artist Lee Molder. I hope with this issue a lot of new people might actually hunt it down because of the show now being aired. The reality is that unlike TV, you actually have to leave the safety of your home and venture to the outside world and plop down a few bucks to read the comic. Trust me, I think it's worth it and if you disagree, please go to the forums and give me some shit. I'll make sure we talk it out and even compensate for the bad experience somehow. It's easy to offer this because I think it's a really solid read and when you know you did something well, I think you should be proud of it. These moments are so far and few these days for someone as critical as myself. Give it a shot, it's published by my friend Nick Barucci for Dynamite Comics.

Cover art for "Painkiller Jane Vol. 2 No. 1". Click pic for a larger image.

Page 2 from "Painkiller Jane Vol. 2 No. 1". Click pic for a larger image.

Page 11 from "Painkiller Jane Vol. 2 No. 1". Click pic for a larger image.

Page 24 from "Painkiller Jane Vol. 2 No. 1". Click pic for a larger image.

Also attached to this blog is the trade book cover art that just hit the stores collecting the last story I wrote and sporting a pretty sizzling Kristanna cover. Did I mention that I think Kristanna is hot? I really cant do it enough. Anyway, here is the link to ordering it if you can't manage to leave the house or are using the computer at Ryker's at the moment. Go to: Dynamite Entertainment

Trade paperback cover of "Painkiller Jane", featuring Kristianna Loken. Click pic for a larger image.

Wanted to mention that I finally met a very cool dude I have been e-mailing back and forth for a while. His name is Mark Steven Johnson and the writer and director of the Ghost Rider and Daredevil movies among many other things. He was in town meeting with my good friend Garth Ennis and discussing their future project together called Preacher based on Garth's comic from a few years back. Mark is also involved with adapting the book called The Pro that Amanda Conner, Garth Ennis and I published a few years back as well. Cant say who it is for, but it's gonna be insane. Another book I think you should try to find. The Pro is going into third printing this July and is about the world's first superhero hooker. Ask anyone you know that buys comics about it and you will see a smile come across their face in an instant. Anyway, a shout out to Mark… a cool guy, great conservationist and a pretty good dancer.

I have never done a blog before as you may or may not be able to tell, so please excuse the randomness of everything.

Oh, went to a screening of Spider-Man 3 the other night, sponsored by the good folks at Marvel Comics. It was at the Zigfield Theater, one of the biggest movie houses in New York City. Attended it and sat with fellow comic stars Paul Pope, Jazzy John Romita and his son John Romita, Jr. who I know from way back at my early days at Marvel Comics and also on hand was a great friend and fantastic writer, Frank Tieri. Frank is one of those guys that you meet right away and like and then surprises you with the amount of unbelievable talent he has . He really is a one-two punch kind of guy and someone I consider a close friend. We both have grown up and live in Brooklyn and can relate on so many levels it isn't funny. Friends like these are really hard to find so I take special care to keep them close to me. He has my back and I have his and that is something special in a world of fly-by people.

The Spider-Man movie was long and fun, insane, overworked and so on, but the experience was great and by the end of the movie you get your money's worth. You can see that this is going to be Sam Rami's last of the Spider-Man flicks. It's written all over the screen that he has done it all and it's time to move on. I, for one, actually think it's a good thing. I want to see Sam take on some other genres or at the very least nail some horror flicks. I really am a huge fan of his work… Evil Dead, that's all I got to say. I will not spoil anything for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, but there are a couple of story beats that needed to be added and a few needed to be dropped. That said, run out and see it. It truly is an event film and another positive step in transferring comics to film.

Kevin van Hook and Stacey Smart at the Starz Dinner for "Birth of a Nation". Click pic for a larger image.

And last, speaking of films, this week I also hooked up with an old friend of mine, Kevin Van Hook. We used to work together a long time ago in a galaxy far far away we both were breaking into the comic business at the end of the 80's and we have managed to stay in touch ever since. I bring up Kevin because he took his natural talent of storytelling to the next level and now writes and directs films for the SCI FI Channel. His latest was Death Row, starring Jake Busey and Stacy Keach, and was a total blast. His other films, which I guarantee you have seen at least one or two, are: Slayer, Voodoo Moon, The Fallen Ones, and Frost: Portrait of a Vampire. Kevin has also worked on visual effects for a bunch of movies including Daredevil, I, Robot, Hellraiser and so on. I am mighty proud of his work and to be his friend and look forward to actually working with him again on something. It's like I was saying earlier, when you meet someone you gel with, you want to keep that person in your life. Please give his work a shot if you don't know it. Death Row is actually out on disc right now and actually has some cool extras on the disc including the "Making Of" section.

That's it for now… and I know I promised something about being on set of the Jane show and that will come next week for sure. Maybe. Until then, give the comic a shot and when done, pass it around or send it to Paris Hilton in jail. I'm sure she will need something to do and at the very least be able to fight off the other girls with the comic rolled up and used as a weapon. And a free plug to my favorite blog of all time and a good friend of mine Steve Bunche. You will not finds another more well-versed in all things pop culture person than Steve. Don't believe me… check it out… http://buncheness.blogspot.com

Thanks for listening.

JIMMY PALMIOTTI

Timekiller Jim

2007-05-01T16:33:40Z

Welcome to my personal blog!

For those of you that do not know me, here is a brief history:

JIMMY PALMIOTTI

Writer, Editor, editor and now blogger.

Multi Award winning character creator with a wide range of experience in advertising, production, editorial, film writing, development and production, media presentation and video game development. Just a few of their clients include Nike, Nickelodeon, Disney, Warner Brothers, , Insight, Kickstart, SciFi channel, Lion’s Gate, Vidmark, Starz, Fox Atomic, Alliance films, New Line , 2kgames, Activision and THQ games.

Co founder of such companies as Event Comics, Black Bull Media, Marvel Knights, a division of marvel comics, and the current Paperfilms, where he is partners with Amanda Conner and Justin gray.

Created and co-created numerous universes, series and characters including: the New West, Monolith, 21 Down, The Resistance, The Pro, Gatecrasher, Beautiful killer, Ash, Cloudburst, Trailblazer, Trigger Girl 6, Thrill Seeker, The Twilight Experiment and Painkiller Jane.

]]> COMICS:

For DC Comics: Jonah Hex, Superboy, Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters, Crisis Aftermath: The Battle for Bludhaven, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Hawkman, Superman, Terra, Supergirl, The Spirit, Countdown (a weekly series featuring hundreds of characters).
For Wildstorm: 21 Down, The Resistance, Midnighter, The Twilight Experiment and Friday the 13th.
For Marvel: The Punisher, Daredevil, Black Panther, Deadpool, X –Men, Daughters of the Dragon, Heroes for Hire, Claws (featuring Wolverine and Black Cat), Shanna the She-Devil, Kid Colt & Arizona Annie.
For assorted companies: Cloudburst and The Pro for Image, Chastity for Chaos Comics, Painkiller Jane and Red Sonja for Dynamite comics, Vampirella for Harris, Conan for Dark Horse and more.

SCREENPLAYS:

Blur, Trailblazer, The Ballerina with Chris and Ruth Gage. And currently hired by Kickstart entertainment to write a feature titled Splatterman.

VIDEOGAMES:

Wrote and developed The Punisher for THQ games and Ghost Rider for Take 2 games. Bridged the gap between X-Men Legends and Legends 2 for Activision. Currently in development is Painkiller Jane .

FILM AND TV TIE-IN PRODUCTS:

WRITTEN & CREATED FOR DVD:

BLADE 3: a 22 page insert creating back-story for whistler’s daughter featured in the movie.
THE PUNISHER: a 22 page insert explaining the pre story before the movie.
X-MEN: a 22 page book that bridges the gap between X Men Legends and Legends 2 inserted in the video game for activation. Wrote and developed The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning, a graphic novel where we created the back-story for the 3 feature films that hits bookstores this April.

ANIMATION:

Gatecrasher

Surf and Turf

TV:

Painkiller Jane

And that last credit is why I am here today. I created the Painkiller Jane character years ago… actually over a decade ago [ take that, cheerleader girl from Heroes!] and have been publishing it on and off ever since with my co creator Joe Quesada… yeah, the same guy you see on TV all the time as the current face and E.I.C of Marvel Comics. We first published the character years back for our creator-owned self-publishing company Event Comics. Painkiller Jane and our other main title Ash were doing great till we got sidetracked and decided to try something else. That something else was going into Marvel Comics while they were in Chapter 11 and trying to revamp a few books by creating a line called Marvel Knights and get people like Kevin Smith involved in the comic business. Jane has seen publication through crossovers over the years with Hell Boy, the Punisher, Vampirella and more, but since the show is now on SciFi Dynamite comics has picked up the license to publish the book monthly again and , well…that’s where we are now. a weekly TV show and a monthly comic. Perfecto.

Anyway, blogging time.

Click to enlarge

The most fun thing for me was seeing all the different versions of the Spanish printings of the Painkiller Jane comic book. There is something so surreal about seeing something you created reformatted to a totally new language. The other weird thing is seeing, in Spanish, an interview with me in a magazine and not being able to read a word. I blame my parents for that one since , like most American immigrants way back when, they came to the country and insisted on learning the language of the new world and leaving the original behind. It would have certainly come in hand on this trip since Italian and Spanish are a lot closer to each other than English and Spanish.

The Painkiller Jane show had just been into its second week over here in the states and I met up one afternoon with the SciFi guys there to chat the show up, talk about what is popular in Spain and how everything was going. I met with three guys, Gorka Villar, Fernando De La Borbolla and the third I cannot remember his name, but a nice guy none the less. They were talking about how the station wasn’t even a year old at that point and how certain shows do better than others and so on. heroes and Battlestar their best two performers and the SciFi original movies as well. They were nice, very young [ next to me, in my 40’s now] and got what makes the channel so special.

Click to enlarge

Painkiller Jane

The other odd thing for me was that a lot of people had seen the pilot of the show by illegally downloading off some pirate site. I wagged my fingers at them saying it doesn’t reflect on the ratings and they were going to one day get a knock on the door at 4 am and it will be the FCC and then, after giving in to tear-filled eyes… signed their discs. What was I to do…in my mind at least they watched it. I know I Just pissed someone off here about this rant. Live and learn.

Click to enlarge

Painkiller Jane

So overall, a great experience in Spain. Great meat, great drink and lovely people who have been enjoying the Painkiller Jane comic for years and are itching to get the series on their affiliated station. Tune in next time as I tell you all about my 2 weeks on the Painkiller Jane set. Got pictures to go with it as well…and feedback is always welcome here, even to just say hi.

Thanks,
JIMMY PALMIOTTI