Collecting the Stories

Hey guys, it's Greg Nicotero from The Walking Dead. This is Movie Meltdown. The following feature has been rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America. It is intended for mature audiences and parental discretion is advised. It's showtime, folks.

Enjoy the show. Our nuclear reactor pumping out one million kilowatts of power. But why can't I play with my puppy? Shut up, you know why. What's up and welcome to Movie Meltdown.

I'm Brian and I'm coming to you live via digital recording from Wonderfest. And once again this year, our adopted cast member, Mr. Eric Chu, is with us. Why do you keep bothering me every single year? You keep asking me.

You're like, when can I be on the show? When can I be on the show? And I'm like, damn it, Eric. Fine. We'll find time.

Whatever. So luckily this year, you've brought someone with you. So maybe he'll be actually entertaining. So please introduce your partner in crime here. If you've ever seen shows like Thunderbirds, Space 1999.

Supercar, Fireball XL5. These were all shows that were produced by Jerry Anderson. And today we have Jamie Anderson, his son. Hello. Thanks for the delightful introduction, Eric.

Do I have a job? I'm okay for now, thanks. He mentioned this. I know this deal you guys are working on has been sort of in the hopper for a while now. So, uh, I guess this process has probably been going on most of your life, I guess.

At what point, uh, did you sort of realize other than obviously he's your father, but like when you started to realize he was kind of a bigger deal or at least in certain circles, he had a bigger impact on people growing up. Uh, I was a Doctor Who fan to start with, like classic Doctor Who. I was that weird kind of three-year-old who was obsessed with Daleks and Cybermen. There's a lot of those. Yeah, yeah.

He hated that, though. And he found it very embarrassing that his son was a Doctor Who fan. But I guess in the early 90s, the BBC in the UK re-showed Thunderbirds, and it got massive audiences. It was hugely successful. Wow.

And suddenly my school friends were bringing in like annuals and merchandise from the 60s to have me take home and get signed for them. It was a weird experience. So, yeah, then I realized that there was a multi-generational impact. I guess just realizing that was his job and then suddenly everybody else knew what he did. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, you know. When he was at home, he was just my dad, really. So it was weird realizing that other people cared about what he did as well. You were just like, he's just my dorky dad.

Leave me alone. I tolerate him. Sure, he's my dad. Yeah, that's it. He's embarrassing, but I suppose his stuff's okay.

Oh, you were embarrassed by your dad? Same as me? I'm embarrassed by you too, Eric. And then it turns around. Now I think mine's embarrassed by me.

It all comes full circle. Yeah. So I guess at what point did you find yourself becoming interested in this sort of thing? Or did you start in a different area of the arts and sort of edge your way into it? Is there any kind of rating on this recording?

NC-17. We make up new words at this point, so feel free to curse as much as possible. No, no, there's no cursing. It's more the content of what I'm going to say. So I wanted to work in the industry from being a tiny kid.

As soon as I started going to the studios and seeing the models and, you know, I watched a 90s show called Space Precinct being shot, Dad made at Pinewood Studios, and that was an amazing experience, very exciting for a 10-year-old kid. But he had a bit. Of a rough time in the industry, and he decided that he didn't want to have his son following in his footsteps. So he did all he could to put me off going into the industry. But here I am.

But in the meantime, I had an interesting few years collecting semen from horses. I wish I was joking. What? Did you not know this? I did not.

See, this is when the good stories come out. When we first met, you should have started with that. For him, knowing the way his mind works, he would have been in. He's like, puppets, whatever. Tell me more about horse semen.

I have like 5 million views on YouTube for my semen collecting videos. Anyway, less of that. You have another career in the works right now. Did your dad get you into that. No, he wanted me to do something that was, you know, as far removed from the entertainment industry as possible.

And I'm pretty sure. Oh, so, okay. So this is why you got into horse semen. So you started doing that and your father went, okay, I'll let you go into the film business. I think maybe that was a subconscious thing.

I wanted him to say, you can't do this. This is embarrassing. But no, he was really proud that I was. A horse jacker. You jerked off horses.

Yeah, yeah. Well, now all this time later, you've come full circle to Kentucky. We're glad that you're here in horse country. Go ahead and bring in the horses, guys. It's all come around again.

I need to fund my flight home somehow, so anybody who needs services, just. Just horse prostitution. Wait a minute. I meant horse owners. Really, Eric.

Well, now we're back to how Hollywood really works. It has come full circle here. No wonder we were able to find funding so easily. Skilled is what we're learning. Many, many things.

So, I guess, aside from... I don't even know how to leave that area, so we just will. Let's neatly segue into something different. Escape is how we'll put it. But was there a different area as far as, like, were you just going to get into standard... filmmaking or just the art end of it?

Or how are you going to approach it originally? I think I spent a lot of time sat in the model shop and the creature workshop on Space Precinct where they were doing animatronics. Lots of kind of alien sculpting and painting. And I worked with a really talented guy called Richard Gregory who did a show later on called Walking with Dinosaurs which was really successful all over the world in the mid-90s. And so I kind of had an interest there.

But then someone gave me a crayon mask, one of the aliens in Space Precinct, to paint. And I was no good at it, basically. I had a picture in my head of how good it should be, and translating that to my hand and into physical reality wasn't going to happen. So I had to go somewhere else with it. So how long was the fight before puppets came into play?

Yeah. Did you even, I mean, was it one of those you wanted to go into that or it just seemed like it was something that would work better or you were sort of drawn to it? I guess what was the way that you got into the puppet part of it? I don't know. I guess there's lots of factors.

You know, everybody in the UK fondly remembers Thunderbirds. Thunderbirds isn't the most successful show over here, but at home, you know, everybody knows the music. Everybody knows the puppets. They all do these stupid puppet walks when they know they find out the connection between me and Thunderbirds. But there's something really, really engaging.

And we started going to shows to conventions like this and we take puppets with us and grownups would wander along, see the puppet and then turn into a massive child, like a gibbering wreck because they met their hero. And equally their kids would come around and you know, the geek dads are going around saying, Oh my God, this Eagle. I remember this Eagle. They were so cool. And the kids are bored and they're yawning.

I'm not saying that's right, but the geek dads are boring them. But then they get to the puppets, and the kids that have never seen these shows before suddenly point and stare at the puppets, and they're really excited by them. So there's obviously something there. And it has no kind of new puppet stuff. Well, nothing that takes the puppets seriously has been done in the last 20 years or so, really.

It's kind of true, yeah. I'm trying to circle around Team America. No, but there have been other parodies and whatever that have made fun of. But even those were done with love. I mean, it's a mean spiritual tribute, but it's a tribute nonetheless.

Yeah, absolutely. But it kind of makes the puppets' figures of fun, and you lose that... I was saying yesterday, the magical thing is when you go from having a doll, basically, that is suddenly given life and consciousness by a puppeteer, and you get that thing of initially watching, going, this is a puppet, this is a puppet, and then suddenly. you care about it. It's a character. Yeah, and it becomes a character.

Yeah, exactly. So that transition, which you don't get in a parody, is something I think is really important and something we wanted to play around with. Yeah. I mean, it is one of those things that sometimes it's so much harder to win back that seriousness once you've crossed the line into parody. It's one of those that I always said was kind of like with all those horror movies after a while, when they got to the point you can't take the scream character serious anymore when the scary movie has beat the seriousness out of it and now it's just that silly thing that you saw in the parody movies so it's like it is sort of like it takes a long time to sort of build up that respectability again so yeah so then I guess moving into it full on what was it you guys are trying to do now that I know you've you kind of had some test footage that you did here this weekend and It seems like it's coming together.

Yeah, it was received pretty well. I don't think we've actually said what the project is. There we go. Let's throw that out. Mysterious.

Yeah, so after so many years, we are doing another puppet show. This time we're using a few more up-to-date techniques, and we're trying to bring back, you know, trying to maybe less... concentrate on the kind of CG-oriented shows that are out there these days for kids and bring back physical puppets, physical miniatures, sets, explosions. Because I've always thought that growing up watching something like Thunderbirds or Captain Scarlet, it was kind of like watching toys move. And I was fascinated by that. I never... had any, you know, I never believed that these were real people walking around.

I always knew they were puppets, but I always had this sort of charm about it as a kid to see, you know, toys that I could conceivably have in my room move around on their own and walk and talk. It is a different connection, I think, that kids have with anything that's puppets or stop motion. It's physical enough that, like, you realize it's something... Something, at that point, probably magical is making it work. And we're not trying to hide the fact that it's puppets.

There are other shows that have used the same techniques, but they're trying to replicate reality, and they're trying to blur that line so that when you look at an animatronic figure in a movie, they're trying to replicate reality so that you're not able to tell the difference. But in this case, we are making a puppet film. When you look at it, it is a puppet. And I think that's something that not a lot of studios would have a lot of faith in. Everybody's go-to technique is CG.

And I think the market is flooded with CG. We don't need another CG show. And I think that just screening the test footage that Jamie brought with us, I think a lot of people have, they're able to connect with the pubs. They're, they're, they're all, um, enamored with it, excited by it. And I, I think part of the, uh, the reason is, is it is something that people have not seen in a while, you know, team America was probably the last, but how many years ago was that?

That's been a long time now. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's moved on to Broadway now.

He's got other things to lamp. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, uh, you know, the, the, the way, um, you know, this show looks, uh, there is no other show like it, especially not on TV, not for kids. And I think a lot of people are going to...

If nothing else, we're going to stand out from the rest. Of the crowd. So, I don't know. Do you have. anything as far as where you are in the process, or is there anything to tell people to look for yet? Or you were working on a Kickstarter kind of thing?

We did a Kickstarter, and if you didn't back it, then you suck, so thanks. I keep telling them that. You guys suck. Yeah, you do. You suck.

You, yeah, you. It's a long process because of the parody aspect. Dad always said in the 50s when he started with puppets that he was set out to make the puppet film respectable. And we're basically doing the same again. We're trying to kind of bring that respectability back.

So these puppets are. Much more advanced. The initial building phase and research and development to get them to where they are now, which is kind of almost ready for the first puppet to be fully constructed, ready for on-screen stuff, that's taken like nine months. But the result that we showed yesterday, which is the first movement test, got a pretty good reception. It was sort of a proof of concept and I think we convinced everybody that yes, this could work.

It's something that well, it surprised us too. It surprised us how enthusiastic everybody was after they saw that. You could kind of tell beforehand before we came to the convention there's a lot of question marks on people's heads and they don't know what what it is, how it's going to end up looking. Because everything in their minds beforehand were these marionettes, which are very, very hard to control. And you've got floaty arms, floaty legs.

But we're using a different technique now that is much easier to control. And I think it has a very unique look about it. It is a different technique than Team America. So you don't have those... scenes that they parodied you couldn't control them so they took advantage of that and made it funny but we're not going that route we're using a different technique and I think hopefully using this technique we'll be able to forget, it'll help people forget that they're puppets and concentrate on the characters and the. Drama Different type of puppetry but I was going to ask both of you what your thoughts were on the return of the Muppets and this new attempting to bring back the Hinson legacy.

I mean, that's a very different style, but it's, it's sort of putting its foot in the door the same way you guys are in just a different town. It's, I mean, yeah, different style, different kind of charm. Uh, dad was a, uh, a friend of Jim's and they were going to work together. I mean, he spent so much time in England. Yeah.

Yeah. But dad, dad had a great deal of respect for, for what Jim did. And I, you know, there's a lot of, a lot of generations that have been entertained by it. So in the same way that I think it's important, we bring back kind of Anderson techniques with a, with an added twist, kind of Thunderbirds plus. Yeah, I think it's totally valid and should be done to bring back the Henson style.

Definitely. I don't know. Usually we just try to throw out some general taste in movies as well. What is it? Have you watched anything lately?

I know you can't watch anything, Eric. You have a child now. You're not allowed to watch movies anymore. You've got no life because you're a kid, and I've got no life because of puppets. Yours is way more justified than mine.

I think I'm in the same boat as you. I told you last year I was working on mine, so I'm working on my puppet film as well. He doubted me, but it's just going to end up on YouTube like everything else in the world. I'm working on it. I've turned my living room into a miniature set.

It's really sad when other people come over, so I feel for you. I can't explain it to people. I'm like, just don't touch that. It's supposed to look like. A miniature room.

Never mind, don't touch that. So I feel for you. But assuming you've broken away. Every once in a while, have you watched any movies lately or any kind of stuff that you're into? This is terrible to say, but I think the last movie that I watched in the cinema was The Imitation Game.

That's ages ago. That's how little free. Time I've had. At least in the last year. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But I enjoyed that. I'd love it for Benedict Cumberbatch to do a voice for us. His mom, Wanda Venton, was in UFO, Dad's 1969-70 show. Right, right. Is she still around?

She is, weirdly. I went to our local pub a few months ago and spotted Benedict having lunch with his mum Wanda and his dad in the pub and I went over to say hi and I think Benedict was preparing for me to be like a fanboy and go, oh, Mr. Go-Match. But instead, I went straight for his mum. You were like, move it, buddy.

Yeah, he looked a bit disappointed. But actually, I have to say, he was really, really awesome, really lovely guy. Yeah, what I've heard. When he figured out who you were, you mean? Yeah, yeah.

Well, because really, just before I'd approached, they'd have been talking about UFO. So it was just kind of oddly serendipitous. Yeah, everything I've heard with him, he's not only kind of nice, but really does seem to have that geek vibe. Core or two in there like he really is interested in the kind. Of stuff I think when somebody who is such a massive celebrity comes up and introduces themselves and says oh hello nice to meet you I'm Benedict yeah I'm like no I know you're Benedict come on but that just shows what a decent guy he is Benedict you.

Know come oh no Doctor Strange who are you but yeah so I don't know Eric I know you haven't seen anything in ages but um. No not really Did you say Avengers? No, I did go see Mad Max. I had to see that because that's the... I think of all the films that are coming out this year, that was the one that excited me the most.

I mean, I've been waiting for, I've been following the production ever since they started, I don't know how many years ago now. 10 at least. Yeah. Actually, no, it was before that because they were supposed to shoot it with Mel. Before 9-11 happened yes and that that's what he said he said that was the dividing point I think it was Greenlit at that point yeah it was it was supposed to be going into production and like then the whole system kind of fell apart nobody wanted to back anything anymore and like everybody pulled out and then he just went in the it went on the back burner for years and yeah so it's been a.

Long time so yeah I did go see that I and I quite enjoyed it but you know it's I still prefer the Road Warrior yeah you know I think that's That's a high mark that will probably never be surpassed. But, no, Fury Road was an incredible. Achievement. I mean, it seems like it's him with more focus now. Like, he's very....

Just technically, like, he seems so into what he was trying to do. And where Road Warrior is more of just, like, he's telling the story, and it seems like he's more on the character. This one, it's like. we don't, we know who the character is, but we can focus on like this amazing car flip. And like the fact that so much of that. Was practical, like he added in a little CG, but like they blew up a lot of cars, you know, it's like, it's, it's a different thing when he's, he's that dedicated to physically doing stunts still.

That's, that's amazing. Yeah. No, I, I, I thought it was an incredible achievement. Um, uh, whether or not it was a better film, uh, I, I gravitate towards, uh, the road warrior just because I you know I identified with the character more and I think the story was a little bit more apparent but and I think the sense I got from road warrior is that it was a little bit more mythic also you know whereas in this version Tom Hardy just kind of seems to be along for the ride he did to be fair he did a wonderful job but yeah I mean he's a little bit secondary to the whole story But I think part of that may be because they used a slightly different approach in filmmaking in that they actually... I just heard about this, but I can't...

But they didn't use a script, as far as I know. As far as I know, they storyboarded the whole thing and it's essentially just a visual.... It's not super dialogue heavy. No, it isn't. Max has like ten lines.

But when you don't have a script and you're doing everything by storyboard, I think perhaps the actors are. It's easy for them to kind of get lost as to where they are in the story and what the characters are... How they're supposed to be feeling at any one moment. But. But, no, it was– I enjoyed it.

I'm glad they made it. I'm interested to see if they'll make any more after this. Yeah. At this point, I mean, it's got such good response. I feel like he's probably going to want to just because he likes that world that.

He's created anyway. Yeah, but he's, what, 70 years old? I don't know why he took the huge break that he did. I mean, I know even that, but, I mean– He just stayed away from that type of movie. He was making kids' movies.

He's making Babe and Pig in the City, which is still amazing. It's funny how much visual style he had even in doing these kids' movies. It's impressive that here's a director who hasn't been pigeonholed into any one genre, really. It's amazing that after doing Babe and after doing Happy Feet, the studios allowed him to make a balls-out, violent car chase movie. Yeah, which is what it is.

One big car chase movie. All right. Well, I guess to wrap up, what should. They look for? What do you want to tell people to keep an eye out for in the distant future, maybe?

Not distant. No, no, no. Semi-near future? Pilot episode for Firestorm should be done by the end of this year. Yeah.

Best place is jerryanderson.co.uk. There we go. Jerry with a G, not a J, because I did hear somebody yesterday say, oh, that's Gary Anderson's son. No, it's a soft G. Anyway, yeah.

He's spelling here. That's the best thing. All right. Well, we will tell people to look out for him and can't wait until they come out. Support us and follow the production and Send donations.

Tell people about it. Yeah, get your checkbooks. Out, please. Yeah, just randomly send donations. Well, I mean, that's it.

I mean, this is an independent production. We're trying to do it on our own. It's been a difficult time to try to sell or get people excited about it in this sort of CG-centric world. But I think now that we've got a way to prove what it's going to look like and that this can work, And work very well. You know, I think that maybe if we can get more of the word out there, we'll get more support.

And, you know, let's and I think, you know, in general, we should try to support, you know, independent films and independent filmmakers and not. Just everything, Avengers and Iron Man and Captain America. We're losing that middle ground at this point. It's all tentpole release, and then everything else is falling to the independent scene now. To be honest, I still watch those.

Yeah, I do too. But you know what? There are a lot of talented people out there, and the lower budgets that you have, the more interesting films you'll get because you don't have so many... people on the board telling you to change this so if you're watching these big films and you're saying well this is nothing new or this is kind of bland start supporting independent films because this is where you have the filmmakers who want to take chances and I think we're starting to see more of them they're kind of disappearing now And I don't want it to be like an endangered species. I think, you know, if you can support those filmmakers on Kickstarter or, you know, any other, you know, what do you call it?

Indiegogo. Crowdfunding, yeah. You know, if you see a project out there that you like, help out the filmmakers. Because, you know, the big sealers are not going to do these kinds of films. Well, and that's what we've always tried to do, too.

It's like, I feel like The Avengers doesn't need my help. I'll talk about it all day. I'm still a fan of all those kinds of movies. But it's like, that I don't. Need to do anything more.

But I can find independent filmmakers and actors that are working in independent film and actually be like, talk about your movie. Promote it. Anything we can do just to get good word of mouth going is a big help in this world we live in now. It's like word of mouth makes a big difference. And those projects where there are constraints, whether they're financial or physical, like real world physics being a constraint, leads to ingenuity and really cool effects, really cool kind of methods.

In the same way, financial constraints force people to find new ways to do it and make kind of new stuff. It's not the same kind of bland, samey stuff that you see everywhere else. You have to move away from the formula so you get something more exciting. I have this one experience. I worked with a filmmaker in Hong Kong that is, I guess, the George Lucas of Hong Kong, if you want to put it that way.

But Early in his career, same as George, early in his career, he was making low-budget films. And they were exciting. They were inventive. They were very creative. But as soon as he started to become popular and the budgets grew bigger and bigger, he got lazy.

And the films were nowhere near as creative as they were before. So, yeah. the lower budget films are where you're going to find the creative people, I think, these days. I mean, touch back to years ago when we sat down, the Tim Burton thing. I mean, you look back, his early work is so impressive. Later, they're handing him tons of money.

It becomes CG filled. And like, I don't know how people are not bored. He's sort of coming back around these last few, but like that whole Alice in Wonderland run there. I'm just like, it just, it's CG effects nonstop. And like, I feel like he's barely involved in the process anymore, whereas when he starts, it's like he's knee-deep in it.

He's figuring out how to work around these budget constraints and how do I make a Beetlejuice out of no money. And he is doing Beetlejuice 2, apparently. Yeah. Support Beetlejuice 2 because he needs the money. He came back around.

That Frankenweenie was good. I was surprised. I like Frankenweenie. So he's still got potential. He can still turn it around.

I have faith in him. I'm trying to be positive. I'm trying not to bash all of his movies. But, yeah, so it's like, you know, I think it's all that stuff. I think you're usually a little.

When you're hungry and you're starting out, you're a little desperate, but at the same time, it makes you more creative. So it's really good to see people make use of that. Well, I mean, yeah, you can't fix things with, you know, special effects, so you have to figure out a way around it. And I think nine times out of ten, it's a more interesting way. It usually is.

Yeah. So we're all for supporting independent projects, and we're glad to support you guys. So thank you for coming on, and, yeah, we'll do whatever we can to spread the word. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Thank you. Your life burns faster Obey your master, master Master. Of puppets, I'm pulling your strings Trashing your minds, smashing your dreams Lying by me, you can't see a thing Just call my name, cause I'll hear. You scream Master, master Just. Call my name, cause I'll hear you.

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Use the Meltdown code. That's all I'm saying. Hey there i'm joanna cassidy and i am listening to movie milford it's part. Of your problem you know you haven't seen enough movies all of life's riddles are answered in the movies and now on with the. Show So next we're.

Going to sit down and talk with Marta Christian, which many of you possibly grew up with as she spent several years and many more in syndication as Judy Robinson from Lost in Space. So we'll talk a little about that. But I also wanted to ask her about. Her journey to Hollywood and then building a career both before and after the series. And then some of the different movies she appeared in over the years as well.

So now let's talk with Marta. How could I know? How could I know? That I'll get lost in space. To roam forever?

All right, so I usually try to start relatively early and start with, you know, how people got into their, at least interested in the arts. Your journey... took a couple of different turns along the way. So I guess, how did you originally get to America and then how you ended up in Los Angeles? Well, I was adopted when I was five years old from Norway. And I think what I probably did in the orphanage, I vaguely remember entertaining and singing and dancing.

And, you know, when you're a kid, it's a way to get attention and, you know, people go, oh, isn't that cute? And we just, oh, she's so adorable. And so when I was adopted... My parents tell me that I walked off the plane like Charlie Chaplin. I must have seen a few of those films.

And they knew. They said, ah, an actress. An actress we can see in formation. And so I continued to take dance and singing. And I was acting as a child in theater.

And then when we came out to California... my dad to write a book on philosophy of education, a sabbatical from Wayne State in Detroit. Jimmy Harris, the producer of Lolita, came up to me in a restaurant and said, are you interested in acting? And I said, I've never been interested in anything else, which was the truth. And so he, of course, I didn't do Lolita. My parents said no.

But he got me an agent. And he saw that a promise is a certain promise. And so I started acting when I was 16. Were they considering you for the film version of Loli? That's what I'm talking about, yeah.

And it was such a wonderful film. But, you know, my path went in a different direction, and that was okay, because it turned out to be a wonderful path. I mean, here I am. I'm still at it. I'm still doing it, and.

And Lost in Space is iconic, and we have fans all over the world. I don't think if I did Lolita, it would be a different kind of fan base, for sure. Yeah, definitely. And I probably would have done different kinds of films, but I've continued to do theater. I've done a lot of commercials, so...

But I started a theater company, and, you know, so I've always done what I've wanted to do. I've always loved acting, and I paint, and I'm creative in other ways, too. So I think you're creative in one area, you tend to be creative in others. Yeah, there's a lot of crossover. Well, and then you mentioned doing other films.

I was going to say, like, starting off with Beach Blanket Bingo. That's... A different era there and sort of a whole different scene that was going on. So I guess how did you get involved in that and then what was it like being in that group at the time? Beach blanket bingo.

You know, it's funny because I was always a surfer. In fact, my first commercial I ever did was, is it true blondes have more fun? And I was on a surfboard with Mickey Dora, who was a legend of surfing. And he fell off and I stayed on. And everybody was applauding and I didn't understand why until I realized when I landed that I stayed dry.

I think that's what they mainly wanted me to do. And they were very happy about it. But yeah, this genre, the beach party movie genre, it really was a period piece of the 60s and I guess early 70s. No, mainly the 60s. And, yeah, there aren't any...

It's funny, I'll see them in a restaurant that has, you know, like a weird surfing thing, and then all of a sudden there's Beach Blanket Bingo up there. We have one here that I think I've seen them play in. Really? Yeah. And it was exciting because, you know, I was outdoors.

I've always loved being outdoors. And I was playing a mermaid. And the only weird part about it was that it was in November. And the water was very, very cold. And I had practically nothing on.

And of course, I was a mermaid. And everyone on shore was saying, smile. I mean, the director is, smile, Martin, smile. And his megaphone. And, you know, I'm saying, I'm freezing, my you-know-what's.

And here I am, smiling. So I smiled, you know. But meanwhile, the surf was getting bigger and bigger. And the surge was taking me. And then taking me in.

And then pulling me out. And taking me. And I was getting... little afraid but there was a guy in a wetsuit behind a big rock watching over me but he he and i were the only ones out there everyone else was smart but yeah it was uh it was a fun you know again it was like lost in space yeah you know it these these certain um uh period pieces of the 60s become iconic after a while because it's never been done again and and in in the way. That that we did them And then around that same time, you ended up in Lost in Space. At the time, were you, again, trying to go between TV and film, were you worried that that role would be too iconic?

I mean, I don't know if it would have been received that early on, and now it obviously has been, but was it something at the time you were concerned that, I want to go do something else after this, or it would tie you down, you know, as far as signing contracts or whatnot? Well, I really didn't think about that. I probably should have. But, no, I... A job's a job, you know.

You get an acting job and you do it. And as I said, I continued to do theater throughout the whole time. So, you know, you work. As an actor, you work and you say, well, I'm lucky I'm working and I'll go do something else next week. And I did do other very serious pieces.

So it was a mixture of roles that... Yeah, so I was able to show my skills in various ways. Move on to Terminal Island. Terminal Island, oh, my God. Oh, thanks.

I like Terminal Island. Well, I was watching it going, it's funny how much they gave credit for, like, now Hunger Games is huge. And, like, I was accrediting that to Battle Royale. But I'm like, Terminal Island's way ahead of all of these for kind of doing that same idea. Yeah, that's right.

That seems like it would have been a really interesting shoot or possibly dangerous. What was that like? A bit of both, you know, because it was a B-film and, you know, not a high-budget film. But it gave a break to Tom Selleck. I mean, we, you know, Phyllis Davis.

I mean, a group of us that we really, we actually were an ensemble. We had a wonderful time. We would sit in our trailers. Not separately, but we would sit in a trailer. There was only one trailer.

Yeah, there was one trailer. But we'd all laugh and play music and sing and talk about acting. There was a real camaraderie. The only thing that was dangerous were the pellets that they put on you to be blown up. I couldn't believe how many they were putting on me.

I said, wait a minute. I said, do I need this many? Oh, yeah, you have to be shot multiple times or something. How dead do I need to be? Really?

I mean, one? Isn't one enough? But, yeah, it's a little scary when you're doing a low budget and they're putting explosives on you. But I'm still here. I'm still here.

And it was fun. I mean, you know, acting, there's a lot of play. You know, I mean, it's like when you're a kid. You play, act. But it's real.

And when you're older, you're sort of doing an older version of that. You know, you work a little harder because you work more on character and on storyline and your arc and all of that. But it's still inhabiting another person, another, you know, another person that has a different human condition, and you just have to get something. You realize, again, when you get older, that you're pulling other things out of yourself in order to become that character. That's why theater is so, it's very different.

It's as challenging as film, but you live it within a two-hour period. You're forced to. Yeah, you're forced to. And it's funny because always before a play, before I go on, I get nauseous, right? And I go, oh my God, why am I doing this?

I'm so terrified. And I do a little Tai Chi and calm down. And then I go out there and everything gets lost. It all becomes another world for me. And that's exciting.

It's just brilliant to be able to do that. You were talking about having it sort of tie to your own life, and I was watching Gemini Affair, and I'm like, this is almost a little like probably ten years before or something, like a young girl coming and trying to get into the industry. It's like how close was that to what you had gone through yourself a few years before? Well, you know, I never came to California to get into the industry, but I think what I connected with that character is the loneliness. because ultimately acting can be very lonely because you do your job and then you wait for another job and then you go on auditions and then you wait for the call and that is just, it's gut-wrenching at times and you wonder, you second-guess yourself all the time.

You're saying, what did I do? If I didn't get the job, what did I do wrong? If I do get the job, how did I do that? Am I going to be able to redo it And, you know, so that terror sort of sets in, and then you have to just dismiss all of it and just get, you know, and just stand up tall and breathe and go forward. But I can't imagine doing anything but acting.

I mean, I paint. I love painting. That's a very lonely, you know. Solitary. It's not lonely as much as solitary.

And time flies by, and you're hoping that eventually... you're going to put something out that will communicate something. In acting, that's the main purpose. You want to communicate, and you're hoping that what you do, people will understand and see something of themselves in it and learn something or be amused or be entertained. That's what we're here for. Do you have stuff you're working on now that you'd like to tell people about?

I do. I just finished a pilot called Ageless. It's sort of the golden girls of this generation. It's very broad comedy, which is so much fun. I'm working with incredible women.

Two women who play Lois and Shirley. We all work in a beauty salon together. I'm an actress who cannot quite believe that Her career is over. So she sort of lives in this la-la land. But she's wonderful, and I love her.

That's another thing I find in acting is that you, whether the character is good or bad, you have to learn, you love them somehow. You love their weakness, or you love their strength. Even if they're bad, they don't know they're bad usually. They're acting on what they feel is genuine. They're surviving, you know, in one way or another.

And we all have that dark side. Most of us are able to push it away and learn how to cope with it. But there are some people who just can't. And it's difficult in acting to connect with the dark side of yourself and to live with it. I remember my granddaughter being offered the bad seed in the play.

And I said, no, I don't want her to do that. It's a really dark story. It's a really dark story. And, you know, she would have done a wonderful job, but, you know, I just felt, no, I don't, you know, she's young, 10 years old. I don't want her to be doing that.

Very impressionable to deal with that kind of darkness. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So is that show signed to like a network or are you still throwing the pilot out there now? Yeah, it's a pilot. It still has to be edited.

It's so funny. It's written by two women. They wrote it about three years ago and, you know, they finally brought it out again and and got funding, and it's so funny. It's a little bit like the Coen Brothers. It has that broad kind of guh, dope, you know, kind of sense of humor.

And I was just watching Brother Where Art Thou, and brilliant, brilliant. I just giggle so much at the Coen Brothers films, and I, yeah, I agree. They're so smart, and I appreciate that kind of humor, and that's what this show has. So, ageless. Look at, look at, I sing.

I sing in it. I love singing. I love singing and dancing. So I'm able to do a little bit of everything in this show. Sounds good.

So, yeah, I guess the best way to keep up with you is your website? Yes, martachristen.com. And ageless.com, I believe, is the... Yeah, it would be ageless.com. Just look out for it.

It'll be either on the internet or it'll be on television. Yeah, and it's smart and funny and, you know, as one of the things I say when I'm hired as a manicurist. and she says, well, you got the job. I mean, you got the part. And I say, it's showbiz. Always playing a part, even in our everyday lives.

That's right. All right. Well, thank you for talking with us today. It was my pleasure. Thank you.

All right, as we're rounding things out here, once again, a huge thank you to the entire staff at Wonderfest. We usually talk about what a different dynamic there is here, but it's true. We've ended up in a lot of different shows over the years, but Wonderfest is not only amazingly well-run... But also a lot of the staff have been on board for years. And in addition, a lot of the vendors and even guests are on hand annually.

So it really does become more of a reunion. And people hang out and relationships are built and jokes continue. It really is an amazing tight-knit dynamic. And maybe that's something you'd like to get involved with. If so, just go to wonderfest.com and start planning your trip here next year.

It's a fun and very open group of people. So come and be part of that experience. Again, that's wonderfest.com, and get yourself here next year. All right, well, that about does it this time around. Thank you once again to Marta and Eric and Jamie.

And speaking of Eric and Jamie, I thought in honor of the most revealing part of our discussion, we'd go out on this song. Otherwise, that about does it. We will return next time, same geek feed. Thanks for listening. I never saw you before I.

Never spent spring. Before Now I'm at your door And I hope you're unusual Very. Unusual Now. I'm at your door. And when you nicely ask.

Me in I'm. Staring at your shoes. And I don't wonder why. I feel like a horse. We can stray Out on the open rain Missing me every.

Day With its hidden claws Spring snow. And when you brush me. You brush me with your eyes. I think you've noticed That I. Don't wanna be a bad guy anymore I never saw you before But you're unusual And now I'm at your door.

I feel safe and warm. I feel like a horse. What's this? Horse semen. Thank you, man.

You would have intended that already. No. Shit, sorry. You sprung the horse semen on me. Oh, gross.

You start with that. You open with that. Especially with you. Hi. I collect horse semen.

Many people you would not want to say that with. But with Eric. You lead with that. Okay, that's not you, but. No, but I'm doing that stuff.

Well, no, you're not actually handling them. Well, I'm telling them what to do. You're telling them what to do? Yeah. I think everybody's done.

It's pretty quick. He was really excited. What do you want? Let me have a little snooze on there. Well, she's the one that did all the work.

I don't think there are any videos of me actually. Handling the horse. There's one of me here. It's got three and a half million views. I don't look at them very often.

You need to monetize this thing. A little pony this time. Oh, you've got to show him something. Maybe. A little belly scratch to get him going.

This is a shy one, so it took him a while to. This episode is a production of Movie Meltdown, produced and edited by The Oddity Studios, with the opening music performed by The Empires. For more on how to sponsor or support the show, Email producer at moviemeltdown.com. Talk hard!