Renaissance Man
Ali Rasul, Renaissance Pictures’ Director of Marketing, discusses all the latest goings-on at Xena’s production company with David Bassom…
Official Xena Magazine: Issue 09
XENA MAGAZINE: It’s been announced that Xena fan fiction writer Melissa Good will script an episode of the show’s sixth season. How did Rob Tapert come up with the idea of getting Melissa to write for the show?
Ali Rasul: Melissa came to the attention of Renaissance Pictures via a TV writer we’ve used in the past [Steven Sears]. This writer was familiar with Melissa’s fan fiction and forwarded samples of her work to us. Rob liked what he saw and offered Melissa a chance to write an episode for Xena's sixth season. We’re all very excited about having Melissa work on the show.
Xena’s sixth season has been in production since the middle of May. What can you tell us about the direction of the show this year?
Xena and Gabrielle will be doing a lot more travelling in season six. They’ll be exploring territories outside the Greco/Romano world where we have set most of their adventures thus far. The ladies will encounter new gods and myths in Germania and the Nordic reaches of the world, putting them in situations they’ve not run into before.
Will Xena’s daughter, Eve, be a regular character in season six?
I can tell you, yes, that we will definitely see more of Eve in the sixth season. Any more than that I can’t tell you. The powers that be around here are very tight-lipped about what is coming up in season six. Hell, I don’t even get the storylines until a few weeks before the episodes go into production! So, unfortunately, that’s it for now. We’ll keep you guys posted as things develop.