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TFNation have announced their 11th guest as Mairghread Scott for their 3rd show which takes place 17th-19th August 2018 at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole in Birmingham England.
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Operation: A Tale Of Two Tankors
Adding another international name to the line up for TFNation 2018, this guest hails from the IDW Publishing comics section of the Transformers franchise, and is an author of several other media iterations of the transforming robots too – please welcome writer Mairghread Scott!
Her writing credits, on the comics side, include the entirety of Windblade's story so far and one of the most charismatic Starscreams in robot history, as told in the pages of Transformers: Windblade volumes 1 & 2, and the fan-favourite sequel series Till All Are One. Scott was also co-writing the second IDW/Hasbro crossover event First Strike, and has been behind the Transformers Prime: Rage of the Dinobots and Beast Hunters mini-series.
Working as an assistant writer of animated series Transformers: Prime, Robots in Disguise and Rescue Bots, she has also directly contributed to bringing the character of Windblade into the animated universe too (in Robots in Disguise).You will find her work on several other animated series, such as GI Joe: Renegades, and most notably Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man, Avengers Assemble, Guardians of the Galaxy and the upcoming Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors.
Back in comics, Scott has published for some of the major publishers in the business, with the likes of Green Arrow (DC), Guardians of the Galaxy (Marvel), Wonder Woman (DC), and Power Rangers (Boom! Studios) on her resumé, and creator-owned projects such as Toil &Trouble (Boom! Studios), The City on the Other Side (First Second), and more. Her upcoming work will be seen in the pages of DC comics' Batgirl, starting with issue #25 in July 2018!
Mairghread Scott will be present at TFNation 2018 all weekend, signing books, talking Starscream, raising dark stories, and talking to fans of her writing – including those still saddened by the end of Till All Are One.
If you want to ensure all communications are intercepted, join our mailing list at https://tfnation.com
Further transmissions to follow.
TFNation
Where All Are One
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TFW2005 recently had the opportunity to speak to Mairghread Scott, one of the writers for Transformers Prime and co-writer of IDW Publishing's Rage Of The Dinobots mini-series and their upcoming Beast Hunters comic.
There is a short snippet below, but to read the full article visit TFW2005.com
1. Hi Mairghread! First off, thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us here at TFW2005.com. Can you tell our members a little bit about yourself and how you landed the gig of working with the Transformers?
Sure, I’m a freelance animation writer and my day job is working for production on Transformers Prime the TV Show. It’s where I got my first script and it has been my home base ever since. As far as the comic is concerned, Mike Johnson invited me to join him on Rage of the Dinobots. He’s a fantastic writer who worked with us on Prime before and knew how badly I wanted to get into comics. Since he had the comic book chops and I was already immersed in the Aligned continuity we were a natural pairing to work on Rage. After that… well we made no secret about wanting to continue the stories we were telling and, thankfully, our editors at IDW and the good folks at Hasbro agreed to let us keep going.
2. What do you do when you're not writing stories about giant robots punching eachother? Are there elements of your real life that you draw influence upon for your stories?
Mostly I read comics and cross-stitch, but I am always trying to do new crazy things that I think might be useful later on (much to the chagrin of my husband, who insists I’m going to get myself killed). I’ve done everything from flying trapeze to pole dancing, kung fu to parkour and it’s all helped with my work. Writing the Ser-ket/Grimlock fight in issue 3 of Rage involved a lot of thinking back to my armored sword fighting lessons with the SCA (they’re medieval reenactors). I wanted Ser-ket to be a two-weapon fighter, but in real life they rarely beat sword and shield fighters like Grimlock, so I tweaked her weapons to be a sword and electric scourge instead of two swords. It made it a lot more believable that she would get Grimlock to drop his guard and giving her that goal in battle made the fight a lot more interesting than just having them randomly hack at each other.
3. You're the first woman to write a Transformers comic. How does that make you feel and what do you think you bring differently to the table of other comic book writers?
Well, you definitely feel like there are more eyes on you, but I’ve got a really great writing partner in Mike Johnson and that’s reassuring. The only thing I think I do deliberately as a female writer that might be different is to include women in my stories in a very ‘normal’ way. Female comic book readers (i.e. me when I read comics) are looking for female characters to be there, be well written and not be treated like a big deal. In a lot of ways Transformers is the perfect brand for that. Female Transformers characters don’t dress provocatively, they aren’t just love interests and no one questions if they’re fit to lead/defeat because of their gender. Ser-ket lost because she was a villain. Arcee is on Team Prime because earned her spot. End of story. The more I can do to build on that for all comic fans, the better.
4. What can you tell us about the upcoming Beast Hunters comic from IDW Publishing?
The new comic features the same great Dinobots we had in Rage, but we’ve jumped forward in time and the Dinobots’ mission to protect those still left on Cybertron has turned them into accidental leaders for the largest Autobot settlement still on the planet. The only problem is that being great commando fighters and being great civic leaders are two very different things. We’re hoping to expand the Prime universe and explore that tension as the Dinobots protect their followers from threats both external and internal. Grimlock’s always claimed that he could do a better job than Optimus and Mike and I are determined to test that theory.
Each week, Hasbro Transformers Official Facebook Page is taking
questions for the cast and crew of the hit animated series “Transformers
Prime” from fans. Check out this week’s Fan Q&A with "Transformers
Prime" Writer's Assistant (and writer of the episode "
Stronger, Faster")
Mairghread Scott!
Catherine
Martin asks: “Stronger, Faster” is one of my favourite “Transformers
Prime” episodes! Do you think the events of the episode have had a
permanent effect on Ratchet?
Mairghread Scott: Of course our Story Editor (the fabulous Duane
Capizzi) could answer this better, but I like to think my episode had
the most impact on Optimus. Ratchet does gain a certain confidence from
the events in "Stronger, Faster," but it's the first time someone really
calls out Optimus for not being more aggressive toward the Decepticons.
I think of this episode as the seed for Optimus' duel with Megatron in
"One Shall Fall."
You can read more from the
Hasbro Transformers Official Facebook Page.
For those who do not have the access, the article is mirrored after the jump.
Kelly Paradise asks:
Hello, Mairghread! First off, great episode. “Stronger, Faster“ is one
of my Favorite episodes of “Transformers Prime.” What tricks of the
trade do you suggest for somebody interested in writing for animated
series?
Mairghread Scott: I think the most important thing to remember about
writing is re-writing. Only about 20% of my time is writing a brand new
script. 80% is tweaking, honing and cutting to make what I wrote better.
When it comes to writing animation, the secret is movement. Live action
TV is largely people standing around talking. In animation, your
characters can do anything while talking, so try to add movement however
you can (chases, fighting, even just walking from place to place).
Amber Whetstine asks: What inspires you for the episodes you write?
Mairghread Scott: I usually try to start with emotions when I write.
Using "Stronger, Faster" as an example: I noticed the Autobots rarely
attack the Decepticons head-on because they're so outnumbered. It's a
smart strategy, but it seemed to me that it must be frustrating
sometimes. You're whittling away at your enemy instead of having one
big, satisfying fight. I thought Ratchet would probably be even more
frustrated, because he's usually not even in the field; he's healing the
others so they can return to this drawn-out battle. "Stronger, Faster"
became a way for me to explore that frustration and Ratchet's desire for
a single, decisive victory. Also, I thought it would be cool to have an
Autobot tell off Optimus.
Catherine Martin asks: “Stronger, Faster” is one of my favourite
“Transformers Prime” episodes! Do you think the events of the episode
have had a permanent effect on Ratchet?
Mairghread Scott: Of course our Story Editor (the fabulous Duane
Capizzi) could answer this better, but I like to think my episode had
the most impact on Optimus. Ratchet does gain a certain confidence from
the events in "Stronger, Faster," but it's the first time someone really
calls out Optimus for not being more aggressive toward the Decepticons.
I think of this episode as the seed for Optimus' duel with Megatron in
"One Shall Fall."
Matt Spada asks: What have been some of the biggest challenges with
writing the show? What characters do you feel need to be more deeply
explored? Has it been difficult to work on a show with characters that
are over 20 years old and are viewed in a specific way?
Mairghread Scott: The biggest challenge in writing our show is the fact
that we're CG, so we have to be very careful about introducing new
characters, sets and props. On the bright side, it has pushed us to
build stronger main characters instead of just using endless new
Bad-Guys-Of-The-Week.
On your next question, I actually worked really hard in Season 2 to
explore Miko more deeply. I know she's a bit polarizing for the fans,
but it takes guts to stand up to Megatron (especially when you're
ankle-high). In Season 2, I really tried to dig into that fearless part
of Miko's character.
As far as our characters’ history, I enjoy working with pre-existing
characters. Sure, we can't incorporate the entire history of each
Transformer, but I find it more interesting to deepen a character that
already exists, rather than just constantly inventing new characters.
Haley Franklin asks: Hey! Is it fun writing for Transformers Prime? I
bet it's very interesting to come up with ideas and actually put them
into an episode.
Mairghread Scott: It is super fun writing for “Transformers Prime!” My
favorite part is watching the actors record my script. My happiest
moment in "Stronger, Faster" was when Ratchet is trying to get Bulkhead
to spar with him. Jeffrey Combs (who plays Ratchet) was so into it he
actually started to tap Kevin Michael Richardson (who plays Bulkhead) on
the shoulder. If actors start getting into it, you know you've done
something right.
Thanks to everyone who asked questions! Roll Out!
- Mairghread