Source:
Collider [follow link for complete interview]
COLLIDER: Executive Producers David Benioff, Dan Weiss and George R.R. Martin Talk GAME OF THRONES Season 3 and 4, Martin’s Cameo, the End of the Series, and More
by Christina Radish
March 20th, 2013
With
Game of Thrones returning for Season 3 on March 31st, the
Academy of Television hosted an evening to celebrate the cast and creative team, and the huge success of the popular HBO drama series, while giving a glimpse into what fans can expect as the story continues. Collider was there to cover and attend the event, and we’ve compiled the highlights of what the behind-the-scenes talent had to say during the Q&A.
During the discussion, executive producers
David Benioff and
Dan Weiss, along with author
George R.R. Martin, talked about how this book series came to be a TV show at HBO, having to re-shoot 90% of the pilot, making sure that
Martin gets his cameo this season, the biggest difficulties in shooting with different first units on different episodes in different countries on a daily basis, who the funniest actors on set are, whether the dire wolves are real or CG, the most technically difficult episode to shoot, whether getting to know the actors makes them feel guilty about killing characters off, the process for changing what is in the books, how there will be a few different people sitting on the Iron Throne before the series is done, and why Season 3 is the one they were most excited about doing...
...
Q: What are the difficulties in shooting this, having different units working in different countries, at the same time?
David Benioff: "
We’ve got two geniuses, Bernie Caulfield and Chris Newman, who are the real producers. We’re not. We’re the writers who say, “Wouldn’t it be cool, if we did this?,” and they’re actually the ones that have to do it all and produce things. Chris’ office is right down the hall from ours, so every night, when we’re leaving the office in pre-production, we walk by this massive wall board with the schedule. It’s a giant flow chart schedule, and it’s got the three units and all the different locations. This past year, we shot in five different countries. It’s the most terrifying thing."
Dan Weiss: "
I don’t look at it."
David Benioff: "
You don’t want to look at it. It just seems impossible. Every time something bad happens, like we lose a day because of weather or an actor gets injured or anything else happens, the schedule has to change. It’s the most challenging Tetris puzzle, and somehow Chris has it all in his brain."
Dan Weiss: "
We make him wear a helmet because God forbid he gets knocked to the head..."
Game of Thrones season three premieres Sunday, March 31, 2013 at 9/8C on HBO.
