The following is from Katherine Fugate's web site www.katherinefugate.com
"THE XENA MOVIE UPDATE: as it happens when i announce any updates
on the xena movie's progress, of which THERE IS MARKED PROGRESS, at
a xena convention, words are easily confused in a telephone game of
facts that turn into fiction and speculation -- which leads to me
getting tons of emails.
again, what i reported was: there has been progress. things are NOT
THE SAME as they were last year. however, there is a rights issue
that is taking place. whenever anyone buys the rights to anything,
there are several options that can play out, usually within a
specified time frame in the contract. during this time frame,
studios can make the movie. or studios can pass, putting a script
into turnaround so that other studios can buy it, paying back the
costs the original studio paid out. when the rights revert back to
the producer, he may then attempt to set the movie up elsewhere if
the original studio chooses not to make a movie. there are all sorts
of roads to travel based on individual contracts. they vary - but
usually a time frame indicates some sort of action must take place
or the creator can get his material/rights back. all rights are sold
to a studio for anything to be made.
last year, the rights time frame was still in existence and rob was
stalemated. he could do nothing except wait for 6 months to lapse so
the rights issue can be raised. this year, that time frame has
passed and now rob has hired lawyers to get the rights back so that
he can make the movie. he is making progress. he believes he will
get the rights. because of his work done in securing the rights, he
has received my commitment to write the movie. i have written an
outline for a movie. he has also received lucy and renee's
commitment to reprise their roles in a movie. the commitment of a
writer and stars is called a "package." rob now has a package for a
movie. as a producer, his job is to get the rights and take this
package to financiers in order to make the movie.
these are the steps required in getting any movie made and they must
be done in order. the rights always come first. think of them as a
pink slip. without the pink slip - he can't sell the car, or the
movie, to any financier. that is what rob is doing. and he is doing
this because he very much wants to make a movie. we all do. it is
our goal. we all plan to achieve our goal. or we wouldn't be
investing our time and money into this venture. period. we are all
busy people with jobs so spending our time on a xena movie is only
done because we want to make a movie. and because we care. i am not
writing outlines and spending time talking about a xena movie to
SPIN anything, as some have intimated to me. what is there to spin?
i don't have the time to spin or hype something i have no intention
of doing. do you? and what purpose would it serve?