Joshing Around
Kate Barker gets up close and personal with director Josh Becker on the set of Kindred Spirits.
Official Xena Magazine: Issue 08
Xena, Joxer and a tribe of frolicking Amazons; sounds like the perfect group of people to work with… especially if, like the director of Kindred Spirits, you get to be the one in charge of all the action.
Kindred Spirits is Josh’s ninth outing as director for Xena: Warrior Princess, and there seem to be one or two challenges to this particular episode - especially when it rains in the middle of shooting a morning of exterior scenes. “It has a shorter shooting schedule,” says Becker of the episode, “so we have to move faster than usual. Generally you do six to seven pages a day; we’re more in the eight to nine pages a day realm. We got our script very late, so that made it a little bit more difficult for everybody.”
However, Becker is quick to insist that it’s not a problem. “It’s going well,” he says during a short break in filming. “That’s because I’m working with a good crew and a cast of professionals, who know how to do Xena episodes at these late dates.”
Things are probably also going well because Becker clearly enjoys his work, especially those times when he gets to have a laugh. “You’ve got the more serious episodes, then the more comic ones… and [Kindred Spirits] is leaning towards the comic. Any time Joxer’s in it, you can be sure it’s going to have comedy!”
The director’s eyes light up at this point, and it’s more than obvious what his preference is for episode genre. He likes the comedies “very much; any of the humorous ones, which they have a tendency to bring me in for.” Again, Becker refers to one particular source of fun for him on set. “Generally I’m on the same ones as Ted Raimi [Joxer], and working with Ted always means great amusement for me.”
Having become quite familiar with Xena and other Pacific Renaissance series over the years, Becker has a definite opinion on what have been the success factors for all these hit shows. His immediate answer as to the success of Xena? “Lucy and Renee are so terrific - they’re such a great team!”
“Renaissance has done a really job of finding Kevin Sorbo and Michael Hurst first for Hercules, then Lucy and Renee, and now again on Jack of All Trades with Angie and Bruce. They’re really strong duos; I think that’s what it comes down to.”
After a short pause, Becker admits that there are obvious practical reasons too. A US-based production company shooting in New Zealand, says Becker, “will get more for its money down here. You can end up with a show that’s more expensive-looking in its own way, because you’re getting twice the bang for your buck! That’s the reality of things - it’s 50 cents on the American dollar right now.”
Fluctuating exchange rates aside, Becker also points out that a big part of the success is the visually stunning beauty of the natural locations. “It looks good - it’s a beautiful area and that’s part of shooting in New Zealand.”
Becker knows what he’s talking about - in his own words, he’s been “goofing around in the business” for over 20 years - and it doesn’t sound like he’s ready to go into retirement any time soon.
“My first feature was almost 20 years ago,” he remembers, “I’ve been around so long my films are on re-release…”
SIDEBAR: The Director’s View
Josh Becker gives a straight from-the-big-chair insider’s rundown on Kindred Spirits.
“The episode begins with the naked Amazons frolicking in the water - and Joxer of course was spying on them and got caught - and it’s a terrible crime in the world of the Amazons to spy on naked Amazons.
“Gabrielle is the queen of the Amazons and she’s trying to get them into the new age, to get out of their barbarism in a way, but also to follow their old traditions. And one of their old traditions is that if they catch a man spying on them, they have to take out one of his eyes. Of course, Joxer is good friends with Xena and Gabrielle, so [Gabrielle] is now in a real situation, because she wants them to follow their traditions but she doesn’t want that to happen to Joxer.
“You’ve got comical misunderstandings as well. Xena and Gabrielle have been staying amongst the Amazons, and Xena’s not terribly interested in staying, but Gabrielle is, because they’ve made her queen. There’s a wonderfully comic misunderstanding, because Xena really would like to leave, but is so bored she cleans the whole place up. Gabrielle is misunderstanding, thinking: ‘Oh, you’ve cleaned the place up, you’re really making an effort to stay, well then we’ll stay’, and that’s not what’s going on at all.
“Then you’ve got a young, pretty Amazon who’s been coming on to Joxer the whole time because she’s never seen a man before. Of course, he can’t help his male ways, and ends up going into a hut with her and kissing and stuff, and they get caught. Now he’s gone past the penalty of having his eye taken out; now he has to be killed - so that just makes things worse.
“But of course, Xena works it all out in the end… as she has a tendency to do!”