SyFy Press Tour: Why It Nearly Didn’t Happen for Me

By WorldofHiglet

When Lisa emailed me to say that there was another place on the Syfy.com press tour in Vancouver I was excited. I mean – I am HUGE fan of BSG and the thought of visiting the Caprica set (and maybe seeing Jane (bow, you fool!) Espenson), seeing where it all happened was awe-inspiring. Add to that a chance to catch up on some other, new-to-me sci-fi and it was going to be soooo good.

I’ll be reporting in full on all the panels and presentations from Stargate: Universe, Caprica, Sanctuary and Alice over the next couple of days with pictures and quotes. The day was a great experience and I’m very excited about the entertainment Syfy.com is offering us. But first here’s a little taste of why it all nearly didn’t happen for me.

Chrissy, from Syfy, was happy about me driving in on Tuesday morning and joining up with the group then. The night before the big day I printed out all the questions that were sent in, got all my maps sorted and set the alarm for EARLY. I woke at 4:30. Yeah, no chance of getting back to sleep, so I got myself ready. No way was I going to miss anything.

Highway 1 into Vancouver is always busy. Not London-M25 busy, but still busy, and the Port Mann Bridge was tailed back as usual. No worries – I had left enough time so I should be fine. Even so, it was nearing 8:00 when turned onto the street where the hotel was. The coach was set to leave for the studio at 8:15. Any second now I should see it….

Two passes later and I still could not find it. A call to the hotel concierge gave me more directions and landmarks to look out for and I asked for a message to be passed onto Chrissy that I was going to be late. I set off again.

I STILL COULDN’T SEE THE HOTEL! Really, I was wondering by this time whether they had made it invisible, like platform 9 ¾ from Harry Potter or something! It was a big, posh hotel, I knew which two streets it was between, it was broad daylight and I still couldn’t see it. I looped back and there, set back from the street with the sign blocked by trees, was the hotel.

By now it was past 8:30 and there was no sign of a bus outside the hotel. I was directed to the car park and then spent nearly 10 minutes trying to park. At this stage I had a choice. Give up and admit defeat or carry on regardless. I really wanted to do this, so I parked up, took the elevator to reception and rang Chrissy. It went to voicemail so I decided to check out a cab. Once I realized how far away the studio was I realized taking the car to the first studio was a better plan and Chrissy said she would make sure I could get into the studio. Hooray!

I set off again. Now, navigating and driving without GPS is not easy. I can read a map as well as anyone but I try not to when I’m actually driving because of the, you know, chance of dying. I took one wrong turn and – crap! Going the wrong way. No problem, though, I’ll just turn around at the next junction…and then BANG! The two cars ahead of me collide. I sat and watched. They were completely blocking the road, no way around them without playing chicken with highway traffic. I was stuck.

Highway to nowhere
After a *long* time I managed to carry on and was now really late. The studio was not that hard to find (once I was on the right track) and I got in fine. Once I had parked I asked some people playing basketball how to get into studio 4.

I had to be quiet because the panel had already started. As soon as you go through the outer doors you are inside the studio space and the Stargate: Universe set is huge. I mean, really. I could hear some voices and then Chrissy came over, introduced herself and directed me to the panel. The only seats available were at the front, so I took my place, mere inches from the stars

The cast were already answering questions – in fact they were asking about Pink Raygun because Sylvia (Bond, the other person from PRG) had just asked a question and they were very interested in the what Pink Raygun was all about (Sylvia did a great job describing it). It struck me how weird it must be to be an actor on a panel. They were in a line just in front of the Stargate on director chairs that have long legs with footrests. They were looking out on this collection of people all of whom had questions about their work. I would have been nervous (in fact, I did feel nervous) but they all seemed relaxed.

After the panel we had a tour of the set and then went over for a presentation about the costumes. The level of detail in the set and costuming is amazing. So many people working together to create a whole universe. And then – lunch.

Have you seen the ‘Extras’ series by Ricky Gervais? I can barely watch them because they are so viscerally real that they make me squirm. In that series, though, the extras are all consigned to a different dining area than the ‘stars’. We were luckier. There was one large marquee set up for dining and we queued up with the actors for our food. The food (Craft Service) was amazing – Ming-Na (who plays Camile Wray in Stargate: Universe) commented that she hoped we would be back every day so they could continue to enjoy food of such a high standard! I did fleetingly wonder if Felicia Day would have enjoyed the feast, and then it was on to the next place.

Comedy of errors
I had the address to the next studio but, after a quick enquiry, I was told the coach would be passing my car so I was all set to follow it. After a few minutes of waiting in the car I started to wonder if everything was ok so I went to check on the coach. Yep, it had managed to go another way…

I quickly looked up where we were due to be and set off hoping that I would be able to get in. As it turned out it wasn’t too hard to get there, but there was no parking to be had. Lots of spaces had names attached to them and I didn’t dare use any, and eventually I spied some places in a back lot. After a quick conversation with a guy in a ‘Smallville’ jacket (who was keen to make sure I wasn’t with another production company – apparently there were some good-natured parking wars going on) I set off.

As I walked towards the Caprica studio, a woman was walking towards me looking deep in thought. As she passed I did a double-take – was that Jane Espenson?!? I’ll never know…

The Caprica set tour was in the Adama house when I arrived , so I joined and continued with the tour (breathtaking) and the costume presentations. We then had the panel next to the huge backdrop, with us in what would be the sea. We were then allowed to take photos and then it was off to the next, final set.

Now again, navigating and driving at the same time is hard. I took a wrong turn. And then another. Then went the wrong way down a third street. I got myself completely turned around. Bah! The Sanctuary Q&A was already starting and I was miles out when – Bang! Another accident ahead. I didn’t see this one, though, and the road wasn’t completely blocked, so we were able to crawl past.

Very late I arrived at what I thought was the studio but there was nothing there. There, was, though, the local news TV building right next door, so I parked up and went up the steps. A guy in a baseball cap was coming down so I put on my best smile and asked if he could possibly help as I was looking for the Sanctuary set for a Q&A.

A happy meeting
Turns out he was Matt Frewer, actor, also looking for a panel. I looked again and thought – I recognize him (he was in The Stand, a long time ago)! He had been into the TV studio and they knew nothing about it, so we went back in again and this time I mentioned the fact it was at a place called ‘Norco’. This was the magic word and we were directed to the empty-looking building next door.

There was no indication it was the right building, there was a ‘to let’ sign to the side and no one in the building at all. Matt suggested we try downstairs and as we walked down he joked it was like ‘Spinal Tap’. I agreed – any minute now we’d be saying “Hello Cleveland!” We heard voices in the distance and then around a corner to see the Sanctuary panel in progress. Being flustered I had imagined Matt was a guest on Sanctuary and was late, but, of course, he was actually there for the Alice panel.

I took my place (late again) and after the panel looked at the props and special effects information from Sanctuary. I even had my photo taken in front of the green screen (and yes, I’m having nightmares about what might be done with that…!). Then it was into the next room for the Alice panel and Tea Party.

And yes – it really was a Tea Party, with sandwiches, scones, jam and cakes. And pots of tea! It had been a very long day and this was a very pleasant surprise. After a few minutes the Alice panel started with some clips and then a Q&A with my friend Matt (who plays the White Knight) and Caterina Scorsone (who plays Alice).

After that, everyone was loaded onto the coach to go back to the hotel and it was time for me to drive home as the city crows gathered in the sky above. And this time I only got lost once.

WorldofHiglet is the online persona of writer Mary R. Higgins, a born-again geek reclaiming her heritage bit by bit. A youth filled with sci-fi, horror and adventure fare (TV, films, computer games and books) was crushed by years of office grind. Buffy brought her back into the fold after years of denial. Discovering Firefly sealed the deal. Now she geeks fulltime on her blog ‘the last geek bus home’ and her first novel ‘Turning left at Albuquerque” is currently looking for a home in publishing-land.

Related Reading:

Épisode de Stargate Universe: Saison 1 de Stargate Universe, Water, Incursion, Sabotage, Lost, Air, Human, Divided (French Edition)

Stargate Universe: Personnages de Stargate Universe, Personnages Secondaires de Stargate Universe (French Edition)

Stargate Universe Episode Redirects to Lists: Divided, Faith, Human, Incursion, Justice, Lost, Pain, Sabotage, Space, Subversion, Earth, Life

In the Sanctuary of Outcasts: A Memoir (P.S.)

Personnage de Stargate: Personnages de Stargate Sg-1, Personnages de Stargate Atlantis, Personnages de Stargate Universe, Ronon Dex (French Edition)