The writers room for Amazon Studios’ The Wheel of Time TV series is coming together! Showrunner Rafe Judkins has devoted various #WoTWednesdays to introducing different writers as they join the epic fantasy adaptation, and this week he had two introductions to make: twins Michael P. Clarkson and Paul T. Clarkson have joined the staff.
Judkins tweeted this cheeky intro:
Introducing TWO more writers on the Wheel of Time team – The Clarkson Twins! @MikePClarkson and @PaulTClarkson are long time Wheel of Time fans who come to us from the UK. Sorry, they’re not single. pic.twitter.com/ELmhZcGzCY
— Rafe Judkins (@rafejudkins) January 16, 2019
Michael, a writer/director, and Paul, a scientist and writer (as described in their Twitter bios), join Patrick Strapazon, Celine Song, and the rest of the Wheel of Time writers room. The twins have also served as consultants on the His Dark Materials TV series.
Fans following along with #WoTWednesday might remember that last October, when Judkins was interviewing potential writers, he mentioned an anecdote about a pair of twins who shared the perfect moment ending their favorite book series:
#wotwednesday was mostly spent in my office meeting tons of writers for the show. My favorite story from any of the meetings was this: twins who were so excited about the release of the final book that on the day it came out, they read in silence together at London’s oldest pub –
— Rafe Judkins (@rafejudkins) October 25, 2018
— until the pub was ready to shut down and the owner came over and said he realized they were experiencing something profound and he’d just leave the room they were in closed up for them so they could finish the book in peace with the fire roaring beside them. #winespringinn
— Rafe Judkins (@rafejudkins) October 25, 2018
The Daily Trolloc, which figured out the news ahead of Judkins’ announcement, found this quote from Michael from a 2015 Huffington Post UK interview, in which he describes his and Paul’s dynamic as storytellers:
I decided at a very young age that I wanted to be involved in storytelling. From as early as I can remember my identical twin brother Paul and I have been making up stories, characters and worlds. We were lucky enough to grow up with people who spurred on our imagination and allowed us the freedom to express ourselves creatively. We have spent a large part of our lives entertaining each other. When we were teenagers, we realised that this creativity could reach out of our little twin world and include others. People liked what we had to say, or would laugh at our silliness, or were moved by things we had created. An emotional response from friends, family and strangers on this level helped us see that we could, if we wanted, move towards a future where storytelling was all we did.
You can follow the writers individually at the linked Twitter accounts above, as well as the official Wheel of Time writers room account, which documents such shenanigans as color-coded towels and includes hints toward how they will adapt the series.
So what stage of the process is the series in? When does casting happen?
When and what channel is the show going to be on?
@1:
They are writing the first season. As far as I know, only production on a pilot has been greenlit. There are no production people attached to the project yet, only pre-production people. So, no director, no time has been set to start production (at least, none that have been announced.)
@2:
No timeline has been announced for production yet, but the show will air on Amazon Prime Video when its ready. No announcement has been made to my knowledge regarding whether Amazon has ordered an entire season or only a pilot at this point, but they have written scripts for the first two episodes and are working on the rest of Season One right now.
@3: The way I read the news in early October was that it actually was a full series order for Amazon.
@@.-@:
From your lips to God’s ears.
I regularly get surveys from the Prime Video marketing team regarding marketing materials for upcoming programming. I’ve done deep dive surveys on most of the Amazon Originals up to a year prior to their release. I imagine I’ll get to do one for this as well. They generally happen between 9-6 months out prior to the release dates. Their TOS doesn’t allow me to share any of the marketing material, and I have no desire to get kicked out of the program (they incentivize it with gift cards, and I usually get several hundred dollars each year), but I’ll share what I can when they start sending them out.
@6
Awesome.
I Am Hoping They Will Use The Henson Creature Shop For Creating Some Of The Special Effects As They Did Such An Amazing Job On Farscape! I Know They Can Do So Much More With CGI Now Then Back When Farscape Was Filmed, But There Is So Much More Realism With The Creatures They Made!
That story is adorable, and honestly, their whole story is kind of adorable. I really hope this is going to be good :)