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Stunt Secrets Of 'Shogun' & 'Tracker' With Assistant Stunt Coordinator Sharlene Royer
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Welcome back to a new Geektown Behind The Scenes podcast. This week I’m chatting with Sharlene Royer, the Assistant Stunt Coordinator for utterly brilliant ‘Shogun’, which recently won a record-breaking 18 Emmys - including a very well-deserved one for Outstanding Stunt Performance!
Based on James Clavell’s novel, FX’s 'Shōgun' is set in Japan in the year 1600 at the dawn of a century-defining civil war. Lord Yoshii Toranaga is fighting for his life as his enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him, when a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village...
It is an outstanding drama, available on Hulu in the USA, and on Disney+ in the UK and other territories. It's well worth watching and catching up if you haven't seen it yet, as it appears it will be returning for two more seasons following its record-breaking Emmy win.
Born and raised in Quebec to a Haitian mother and French Canadian father, Sharlene was a dancer from the ages of 7 to 18, before moving into modelling and acting. However, following a meeting with legendary Stunt Coordinator, Alan Oliney, she was encouraged to try stunt work, and found her calling. She soon became a very sought-after stunt performer being requested to double stars such as Halle Berry, Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Williams and many more.
On 'Shōgun', Sharlene discusses her work on the epic drama as Assistant Stunt Coordinator, working alongside her boss (and life-partner) Lauro David Chartrand-Del Valle, developing the hugely complex Emmy-winning “cannon” scene, melding VFX, physical effects and stunts for the “earthquake”, plus location scouting, stunt coordinating in the pandemic and lots more.
If that wasn’t enough, Sharlene was also Assistant Stunt Coordinator on season one of the hit CBS drama ‘Tracker’, for which she became the first Black, Female Stunt Coordinator to win a Leo Award from The Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British Columbia. She talks about working with lead actor Justin Hartley (and his photographic memory), and also working with Justin alongside guest star Jenson Ackles... who sound like they were as much fun together as you'd expect!
Still want more? She also worked on the wonderfully fun DC superhero drama ‘Legends of Tomorrow’, performing the stunt work for Hawkgirl, so we touch on that in the interview too! Sharlene's other projects include things such as 'The Man In The High Castle', 'Never Let Go', 'X-Men: Days of Future Past', 'Siren', 'See', 'The 100', 'The Rookie', and lots more!
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Geektown Radio Episode 437: Book Of Carol, Deadpool & Wolverine, The Ark, CSI: Vegas, Reviews, Plus TV News & UK Air Dates!
47:35|We're back with episode 437 of the Geektown Radio podcast and Matt from Entertainment Talk joins Dave as co-host to chat TV, film and games news & reviews!This week, Matt discusses finishing the first season of 'Yellowjackets' which he has been catching up with on Paramount+, and we also chat about the trailer for 'The Last Of Us' Season 2 which was recently released. Meanwhile, Dave brings reviews of 'The Ark' Season 2 which has now begun airing on Sku Sci-fi, 'The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon' Season 2 (aka 'The Book Of Carol'), which began airing on Sky Max, and 'CSI: Vegas' which returned for its final season on Alibi. They also discuss 'Deadpool & Wolverine' which Dave has finally seen now it is out on home release, and ponder where the "merc with a mouth" may show up next...Onto the news updates, and we bring you all of last week's cancellations and renewals, including another show cancelled by Netflix (they really should have that trademarked), Apple renewing Colin Farrell's bonkers PI series, and a last ride with 'Billy The Kid'. We also have a stack of premiere dates for upcoming shows, a new gig for a beloved 'Criminal Minds' cast member, a ‘Reacher’ spin-off, and a (possibly ill-advised...) attempt to make a UK version of a beloved classic US sitcom!
Interview: Inside the VFX of Netflix’s ‘The Umbrella Academy’ With Folks Laurent Spillemaecker
27:30|Welcome to a new Geektown Behind The Scenes podcast. This week I’m chatting with Laurent Spillemaecker, VFX Supervisor for VFX company FOLKS about their work on the fourth and final season of the Netflix hit show ‘The Umbrella Academy’.The final season sees our dysfunctional family of heroes, consisting of Luther (Tom Hopper), Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), Klaus (Robert Sheehan), Diego (David Castañeda), Viktor (Elliot Page) and Number Five (Aidan Gallagher), trying to avert yet another apocalypse. Warning, there are SPOILERS below, and in the interview itself, so if you haven’t seen the final season yet, go and watch!..Still here?Okay, so if you remember the end of Season 3, the gang were left in a new reality, but also powerless. Whilst they do find a way to get their powers back, they also discover, they are the problem… After various, very "Umbrella Academy" type things happen, Ben, and his new girlfriend Jen, end up merging into a giant blob monster which threatens to destroy the Earth… And that’s where Laurent and his team at FOLKS come in...FOLKS have been involved with 'The Umbrella Academy' since season one, but for the final season, the team received its most significant mandate yet. They were responsible for conceptual pre-production work to establish the creatures' identities, post-viz, final elaboration of complex shots, and creation of character and environment assets, animation, simulation, and compositing.Along with creating the monstrous version of Ben and Jen, they also enhanced the environment for a Christmas-themed sequence, adding crowd characters, vendors, snow, and more. Plus they picked up some other shots, such as Five’s “blinking”, some of the laser eyes FX, and other superpowers and background work.Outside of ‘The Umbrella Academy’ Laurent has previously worked on a huge range of projects including Sin City, 300, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Blade Runner 2049, Thor: Ragnarok, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and lots more.Geektown Radio Episode 436: Elsbeth, Ludwig, The Devil's Hour, The Ark Reviews, Plus TV News & UK Air Dates!
54:56|It's time for episode 436 of the Geektown Radio podcast and Darryl from Hollywood North News joins Dave as co-host to chat TV, film and games news & reviews!Darryl brings with him his usual eclectic collection of reviews (and also a preview!) as he begins with Prime Video film 'Killer Heat', along with CBS drama 'Elsbeth' (currently airing on Sky Witness in the UK), Sci-fi series 'The Ark', which returns this week for season two in the UK, and the movie 'Alien Shark'... Because what would the show be without one of Darryl's B-Movie picks! He also previews CBS drama 'Matlock', which is due to premiere in November in the UK on Sky Witness. Meanwhile, Dave has reviews of new BBC dramedy 'Ludwig', Prime Video's 'The Devil’s Hour' which returns soon for season two, and 'SEAL Team', which is back for a 7th and final season on Sky.Over on the news updates, we bring you all of last week's cancellations and renewals, including the death of a murderous puppet, and the return of a big BBC drama. We also have a pile of premiere dates for shows coming up on Disney+ UK, including some big returning and brand-new procedurals, plus two new series from Pixar. We also discuss the Warner Bros Discovery/Sky lawsuit, MGM+ ordering a 'Robin Hood' series, and all things 'Zorro'! Listen below!Geektown Radio Episode 435: The Penguin, Agatha All Along, Sherwood, Grace Reviews, Plus TV News & UK Air Dates!
52:15|We return with episode 435 of the Geektown Radio podcast our "film reviewer" Gray joins Dave as co-host to chat TV, film and gaming news & reviews!Gray, once again, lives up to his reputation as "worst film reviewer" by not reviewing any films (although, I'll let him off this one as it's the start of term for his other job as a teacher!) However, he does bring a string of TV show reviews including the second season of BBC's 'Sherwood' and the fourth season of ITV's 'Grace'. He also chats about 'Celebrity Race Across the World', 'Taskmaster', and the Apple TV shows 'Bad Monkey', 'Time Bandits' and 'Slow Horses'. Meanwhile, Dave has been delving into the geekier programming with this week's launch of 'The Penguin' on Sky and 'Agatha All Along' on Disney+. He also reviews 'After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun' on Disney+ and 'Tulsa King' on Paramount+.Moving to the news updates, we bring you all of last week's cancellations and renewals, including the cancellation of a number of genre shows, and one ITV quiz series. We also have a stack of premiere dates for shows coming up on UK TV in the next few months. Plus we discuss casting for the new ‘Black Mirror’, ITV bringing out a new thriller, Sally Wainwright's new BBC show, more casting, this time for a Syfy comic book adaptation, and lots more! Listen below!Geektown Radio Episode 434: Satisfactory, Nightsleeper, Yellowjackets, Hollyoaks Reviews, Plus TV News & UK Air Dates!
01:00:22|We are back with episode 434 of the Geektown Radio podcast and Matt from Entertainment Talk joins Dave as co-host to chat TV, film and games news & reviews!It's been a few weeks since Matt has been on the show, but we begin with a discussion about some massive changes in a (nearly) 30-year-old British institution... 'Hollyoaks'... (and yes, it is that old!) While Dave hasn't watched for years, Matt brings some news of the utter craziness going on with that soap, including a huge time-jump and the axing of over 20 characters. Outside of UK soaps drama, he also reviews the Paramount+ series 'Yellowjackets', and Netflix animated series 'The Dragon Prince'. Meanwhile, Dave has been spending hours (...and hours) building factories in the utterly brilliant 'Satisfactory', which released into 1.0 this week. He also reviews new BBC drama 'Nightsleeper', and the final outing for Clarkson, Hammond and May, in 'The Grand Tour: One For The Road'.Moving over to the news updates, we bring you all of last week's cancellations and renewals, including the stalling of 'Good Omens', ITV booking more ‘Red Eye’, and the BBC still having 'Daddy Issues'. We also discuss the the surprises (and no surprises) at the 2024 Emmy Awards, a new horror from Ryan Murphy, and a new comedy from Jon Brown and Armando Iannucci. Listen below!Geektown Radio Episode 433: Rebel Ridge, Kaos, Twisters, Under Paris Reviews, Plus TV News & UK Air Dates!
58:58|We return with episode 433 of the Geektown Radio podcast and, after an extended absence due to broken internet, Darryl from Hollywood North News finally returns to join Dave as co-host to chat TV, film and games news & reviews!It's been a long while since Darryl has been on the show, and he's returned with his usual eclectic mix of TV and film reviews. We chat about new Netflix movie 'Rebel Ridge' and the slightly older release, 'Under Paris'. He's also been out to the cinema to catch 'Twisters', and also been out and about at conventions, as he reviews Starfury's 'Witchbomb II'. Meanwhile, Dave has completed 'Star Wars Outlaws' story, so updates us on that, and reviews the opening episode of 'Slow Horses' Season 4. He also reviews Jeff Goldblum's new series 'Kaos' on Netflix.Moving over to the news updates, we bring you all of last week's cancellations and renewals, including the loss of another firefighter drama, the ending/evolution of '‘Bosch', and more 'Only Murders...'. They also chat about how many fire dramas CBS actually needs, Peacock remaking an 80s film for a TV show and lots more! Listen below!Geektown Radio Episode 432: Star Wars Outlaws, That ’90s Show, Rings of Power, Only Murders Reviews, Plus TV News & UK Air Dates!
53:38|We return with episode 432 of the Geektown Radio podcast and Robert from Entertainment Talk joins Dave as guest co-host to chat TV, film and games news & reviews!As Robert co-hosts Gaming Talk over on Entertainment Talk, chat this week is a little more gaming heavy, but given there has been a big game release with 'Star Wars Outlaws', that's no bad thing! Dave has been playing through it so gives us a review, whilst they also discuss the state of AAA game releases at the moment, and how Outlaws managed to launch with (comparatively...) few issues. Robert also chats about zombie game '7 Days To Die', and a game which is possibly the complete opposite of that! Meanwhile, Dave has been catching up on some recent TV with the return this week of both 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' for Season 2 and 'Only Murders In The Building' for Season 4. He also reviews the 2nd Season of Netflix comedy 'That '90s Show'.Geektown Radio Episode 432: Star Wars Outlaws, That ’90s Show, Rings of Power, Only Murders Reviews, Plus TV News & UK Air Dates!Moving over to the news updates, we bring you all of last week's cancellations and renewals, including another frustrating Netflix cancellation, along with Prime Video possibly returning to a popular UK Farm. They also discuss casting for Prime Video's 'Citadel', a TV spin-off from the '... Has Fallen' film franchise, and what on earth is going on with the 'Yellowstone' franchise! All this and more when you listen below!
Interview: Scoring Netflix’s ‘Exploding Kittens’ with Composers Jina An & Shirley Song
34:01|Welcome to a new Geektown Behind The Scenes podcast. This week I’m chatting with Jina An & Shirley Song, the composers behind Netflix's brilliant adult animated series ‘Exploding Kittens’.If you haven’t yet caught ‘Exploding Kittens’, the series is inspired by the beloved card game from Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal webcomic, Elan Lee, and Shane Small. After a meeting in heaven, there is a general consensus that Earth sucks, so God (voiced by the wonderful Tom Ellis from ‘Lucifer’) gets fired and sent to Earth to reconnect with humanity. The catch? He’s trapped in the body of a chubby house cat. As part of Godcat’s rehabilitation, he moves in with a dysfunctional family and tries to solve their problems, but ends up spending a lot of time chasing laser pointers. And to top it off, Godcat’s next-door neighbour, who is also a cat, turns out to be none other than his nemesis, the Antichrist. It is brilliant, hilariously funny, and Season 1 is all on Netflix right now!Jina and Shirley have been composing together pretty much since college, and were tasked with creating a soundtrack that captures the show's explosive energy. This also involved them touching on a huge array of musical genres like 8-bit nostalgia, energetic Cajun flair, heavy metal rock, and both choral and orchestral scores to bring the madcap adventures and quirky characters to life.Outside of ‘Exploding Kittens’, the duo are also known for working on the beloved Netflix series ‘XO, Kitty’, and have a number of other projects coming up which we talk about in the interview.