(Photo source : Lovin Malta Youtube video)
The Malta Archipelago is also a filming location for the Foundation series which is slated to air in 2021 by Apple TV+ (no release date known at this time). An article and a video interview published by the news outlet Lovin Malta tells us more about the shoot.
We have transcripted and decrypted the interview.
Video interview of David Goyer (showrunner)
Interview transcription
Interviewer : So a trailer for Foundation released in June last year. It went viral and it showed a lot of the snippets of the characters environments and planets in the series but then Finland had to stop all of a sudden. I'm curious to know was coming to Malta always a part of your original plan for filming or was this location decided later on and as a result of the interruption caused by the pandemic ?
David Goyer : Malta was always part of the plan. We have a water planet as is evidenced by this image behind me and Malta has copious water tanks there aren't a lot of those in the world so we had always intended on coming to Malta. What did change we shut down like most of the world did for about six months after the pandemic was we decided to expand our footprint here in Malta and now some of the locations here are representative of another world in the Foundation show as well.
Interviewer : And how has the film commission adapted to your production needs and met your Covid-19 requirements ? Have they been satisfactory they've ?
David Goyer : They've been amazing and i'm not just saying that when the new variant started appearing in the UK. We were worried that we wouldn't be able to bring any of our actors or crew from the UK and they all quarantined for 14 days but the film commission and the minister really worked with our production and allowed us to get waivers to safely bring them in here and to allow us to continue filming.
Interviewer : Excellent and in the past you had mentioned that Foundation there were many attempts to create Foundation and and adapted to the big screen but they never really worked out. What has changed this time around in this because in the span of one year we're not just getting Foundation but we're also getting another epic sci-fi tale Dune do you think there's a kind of resurgence in the sci-fi genre ?
David Goyer : I think there's definitely a resurgence the sci-fi genre typically what happens when times are tough is people look to genre as a form of escapism. That's something that shows like Foundation can do exceptionally well but also it's the advent of all the streamers the audience is changing the way that we're consuming stories is changing. Game of Thrones is really the first of these big giant novelistic shows and you know now with Foundation we can tell the story hopefully over the course of 80 episodes 80 hours as opposed to trying to condense it all into two or three hours for a single film.
Interviewer : Absolutely. My last question is one of the actors performing in Foundation is Lee Pace and ironically Pace is a Maltese name but we pronounce it Patch. Of all the characters who feature in Foundation, who do you think is most well suited or well adapted for a Maltese lifestyle ?
David Goyer : Well Lou Llobell who plays a character called Gaal Dornick. Gaal Dornick comes from a water world and she herself is very comfortable in the water. Her father is an amateur spear fisherman and so we've been filming for two weeks with her on the water, in the water tanks, underwater in the insert tanks and so surely Lou slash Gaal Dornick is probably the one that would be most comfortable in Malta.
Interesting points to note about the interview
Malta has always been in production plans as it has many war tanks compared to other parts of the world where there are only a few or none.
Despite the health situation due to the Covid-19 and the 14-day quarantine for the film crew, the authorities in Malta were very accommodating in allowing them to continue filming. The production therefore does not seem to have been affected too much which is good news for all those who are looking forward to the series.
The general public has changed the way they consume stories. David Goyer therefore always has the big challenge of being able to find the right balance to be able to meet the expectations of early fans and the new generation of audiences to honor the work of Isaac Asimov.
"You know now with Foundation we can tell the story hopefully over the course of 80 episodes 80 hours as opposed to trying to condense it all into two or three hours for a single film". Have you read that ?!? Probably the most interesting point. This would mean that David Goyer's ultimate goal would be to have a series of at least 80 episodes ! Which would mean around 8 seasons of 10 episodes. We hope that this plan comes true like Hari Seldon's plan ... :-)
Lou Llobell as Gaal Dornick is very comfortable with the water due to his father who is an amateur spear fisherman. We can update a little bit her actress page.
BONUS POINT :
David Goyer wears a "Terminus" collar size. :-)
What do you think about this interview ?
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