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ER HEADQUARTERS.COM
// Chat Transcripts
OnlineHost: Copyright 1997 Harpo and ABC; Licensed to
America Online, Inc.
February 12, 1997
Online Host: Welcome! We are thrilled to be joined in
just a few minutes author/director/producer, Michael
Crichton to discuss his most recent best-seller,
AIRFRAME, which tackles issues paramount in the public
mind -- air safety and the media's manipulation of
information. To send questions to Mr. Crichton use the
INTERACT icon at the top of your screen. Thank you for
joining us.
Online Host: MCrich9334 has entered the room.
MCrich9334: Hi everybody.
Online Host: From "The Andromeda Strain" to "Jurassic
Park," chances are good that you've felt the impact of
Michael Crichton's incredible body of work. Most of
America cancels their Thursday night plans to stay at
home with "E.R.," and people are already buzzing about
Jurassic's sequel "The Lost World."
Online Host: Crichton joins us tonight to talk about
his recent best-seller, "Airframe," and the role the
media plays in our understanding of the events happening
around us. Send your questions to Mr. Crichton using
the INTERACT icon at the top of your screen. We are
thrilled that he is here -- Welcome Michael Crichton!
HarpoHost: Welcome everyone!
Question: What do you think about the White House's new
agenda of reducing air fatalities by 80% in 10 years?
Possible?
MCrich9334: Well there are some obvious ways to
approach air fatalities to get the numbers down. (They
are already very low.) Most accidents are caused by
human error, particularly pilot error, so improved
training of pilots will make a big difference. Better
traffic control will help. But fundamentally remember
that we are talking about reducing what are already very
small numbers. Many more people die on bicycles than on
big airplanes in this country every year. And WAY more
people choke to death on food.
HarpoHost: Our next question comes to us from HobgoodC
...
Question: Mr. Crichton, are you planning on writing
another episode of E.R.? The pilot was excellent
--Cynthia
MCrich9334: Thanks. Actually, I'm not planning to
write more for the show. I'd like to, but no time...
(sigh)
Question: Is their going to be a third part to Jurassic
Park after The Lost World?
MCrich9334: A third! Jeez, the second one isn't even
out! Be patient! (I don't know.)
Question: AIRFRAME seems perfectly timed - given the
recent tragedies. What subjects are you currently
passionate about?
MCrich9334: Can't tell you that. I never discuss what
I am working on until it is done. It's a superstition
of mine. Many writers share it.
HarpoHost: Ststtik --- you're up ...
Question: Do you really write 10,000 words a day?
MCrich9334: I did, when I was young and energetic and
writing simpler books. Now, I write 1200-2400 words a
day.
HarpoHost: W01fsdrea ... a true fan ...
Question: Hello Mr. Crichton. Are you working on a new
book? I've read 'em all! =)
MCrich9334: Yes, I am working on one now.
HarpoHost: JamesBond is up ...
Question: What are some of the reasons you began
directing your own scripts? Did you enjoy the directing
process?
MCrich9334: I started directing to protect my own
material. I used to enjoy directing very much. In
recent years I've preferred to write only. But I'll
probably direct again one of these days.
HarpoHost: C15second has our next question for Michael
Crichton ...
Question: What advice would you give to a 14 year old
who wants to be a writer, and wants to start right now?
MCrich9334: Start right now! If you want to write,
write! Writing is one of the things you can do without
a lot of money or expensive equipment, and it is a very
peculiar life style, not suited for everybody, so you
might as well get started and see if you like it.
Whether you like it is more important than whether
you're good at it. It's a question of whether you can
stick to it.
HarpoHost: DEN is up!
Question: What was your favorite book to write? And
what movie, so far, has come closest to portraying your
books as written? Thanks, Den
MCrich9334: My favorite book to write is TRAVELS,
because it is about me! The best translation of a book
into a movie, in my opinion, was DISCLOSURE. But I like
many others as well. I liked JURASSIC PARK a lot.
HarpoHost: Our next question for Michael Crichton comes
from Jim007bon .....
Question: You have written in many different genres.
Do you feel (as Stanley Kubrick does in film) that a
great artist should master many different genres in his
career?
MCrich9334: Did Stanley Kubrick say that? He seems to
have stuck pretty much to movies after an early period
as a still photographer. But certainly Kubrick is the
master of all the associated crafts of movie-making.
HarpoHost: For all E.R. fans out there .......
Question: How involved in the casting of E.R. were
you? The show has quite an ensemble!
MCrich9334: Quite involved. The cast turned out very
well --and they're all very nice people, too.
Question: What are your thoughts on Nature vs.
Nurture? Do you think the media is training kids to be
animals with no respect?
MCrich9334: I actually think parents are not doing
their jobs, these days. But it isn't the job of the
media to teach kids how to behave. (However it is true
that the media often makes it harder.)
HarpoHost: VENOMOO7 is up ....
Question: I loved Jurassic Park! What made you bring
Ian Malcolm back in the sequel?
MCrich9334: I liked him the best of all the characters
so he returned. It's a God-thing writers can do. Conan
Doyle did it once, brought Holmes back from the dead.
Question: When is Sphere going to come out on the big
screen & who will star?
MCrich9334: Sphere may be out for Christmas 1997, or
perhaps early 1998. It stars Dustin Hoffman and Sharon
Stone. It should be pretty terrific.
HarpoHost: Next up for Michael Crichton is CookerKd
.....
Question: Do you think that George G. Simpson's
footnote was somehow a message to you?! (I love your
work by the way!)
MCrich9334: A message to me? No, he wrote it decades
before I read it.
HarpoHost: RaptorsIc asks Mr. Crichton ....
Question: Is it a surreal experience to have something
you have only imagined on paper (or a computer screen)
actually appear before you on a motion picture screen?
MCrich9334: Huh...well, it depends. Sometimes it is
weird. Sometimes it is upsetting. I've been to
screenings where I had to walk out. I've been to
screenings where I was nauseated and thought I was going
to throw up. I've been to screenings where I was just
VERY disappointed. So...it depends.
HarpoHost: Icat asks.....
Question: How do you get the research for all you books
or do they just come out of your head?
MCrich9334: No, the research is done by me. Actually I
try to keep what comes out of my head to a minimum. I
wish I could write non-fiction instead of fiction...so I
try to make up as little as possible.
Question: Do you, like Ian Malcolm, believe that the
internet will make the world more ignorant and less
creative? If so, why?
MCrich9334: Yes. For the reason that is in the book.
I think it is dangerous for everybody to get
lock-stepped mentally and having us all wired together
threatens to do that. Very bad idea.
Question: Why do you think ER has become such a
critical and popular hit? It is a wonderful show!
MCrich9334: I think ER is a little more realistic than
TV had been in recent years. I think people recognize
problems and situations they know about on the show.
And they respond to that. I also think that on the
level of pure entertainment, it is extremely well done
and consistently of high quality.
Question: What inspired you to write books such as
Sphere and Terminal Man? Was it your interests? (I
love those books)
MCrich9334: TERMINAL MAN was based on a real patient
that I saw in the hospital. I can't say more about it,
to protect confidentiality. SPHERE is pure fantasy.
The opposite of TERMINAL MAN, in a way.
HarpoHost: Whizzer -- -here you go!
Question: Are you thinking of a new T.V. drama?
MCrich9334: Yes, I met with John Wells, the executive
producer of ER, just today about doing a new show. But
I can't tell you anything right now.
HarpoHost: Don't know what's up with this one .... but
it's the third of it's kind!
Question: Hey Michael, I like your books. Do you play
the sitar?
MCrich9334: No, I don't. Sorry about that.
HarpoHost: Hello EMarq .... here's your question for
Michael Crichton .....
Question: How come a lot of the things in Jurassic Park
(the book) didn't show up in the movie?
MCrich9334: Either not enough time, or too much money,
or not possible to do (i.e., the river sequence.)
Question: What is your least favorite book you have
written?
MCrich9334: Actually it is TERMINAL MAN. I worked on it
for 9 drafts and never felt I got it quite right. I
don't to this day know what I would do differently, or
what I should have done.
Question: Does it bother you when people change things
for movie scripts?
MCrich9334: No. Different medium. A script can have
only about 10% of a novel in it, so it has to be very
compressed and fast. I've made films from my own books
and cut them down, so...to me it is just the process.
HarpoHost: Meow has the next question ....
Question: In your book Disclosure that was recently
made into a movie, how were you able to use the company
name Digicom as Michael Douglas' employer? Since that
is actually the name of an existing technology company.
MCrich9334: We didn't know at the time. Or maybe
Digicom came after the movie. I can't remember now.
Anyway, they don't seem to mind.
Question: Does your intended audience dramatically
effect how you write?
MCrich9334: No. My intended audience is me. I write
what I think is interesting to me. Or I try to.
Question: What is your most prized work you feel you've
done?
MCrich9334: I try to love all my children equally.
Actually, I try not to be attached to how a project
turns out. I just do my work, and afterward things
happen.
HarpoHost: SpiRit2Ua has our next question in this
event ....
Question: Michael, you're my favorite author!!! I was
wondering, the thoughts on evolution in The Lost World -
are they yours? If so, you do have some very
interesting insight. - Jacey Ogden
MCrich9334: Well, they're my ideas, I guess, but they
are strongly informed by some current scientific
thinking, particularly by Stuart Kaufman of Santa Fe
Institute, so it isn't really mine.
Question: Any plans to produce a book similar to the
Andromeda Strain, but more up to the date with the
various possibilities of the ebola virus or some other
unknown deadly killers?
MCrich9334: Not to my knowledge. There have been a lot
of virus movies lately.
Question: My wife wants to know if you are married?
MCrich9334: Yes, for nine years. I have a daughter.
Happily married.
HarpoHost: Next up for Michael Crichton is this
question from Iodine98:
Question: Michael, What motivated to write your
excellent, Great Train Robbery? Is was one of the most
fascinating books I've ever encountered, but the topic
seems a bit off for your tastes. How did the piece come
about?
MCrich9334: It was based on a real event, which I read
about, and decided to make into a full-length novel.
There WAS a real train robbery in 1855 and it was
generally as described, though I took some liberties and
made the criminals more interesting than they really
were.
HarpoHost: Swirl has the chance to go right to the
source on this one .....
Question: What was your Jasper Johns book about? I
cannot find it anywhere and its the only book of yours I
don't have.
MCrich9334: It's a study of an artist. Abrams has
published the revised version in 1994. A bookstore
should be able to order it for you, but it's probably
expensive.
HarpoHost: Deebrown1 asks .....
Question: How old where you when you started to write
books?
MCrich9334: I wrote my first book at 22, and sold it.
Original paperback. I wrote original paperbacks under
pseudonyms all through medical school, then quit
medicine to become a full-time writer, at 25.
HarpoHost: Malamati has our next question ......
Question: Do you feel that Sphere has had a major
impact on modern sci-fi, perhaps even through the
mechanism of folks picking up some ideas and running
with them?
MCrich9334: I can't really say. It's always hard to
know where ideas come from, who gets what from whom. I
WOULD say that a movie I did called WESTWORLD back in
1973 has been extensively re-made. By lots of people.
HarpoHost: NaTboY78 is up next .....
Question: In Airframe I noticed that you portrayed the
Newsline crew as a kind of cruel and lying group. Do
you believe the media needs to lay off subjects like the
O.J. Trial and move to news more informative?
MCrich9334: Yes. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Question: How was R.H.S? I graduated there too! Do
you think it had any impact on your success?--
MCrich9334: I went back to Roslyn High School last
year, and spoke to students at my old high school. It
was a thrill. I also saw some of my old teachers
(they're REALLY old now!) But it was great. I was
lucky in my schooling, and in my teachers. I had a
great high school and great teachers.
HarpoHost: Smitty -- are you a MAC or PC man?
Question: What do you think about the slow demise of
the Macintosh?
MCrich9334: Well, I'm a Mac user, so I'm not prepared
to give up. I do some work on Windows machines, and
every time I do I am reminded of how inferior it is to
the MAC OS. (I know, I know...it's whatever OS you are
used to.) But still, if the Mac goes down, it will not
be because it was an inferior product. It will be
because the big guy ate the little guy (and because the
little guy was kind of dumb.)
HarpoHost: Car51 has our next question ........
Question: Mr. Crichton, are there any plans for
Airframe to be made into a movie?
MCrich9334: Yes, John McTiernan will direct it after he
finishes directing EATERS OF THE DEAD this summer.
Question: I am told I am a talented writer, and I love
to write. But reading is a different story... I can't
do it that often. I find little pleasure. Am I doomed
for trouble? Odd huh?
MCrich9334: Well, it is odd. Not necessarily
doomed...but odd. Caution.
HarpoHost: Does Oxymoron4 have the inside scoop? ...
Question: I heard that your next book is going to have
something to do with cosmic wormholes. Is this true?
MCrich9334: I'm certainly interested in wormholes...but
I will say no more. Heh heh.
Question: I saw you on Barbara Walters. How tall are
you??
MCrich9334: 6'9" today.
Question: I have read many of your books, and the name
Levine appears in many of them. Why?
MCrich9334: Why not? I don't know...listen, I went to
my eye doctor and he said, "So, you put me in your book,
as OLD Dr. so and so...Do you think I am old?" I said,
"I put you in my book?" (The meaning of this story is
that much writing is unconscious. Levine...let's
see...I have no idea.) I guess I like the name.
HarpoHost: NesMieste has a follow-up question for Mr.
Crichton ...
Question: What do you feel you didn't get right about
Terminal Man?
MCrich9334: If I knew, then I'd know what to do about
it...I just feel that there was some opportunity to use
a real technology in a fictional way that eluded me.
Question: Michael do you feel that your books about
dinosaurs have encouraged ecologist to genetically man
make them like penguins?
MCrich9334: Do people make penguins?
MCrich9334: No...I don't think my books have encouraged
any scientists to do research in any area except, oddly
enough, to extraction of paleo-DNA. But I think they
are now finding that things are harder than they
thought. Don't worry about becoming dino-food in the
near future!
HarpoHost: Talon1981 has our next question ....
Question: Were you disappointed with the movie version
of Congo? I'm reading your book and it is MUCH better
than the movie.
MCrich9334: Yes I was disappointed. Friends of mine
made it, but I think it is not one of the better
translations of my books.
HarpoHost: Zenyatta2's got a home town question ....
Question: Michael, I was one of the students that
interviewed you last September when you came back to
your old high school. I wanted to ask you: What book of
yours would you most like to be added to the Roslyn High
School English curriculum?
MCrich9334: Hmmm...I think that is too much
responsibility for me to decide. I like TRAVELS but
maybe young people won't.
HarpoHost: This is the time folks ... our last question
.....
Question: Michael, I saw you on Oprah and thought you
were wonderful. Why don't you do more interviews?
MCrich9334: Because of what I said to Oprah when I came
on---I'm nervous. She was great, but I get very anxious
on television and so I prefer to do it as little as
possible. You know, I became a writer so I could stay
in the background. It's very weird to me that my life
should have taken his turn so that I am recognizable so
many places and around the world. I came out of dinner
in Tokyo one night and these Japanese schoolgirls began
to giggle and say, "Oh, Crichton-san." I thought, this
is really TOO MUCH. But what can I do? It's also fun.
I'm not complaining. My life has certainly turned out
to be interesting!
MCrich9334: Thank you all for listening to me.
Online Host: Thank you so much for joining us for this
discussion with Michael Crichton. We thank him so much
for taking the time to be here with us tonight. For
even more information on "Airframe," go to http://www.randomhouse.com.
We hope you all enjoy the book! Thanks again to
everyone -- have a wonderful night. Goodnight from
Harpo Studios.
OnlineHost: Copyright 1997 Harpo and ABC; Licensed to
America Online, Inc.
========================
More about this Event:
02/12 "ER" Creator Michael Crichton (CyberPlex)
Meet the man behind "ER" and "Jurassic Park." Michael
Crichton LIVE for Oprah Online, Wednesday, February 12
at 9pm EST (Cyberplex).
You cannot escape the impact of Michael Crichton's Midas
touch. Chances are good you've screamed, laughed and
covered your eyes through his blockbuster films,
"Jurassic Park," "Twister," "Disclosure" and "Rising
Sun," to name a few -- and odds are even higher that you
spend many a Thursday night on the couch enjoying "ER,"
the #1 show on television which Crichton created and is
the Executive Producer of. Wouldn't you love the chance
to talk to the man behind these projects? Selected as
one of Barbara Walter's "10 Most Fascinating People" of
1996, Michael Crichton will join us live online, Feb.
12th, to talk about his unparalleled career, his latest
best-seller "Airframe," and the upcoming sequel to
"Jurassic Park," "The Lost World."
After graduating from the Harvard Medical School,
Crichton embarked on a career as a writer and
filmmaker. Called "the father of the techno-thriller,"
his novels include "The Andromeda Strain," The Great
Train Robbery," Congo," "Jurassic Park," Rising Sun,"
"Disclosure," and the newly released sequel to the
blockbuster "Jurassic Park," "The Lost World." He has
also written four books of non-fiction, including "Five
Patients," "Jasper Johns," and his autobiography,
"Travels."
His novels have been translated into at least twenty
languages. Seven have been made into films, including
the phenomenally successful "Jurassic Park." Four more
films of his novels are planned for release in the near
future, including "Airframe," "The Lost World,"
"Sphere," and "Eaters of the Dead."
Crichton has directed six films, among them "Westworld,"
"Coma," and "The Great Train Robbery." Always
interested in computers, in 1982 he ran a software
company, Film Track, that created a computer game called
"Amazon." His film "Westworld," has the distinction of
being the first feature film to employ digitized images
in 1973. "Jurassic Park" has been published as an
electronic book by Voyager in 1992.
Crichton is married and lives in Los Angeles.
Join Michael Crichton live Wednesday, February 12 at 9pm
ET.
Event Keyword: "Oprah"
Transmitted: 7/3/1997 11:18 AM
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