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[moonflower]

If the pilot does do well and it becomes a series, I wonder how many shows will comprise a season?  I just looked at hbo.com, at their original series lineup.  I checked four different series.  One  had 10 shows per season, two had 12 shows per season, and one series, Entourage, was variable.  That one ranged from 8 shows to 20 shows per season, for the years it has been on.

I wonder if Game of Thrones will be more costly to produce, due to location shoots, and therefore they might not make as many episodes per season?  Costs would also depend on star power, and how much salary each of the actors will be getting.

[Sable899]

According to reports, the season will comprise 11 episodes and the pilot.  As for cost, apparently its costng them less to do it mainly in Ireland simply because there is an abundance of locations close in to Belfast to make it economical.  They simply go out in the morning and come back in at night.  The costly stuff is the built sets which they are doing a minimum of inside the Paint Hall and by using CGI like they did with the John Adams series. If they stay with the current practice of paying actors by the number of episodes they are in, then they will also be saving money.  The shooting schedule will take into consideration who will be needed for which episode.

[moonflower]

Nothing really new in this article, but it's a nice commentary.

http://www.airlockalpha.com/node/6894

[Blue Jay]

Some more artwork:

http://aidanmoher.com/blog/2009/12/asides/cover-art-amazing-artwork-from-grrms-a-song-of-ice-and-fire/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+aidanmoher%2FeiaU+%28A+Dribble+of+Ink%29&utm_content=Twitter

[tinytim]

Oh..awful! Very imposing and a great atmosphere.

[galamb]

wonderful pics, and the first one, I'll never forget last monday....driving in the snow in the dark, I was very scary,

[moonflower]

That's some great artwork!

[Sable899]

Found this tidbit that seems to suggest that HBO is looking to the future for GoT:
http://winter-is-coming.blogspot.com/2009/12/hbo-files-for-game-of-thrones-trademark.html

It appears that HBO has filed a trademark for Game of Thrones, specifically for merchandising. Here is the part of the document that deals with the trademark request. This document was filed on Dec. 9th. It looks like it is actually a renewal of a previous filing from back in June. There were 5 other similar applications, the only difference being the type of merchandise listed.

More information at: http://www.westeros.org/GoT/News/Entry/HBO_Game_of_Thrones_Trademarks/

[moonflower]

Hopefully that means that HBO is thinking of more than just the pilot episode.

[Blue Jay]

Rather nice fan thingie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuaLht0kuAQ

[tinytim]

Oh yes. That's really nice!

[moonflower]

Thanks for the link, Blue Jay.  That helps me get to know the cast better, since I am unfamiliar with some of them.

[Sable899]

Another favorable report (reposted from http://www.westeros.org/GoT/News/Entry/Entertainment_Weekly_on_Game_of_Thrones/:

December 31, 2009
Entertainment Weekly on Game of Thrones
In its latest issue, Entertainment Weekly makes a mention of HBO’s proposed Game of Thrones series in a column by Lynette Rice.  The article’s not up on the web, but the relevant excerpt has been provided by sharp-eyed reader AboutYeaHigh:

“... Meanwhile, HBO—which, like EW, is owned by Time Warner—is generating heat for a pilot it hasn’t even picked up yet: the network’s adaptation of the fantasy book A Game of Thrones, starring Sean Bean and Lena Headey. Filmed entirely on location in Ireland and Morocco, Thrones supposedly boasts a budget that rivals that of the famously lavish Rome, but HBO co-chairman Michael Lombardo is quick to point out that all the network’s shows have to meet high expectations—especially in light of stiff competition from the likes of Showtime and USA. “We are taking shots at shows that we wouldn’t have taken a shot at five years ago,” says Lombardo, who, with co-chairman Richard Plelper and entertainment president Sue Naegle, has developed an unprecedented number of pilots. “We opened our arms and invited people to come in and pitch things even if they didn’t think it was HBO. We stopped second-guessing ourselves.”

The suggestion that the budget rivals that of Rome—infamous for costing $100 million for its first season—is, suffice it to say, rather remarkable. It’s presented as a rumor, but for the most part expectations have been somewhat more down to earth. Could these rumors be true? It’ll be interesting to see what develops over time. More sobering, however, is the reminder that the series still has hurdles to pass—including a fairly full development slate at HBO which will leave executives making hard decisions about what to go forward with. The silver lining? Last we heard, insiders said that HBO was fairly sure to order a season, provided the executive producers Benioff and Weiss avoided any major missteps in producing the pilot.

[moonflower]

This link contains much of the same text, but has some different commentary at the end, relating to the budget comparisons with Rome.

http://winter-is-coming.blogspot.com/2009/12/entertainment-weekly-mentions-thrones.html

[lighty]

"any major missteps in producing the pilot" . . . goodness, me.  What might that include?