Jennie Sword In The Basement

The lovely and talented Jennie Sword visited Margie and Edna's Basement and a great time was had by all. It's not the usual kind of interview so please check it out.



"Marketers are already scrambling to figure out how best to adjust their 30-second TV spots for viewing via the web and on iPod screens. But as the nation prepares for the big shift from analog to digital TV on Feb. 17 next year, what could be a major conundrum has opened up for advertisers who love to make use of the wider high-definition screen.

While "standard definition" -- read "old-fashioned" -- TV sets have for decades featured a 4:3 screen-size proportion, high-definition sets and the programming created for them have a much more rectangular 16:9 scope. Thus, ads crafted for high-definition broadcasts that show up on standard-definition sets could have their right and left sides digitally sliced off."

Monster Exclusive: Jennie and April

Since the Save Jericho campaign started last year, the JerichoMonster has had the great privilege to get to know a number of wonderful people. Two of those people who have become special friends to me are Jennie Sword ("Townsperson Jennie") and April Parker ("Darcy Hawkins). I was recently sent this exclusive picture and the accompanying note from Jennie, and I am honored to post this on JerichoMonster.
******************

Jane,

I want to thank you for your endless support of Jericho and your kindness and generosity you've shown all of us on your awesome blog! It means the world to us all. I know April and I really enjoyed doing the interviews we did with you! Here's a photo of us at the party we had Tuesday for the finale. I do hope that we find a new way to go on with new stories we haven't told yet. Jericho and this incredible experience will always live on in the hearts of us all. I do know that much. The spirit of the fans and their voices truly mattered - each and every one. They showed the world something special. If you join and work together in solidarity with dignity, respect and perseverance people can achieve amazing things. I'm glad I could be a small part of this amazing experience with you all.

Jane, I wish you the best of luck in your pursuits and dreams!

~ Jennie

A Simple Thank You

Open Letter To Karim Zreik

The recent chat with you in Jeritopia was excellent. One part in particular caught my eye. You were asked this question by dbalcer:

" We love townjennie. When we get Season 3 can we get more of her storyline?"

"We all love townjennie," Karim replied. "What would you guys like to see townjennie do next season? Hey, perhaps that'll be a good contest:you guys write her."



Jennie's fans are waiting for the contest. We hope you were serious. Here are a few fan comments:


"My affinity for TownJennie is mostly because she's made herself so accessible to the fans. She has been in direct contact with the fans since she posted on the CBS boards, and it feels like she became our "friend" after Season 1. I guess I'd like to learn more about her character, and I'd also like my Jericho "friend" to have bigger success within the show. In addition, I also think she represents what most of us want for ourselves, to be taken from the background and out into the limelight."


"One of the reasons I want her to get a bigger part is that she has something special that made it so we could identify her. The she made herself available to us and shared her stories on the sets. She is one of them granted in a small role but wants to be one of us too."

" When Jennie first posted at CBS I wasn't sure who she was but people started talking about her so I began to pay attention. I finally saw her picture and saw some videos.I thought she was very pretty then I read an interview about her. She is so down to earth and seems to love the show and her job. She feels like a friend. I want her her to have a bigger role because she deserves it. We want Jennie."

" Jennie is a super nice lady. She's as pretty as Ashley or Sprague. Maybe more. I think she could do a good job in a bigger part."

" Jennie is the kind of person who makes everybody feel special. She deserves a much bigger role."

If you would like to make a comment please post in the comment section or email sweat1951@rock.com and I will post them here.

Jericho: Chats In Jeritopia

Thank you to Jennie Sword for her chat last night in Jeritopia. It was fun learning more about her and we appreciate the visit.

Jeritopia is pleased to announce Jericho Co-Executive Producer Karim Zreik comes to the chat room to thank fans for their hard efforts to promote the show and take questions about seasons 1 & 2, the future for Jericho, what it takes to produce this great series and whatever else fans want to talk about..

Tuesday, February 5th, 9pm ET



An Evening with Carol Barbee

Jeritopia is pleased to announce Jericho Executive Producer Carol Barbee will be stepping into the chat and sitting down with fans for a Q & A session.

Wednesday, February 6th, 11pm ET
http://www.jeritopia.com
In the "Town Hall"

So get your questions ready and come join us for what promises to be a very special evening.



Get your Jericho fix with Remote Access

Passport To Jericho

Thanks to Kystorms for suggesting that we recognize our international readers. People from the countries listed below have visited the Monster this week and I wanted to take this opportunity to say Thank You.

If there is anything I could blog about for you please leave a comment.


Canada**** Venezuela

UK**** Norway

Pakistan ****Phillipines

Russian Federation ****Romania

Switzerland ****France

Germany ****Spain

Belgium ****Australia

New Zealand ****Peru

Brazil ****Netherlands


Special Announcement:

Jeritopia Rocks.

Chats ahead:

Monday Feb. 4-- Townsperson Jennie Sword--9 p.m. CST

Wed. Feb. 6-- Carol Barbee-- 11pm ET

Mark your calendar now.


Amy's Daily Fix

Remote Access

9 Days and Counting

Jeritopia Rocks

Special Announcement:

Jeritopia Rocks.

Chats ahead:

Monday Feb. 4-- Townsperson Jennie Sword--9 p.m. CST

Wed. Feb. 6-- Carol Barbee-- 11pm ET



What's your opinion?

Jake and Heather or Jake and Emily? Give your reasons a voice.

Check Amy's Daily Fix of Jericho and join the debate.

Jericho: Moonves Optimistic

"CBS Corp. Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves predicted advertising revenue will increase this year and doesn't see signs of a recession in that market.

Moonves said in an interview today in New York that while he's concerned about the economy, he feels ``very good'' about the fundamentals of CBS's business.

CBS, owner of the most-watched U.S. television network, is among the media companies most vulnerable to a recession, because 73 percent of sales come from advertising, Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst Jessica Reif Cohen said yesterday. The network will attract advertisers, Moonves told Bloomberg Television.

``Even during harder times, the network, which is our bread and butter, still remains a very significant place where advertisers go and is almost recession-proof,'' Moonves said.

CBS declined $1.33, or 5.8 percent, to $21.55 at 12:49 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has dropped this week amid a global sell-off of equities.

The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by 0.75 percentage point yesterday, the most in 23 years. The S&P 500 fell to a 16-month low after the Fed's emergency reduction failed to convince investors the U.S. will avoid recession.

Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne reduced his estimate for advertising spending growth to 3.2 percent from 5.4 percent today, citing slowing economies.

Broadcasters have also suffered from an 11-week-old strike by TV and movie writers that forced them to air reruns."

Message From Jennie Sword

Jennie Sword (TownJennie) has posted a new message to all Jericho fans.

Please leave her a comment if you like. Wonderful person.




Thanks to Terocious for this reminder of an article I had forgotten about.

Les Moonves was interviewed by Newsweek and said:

Do you read blogs?
Not usually. When it's something interesting, my people bring it to my attention. We are getting independent market research on how bloggers are treating some of our shows and personalities. Early on we knew "Ghost Whisperers" was going to be successful because Jennifer Love Hewitt had a lot of attention among bloggers. It would be silly to ignore blogs, and we don't.

What would be the scariest headline you could imagine in the business pages in the next year?
The scariest headline? CBS CORP. DOESN'T PERFORM AS WELL AS EXPECTED. But I don't think that's going to happen. Put that in, too."

The Fascinating Face of Jennie Sword

Known to us as TownJennie. Thank you Jennie for these wonderful pictures.

I see a new Star on the rise here.










http://www.imdb.com/gallery/hh/2649268

A Monster Cast Interview: Jennie Townsperson

Part II


I'm glad you all enjoyed Part I of Jennie's interview. I had some extra questions which she graciously agreed to answer. Thanks Jennie.

RubberPoultry, there's a little surprise for you in here so I hope you like it.

One last thing, Jennie. If you really want a starring role, just list the Rangers as a reference and drop a few Nuts on that executive's desk.



1. You film an episode which takes a long time then you watch it to see how it looks. Right? Do any of you actually watch Jericho when it's on TV or are you tired of it by then?


Personally I am never tired of Jericho and the story we are telling. Naturally I get tired from a long work day like anyone else but I love what I get to do on the show and to me it's like completing a piece of art to be able to see the final product in its entirety and in order since we shoot out of sequence. I don't always get to know everything in the script so it's fun to watch it when it airs - if I'm home. Otherwise it gets recorded! But most of the time we had some really fun days while we were in production where if we were working at the stages, we’d get to watch the episode during lunch that would be airing that night or that week. That was always special.


2. You said you like writing. Would you like to write a screenplay or a series one day or have you already written them?


Yes! I have two screenplays I’m writing. One is a thriller and the other is an historical fiction epic inspired by stories of my ancestors. I’ve always enjoyed writing and telling stories and at different times, I’ve had ideas for novels and screenplays. So in my downtime I enjoy exploring those story ideas. I didn’t start them thinking that I’d actually produce them but the more I work on these two stories in particular, the more I’d love to see them made into films. Maybe I will make that happen one day but for now mostly it’s one of the creative things I do for my own personal enjoyment.



3. You said you have a graphics background and you've seen RubberPoultry's work. He is amazingly gifted and has created so much for Jericho. What do you think about his fan art?



From what I’ve seen, I think his work is brilliant! I’m a huge fan! I know it’s no small task because I’ve done that kind of work myself. He’s not getting paid to do it and it comes from his heart. I wonder if people know what kind of time it can take to do graphics and videos like that. For him to donate his time to do it is a very special thing and says so much. I would love to see a version of his flag video made into a promo for CBS to air before our new season starts up. Wouldn’t that be great? I would hope they would consider him for that. He’s already done a great job promoting the show on the internet.



4. Does your family watch Jericho? Do they like it?


Yes, my family does like the show - so much that they forget to look for me! That only means that they truly love the show and find it really gripping and I couldn’t be happier for that. It means we are all doing our jobs well!



5.Will you be going back to acting classes soon? How do they help you grow?


Yes, in fact, I have recently been referred to some very renowned acting coaches. When my schedule allows, I plan on taking a class with Gary Austin. I really look forward to that. Classes always help me grow in anything I do. With acting, it is very good for me in keeping my skills and senses sharpened while continually bringing me new challenges to work with and learn from. The more I have opportunities to challenge myself as we do in classes, the better I feel I can be in the craft at work. This is always important to any serious actor. I am not here for fame - I am about being challenged, prepared, honest and hopefully entertaining and happy in what I do.

A Monster Cast Interview: Jennie Townsperson

Part I

Jennie Sword is a truly nice person. She has the role of Jennie the Townsperson on Jericho and does an outstanding job. She graciously accepted my request for this interview and I appreciate it. I continued to think of more questions for her and she answered all of those as well. Those answers will appear here tomorrow in Part II.

Talking to Jennie has been a great pleasure. She is kind, funny, very intelligent, and speaks highly of Jericho, the cast and crew, and the fans. I predict Jennie is on her way to bigger roles and I wish her the very best. But, Jennie, you can never leave Jericho!



1. How did you get into the acting business?


There’s no short answer to this question. I was born and raised in Southern California. Since my Dad is a retired film and sound effects editor, I’ve been exposed to and influenced by the film industry all my life and always had my own love for film and story telling. Doing school plays was probably my first effort at seeing if I’d enjoy acting. I’ve always been an artsy type that has had many things I’ve wanted to explore in life. So I didn’t know for sure that’s what I wanted to do that early on but I knew I loved acting. I was also a very shy little girl so that was probably the biggest thing I worked passed over the years in doing other things. After I graduated high school, I took some time off to decide what to pursue. Soon I started taking acting classes for fun and registered with a background casting agency and worked on a few films. I loved it but my love for other things also needed to be explored. I decided to go for a degree in photography. Once I finished, I had started to work and sold a few pieces then things quickly lead me into the digital side of the art. I took it a few steps farther and went to school for visual effects. When I finished the program, I specialized in creating realistic atmospheric effects for film called visual effects animation. While I loved it at first, the technical side of it became very tedious for me. The creative side of it was still very gratifying. I did three projects and then it just became clear to me how much I had missed acting. Along the way, doors started to open for me to get back into acting. I started up classes again, started doing auditions and got very serious this time around because all of a sudden, I wanted it bad enough to do the work for it. I was definitely bitten by the bug!


2. How did you get the role of Townsperson on Jericho?

After being back in classes for a year or so, my acting coach had to take some time out to do some commercials. I decided it was a good time for a break because I was preparing to start looking for principal work but at the same time, I was also very anxious to just get back onto a set for a little while without the pressure of getting the job. So I started doing some background acting. Initially, I only intended to do it for a little while to get the feel of being on a set again and also to try and finish earning my eligibility for getting into the union. Around that time, a new show called “Jericho” had been filming its first few episodes. I had heard of the show and its exciting premise and decided I’d like to work on it when they were looking to cast townspeople. I submitted for it with the casting director and she booked me for the show since I fit what they were looking for. I really enjoyed the work and how well I was treated by far in comparison to the few other things I had worked on at the time, so I decided to continue booking the show as long as they’d have me. Before long, they kept me on as a regular and I continued to work the rest of the season. I had fallen into this great experience when I only planned on doing it a little while. What a lovely gift it has been to work here with these lovely people. I’ve earned my union eligibility and I still come back! That should say a lot.



3. What do you enjoy most about being on Jericho?

I enjoy working with a large group of people who feel the same passion for what we are doing as I do and the family type of bond we created so easily in the process. I love that there were no egos to worry about. Everyone was always so happy to be there and that made the long hours easy. Everyone respects each other's work and there wasn't ever this feeling of anyone thinking they were more important than the other. To me it felt like we were all important and welcomed. I think that's rare here but it's the way it should be – it shows in our work and those are the types of productions I want to be involved in. So it will be interesting where my career goes from here after such an experience. Not to mention, I absolutely love these unique stories we are telling and being lucky enough to be a part of that. Everything on this show is top notch – especially the writing. There’s nothing else like this show being done. I love that it’s different.



4. How did you hear about the Nuts campaign?

I heard about the nuts campaign on the CBS message board as well as on Shaun Daily's blog talk radio show. I had started watching the message board a few days before the upfronts came out and the show getting canceled. I remember the emails between some of us that were going around talking a lot about how we might actually get canceled and so I think we were all nervous and stressed and trying to find out as much as we could and that's when I saw how much the fans were talking. Then after we got canceled, it was amazing to see what the fans did. They jumped into action with emails, phone calls, letters and sending nuts and that was one of the things that really stood out right away. For me, I really loved the metaphor for what it meant - from the meaning of "nuts" in the storyline of the season finale to what it meant in the campaign. It's beautifully poetic from my point of view.



5. Where were you and what did you think when you heard Jericho had been renewed?

I had worked a long day on a pilot so when I came home late that evening I turned on my computer to see what the latest was on the campaign. There had already been some exciting talk between many of us those last few days hearing that CBS was trying to do something in response to your awesome efforts to save Jericho. The biggest sign of that was that they halted striking sets and returning set dressings to storage. So I had a few emails waiting for me that night. The first one I had opened was from my friend Jeff Porter, our set medic, saying congratulations! So I first heard it from him. There was a really beautiful email from the producers to the cast and crew that had me feeling tears of joy for the show and us and all of you - the Jericho Rangers and your huge accomplishment. It was a really incredible moment taking all of that in. It's historic.



6. What is the most difficult part of your job? What are the benefits?

A difficult part of my job on Jericho is that I care about every aspect of making the show good. I’ve always had an eye for details and continuity so sometimes I get distracted by it if something seems off. If I bring something I notice to the right person’s attention however, it’s always appreciated here. We all care. That might not be so good for me to do on just any other set. But a more difficult problem I have is with certain background actors in general. Usually Jericho is cast really well with our core group but there are times on larger calls where you get people who don't care about the show or doing a good job and just want to collect a paycheck. That hurts the industry in my opinion. I would love to see the requirements for acquiring a job in background acting changed. Like requiring training, an audition or interview as well as doing background checks. There are too many people doing this kind of work who do give it a bad name in this industry which isn't fair to those of us who take it seriously and work hard. People see the difference on our show having talented background actors who love to act. We’re proud of that.



The benefits are working with these wonderful people who've welcomed me into this wonderful family. I have learned more from working with all of them than I could have ever hoped for. It surpassed my reasoning for going back to work on a set because I’ve gained much more than I had expected. I feel very lucky to have found my footing with added self confidence for working in this industry by working here.



7. What other roles would you like to do eventually?



Well from here my focus is turning again towards doing principal work. So while I'm ready to try a variety of rolls and genres, if I had my choice, I'd love to play good dramatic rolls in film or a good TV series. I’d really love to have a key roll in a big epic adventure film. That would be so wonderful and a dream come true for me if I got that opportunity.



8. Jericho has fans from all over the world. Does that surprise you?

Yes and no. I saw several posts written by people from different parts of the world during the campaign to save the show. Back then I was certainly surprised. I had no idea how many countries were airing our show. But now it doesn’t surprise me and I’m thrilled to know they too have fought to save it. If they didn’t know it before, you all have certainly made the world aware of what Jericho is.



9. What do you do on the set when you aren't actually filming?

Well, luckily they keep me pretty busy most of the time. I don’t enjoy too much down time. I like to work. But when we do have long breaks, I usually find myself either writing or doing something creative. I crocheted a really nice scarf last winter. I also tend to visit and bond with my friends on the crew if they aren’t busy at the same time.



10. What are your acting plans for the future?

Currently I’m looking for representation and getting my package together to do a lot more auditioning after we wrap Jericho season 2 in the coming weeks. For now, I’m living in the moments and enjoying being back. But I will soon be looking at doing some commercial work as well as principal parts in film and television. I’m pretty open to see what comes to me. I love to explore and see where the road takes me as long as it makes me happy and I can continually learn new things.


Any comment you'd like to make?

I would just like to say how thankful I am to all of the fans – the Jericho Rangers who brought us back with such passion and grace. Thank you all for being so kind and encouraging in your posts and messages to me. This is certainly a time I will never forget and I am so honored to be a part of this. I knew I was a part of something special while working on season one – but none of us could have imagined the gravity of that and all that has transpired and all that has come from it. Now we have this huge extended family from what we knew we had on set. It’s truly amazing.