SPOTLIGHT
Q : Ashley , how did Legend Quest come about ?
A : I was 34 years old and had just published my second book when I got a call from a very flamboyant agent in LA . “ We ’ ve seen you and we think your great , would you travel to Costa Rica to cast for a new show called Legend Quest ?” I was on top of the world ; this was it my big break , every boy ’ s dream ! I flew there and upon arriving I discovered they had cast 164 people for the part and had shortlisted 16 of us for this last casting shoot .
Two weeks after the shoot our agents called us all up and said the show has been trashed , the budget had been pulled and the show was cancelled all together . What a disappointment and complete waste of time . Then three months later I got a call out of the blue saying we ’ ve got three weeks to film the first episode . We shot the episode in cathedrals and churches in Palermo and France and the network loved . So off I went for a year of my life filming all over the world .
After we filmed the show a post-production team was chosen by SyFy and they twisted and bent the stories into more story than fact , more action than thought provoking TV . These out-of-the-blue calls aren ’ t always great though . One summer I got a call from Mr . Robert Watts , the Associate producer of the Empire Strikes Back . He called me and paid me a massive compliment , that I was a real life version of the person Indiana Jones was based on . He wanted to buy a movie option for my latest book . There I was thinking this is about as big as you can get , here is Robert Watts telling me he loved my stuff . Then , several weeks had passed with no replies to my emails and I never heard from him again . I found out some years later after meeting other researches in my fields that he had gone all over Scotland telling everyone in the business the same thing . What a pr ** k . Blowing young people up like balloons , and pricking them with a needle , is not cool
Q : Were you ever a protégé to someone or did you have someone who inspired you along the way ?
Photo by Carlo Sanchez
A : When I was 22 I met Niven Sinclair , Head Sponsor of the Clan Sinclair . I set up a historical research team with Niven and he commissioned me to study paintings , and artefacts pertaining to the clan Sinclair . We took helicopter rides over castles and sacred sites in Scotland . I spent an entire year of my life studying Rosslyn Chapel and he was very supportive . I measured the church architecture , and reverse engineered it all the way to the foundations . The crypt at Rosslyn Chapel was sealed in the 18th century . Sir Walter Scott recorded that 20 Templar Knights were sealed inside the crypt . A mysterious painting which had been kept in the Dalhousie family ’ s private collection for over 150 years recently surfaced at an auction in Edinburgh . The painting was titled , “ Templar Knight at Rosslyn Chapel ”, by R . T . McPherson circa 1836 . Niven Sinclair commissioned me to study and analyze the Masonic and Templar symbols in it . The painting reveals a staircase that is no longer in the chapel today . Perhaps this was artistic flair or interpretation on behalf of the artist , or perhaps this could be the entrance to the crypt which was sealed in the 18th century . It ’ s not so easy to get into these secret chambers , believe me I ’ ve tried .
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Fall 2016 1961 Magazine