HBO's "Game of Thrones" TV series has had a total of 4.2 million viewers on it's opening night. The show is getting good reviews, especially concerning the scenery and effects, next weeks viewership will show how much the audience are involved in the story already.
For me personally this is GREAT news. Fantasy has long been relegated to 'B' grade DVD releases despite several massive hits in the genre "Lord Of The Rings" and "Conan The Barbarian" are two outstanding examples.
Why is this news so good for me personally......
Number one reason - more work. I get another season of filming with HBO. This increases the value of the credit I get from working with them in that (i) the show is percieved as successful (ii) more people will see it if it runs longer (iii) I get more screen time.
And of course more screen time means I'll be getting paid again this year. Nice. I like it when I get paid at least once in a year, it removes a lot of financial stress.
The number two and an indirect reason is that if Game of Thrones is accepted by the general viewing public, then with Sir Peter Jacksons 2 part release of the Lord of the Rings prequel "The Hobbit", also a "Clash of the Titans 2" and a remake of "Highlander" scheduled these will help fix fantasy as a genre watched by the general public and not just D&D nerds anymore.
This helps me mainly because of my physical size fantasy and science fiction are most likely going to be the genres that offer me the most employment, for sure it is not likely I'll suddenly carve a niche in the love story market. If these movies are mainstream then it means there will likely be more work and better paying jobs available than if the movies are released on the backshelf of your local DVD store.
Number three reason is that it means the team did well, and as movie making is a team effort that in itself means that we all share somewhat in the feeling of success, plus it is good to see those you worked with and form friendships with do well. In this case I would also have to shovel heap loads of thanks and praise onto David Benioff and D.B. Weiss for all their efforts bringing the story to HBO, getting HBO interested, getting the first season made and doing so successfully. Of course much praise also needs to be directed to George. R. R. Martin, the author of the best selling book series that the show is based upon.
Number four reason is that hopefully I'll get to go back to Ireland and do some war scenes, and hopefully the eyeball scene and hopefully the show will extend to the Red Viper and the aftermath of that, I'd like to do those scenes. Remember I am a D&D nerd at heart.
Sources:
Winter-is-coming.net
George R. R. Martins Not A Blog
Inside TV
