The Future of Everything
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MsgId: example(7) MsgId: example(8) Date: Fri Mar 14 21:01:34 EST 1997 From: OMNI_Moderator At: 204.30.67.84 First question: In AFTERMATH, you give a view of the world as it might for the US in 2019. What about your own future in that year? What do you see happening in your personal and/or professional life? MsgId: example(9) Date: Fri Mar 14 21:03:11 EST 1997 From: LeVar_Burton At: 152.171.254.53 Oh, let's see... Well, if all goes well, by 2019 I should be just about ready to sit down on a beach somewhere in the Caribbean for the balance of my days. It is the time between now and then that interests me the most these days. /ga MsgId: example(10) Date: Fri Mar 14 21:05:03 EST 1997 From: OMNI_Moderator At: 204.30.67.84 And what do you hope for for your daughter? Do you think she'll play a role on a future "Star Trek" series? :-) MsgId: example(11) Date: Fri Mar 14 21:09:50 EST 1997 From: LeVar_Burton At: 152.171.254.53 My hopes for Michaela are many. But if I could distill them down into a singular essence, it would be my desire that she develop a fearlessness in expressing who she is in the world. I would also love it if she were able to walk in a world that was more available to nurture the individual nature of human beings rather than quenching distinguishing spirits whenever it encountered them. I see my job as parent as one where it is my function to do my best to provide her an environment in which the former can be achieved and it is my path as well to do whatever I can to help achieve the outcome of the latter. /ga MsgId: example(12) Date: Fri Mar 14 21:10:10 EST 1997 From: Mae At: 206.153.28.148 MsgId: example(13) Date: Fri Mar 14 21:13:22 EST 1997 From: OMNI_Moderator At: 204.30.67.84 Being a parent is one role you'll be playing in the future, definitely. Now, can you talk about the show that you've just produced--"Daddy's Girl"? When will that be aired? How many episodes have you done so far? And why did you decide to produce this show? MsgId: example(14) Date: Fri Mar 14 21:19:37 EST 1997 From: LeVar_Burton At: 152.171.254.53 Technically speaking, "Daddy's Little Girl" is still in the process of being produced. That is to say, we've been developing it for many months now and (god willing) are about to shoot the pilot in a few weeks time. The show itself is a half-an-hour comedy that I created just after Michaela was born two and a half years ago. It was inspired not only by the momentous occasion of her birth, but by another television series that I loved when I was growing up called "The Courtship of Eddie's Father." In "Daddy's Little Girl," I play a widower trying to navigate the minefield of parenting a pre-teen daughter. And instead of a Japanese housekeeper, my jazz musician father lives in the home and the two of us have wildly different philosophies as to how this young woman should be reared. Ben Vereen has agreed to play my dad and a young woman, Vanessa Lee Chester, has been signed to play the role of Haley (named after Alex). Vanessa first came to my attention in a movie called "The Little Princess" and last summer co-starred in the Nickelodeon picture HARRIET THE SPY. I am tickled pink that Vanessa is also starring in this summer's sequel to JURASSIC PARK, THE LOST WORLD. Apparently I am not alone in my assessment of her talent as "The Steven" thinks quite highly of her, too. /ga MsgId: example(15) Date: Fri Mar 14 21:20:06 EST 1997 From: Mae At: 206.153.28.148 Jambo, LeVar, I picked up your book this morning, couldn't put it down. I've finished it WOW!... You ask in the beginning, what if there was such a machine as a Neuro Enhancer...What if we could achieve the same results without the NE? I believe we humans can achieve the same results as the NE if we will only look inside ourselves for answers, instead of always looking to someone else: physicians, psychologists, priests. We must believe in ourSELFS. Do you agree? MsgId: example(16) Date: Fri Mar 14 21:21:44 EST 1997 From: OMNI_Moderator At: 204.30.67.84 Was the process of getting your TV show hard or easy? Do you have plans to create any other TV shows? MsgId: example(17) Date: Fri Mar 14 21:23:59 EST 1997 From: OMNI_Moderator At: 204.30.67.84 Getting the show picked up? Sorry about that.... MsgId: example(18) Date: Fri Mar 14 21:28:06 EST 1997 From: LeVar_Burton At: 152.171.254.53 Absolutely. "Daddy's Little Girl" is only one of several projects that we are developing at Eagle Nation Films. Allow me to fill in some blanks. Eagle Nation Films is the production company I formed almost eight years ago to be the vehicle for whatever creative expression I possess in this life. I realized back then that if I left several years of a successful television series like "Star Trek" with nothing but monetary gain, it would be a waste of tremendous opportunity. And so, ENF was born. We now currently have a deal at Paramount, a relationship if you will, that enables me to develop projects for me to produce and direct. Some of these projects are for television and some are feature films, but no matter what arena or genre, all of the projects that I am developing have in common a certain thread, in that, they all have something positive to say about the journey of human experience. /ga MsgId: example(19) Date: Fri Mar 14 21:31:41 EST 1997 From: OMNI_Moderator At: 204.30.67.84 Do you think you'll be retiring from acting in order to put more effort into producing/directing and writing? I know you'll be working on "Daddy's Girl" as the main character--but how far into the future do you see yourself acting? MsgId: example(20) Date: Fri Mar 14 21:34:47 EST 1997 From: LeVar_Burton At: 152.171.254.53 Good question! At this time, I have no plans to abandon my acting career, but I must be honest and share with you that producing and directing are really what floats my boat these days. Acting was and always will be my first love and I guess, truth be told, what I'm looking for ultimately in my life is a sense of balance. In no way do I intend to try and direct everything I'm producing at Eagle Nation Films. And by the same token, there are projects that I'm developing that have no on-camera role for me at all. But it is nice to know that when LeVar-the-producer gets a call from LeVar-the-actor about a certain part in one of his movies, there'll be a sympathetic ear on the other end of the line. /ga MsgId: example(21) Date: Fri Mar 14 21:37:10 EST 1997 From: OMNI_Moderator At: 204.30.67.84 And what is LeVar-the-film-director/producer planning? Will you be directing any "Star Trek" films soon? What about writing scripts? MsgId: example(22) Date: Fri Mar 14 21:45:12 EST 1997 From: LeVar_Burton At: 152.171.254.53 Boy, there's so much on my agenda. Yes, there are more episodes of Voyager and Deep Space Nine in my future as a director and I do believe that there is a Star Trek feature in my future as well. The story for the Next Gen movie is still in process, and so it's much too early to know who will be at the helm, but Rick Berman knows that my hat is squarely in the middle of that ring. Screenwriting is also on my agenda, although not necessarily for "Star Trek." The film project that I'm most excited about right now is the screen adaptation of a series of books that I've held the rights to for many years called LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF THE MASTERS OF THE FAR EAST. I'm also pretty enthusiastic about a series of television specials called "Influence of One," a sort of Barbara-Walters-interview sans Barbara Walters. Our unique twist on the interview format though, is that we operate from the premise that everyone has been influenced by someone in their life. Celebrities are no exception. And wouldn't it be intersting to see someone well-known from the fields of entertainment or sports or politics engaged in conversation with a person who has had tremendous impact on their life, and what if that influential person also happened to be a well-known personage? So in every episode of "Influence of One" we will have conversations between people like Anthony Hopkins and Clint Eastwood, who Anthony has acknowledged has been a powerful influence on his choices as an actor, and a man whose work he has admired for many years. Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall for that conversation? /ga MsgId: example(23) Date: Fri Mar 14 21:47:30 EST 1997 From: OMNI_Moderator At: 204.30.67.84 Well, now you've let yourself WIDE OPEN for me to ask who your influences are--in terms of your acting, and in your personal life. What made you want to study to be a priest--but then switch to studying acting? Do you have a mentor in acting that you talk to? MsgId: example(24) Date: Fri Mar 14 21:51:54 EST 1997 From: LeVar_Burton At: 152.171.254.53 When I decided not to become a priest, and to become an actor instead, on some level I know I was responding to a seed that had been planted in my soul many years earlier. One of my most vivid memories as a child was going to a drive-in with my parents and seeing a movie called LILIES OF THE FIELD starring Sidney Poitier. It was the power and presence and humanity of Sidney's portrayal of Homer Smith, as well as Sidney's own considerable presence, that left an indelible mark. And so, I know that in many ways, it is Sidney's grace and class and elegance and sheer dignity that has always been a beacon for me. As an actor and as a man. /ga MsgId: example(25) Date: Fri Mar 14 21:53:39 EST 1997 From: OMNI_Moderator At: 204.30.67.84 Have you had the chance to meet with him and sit with him to talk about acting? And what about yourself? Are you a mentor to someone else? MsgId: example(26) Date: Fri Mar 14 21:57:47 EST 1997 From: LeVar_Burton At: 152.171.254.53 Although I have been blessed on several occasions in the last 20 years to have been in the presence of Mr. P, which is what I call him, we've never talked about acting. I don't know why not, I suppose it's because I am of the belief that acting, at least for me, is one of those things about which it is senseless to have conversation. You either do it, or you don't. You either know how it is done, or you do not. I have found no effective way to communicate the nature or even the essence of acting and so that conversation never crossed my mind. Am I a mentor to someone else? Jeez, I don't know. I would hope, though, that if I have in fact influenced someone, that it would be more in the area of humanity as opposed to occupation. /ga MsgId: example(27) Date: Fri Mar 14 21:58:59 EST 1997 From: OMNI_Moderator At: 204.30.67.84 And what would you like to leave as a final message to the audience--for future reference? MsgId: example(28) Date: Fri Mar 14 22:02:54 EST 1997 From: LeVar_Burton At: 152.171.254.53 For future reference, as well as any pertinent references for the present, I would like to leave the audience with this thought: The world you live in is indeed one of your own making. The thoughts you think, the words you speak, and the actions that you take literally create every experience that constitutes your life. Spend at least a few moments today in contemplation of that truth. Well, kids, it's been a stone cold gas! And I've enjoyed every moment of it. Thank you for your time and attention and most of all, for showing up. I'll see you next time. --LeVar Burton /ga MsgId: example(29) Date: Fri Mar 14 22:05:36 EST 1997 From: OMNI_Moderator At: 204.30.67.84 Thank you, LeVar, for appearing tonight--and for coming on the previous five nights. Again, the book is AFTERMATH, available at local bookstores from Warner Books. You can also catch his show, "Daddy's Girl", in the future, watch "Reading Rainbow" right now--or watch "Star Trek: The Next Generation's" past episodes! Thank you again, Mr. Burton! |
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