Purchase the 7 Hour Audioplay!
Harlan takes a break from the mic.
Harlan Ellison. My, oh my, where to begin.
We keep saying that ENDER’S GAME ALIVE is one of a kind—and it is—but Harlan Ellison is truly one of a kind. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Harlan has won more awards for the 75 books he has written or edited; the more than 1700 stories, essays, articles, and newspaper columns; and the two dozen teleplays and a dozen motion pictures he has created, than any other living fantasist.
He has won the Hugo award 8½ times, the Nebula award three times, the Bram Stoker award, the Edgar Allan Poe award of the Mystery Writers of America twice, the Georges Méliès fantasy film award twice, and two Audie Awards.
And he doesn’t even e-mail. Yes, folks, he’s THAT cool.
We’ve been lucky enough to work with Harlan several times over the years, though our favorite collaboration to date—until this one, of course—had to be Skyboat’s short film The Delivery, in which Harlan played the White Rabbit. With the sponsorship of Josh Stanton and Blackstone Audio, the short was released with an audiobook in what was the very first ever audiobook/film package combination. The book was none other than Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, read by the velvet-voiced Michael York, and Through The Looking Glass, read by Harlan and directed by Stefan. Harlan’s exciting reading rightly garnered a Grammy nod in the Spoken Word Category, and our film went on to win Best in Fantasy at the Dragoncon Film Festival. We certainly have Harlan to thank for that.
Here’s Harlan in the studio with us, July 2013:
Andrew “Ender” Wiggin………………Kirby Heyborne
Valentine Wiggin………………………….Susan Hanfield
Peter Wiggin………………………………….Paul Boehmer
John-Paul Wiggin…………………………..Arthur Morey
Theresa Wiggin…………………………..Gabrielle de Cuir
Mazer Rackham……………………..Richard McGonagle
Chamrajnagar/Fly Molo/Pol Slattery…..Vikas Adam
Jayadi………………………………………..Samantha Eggar
Colonel Graff………………………………..Stefan Rudnicki
Doctor/General Levy……………………………..Theo Bikel
DeeDee/Server………………………………………..Janis Ian
Dap………………………………………………………..Rex Linn
Bean………………………………………………..Emily Rankin
Alai/Stilson……………………………………Sunil Malhotra
Mick………………………………………………….Kathe Mazur
Bernard/Dink/Carn Carby………………Jim Meskimen
Shen………………………………………….Taylor Meskimen
Major Anderson………………………….John Rubinstein
Bonzo………………………………….…..Christian Rummel
Pumphrey…………………………….……..Lisa Renee Pitts
Crazy Tom/Vlad Portchkot…………….Karyn O’Bryant
Talo Momoe………………………….Nathan Dana Aldrich
Girl………………………………………………………Kelly Catey
Pilot/Announcer/Computer…………………Scott Brick
Snake/Teacher/Tower/Giant…………..Harlan Ellison
Of course we knew that Harlan was destined to be a part of EGA, and the Mind Game was the first place that came to mind. Listening to Harlan hisssssss and sssssssslither through the Snake’s lines was the highlight of everyone’s day, and considering the fact that he can sometimes be a touch intimidating, it was no surprise that he slipped right into the Giant’s oversized shoes as well. And, with a courteous nod the Gavin Hood’s Giant in the mind game, we think Harlan’s is well, gianter. As the voice of the Tower, he got to work with Golden Voice Scott Brick, and listening to those two voices ping-ponging in the studio was an absolute delight.
Harlan was just as much a delight in the booth as he was out. He’s a generous and hilarious storyteller, and spent most of his lunch break regaling Skyboaters with tales of his scrappy Ohioan youth. Crooning to Grammy Winner Janis Ian below, he is adorable as always.
He’s a boundless bundle of energy, quick to open the door for someone or crack a joke, or as you’ll see in the video below, pose with an old friend for a selfie. Yep, we’re pretty darn lucky to get to work with this guy.
