January 2010 Archives   Rob Tapert Interview In The New York Times By MaryD on January 17, 2010 9:53 PM Sex and Gore? That's Ancient History By CHARLES McGRATH WHEN the Victorians were feeling gloomy about their prospects they used to compare themselves to the ancient Romans. They read Gibbon, Plutarch and Tacitus and looked for parallels: a society burdened by empire, corrupted by wealth, deficient in manly virtue. Lately we have been doing much the same, only instead of consulting the Latin texts we turn to screen epics like "Gladiator," the HBO series "Rome," and the 2007 Zack Snyder film "300," which, strictly speaking, was about Spartans, not Romans, but let's not be fussy. The cable channel Starz, as part of an effort to expand its slate of original programming, is extending this classical tradition with "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," a 13-part series that starts Friday, and has already taken the unusual step of commissioning a second season before the first one even runs. [...] The early episodes include a number of well-drawn personalities, many of them plucked (or embellished) right from Plutarch, our main source for what little we know about Spartacus, a man, the text says, "not only of high spirit and valiant, but in understanding and in gentleness superior to his condition." (Plutarch does not mention abs or lats, which Andy Whitfield, an Australian actor who plays the character, has in abundance, but they probably go without saying.) Read the full article Rob Interview Metro News 15 January 2010 By MaryD on January 16, 2010 9:54 PM Metro News has an interview with Rob Tapert - 15 January 2010: When the promotional trailer for the new series Spartacus: Blood and Sand was released during San Diego Comic Con, many viewers were surprised by the amount of, well, blood -- and naked flesh. Along with plenty of slow-motion spurting arteries, there are some quick -- and some not-so-quick -- flashes of nearly ever inch of the cast, including Andy Witfield (as the titular gladiator) and Xena: Warrior Princess and Battlestar Galactica vet Lucy Lawless. "(The network) wanted to do something that's groundbreaking and boundary-pushing," explains series executive producer Rob Tapert, who put the show together along with fellow executive producer Sam Raimi (himself no stranger to buckets of blood) and writer Stephen S. DeKnight, who cut his teeth writing for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Read More New Rob Interview with Fanbolt 05-01-10 By MaryD on January 5, 2010 9:48 PM Fanbolt interviews Steven and Rob about the show: We had the pleasure of chatting with 'Spartacus' executive producers Steven S. DeKnight and Robert Tapert about their new project which premieres this month on Starz. Check it out below! Is there a connection to Stanley Kubrick's "Spartacus" movie in terms of story? Steven S. DeKnight: We have a prosthetic penis called the Kirk Douglas. Yes we do. It's Spartacus, so it's been told several different times. Rob and I both love the movie. I know Kubrick was a little cool on it himself. I remember when I saw it as a kid and just loved it, loved that world. Once we started digging into it, the big surprise for me was how little is known about Spartacus. Especially his history before he broke out and started making trouble for the Romans. There's literally a page and a half of stuff you can read, and it's just scraps. It's fragments from different historians. Most of them a 100 years later to 200 years later. His true history is just a complete mystery to everybody. It really gave a chance to dig into that storyline. Once we get to the point that everyone knows from the Kubrick movie, there is still a ton of material and anecdotes about this ongoing war for like a year and half and how it built up. When they first escaped, they didn't escape to make a statement about slavery or bring down the Roman Republic. They just wanted to get the hell out of there. Then it just snowballed to the point of almost getting to the gates of Rome. It's going to be as Lucy said, something that we all believe greatly in. As a piece of entertainment and it rises above most of what's out there.Speaking of Lucy, Rob called me up at the office the other day, and said Steven what you think about my wife as Lacretia? I said I was thinking exactly the same thing, I just didn't know quite how to approach it. From the start when I created that character, I thought she would be perfect for the role. She was perfect for the role, and she just knocks it out. Read Full Interview New Rob & Sam Interview - Film Review Online 01-01-10 By MaryD on January 2, 2010 9:55 PM Film Review Online has a great interview with Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi about Spartacus Blood and Sand Spartacus: Blood and Sand - Sam Raimi & Rob Tapert Film Review Online - 01 January 2010 Partners for many years, Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert were the Executive Producers of the landmark syndicated series Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: Legendary Journeys, which both ran for six seasons. In 2002, Raimi and Tapert formed Ghost House Pictures which was dedicated to the development of high-concept genre films; their impressive roster of releases include, The Grudge, 30 Days of Night, Boogeyman and Drag Me to Hell. This season they return to television with a new take on ancient Rome with the story of Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Betrayed by the Romans and forced into slavery, Spartacus (Andy Whitfield) is reborn as a Gladiator. Airing on the cable network Starz, the series holds nothing back in terms of violence, sexuality or language. Read Full Interview New AUSXIP Video Rob Tapert Channel By MaryD on January 2, 2010 9:46 PM New AUSXIP Video Rob Tapert Channel   I have created a new AUSXIP Video channel for Rob Tapert on the new AUSXIP Video site - Whilst I was searching for Rob related videos, I came across this absolute gem of an interview which also happens to be Rob's first TV Interview. More Rob interviews have been posted to the AUSXIP Video Rob Tapert Channel and more will be added so check them out In 1982, Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert were both interviewed for the NY cable show The Directors Series by John Gallagher. It was their first TV interview. This is Rob’s interview, previously posted on YouTube by its director Ira Gallen; Click here to watch on AUSXIP Video - Rob Tapert Channel Rob Audio: Spartacus "Very Special Ride" By MaryD on January 1, 2010 9:56 PM “Betrayed by his country. Beaten into slavery. Reborn as a warrior.” That’s the tag-line for the upcoming STARZ series, SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND. At the recent press event for the series, producer ROB TAPERT was on hand to preview scenes and assure us that this series would be unlike anything we’ve seen on television. Influenced greatly by “300,” in the style of popular graphic novels and heavily infused with sex, SPARTACUS promises to be a far cry from the 1960 KIRK DOUGLAS version we grew up with. According to TAPERT, who was also behind TV’s HERCULES and XENA:WARRIOR PRINCESS, this show will have a special flavor all its own. Listen in below: Click here to listen to the audio Read More Archives