JMS has been involved with genre television
for many years, as story editor and writer for the Twilight Zone TV series
(syndicated version), Captain Power, and the animated The Real Ghostbusters.
He has also written for Jake and the Fatman and Murder She Wrote. JMS has
also had many published short stories, an anthology, and two fantasy/horror
novels. He was also co-host of Hour 25, a Los Angeles area science fiction
radio talk show.
Doug Netter was an equal partner in
Babylon 5 and has been in the business for a long time. He was Executive Vice
President and Chief Operating Officer at MGM Studios from 1970-1975, where
his nickname was Rattlesnake, thus Rattlesnake Productions, the production
company he founded in 1978. Doug mainly handled the business side and left
the creative work to Straczynski, which is how they first worked together
on Captain Power. Recent executive producer credits include "Captain
Power" and "The Wild West" 10-hour miniseries documentary.
John Copeland is Babylon 5's producer.
Copeland has been working with Netter since 1977 and together they have produced
"The Wild West" and the "Wild Times" miniseries, "Roughnecks,"
"The Sacketts," and the pilot for "Captain Power," among
others.
John Iacovelli was the production
designer, in charge of coming up with new sets and other visual elements.
In the past, he has worked on "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" among other
films.
Christopher Franke, formerly of Tangerine
Dream, composed the show's soundtrack and wrote the main title themes. His
film credits include McBain, Universal Soldier, and the miniseries The Tommyknockers.
(Franke has released a soundtrack album of music from the first and second
series of the show.)
Ron Thornton of Foundation Imaging was
in charge of the special effects, which won an Emmy for the pilot movie. Thornton
has worked on Terminator 2, the Addams Family, Captain Power, Blake's 7, Doctor
Who, and other projects.
Harlan Ellison was the conceptual consultant
for the series. He has written a "manifesto" for the show that explains
to other writers how to write science fiction for television and Babylon 5
in particular. On a day-to-day basis, he had no preassigned duties (though
he wrote a script or two) but is something of a generalist, helping refine
many aspects of the production, from writing to sets. JMS refers to Ellison's
position as "a free-roaming agent of chaos."
Everett Burrell and John Vulich headed
the make-up team at Optic Nerve studios, and won an Emmy for their work in
the first series of B5. They have worked on productions such as Batman Returns,
Aliens, Tales From The Crypt, Night of The Living Dead, and The Lost Boys.
Well-known science fiction writers,
including Ellison, David Gerrold, Peter David, and D.C. Fontana, contributed
scripts to the show.
