Disney plans to film new movie in Lake Powell area
Lake Powell Chronicle ~ February 2, 2010

BIG WATER – Barsoom Pictures is setting up camp in the Lake Powell area as it prepares to film the movie “John Carter of Mars” for Disney/Pixar this spring. According to the “John Carter of Mars” official casting call from spoilertv.com, the movie will be directed by Andrew Stanton and will star Taylor Kitsch as John Carter and Willem Dafoe as Tars Tarkas.

When looking for possible places to film, location scouts for Barsoom Pictures discovered the gray shale lining of the canyons near the Grand Escalante Staircase and envisioned the area as the perfect backdrop for depicting scenes from Mars.

 
Disney Movie Jobs in Moab
MoabLife.com ~ January 15, 2010
Beginning in April, Disney Studios will film the science-fiction fantasy movie “John Carter of Mars” (also known as "A princess of Mars") in the Moab area. Preliminary work already is under way in London. Disney crew members scouted the world for a location resembling the reddish planet Mars. Film crews have been in Moab for more than a year, said Tara Penner, director of the Moab to Monument Valley Movie Commission.

The Disney cast and crew could pump nearly $60 million into the Moab-area economy during filming, which likely will take several months. In addition to filming the movie in eastern Utah, Disney plans to hire nearly 400 people to help with the movie in areas such as construction, security, and production and location assistance. Preference in hiring will be given to Utah residents, but residents from Western Colorado could be considered for jobs. People interested should immediately send a resume detailing previous movie experience to tara@moabcity.org.

For more details about the kind of jobs needed for the movie production, go to www.moabcity.org/filmcommission/production_directory.html.

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Also. . . from Uni-versal Extras
"I am or I look Mediterranean: For the all action feature film John Carter of Mars we are starting to cast men and women of all ages who look Mediterranean for a variety or roles!"

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Rock Doc lends helping hand on Disney blockbuster 
YourThanetNews.com ~ January 25, 2010
http://www.yourthanet.co.uk/kent-news/Rock-Doc-lends-helping-hand-on-Disney-blockbuster--newsinkent32136.aspx?news=local
Hollywood giant Pixar has called on a Cliftonville couple to help it shoot its next blockbuster. Alasdair Bruce and his wife Kim, aka the Rock Doc team, have been advising the film crew working on John Carter of Mars, which is based on the books of Edgar Rice Burroughs. They helped out at one of the sets, a quarry in Dorset.

Director Andrew Stanton, who made some of Pixar’s best-received films such as Toy Story, Wall-E and Finding Nemo, is behind the movie. The film’s producers were keen to have the pair on set so Mr Stanton could call on their rocky knowledge and expertise in geology. They helped make sure that no damage was done to the site or to those working on location.

Dr Bruce said: “We were asked back while they did the filming to make sure all was well because it’s quite a dangerous place. 
There are a lot of loose pieces of rock and our job was to make sure no one went where they shouldn’t have been. It was health and safety meets geology, really, but good fun.”

The couple were asked to put together a report for the film but later asked along on location because of the nature of the site, which is a visually stunning spot that has been used for such TV shows such as Doctor Who, Torchwood and Blake’s Seven. “It was a very interesting experience,” said Dr Bruce. “The film has aliens called the Tharks and features Willem Defoe, among others, so perhaps we will meet some of the stars at some stage.  “It was tricky this time, though, as much of it is being done in CGI. The crew were eager to re-create the rocky landscape of Mars, called Barsoom in the Rice Borroughs (sic) books, as best they could. The film will mix live action and animation and is set to hit cinema screens in 2012.

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Edgar Rice Burroughs Gets a 'John Carter' Cameo
January 18, 2010
Disney released an official statement today that announced some intriguing additions to the cast and crew. Ciaran Hinds has been added in an unknown part, and Disney proto-talent Daryl Sabara has been cast as a teenage Edgar Rice Burroughs. 

John Carter travels back to Earth, where he narrates his adventures to Burroughs, who's his nephew. Young Burroughs grows up to become the famous pulp author. The use of a narrator makes sense since the Mars books are all in first person and are quite detail oriented. 

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WALT DISNEY PICTURES' "JOHN CARTER OF MARS" 
BEGINS PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY IN LONDON
BURBANK, Calif. (January 15, 2010) - Principal photography is underway in London for Walt Disney Pictures' "JOHN CARTER OF MARS." Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton brings this captivating hero to the big screen in a stunning adventure epic set on the wounded planet of Mars, a world inhabited by warrior tribes and exotic desert beings. Based on the first of Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Barsoom Series," the film chronicles the journey of Civil-War veteran John Carter, who finds himself battling a new and mysterious war amidst a host of strange Martian inhabitants. 

Produced for Walt Disney Pictures by Jim Morris ("WALL•E," "Ratatouille") and Colin Wilson ("Avatar," "War of the Worlds"), the live action/animation film marks Academy Award®-winning director/writer Andrew Stanton's ("Finding Nemo," "WALL•E") first foray into live action. Stanton directed and co-wrote the screenplay for Disney•Pixar's "WALL•E," which earned the Academy Award and Golden Globe® for Best Animated Feature (2008); Stanton was nominated for an Oscar® for the screenplay. 

"I have been waiting my whole life to see the characters and worlds of 'John Carter of Mars' realized on the big screen," says Stanton. "It is just a wonderful bonus that I have anything to do with it."

The stellar ensemble cast is led by Taylor Kitsch (NBC'S "Friday Night Lights", "X-Men Origins: Wolverine") in the title role, Lynn Collins ("50 First Dates," "X-Men Origins: Wolverine") as the warrior princess Dejah Thoris and Oscar® nominee Willem Dafoe ("Spider-Man 3," "Shadow of a Vampire") as Martian inhabitant Tars Tarkas. The cast also includes Thomas Haden Church ("Sideways," Spider-Man 3), Polly Walker (upcoming "Clash of the Titans," "Patriot Games"), Samantha Morton ("Elizabeth: The Golden Age," "In America"), Mark Strong ("Sherlock Holmes," "Body of Lies"), Ciaran Hinds ("Munich," "There Will Be Blood"), British actor Dominic West ("300," "Chicago"), James Purefoy ("Vanity Fair," "Resident Evil") and Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad"). Daryl Sabara ("Disney's A Christmas Carol," "Spy Kids") takes the role of John Carter's teenaged nephew, Edgar Rice Burroughs.

The creative team includes Oscar®-nominated production designer Nathan Crowley ("Public Enemies," "The Dark Knight," "Batman Begins"), costume designer Mayes Rubeo ("Avatar," "Apocalypto"), cinematographer Daniel Mindel ("Star Trek," "Mission Impossible III," "Spygame") and video effects supervisor Peter Chiang ("The Reader," "The Bourne Ultimatum").

 
 

Bryan Cranston heading to 'Mars'
January 13, 2010

 "Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston has joined the cast of Walt Disney's "John Carter of Mars" which goes before cameras next week. 

Cranston plays a Civil War colonel who comes into conflict with Carter. 

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Avatar Screenplay Available for Free Download from Fox
Fox Studios has made James Cameron’s original Avatar Screenplay available for free download online.  There are some pretty substantial differences, at least at the beginning, from the version that is playing in theaters.   The screenplay, for example, features a number of scenes building up Jake Sully’s backstory a bit more.  DOWNLOAD HERE: 

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Becoming a giant green alien in John Carter of Mars
SciFi Wire
Polly Walker, who will soon co-star in Syfy's upcoming Caprica, will also appear in the live-action film adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars series, and she let us in on her preparations for the role of a four-armed, 900-year-old. giant green Martian "Thark."

"I'm going to Thark camp, so I'm going to find out," Walker said in an exclusive interview in Pasadena, Calif., on Sunday, where she was promoting Caprica. "I only start next week. I can't wait. I've got to learn the whole physicality of it. I suppose they're creating that kind of world, so I'm going to find out, but it should be cool."
"It's going to be amazing," Walker said. "I'm like a 9-and-a-half-foot green alien. She's sort of the queen bee of the tribe, and she's incredibly tough." Walker expects that part of Thark boot camp will involve learning the technical process that will transform her into Sarkoja. "I think, apart from Thark camp, I have to go be stilt-walking and things like that," Walker said. "So it's a physical process."

So far, Walker has not read any of the John Carter books yet, but she plans to before filming. "To be honest, I've not had an opportunity, just because I've been so entrenched in [Caprica], but I'm going to do my homework when I go over there, because it's iconic, isn't it?" The British actor may also have to modify her voice to play a Thark. "I don't know what my Thark accent is yet. I'm going to work on that. I think there is going to be an accent there."

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Willem Dafoe Gears Up To Start Making John Carter
SciFi Soundtrack ~ January 6, 2010 What was the appeal in doing John Carter of Mars?
Andrew Stanton, the material, the idea that I'm going to play a 10-foot Martian Warrior. I live very much in the independent cinema world, which is great and that's where we find a lot of great filmmakers and sometimes more freedom to make personal films. But the flip side of that is, sometimes there isn't a lot of protection or care. There may be an emotional rigor, but sometimes you don't have the the technical stuff to work with. You can have lousy lighting [and] no time to prepare properly. You are very vulnerable.

When someone asks you to make a movie directed by Andrew Stanton, with Disney behind, a big tent-pole movie... I know from making Finding Nemo how these Pixar guys work. They're very thorough , they're very rigorous, they really get it. It's a real pleasure because you get so protected because they are so well researched. And you get so much help trying to make something. I think I got excited about that. I like to go back and forth, but it was time to do a big movie again.

Have you read the book?
I haven't but I'd read Princess of Mars, and I'll probably read some of the others.

Has Andrew talked to you about how they are going to film [your character's] four arms?
I saw him recently because we start in London, for studio stuff. I start next week... He showed me some samples, just so I can understand what I'm in for. Mostly about ideas about how they are going to film these creatures next to human beings. Because we do play the scenes, it's not like some people's fantasies where they put you in a room and they sample you and they go off and they do this computer magic, and no one ever plays a scene — it's not like that. We're going to play these scenes. He showed me the different variations of how they will shoot it, the kind of equipment I'll have to wear, the different times I won't have to wear certain kinds of equipment and all that.

Are you going to have to wear two extra prosthetic arms?
I'm not telling. And you know what, I can't talk that much about it, because I don't know yet. We don't even start shooting next week it's part of prep, I go to London and we do the things that we need to do to know how to start this project... I think officially production starts the 18th.

Will you be working on a special voice for the character?
We're always working on a special voice.

 

AVATAR: THE EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS CONNECTION

Director James Cameron credit ERB as a major influence and most of the rave reviews for this landmark cinema event also mention the Burroughs legacy and the debt owed to ERB's Mars, Tarzan, Venus and Earth's Core adventures. A few excerpted samples are featured below:

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Great Expectations
The director reveals how he got Fox to greenlight his $195 million technology-driven motion picture
EW.com | Jan 15, 2007
How did you come up with this story?
Well, my inspiration is every single science fiction book I read as a kid. And a few that weren't science fiction. The Edgar Rice Burroughs books, H. Rider Haggard — the manly, jungle adventure writers. I wanted to do an old fashioned jungle adventure, just set it on another planet, and play by those rules.

Your premise reminded me a lot of the Edgar Rice Burroughs John Carter, Warlord of Mars series.
It's definitely got that feeling, and I wanted to capture that feeling, but updated. To be certain, I wanted a film that could encompass all my interests, from biology, technology, the environment — a whole host of passions. But I've always had a fondness for those kind of science fiction/adventure stories, the male warrior in an exotic, alien land, overcoming physical challenges and confronting the fears of difference. Do we conquer? Exploit? Integrate? Avatar explores those issues.

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Avatar Entry in Wikipedia
"In 1994, director James Cameron wrote a 114-page scriptment for Avatar. Cameron said his inspiration was 'every single science fiction book I read as a kid', and that he was particularly striving to update the style of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter series."

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Hollywood North Report ~ June 25, 2009
Inspired by author Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter Of Mars fantasy book series, Avatar is set during the 22nd century on a small moon called 'Pandora', inhabited by the tribal 'Na'vi', ten foot blue humanoids that are peaceful unless attacked.

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New Yorker ~ October 26, 2009
“With ‘Avatar,’ I thought, Forget all these chick flicks and do a classic guys’ adventure movie, something in the Edgar Rice Burroughs mold, like John Carter of Mars—a soldier goes to Mars,"

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TAM: The American Muslim ~ December 26, 2009
Film Review:  Avatar, A Film for Your Inner Child 
Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Mars series is clearly a central inspiration, as is his Tarzan series. James Cameron’s decision to draw from classic, universally appealing source material is not a weakness, it’s a strength, and the familiarity of the story is because it is the classic hero’s journey, which has been told in nearly every conceivable form already in all cultures worldwide. Cameron created this story in his youth, when such ideas were new to him, and that youthful innocence shines forth throughout.. . .

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A monitoring of ongoing traditional media and Internet report will unearth a multitude of such references.

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See more at our ERB / Avatar Connection Feature:
http://www.erbzine.com/mag30/3038.html

Taylor Kitsch: The New Action Hero
Blackbook.com ~ December 22, 2009
Any day now, Taylor Kitsch will cut his hair. To transform into the title character in John Carter of Mars—Wall-E director Andrew Stanton’s first live-action feature, based on Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burrough’s sci-fi novels about a Civil War veteran’s adventures on the Red Planet—the 28-year-old actor, who plays the dreamy, brooding, beer-drinking, football-playing Tim Riggins on NBC’s cult drama Friday Night Lights, will lop off his locks for the first time since he was 19. "Hopefully, it's a 10-year job," Kitsch says of the potential franchise, which co-stars Willem Dafoe, Samantha Morton and Thomas Haden Church. 
. . . the intense preparation leading up to John Carter exceeds anything he's done before. It includes sword training, gun fighting, horseback riding and seven-hour cram sessions on the Civil War. And while learning to fence with four-armed giant green Martians might not be every actor's idea of the method, Kitsch uses physicality as entrée into psyche. "It makes it a bit easier," he says. "I have to look like this, walk like this. I have to lose this much weight. I'll know this inside out. Then I work on the mental state. . . . the stakes are incredibly high. It’s a big movie. I just have to keep my head down and go to work."

Mark Strong Talks Shape-Shifting For JOHN CARTER OF MARS CinemaBlend.com  ~ December 16, 2009
Mark Strong recently chatted with Cinemablend and revealed a bit about his character Matai Shang, the ruler of the Thems with godlike status, and his abilities:

Filming has begun in Utah, but most of Strong's part will be filmed on soundstages outside of London. And even though there's some motion-capture animation going on, he won't be part of most of it, despite the fact that his character is a shape-shifter. He wasn't spilling any plot details or anything, but his enthusiasm about working with Stanton and explanation of how his character will work seemed worth sharing. 

On Stanton:
He's a genius. He's such a good storyteller. When I met him and he showed me the storyboards, the ideas for the sets and the designs for the characters, it's just absolutely mind-blowing. I can't wait to get involved with it. I said to him, how do you feel about live action? And he said it's going to be easy. As an animator, you literally have to invent everything. The color of the background, the size of people's noses. Whereas in live action, half the stuff is given, and you can embellish the rest with CGI.

On his part:
There's some filming in Utah, but most of it is in a studio outside of London. My character doesn't actually get involved in any of the motion-capture stuff. All the stuff is live action. Although I can shift my shape (to other human beings mainly), so I have to be photographed by a 360-degree camera. I can adapt into anything. That's going to be my particular talent. 

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JC in UK Studios Foreign filming on British soil is booming thanks to a favourable dollar/sterling exchange rate, a tax credit that's particularly generous for Hollywood blockbusters and a strong post-production sector that can provide high-end vfx. … "John Carter of Mars" are among the U.S. projects in various stages of shooting, contributing to an estimated $1 billion-plus of inward investment in 2009... Top facility: Longcross Studios in Surrey.

~ From our UK reporter Laurence Dunn

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Mark Strong on JOHN CARTER OF MARS Collider.com ~ December 16, 2009
Strong says he plays Matai Shang and “over the course of the 3 movies that they’re envisioning making, and I’ve seen the synopsis of the 2nd and 3rd, Matai Shang is basically John Carter’s nemesis.” He also confirms the movie is both live action and motion capture and they are filming from January to May in both London and Utah.

Collider: I actually saw Andrew Stanton when I was in London and spoke to him. He said he’s filming at Shepperton ’til April or something like that. So can you talk a little bit about…have you worked at Shepperton before? And are you looking forward to being in this crazy production?

Yeah, I mean I’ve worked at Shepperton and Pinewood. They’re the most famous British film studio lots. And Andrew wooed me with the storyboards that he had at the interview. He showed me his vision for the thing and it’s just mind-blowing and . . .  he’s a master storyteller and I think the fact that he’s been given the opportunity to direct live-action and a motion capture film together and in the light of “Avatar” knowing that these Pixar guys like to be in the vanguard of everything. . . .

I play a character called Matai Shang and he is the ruler of a group of people called the Ferns [sic] who are like the old Olympian Gods. They exist….people aren’t really sure if they exist, but basically he’s a master of the Universe. They travel ’round keeping order in the Universe. So basically he exists over and above the Martians that exist on the planet. Like I say, he’s like an Olympian God.  I mean getting to play Mati Shang Master of the Universe, it doesn’t get much better than that.

I’ve seen the synopsis of the 2nd and 3rd, basically and in the novels, Princess of Mars that Rice Burroughs wrote, Matai Shang is basically John Carter’s nemesis. So he comes into his own during the 2nd half of the current movie and then just basically gets bigger and bigger in the 2nd and 3rd. . . .  It’s extremely nerve wracking because what you have to do is understand that you’re committing to something in the future and if the first one is a huge success and they want to make the 2nd and 3rd, basically they have first call on you for a number of years.  It’s a combination of live action and motion capture (probably not 3D). 

Collider: I spoke to Andrew after the Avatar screening. . .   I think Avatar is going to influence every filmmaker who’s working in motion capture of any kind because how could it not. . . . Do you think when you saw the test stuff for John Carter did it already look like it was pushing the boundaries for you at the time?

Oh my God yeah. I mean it looks phenomenal. I mean his conception of it is extraordinary. I mean it’s "Avatar" type territory and I think the point I was making before about these Pixar’s guys are always wanting to be in the vanguard. They want to be leading from the front.  . . . But they I think Andrew said they’re in the business of giving the public what they want before they know they want it. So I can totally imagine he's gone to see "Avatar" and that’ll just set the cogs whirring in his brain and the twinkle in his eye because he'll just want to surpass it, no question.

Yeah, I mean it’ll be enormous. I think it’s something like a $200 million budget. It starts in January and I actually go through to May. I think some of it is also filming in Utah, so it’s a 5 month production based largely in London with some exterior scenes in the desert I assume in Utah. So it’s a massive production. . . .  I think the fact that it’s a science fiction movie and that it's going to spend 2 years in post and not come out 'til 2012 means that the vision for it is enormous. And as you pointed out, in the light of “Avatar”, I think they are planning on creating something extraordinary.
 

FRAZETTA FAMILY PROBLEMS

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PWBeat ~ December 16, 2009
A notary claims that Frank Frazetta Sr. came to her nine days before the aborted heist and asked her to notarize a power of attorney removing control of the art from Bill, Heidi and Holly and giving it to Frank Jr! “He was in the right frame of mind,” said the notary. This backs up claims by Frank Jr. that he was only acting on his father’s wishes in removing the paintings to some other home. 
Lori Frazetta, wife of Alfonso Frank Frazetta, discusses her husbands side of the story after he was arrested on charges of stealing approximately $20 million in paintings from the family-run art museum on Wednesday evening, Dec. 9, 2009. 

He is the son of prominent Pocono artist Frank Frazetta, 81, whose work has been featured in books, posters and album covers. Lori Frazetta said the incident was the result of family infighting that began after the death of Frank Sr.'s wife a few months ago. 

For more on this story, go to
Pocono Record
Google Hosted News
Philadelphia Inquirer
BBC News

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LORI FRAZETTA'S INTERVIEW VIDEO
http://www.erbzine.com/news/av/Frazetta.flv
Alternate on YouTube

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Letter may decide defendant's fate in Frazetta art case
Pocono Record ~ December 18, 2009 
Legal issues and family loyalties continue to muddy the Frazetta art heist case. But the emergence of a notarized document could signal a death blow for the prosecution's case against the elder son of the world famous fantasy artist. Though Frank Frazetta may no longer have the authority to grant his son permission to take the paintings, the document granting that permission may douse any concept of intent to commit a crime.

At Wednesday's bail hearing for Frank Jr., a woman came forward to say she notarized Frank Sr.'s signature on a document that granted Frank Jr. permission to secure the art. Frank Jr. is charged with burglary, criminal trespass and theft. One of the elements of the theft charge is the intent to deprive another person of their property. "If that wasn't Frank Jr.'s intent, it would be impossible to convict him on the theft charge," said T. Axel Jones, the attorney representing Frank Jr. "That's the linchpin — without the theft charge, they can't sustain the burglary charge, because burglary requires the intent to enter a property to commit a crime. Without the intent to commit theft, you can't have burglary."

In other words, if Frank Jr. thought his father had the authority and gave him permission to "secure" the artwork, then it would be hard to prove he intended to steal it. And the notarized letter from Frank Sr. giving his son Frank Jr. the OK to secure the paintings "by any means necessary" would be crucial to this line of defense. The "any means necessary" language may also, in a strange way, help to explain why Frank Jr. chose a backhoe to get through the front door of the museum.

Frank Jr. and his wife, Lori Frazetta, contend that Frank Sr.'s property — including an art collection reportedly worth $100 million — is being appropriated by the 81-year-old artist's three other children. Frank Jr. said he broke into the museum to secure the paintings from his siblings.

Bill Frazetta, brother of the accused, hinted at the possibility of a negotiated reconciliation. And Jones, the attorney for Frank Jr., confirmed he has been in discussions with attorneys for Frank Sr. and Bill Frazetta and his two sisters, Holly Taylor and Heidi Gravin. Mancuso has already expressed his hope that the family could work it out.

 
Disney's John Carter of Mars - Official Casting Call and Plot Details
The ODI ~ December 08, 2009
Star Now Casting Calls: Canada

With the major players in place, Disney is looking for actors to round out the cast of John Carter of Mars! 
Disney's live-action John Carter of Mars movie adaptation of the classic book series by Edgar Rice Burroughs was originally scheduled to begin shooting in November, but the date has been pushed back to an early 2010 start. It is still unclear why the film was delayed, but apparently the casting process is still incomplete. SpoilerTV recently listed this new casting call sheet for John Carter of Mars: 

Director: Andrew Stanton
Starring: Taylor Kitsch as John Carter, Willem Dafoe as Tars Tarkas, Lynn Collins as Dejah Thoris and Mark Strong as Matai Shang
Synopsis: A damaged civil war veteran finds himself mysteriously transported to Mars where his involvements with warring races of the dying planet force him to rediscover his humanity.
[STABLE BOY] 9 yrs old, Mestizo – a mixture of European and Native American or Mexican decent, no lines, 1 scene
[DIX] The storekeeper, 40’s – 50’s, built like a lumberjack/longshoreman, strong & husky, 5 lines, 1 scene
[1ST ROWDY] Late 20’s – early 30’s, rough and dirty, worn looking, 1 line, 1 scene
[2ND ROWDY] Late 20’s – early 30’s, rough and dirty, worn looking, 1 line, 1 scene
[CAVALRYMAN/SERGEANT] Early 30’s, clean cut, 2 lines, 1 scene
[US STOCKADE PRISON GUARD] Mid 20’s – early 30’s, clean cut, 4 lines, 2 scenes
[APACHE LEADER] 40’s - 60s, Native American, must speak Apache, wise and experienced with a weathered face. Multiple lines, 1 scene
[TWITCHY CORPORAL] 20’s - 30s, a shifty bad guy, not to be trusted. 1 line, 1 scene.
[YOUNG THARK WARRIOR] 20’S, tall (6’ PLUS), athletic, experience working on stilts, MOTION PICTURE CAPTURE ROLE

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Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. vigorously enforces and defends its rights in the Tarzan character and stories.  In 2003, for example, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the trial court's decision in ERB's favor that two Tarzan books published in 1972 and 1976 illustrated by artist Burne Hogarth are works for hire owned by ERB, notwithstanding erroneous registrations stating that Hogarth was the author of the works. 

The district court initially sanctioned ERB's adversaries and their counsel, though the court later vacated the sanctions on the condition that ERB be reimbursed for certain of its attorneys' fees that had been the subject of the sanctions motion.