The Hollywood Reporter
War Stories
Mixing humor, drama and mythology, 'Xena: Warrior Princess' has captured a wide range ofviewers and conquered the syndication marketplace.
After five seasons and an impressive body count of slain monsters and vanquished foes, "Xena: Warrior Princess" has become the superhero of the past and for the future, the one who has captured the hearts, minds, eyes and imaginations of young and old, male and female alike. In a most unusual way, a most unusual character inhabiting a most unusual mythological world has fascinated viewers the world over, becoming more of an icon than a character.
And next week, that heroic syndicated siren in the leather tunic -- brought to life each week by Lucy Lawless and cast and crew working on both sides of the Pacific -- turns 100 episodes old.
"You have to give equal amounts of credit for the series to, first and foremost, Lucy Lawless, because she brings something special to the character that would not have worked with anyone else," insists Rob Tapert, executive producer of the series. "But everyone on and in the show works to keep it interesting and evolving. This is not just a character fixed at a moment in time. Xena is someone we can all relate to on our quests for redemption."
Those not familiar with the show certainly are familiar with the character. Lawless stars as Xena, a warrior traveling through imaginary lands along with her sidekick Gabrielle, co-star Renee O'Connor, slaying real and personal dragons as they live through tales of mythical proportions. "Xena," now in its fifth season in first-run syndication, is celebrated by critics as a unique combination of action and fantasy, sensual and cerebral, that entertains viewers on their own levels.
"In this business we are all trying to be geniuses, but the truth of the matter is that good shows work and bad shows don't, and normally when you see a show work over time it's because it continues to be done well," observes Steve Rosenberg, president of Studio USA's international division. "You have to offer (audiences) something more. And 'Xena' does." The show's demographic breakdown attests to that. Domestically, "Xena" is No. 1 with adults 18 to 34 and adults 25 to 54, as well as with teens and children. It boasts an impressive number of female viewers -- very unusual for the genre -- and continues to be the overall top-rated syndicated show on a weekly basis.
"It's an action-adventure with a lot of character, heart and humor, and all are important in the mix," observes R.J. Stewart, who wrote the pilot and is now one of the show's executive producers. "We do such a big opera, and it's good that we can all laugh at ourselves, get a little haughty with the genre and wink at the audience. We're saying, 'We know what we are doing, and you do too. People like that."
Though the show was initially dismissed as merely a female "Hercules," those associated with it insist it has always been much more.
"'Hercules' was about a hero solving problems, but 'Xena' is about a woman struggling to remain good against a demonic force against her, and (who has) a deepening relationship with another person," says Stewart. "She's tortured by a dark past. That's why she's such a very interesting character."
"I think the most important thing about Xena's character is that she doesn't behave in any of the ways conventionally associated with being a woman," observes Liz Friedman, a former co-executive producer on the series. "They just treat her as if she was Clint Eastwood. That was the model: a hero of few words. That gave her a freshness that no one had seen before in the context of an action series."
The character of Xena was created for a three-episode are on the "Hercules" series by John Schulian, co-executive producer of "Hercules" at the time.
"We wanted to do the story of a woman who came between Hercules and his best friend, and Rob (Tapert) had said he always wanted to do something with a female warrior, so we wed the two ideas," recalls Schulian. "They cast Lucy in one of the two-hour 'Hercules' movies as a guest star, and she was striking playing a bad girl. We knew the camera really liked her and we thought we would give her a try, and as soon as we saw her in the first day of dailies, we knew she was perfect." Still, "Xena" probably never would have made the transition from guest star to series star had it not been for Universal's quest for a new companion in the two-hour Action Pack block it had sold countrywide. "Vanishing Sun," a martial arts series originally packaged with "Hercules," did marginally well, but didn't live up to hopes.
"We knew someone was going to copy us, and we didn't want to leave the time period to someone else to do a clone,"recalls Ned Nalle, then executive VP of Universal Television in charge of first-run syndication, now president of Universal Worldwide Television. "So we decided to ask Rob and Sam to do something themselves." The character of Xena quickly became the focus of their thoughts. When the pair came back with the idea of a female action hero, the studio folks were intrigued. "We knew this would be something more. Rob is never interested in delivering a status quo, and we took the bet on their creative abilities," says Nalle. "For that reason, we weren't so surprised it was good or that it hit, but we were surprised when it became such a viewing habit."
The stations also were initially intrigued, too, but they were not necessarily convinced.
"We absolutely had to talk them into it" says Nalle. “Trying to get them to suspend their disbelief was an arduous task, and Rob and Sam did a fantastic job convincing them that this was a shrewd move, a good counter programming choice."
"By that time 'Hercules' was a big hit, so here we were with a spin-off of a hit show," says Dan Fille, a former MCA-TV executive, now executive in charge of development at Universal Worldwide Television. "There was skepticism, but no one had believed in 'Hercules,' either. We had a compelling presentation because of the 'Hercules’ episodes, and that helped. Others at NATPE were selling from cardboard cutouts, but here Sam and Rob had actual footage. We got incredibly lucky."
The series chugged a little out of the starting gate during its initial season when it was teamed with "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" -- the audience apparently wary of this new kind of hero. But by its second season, "Xena" caughtup with and passed "Hercules," then took off. By February of that second season, the show blasted the "Star Trek" franchise out of the top spot among syndicated hours. It has since been the top-rated show in that category for three seasons straight and, at its current pace, is likely to finish as the No. 1 show for the fourth year in a row. The show has also performed well on USA Networks, where it is currently paired with "Hercules" on weekends.
"Xena" has also found an audience across the world, even in an increasingly crowded action-hour market.
'"There's tons of competition," says Peter Hughes, executive VP and co-head of Universal International Television. "But this program stands out in terms of the quality of the show and the manner of execution. This series has style and appeal and humor, and when you put all those elements together, Rob (Tapert) and his staff have come up with an incredibly appealing package.
Seen in 115 countries, "Xena" has been able to maintain its strong station base throughout the run. As in the U.S. syndication market, it's seen in all day parts with all sorts of lead-ins, yet somehow manages to find its audience in each." In the U.K., it's one of the top American series, and in France it's ranked No. 1 in its time period with young adults and No. 2 with total viewers," says Hughes. "In Germany, it comes in second in its time period, and that's a tough market to do well in for American programs," Hughes offers. "I also just found out, talking to Turkish clients, that 'Xena' is the No. 1 show overall in Turkey. When you are in 115 territories, you are covering most of the world and you have to maintain a wide appeal in order to renew year after year -- and 'Xena' does that. In the past, audiences have grown tired of action programming rather quickly, but if you have a good program it stays in demand and this one has."
Keeping audiences tuning in across five seasons has meant guiding the show's overall direction while not restraining its eclectic style. "In the first season, viewers got to see the stars grow not only as characters, but as actresses as well," says Chris Manheim, one of the show's longtime writers and now one of its producers. "As time went on we were able to take the stories into more complicated places because of that growth. Now, they push us to grow, and we push them to grow further. That deepens the layers of the program. Now there is a history we can build on."
"We always had the idea that it would be a buddy picture, but what we discovered is how that has become the centerpiece of the whole show," recalls Stewart. "Both Rob and I came to understand that this is what made the series work, the relationship of these two women. It was more than just the sexual thing that people talk about. It was the relationship." And, in fact, the sexual edge that many feel has developed was more spontaneous than calculated. “It's something we just stumbled on," says Stewart. "We hadn't planned it, but we love the positive feedback we get and, yeah, we play on it and have fun with it.”
“There's a continuing debate about their sexuality," admits Tapert. "But that's a good thing. If any segment of society finds something positive in this role model, they can feel better about themselves. We are trying to be affirming to a wide variety of folks." Manheim thinks it's femininity not necessarily sexuality -- that drives the show. She is the show's only female staff writer (though the show uses women freelancers on a regular basis) and she concedes that she probably has brought something important to the table. "Not to say the guys couldn't do it as well without me. And I've never had to say a woman wouldn't do this or that to something they wrote. I probably do bring a certain woman thing to it. But we really do try to make Xena more than a woman. We try to make her a human being, and that probably heighten sthe show' s appeal."
"Xena never has taken itself too seriously," says Steven Sears -- a former co-executive producer on the show, of its core appeal. "As realistic as it tries to be, we didn't write everything as a minor chord. The show has had its tongue in cheek from the beginning, and it's a comedy one week and a drama the next. That is really what separated it from the rest. Everytime we talked about the show, we wanted to know about its heart. Others work on the visual and action first, but we took a completely different attitude.
"It is an action show," says Manheim. "But within this action genre I know I have gotten to write a couple of Westerns, a monster movie, a musical, a Greek tragedy, a disaster film. I don't know where else you get that kind of variety on television." But in the end, it all comes down to Lawless.
"This is a female lead who makes no apologies, and Lucy fits the role perfectly," says Sears. "When she walks into frame, you believe she can kick your ass, has problems and has a complex view of the world. She plays it perfectly. We never wrote the character down as a plot device and we never turned her into a victim. When you watch this kind of television, you want to follow a hero, and that's what we did with her. Plain and simple.
"And it doesn't hurt," Sears concludes, "that she looks great in leather."
Renee O'Connor
Gabrielle, Xena's sidekick
Like series star Lucy Lawless, Renee O'Connor came into the "Xena: Warrior Princess" universe playing a different character in one of the first "Hercules" telefilms. She caught the eye of executive producers Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi, and was cast as Gabrielle, Xena's at first unlikely then increasingly important companion. Since then, Gabrielle arguably has become as important as Xena, due to the emotional bonds between the two characters that the series' writers have built up over each season.
"Every year seems to be a new adventure for me, playing the character," says the Texas-born actress, who concedes she thought Gabrielle would probably be "finished up" by the end of the first season. "In the beginning, it was quite difficult because she was going through adolescence, and I'd already been there. And then I sort of came into the character a little more in the second and third year, (showing) more of myself. Now I think Gabrielle is catching up to me again. I think that I've sort of matured in my personal life, and Gabrielle has become more of a woman like I have."
O'Connor trains daily with weights and has undergone training to learn how to use her chosen weapons. "Gabrielle is going through this change where she's the Warrior; she's the one protecting Xena and fighting on behalf of the two of them. It's definitely more (physical) than I have been, so this actually has been the most challenging year for me, by far. I never would have dreamt that I would be somewhat coordinated with a weapon. It still gives me a false sense of security, though, where, say, if you get upset with someone who's tailgating you or something and you want to get out of your car and ..."
Prior to "Xena" and "Hercules," O'Connor worked on the ABC TV movie "Follow The River" and starred in another TV movie, "The Rockford Files: A Blessing in Disguise," but she admits that working behind the camera is of more interest. "I'm not even concerned about acting when this is over. I'm sure that I’ll get back into it, but I personally would like to go to a film school and learn what goes on behind the camera," she says. Directing an episode of "Xena" last season ("Deja Vu All Over Again") gave her a taste for production, and she says she has been "inspired" by the New Zealanders around her who make projects independently.
"I always want to be facetious and tell the horrible lies about Renee's drug habit, or her nymphomania or something," laughs Lawless. "She's just fantastic. I couldn't have gotten luckier with my producer's good taste and casting and character. (Renee) is truly a good, great friend to me, and to all of us."
Wonder Woman
New Zealand native Lucy Lawless has carried the show on charisma - and a real big sword.
Like many of her New Zealand counterparts in the series, “Xena: Warrior Princess” star Lucy Lawless sees her role as a unique opportunity to combine a whole set of skills, and has even said previously that she will never have a bigger or better role. “I said that because no movie you ever do is going to give you the opportunity to do slapstick, musicals, action, high drama, low humor and bawdiness,” she says. “No single role is going to offer me this kind of breath or scope.”
Not to mention exposure. In recent years, Lawless’ trademark leathers and ever-handy chakram (that ring-shaped weapon) have catapulted her to international stardom - not bad considering that, in classic Hollywood fashion, she almost didn’t get the part. An American actress was chosen for the original role, which first appeared in sister-series “Hercules: the Legendary Journeys.” As fate would have it, the actress pulled out and Lawless, who had already appeared in “Hercules” as an Amazonian warrior and a centaur’s bride, strode in to clinch what has become one of the most famous, if offbeat, roles ever created for a woman on television.
For the current season, the show’s producers have written her real-life pregnancy (with husband and series’ executive producer Rob Tapert) into the story line. “It was yet another one of our many steps that on the surface may seem crazy, but it provides a creative, fun opportunity to take the character in an even more outrageous direction,” says co-executive producer Eric Gruendemann. Adds Lawless, matter-of-factly: “There was no hiding it. It’s not ideal for an action show, [but] I’m still fighting and, yes, it is groundbreaking.” After the birth of her son late last year, Lawless took a break from the series to return in November, this time made up to look pregnant.
Five seasons and 100 episodes under her well-heeled warrior’s belt has not dulled the charms of her character or the actress. Lawless has none of the affectations of fame - a trait self-deprecating New Zealanders find hard to take seriously. On set, she is easygoing and one of the team, although she’s clearly the focal point. Her peers, meanwhile, pay tribute to her calming, supportive presence.
“Lucy gives so much of herself, and you just work off that,” observes Renée O’Connor, who has played Gabrielle, Xena’s companion, since the series began.
“I’ve never seen her lose her cool, ever,” adds Bruce Campbell, who plays Autolycus, a recurring character. “We did an episode where we sort of had a $10,000 bet of who would crack first because we did a whole episode in the water. It was called ‘Tsunami.’ A boat gets stuck upside down and, you know, it sort of wore on us day after day. But she never lost her cool, which I’ve never seen, and that’s much to her credit because the show has been extremely taxing, I can only imagine, on her.”
“I’ve been through a lot of changes - all of us have - but I’ve really had to look quite actively for ways to stay appreciative and to remain a morale leader on set, [because] you really are if you’re the star,” says Lawless. “You’re the person everybody has to look at. If you’re grousing and being a pain in the ass, you just make their lives miserable, and why would they want to stay?”
Lawless has flexed her muscles for various charities, although she is the first to admit she doesn’t believe in being a celebrity for causes just for the sake of it. “You have to pick the things that you really care about, because let’s face it, you don’t have that much time,” she says. Her main causes are child literacy, children’s welfare and women’s rights (particularly in Afghanistan). “That’s my focus at this stage.”
As for other ways to expand her scope beyond “Xena,” Lawless admits she is interested in film work, possibly a “juicy little part with a great company” during her downtime. And afterward? “I’m not looking to jump into another TV series immediately after this. I’ve always said I’d love to do two movies a year and raise my children.” And that means going anywhere as long as the project is right, she adds, as well as doing the hard yards to get the job. So [if] you can just let your work speak for itself, and if I can do three auditions a day, I’d be happy.” To date, Lawless’ engagements outside of “Xena” include the Broadway productions of “Grease,” a cameo role in some New Zealand films and as a host on “Saturday Night Live.”
And while other actors on “Hercules” and “Xena” have taken the opportunity to get behind the camera, Lawless has other interests. She says writing interests her more than directing, and that she even has “an idea for a little film” she’d like to make “one day.” According to Lawless, “I’m not interested in directing. (On ‘Xena’) we’ve always called the director ‘chump du jour.’ They don’t mind, they all think they’re so blessed to be working in their chosen field, as we all do. [There are] very few directors who aren’t bullied by budget, time constraints or film stock, and or producers and brattish actors. Directors? Man, they’re timekeepers. Why would I want that? I love my job, because the buck stops with me.”
Head Office
Rob Tapert
Rob Tapert knew he was onto something new and different when he and his associates first came up with their novel approach to the Hercules legend, but he never could have imagined quite how much his own life would be altered. As creator and executive producer of "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" and "Xena: Warrior Princess," Tapert has becomeone of the most influential showmakers in TV syndication over the past half decade, and certainly finds himself at the pinnacle of his career.
"Really, when you think about it, television has changed my life," says the veteran film and TV producer who first hired Lucy Lawless for the role of "Xena" -- and later married her. "I now have a beautiful wife and a beautiful son, two successful shows, two more shows coming and unlimited possibilities." The success of the two programs has given Tapert and partner Sam Raimi's Renaissance Pictures an entrance to TV stations around the country and around the world. The good name they have established as producers of action films now helps sell shows, and in fact, was a big reason why many stations have decided to give their upcoming "Back 2 Back Action" hour -- a coupling of two shows, 'Jack of All Trades" (starring longtime friend and frequent "Xena" guest-star Bruce Campbell) and "Cleopatra: 2525" -- a chance to fill the rather large shoes vacated when production on "Hercules" concluded earlier this year. Tapert is currently entrenched in putting those two new half-hour action shows together in time for their premieres later this month.
"I love to produce movies, to produce entertainment, that I have had this opportunity to feel creatively in charge of something and to have brought something so good to the screen," he says. "It's all one can really hope for in thisbusiness." Tapert is involved in other projects too, he says, but not all of them on screen. He and Lawless split their time between homes in Los Angeles and New Zealand where the show is shot, and last year they added a bouncing baby boy to the family.
"Rob doesn't like doing movies. He loves TV," observes Lawless of her husband's career inclinations. “The thing about movies is that you get one shot one opening weekend, and if you don't do good numbers your movie is toast. And you've worked on it for two years. Rob loves having that hole in the schedule to fill up every week He enjoys the challenge."
"It's all a series of steps and I'm very grateful," Tapert says of the show's success as well as his own. "I've always liked television, and I'm glad we are able to do such good work in it."
R.J. Stewart
When people point the finger of credit for the success of "Xena: Warrior Princess," they tend to aim squarely on R.J.Stewart. He wrote the pilot and many ensuing episodes, has been an ongoing force in the show's metamorphosis, and is now one of its executive producers. It is a far cry from past professional experience which includes "Remington Steele," some feature development and rewriting and unlike anything he has ever thought about attempting.
"That's what interested Rob," says Stewart, looking back at the time five years ago when he hooked up with Tapert and Renaissance Pictures. "This was my first full-scale plunge into the genre. Xena had appeared as a villain on 'Hercules,' and they had put together a reel and sent it to me. I saw Lucy and thought, 'She's cool. Why not take a shot at the pilot?' It was difficult to take this very dark character and add some light, but that was part of the challenge and it became a part of the richness."
Now, five years later, he still enjoys the experience tremendously.
"You know, you go on a show like this and you don't expect it to be such an astounding success, so it has been a very pleasant surprise," he says. "My favorite part of the show is the relationships, but when I talk to people out there they say they love the mythological aspects of the show. I enjoy using the mythology, too. And, to tell you the truth, after five seasons on the air, we even now sometimes create our own mythos. That's also very fun."
Stewart thinks the show has reached its 100th episode milestone because of the dedication and perseverance of the cast and crew, who are all willing to go that extra mile to make "Xena" sizzle.
"Everyone with the show since the beginning really loved it, and we still do. Lots of competitors love the idea of getting good ratings, but we love the show. We all love it and care about it, and think it's something special," Stewart insists. “The fact of the matter is that we are all passionate about every detail and that, I think, is one of the reasons we are head and shoulders above the competition. Unlike on so many programs, we truly care about what we do."
Weekly Warriors
The cast and crew of 'Xena: Warrior Princess' roam New Zealand's varied landscapes to lens the show's mythic locales.
Ares, the malicious, leather clad god of war, is about to smite Gabrielle, the saintly, lifelong companion of Xena, the most famous warrior in the known world. But Xena is nowhere to be seen. Kneeling in the dirt of a location standing in for a North African village, with a gaggle of villagers looking on, Gabrielle seems to think her time has come. Ares raises his jewel-bedecked sword, pauses for the final blow, and then hears a voice.
"Cut! Kevin, I want maximum evil, maximum evil! You bystanders: You're about to witness someonebeing beheaded. It's going to be horrible, so show me horror."
It's midway through the shooting of "Seeds of Faith," the 100th episode of "Xena: Warrior Princess."On this particular August day, the New Zealand weather is fickle, with intermittent rain and sunshine bedeviling the shoot. It's also muddy and cold. Huge lighting rigs are being used to help create a hot,sunny African day, and actors Kevin Smith (Ares) and Renee O'Connor (Gabrielle) are swaddled in cloaks while the scene is reset.
"I've got that desperate, panicky, sick feeling in the bottom of my stomach," mutters the episode's director, New Zealander Garth Maxwell, puffing on a cigarette. "The days are too short and there's not enough time, as always." Maxwell has helmed eight episodes, more than any homegrown director. (Twenty-six of the show's 100 episodes have been directed by New Zealanders).
On average, each "Xena" is shot in eight days, with a second unit taking the same amount of time. "Seeds of Faith" is a relatively normal episode in the world of "Xena," if such a thing exists in a series that dances between times, genres andmoods. In recent previous episodes, "Lyre, Lyre, Hearts on Fire" was a complex musical incorporating modern-day music, while "Married With Fishsticks" centered around mermaids who live in a funky, psychedelic grotto. "Seeds of Faith" also marks a pivotal turning point in the series. The identity of the father of Xena's unborn baby is revealed, and there's a "changing of the guard, in terms of deities," according to Smith, who has formally left the series but returns for key episodes. Also back is Xena and Gabrielle's arch nemesis Callisto (Hudson Leick).
"We've just come out of a musical, which was the most fantastic time we've had in many episodes, and now we're on for the 100th. It's quite dark and dirty, so I'm finding it a bit emotional, and I take it home with me a bit more than I normally do," says O'Connor, who has played Gabrielle, Xena's companion, since the series began. "[But] we have a good time here, and that's what it's all about." O'Connor's sentiment sums up the atmosphere on set: highly efficient but very relaxed and informal.
Unquestionably, the anchor is Lucy Lawless, whose presence permeates the set once she arrives. "What's goin' on, boys?" she says as she bounds into the "village." It's obvious this is her show, but at the same time she's just one of the crew. Seven months pregnant and sporting her maternity battle smock -- undoubtedly a first in the history of television --native Lawless chats to the extras, gossips with O'Connor, does stretching exercises in front of everyone and loudly extols the virtues of pregnancy-induced endorphins.
The look and temperment of "Xena" is greatly influenced by its New Zealand production home. "It's really become a weird amalgam of the Kiwi (New Zealander) and American culture," says Lawless, perched on a canvas seat labeled "Lucy's Fan chair." "It's a strange, lively family; a hybrid group."
"The New Zealand crew's influence on 'Xena' has been enormous and immeasurable," says co-executive producer Eric Gruendemann, Renaissance Picture's man on the ground through its New Zealand division, Pacific Renaissance Pictures (PRP). "The shows wouldn't have the same sense of humor, especially in the backdrops and a lot of the stuff we do in the sets and costumes, which comes very much out of the New Zealand sensibility [of] not taking yourself too seriously."
"There's a very intense collaboration that goes on all the time between the cast, creatives and [crew] which I think has definitely stamped the show as being one that puts its money on the screen in a very tangible way," observes New Zealand producer Chloe Smith, who adds that while PRP has lost the economies of scale it enjoyed when "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" was shooting alongside -- sharing craftspeople and some costumes and sets -- it would still cost 50% more if the series was made in America.
The village scene is set in one of a handful of massive, fixed outdoor sets PRP has built over the years in a park once used for lion safaris. While "Hercules" is now gone, Renaissance's latest series, “Cleopatra 2525," is shooting in a nearby field, and another, "Jack of All Trades" (starring "Hercules" and "Xena" co-star Bruce Campbell) is in preproduction. Like most "Xena" episodes, "Seeds of Faith" has a mix of internal and external locations, which are shot usually across four PRP-owned "bases" scattered throughout Auckland. They include an old cool-room to store fruit and various warehouses, which house up to 25 interim sets at any one time, as well as props. All are unmarked to escape public attention, as are PRP's headquarters.
Laboring in these stage facilities and locations, a seasoned crew puts together the show's unique world, bringing a range of production displines to bear on the show's story lines, which mix myth and fantasy with comedy and drama for a very eclectic palette. "'Xena' is more acrobatic and more violent than 'Hercules,"' says stunt coordinator Peter Bell, who has choreographed all of the show's signature fights and stunts. "When [Xena] goes back to her dark past, that opens a whole area where we can be very brutal with the action scenes, including the odd cutting of the throat and the running through of swords." Bell incorporates a lot of rig work on the series to simulate the gravity-defying aerial moves that have become a hallmark of the series. "She actually runs up walls, runs up guys' bodies, back flips, then kicks them in the head. With a rig, [we] take the viewers' eye from the land moves to aerial moves."
The look of "Seeds of Faith," and all “Xena" episodes since day one, is determined by Rob Gillies, who oversees production design, props and the art department for all of PRP's shows. Gillies describes his overall approach to "Xena" as a “little bit more edgy” than the other PRP offerings. As with each key creative attached to the series, including the directors, he has little more than a week to prepare each episode, and describes the process as working out "50% how it'll look, 50% how we can do that." Learning from "Hercules," which had the same time constraints, Gillies has a coordinator working solely on "Xena," plus alternating art direction teams to spread the workload. "We've pretty much stuck with our formula because it works within our time framework, except that the episodes seem to get more outlandish. It's crazy stuff. But, you know, that's what keeps it interesting," he says. Gillies estimates 3,000 sets have been set up for "Xena" to date, and that's a "conservative" figure, he notes. He regularly wins the top design nod at New Zealand's annual TV awards, held in November, and 1999 was no exception, although for the first time the series also won best drama (based on the two-parter'"The Debt").
Makeup artist Francia Smeets and costume designer Jane Holland have once again had to adapt to a completely new location with "Seeds of Faith." The African setting is merely the next in a lively array of geography Xena and Gabrielle have traipsed through, which to date has included China, India, Rome and the supernatural netherworld. However, Smeets says for her it is a "lot less complicated" than some previous episodes when there have been specific changes, such as the Indian cycle of stories. "We do have a standard look, but in this series we've gone a bit lighter on the makeup," she says. "There's no particular reason, I think it's just nice to have a little change." ‘Xena’ can ratchet up the gore element when requited, Smeets says, with the producers being "quite reasonable" about the amount of blood used.
As with most episodes, Holland, who currently oversees a team of around 40, has tried to keep the number of fittings to two for the main characters because of the short lead time. "It's pretty fast and furious, but there's definitely a certain look and style, and there are lot of reference points because the series has been going for so long," says Holland. "But we're always making new things, doing new things and just trying to find different ways of doing something that's been done before." While much of the garb is recycled, some are made from scratch, including the leatherwork and dyeing, as are props. PRP has vast wardrobe and prop storerooms at the back of its main offices, as well as some other prop stores alongside its various studios. Both departments are completely self-contained; no ready-made products are bought for the series.
Some of the scenes in "Seeds of Faith" also involve visual effects, including one scene concerning the revelation of the origins of Xena's child. George Port, who joined the show at the beginning of the last season as its New Zealand effects supervisor, has already identified what effects are needed and gone through the script with the director. Some effects can be handled by the art or costume departments, but this one is a computer-generated eerie light that will be inserted later by Flat Earth in Los Angeles.
"We basically set up everything and make sure that's it's shot properly and as far as we can within the framework of a seven-day shoot," says Port. "The first day I walked in, I looked at some of the stuff we'd done and thought, 'This is terrible,' but now, if you have a look at a episodes such as 'Fallen Angel' and 'Them Bones, Them Bones,' the work they've done is terrific, the integration's really good and everything is working much better."
While never on set, Kiwi casting director Di Rowan is on the front line. Working with L.A.based casting director Beth Hymson-Ayer, Rowan fills the screen with warriors, wizards and various not-quite-human roles. In the hectic leadup to each episode of "Xena," the first stop a director has is with Rowan to decide on a suitable cast. She prefers to see no more than 10 candidates for an important supporting role, who are filmed in auditions. Unless time is pressing, seven of those tapes will be presented to each director. "When [the American] directors step off the plane, they usually come to me bleary-eyed, and I'll fill them up with coffee and tell them we've got three hours to cast the show," she says.
Unlike earlier episodes of "Xena," imported actors nowadays are only used every four or five episodes, says Rowan, who has up to 5,000 actors on her books, and works on the basis that anyone in New Zealand is a potential talent for the series. For "Seeds of Faith," she has found an African-American, James Gaylin, a singer who now resides in New Zealand and has played bit parts previously, to play an important role as a priest, and put forward Peter Rowley, one of the country's best-known comedians, as Ares' hapless sidekick.
"I guess we're running a school for 'Xena' actors," she says. "We do have some very good actors [who] I try to keep for bigger roles, then we have people I tend to use for the medium-size roles and then people for smaller ones. But within that structure, we have people who come from nowhere and I'll give them one or two lines because they've got natural talent, and then they slowly build up."
That also applies to the crew, many of whom have graduated in skills by working on various PRP series. Producer Smith estimates a third of the crew associated with "Hercules" moved over to Sony's "The Vertical Limit" and New Line's "The Lord of the Rings" when the series was canceled. The contributions "Xena" has made to the New Zealand production industry are multilayered and pervasive. In an economic sense, Smith estimates the series has injected around NZ$110million (U.S.$60 million) into the economy to date.
"I think what these shows give back to New Zealand is obviously a workforce fully engaged and the personal offshoots of that are evident in a freelance industry," says Smith. "It has added to an industry feeling of confidence that there is, in fact, the ability to attract work of this longevity, and to sustain it."
As for how long "Xena" can keep delivering its New Zealand infused formula for success, Smith thinks there's "definitely" another year in the series.
"It has the potential to continue on beyond that, [as] there's an emotional heart to this series, which always can find new aspects to work around," she says.
Adds Gruendemann: "I certainly feel we have another season or two in us, certainly in terms of the storytelling. Whether Lucy or Rob want to continue after that is anybody's guess, but we certainly plan to be here for the long haul. It's still a hell of a lot of fun to make, which is very nice, because you can't say that about too many shows after five years."