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Transcript of Awake Transcript
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
02-15-12/10:30 am CTConfirmation #21579717
Page 1
NBC UNIVERSAL
Moderator: Tracy St. PierreFebruary 15, 2012
10:30 am CT
Operator: Ladies and gentlemen thank you for standing by. And welcome to the
Executive Producers Howard Gordon and Kyle Killen from NBC's "Awake"
Press and Media conference call.
During the presentation all participants will be in a listen-only mode. To
queue up for a question please press the 1 followed by the 4 on your
telephone.
We ask that you please limit yourself to one question and one follow up at a
time. You may then requeue for any additional questions.
As a reminder this conference is being recorded, Wednesday, February 15,
2012. I would now like to turn the conference over to Ms. Tracy St. Pierre
with NBC. Please go ahead.
Tracy St. Pierre: Hi everyone thanks for joining us for our Awake call this morning. On the line
we have Executive Producers Howard Gordon and Kyle Killen.
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
02-15-12/10:30 am CTConfirmation #21579717
Page 2
Please note Awake premieres March 1st and if you need anything, any follows
up from this call you can reach me at 818-777-2940. I am now going to turn it
over to the first question.
Operator: Thank you. So again ladies and gentlemen as a reminder to register for any
questions please press the 1 followed by the 4.
And our first question comes from the line of Jamie Ruby with
Scifivision.com. Please go ahead.
Jamie Ruby: Hi guys thanks for doing the call. I am really excited about the show it looks
great so I can't wait to see it.
So first Kyle can you kind of talk about just how you came up with the whole
concept of the series?
Kyle Killen: Sure I think, you know, it had some things in common with the last series
Lone Star and when that ended I think probably some of those questions of
duality and trying to make a go of living a life in two spaces was still floating
around in my head.
So that was something that was still of interest to me and this seemed like a
good vehicle for exploring a lot of that. And then, you know the concept of
the way your dreams feel real, the way you seem to experience them as
something that you don't blink at until something crazy happens that sort of
bursts that balloon.
I think I became interested in the question of what if nothing ever popped that
balloon. What if you couldn't tell the difference between when you were
awake and when you were asleep?
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
02-15-12/10:30 am CTConfirmation #21579717
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And then I started looking for a way to marry those two ideas up and a few
months later we had Awake.
Jamie Ruby: Great and can you both talk a little bit about how you decided on casting and
everything for the series?
Kyle Killen: Howard do you want to jump on that one?
Howard Gordon: Well we obviously started with the lead, Michael Britten since he had to
shoulder so much of the story.
And actually at the very beginning we were afraid until we decided we could
actually break point of view. It seemed that he might have to be in every scene
which for anybody who has ever done hour long television knows that's, you
know, pretty impossible.
Anyway there is a very short list of leading men of a certain age, who are
substantial and who Jason Isaacs was at the very top of that list and we were
lucky enough to get him.
I mean we met with him. I had met with him a couple of months before just
simply as a general (unintelligible)? And I know he was very sketchy about
whether he wanted to do television. And he was intrigued as I was by Kyle's
pilot and he jumped in.
And from there build out the molecule. Who worked with, you know, your
lead. And so (unintelligible) and BB were slightly different. Well BB was
(unintelligible) I think wasn't he Kyle?
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
02-15-12/10:30 am CTConfirmation #21579717
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Kyle Killen: Yes he was pretty much what was called for.
Jamie Ruby: Okay great well thank you for that.
Howard Gordon: Yes so ahead.
Jamie Ruby: No I just said thank you.
Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Mike Hughes with TV America
Gannett. Please go ahead.
Mike Hughes: Yes let me ask this to Kyle first and then Howard because it applies to both of
you. We have seen a real trend this year of people who made very serialized
shows in the past. This time making a show in which they made sure it was
something the story that ended after every hour.
The people who had made Heroes are doing that. The people who made Lost
were doing that and certainly you guys with Lone Star and 24 both made
shows that before were very serialized.
And this one although it is serialized in one way it looks like you are
absolutely going to solve a crime or maybe two cases every single episode.
Do you see that as a real thing? Is that kind of a priority now that people
realized well maybe the audience wants something to end at the end of each
hour?
Kyle Killen: I think, you know, both the shows you referenced. This is Kyle.
Mike Hughes: Yes.
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
02-15-12/10:30 am CTConfirmation #21579717
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Kyle Killen: Lost and 24, you know, they inspired a lot of imitators that tried to do the
same thing and didn't meet with success. I think the risk with a completely
serialized show is that your audience is all in or all out.
Mike Hughes: Yes.
Kyle Killen: And, you know, that is a tremendous gamble. So I think being able to - we are
very interested in the serialized elements of the story but we also recognize
that in the fractured landscape of television today it is hard to get everybody to
commit Week 1.
And what you really want to do is leave the door open so that people, you
know, hopefully the good word filters out and people can come to it without
feeling like well I'm already hopelessly behind so I give up on that.
Or maybe I would - if it goes a second or third year I'll catch up on DVD. Like
leaving, promising people that if Week 6 is the first week that you watch, you
are going to get a satisfying hour of television that you can completely follow
and understand.
And hopefully that experience makes you excited about going back and
catching up. I just think the trend is towards making sure that your audience
has an opportunity even if they are not there Week 1.
Mike Hughes: Okay thanks. Let me just ask Howard the same thing because Howard
obviously 24 was one of the ultimate serialized shows but do you also have a
feeling now that it is important to have something wrap up with each hour and
make people be able to come in later on?
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
02-15-12/10:30 am CTConfirmation #21579717
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Howard Gordon: Yes I think Kyle is exactly right and I think the, you know, having done 24
and having recognizing from inside how nearly it impossible it was and that
particular (unintelligible) worked in a densely serialized format.
The barrier to entry that it creates and there's also the one thing I'd add to what
Kyle said is that there is a mercenary aspect to it as well which is shows that
you can occasionally watch or sporadically watch are more syndicatable.
So there is a, you know, the studio is more incentivized to do shows that have
standalone, you know, beginnings, middles and ends.
Mike Hughes: Okay cool. Thanks a lot.
Operator: Our next question comes from the line of David Martindale with Crown
futures. Please go ahead.
David Martindale: Thank you. Howard question for you. I've got a copy of "Hard Target" here
and a stack of books that - I haven't read it yet but it is in a stack of things that
I'm, you know, in line to get to.
At first, how can you find time to run TV shows and write books too? Is
writing books going to become something that you are passionate enough
about that TV might lose you one day?
Howard Gordon: Well at some point I think, you know, everybody has to know when to hang
up their six guns and walk off into the sunset at some point. You know, I have
been doing this for a long time so that is certainly on the table as a possibility.
And in this case it was just something I did. I started doing during the writer's
strike, you know, not being a big believer in idle hands. So I just - I started it
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
02-15-12/10:30 am CTConfirmation #21579717
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and to answer your question, I did it in the margins of my day job which I
think was ill advised. So you may want to stick that in the middle of your
stack somewhere.
I'm very happy and I am very proud of it and it was a lot of fun to do it but it I
was done very much in the margins, in the early mornings and late nights and
kind of weekends of the last three years.
I had a very forgiving publisher who happened to be a 24 fan who let me, you
know, make sure that I attended to my - to Jack Bauer before I finished the
book.
David Martindale: Oh okay cool. I understand. Well thank you so much.
Howard Gordon: Thank you.
Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Alice Chapman Newgen with the
Times--Courier. Please go ahead.
Alice Chapman Newgen: Hi guys. I hope you do really well with the show. I've been excited
with what I have seen of it.
And I am just curious if you could just wrap it up in a nutshell as to how you
explain the show? Because to me, the therapists are saying it is not a dream
and yet it is almost like a parallel universe where we are in two different
worlds. Could you elaborate on that?
Kyle Killen: Sure I mean it is essentially, you know it is a detective who has experienced
the tragic accident and he has lost either his wife or his son. One of those
worlds is real and the other is a dream that he has created to compensate for it.
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
02-15-12/10:30 am CTConfirmation #21579717
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But the therapists in each world argue that their world is reality and the other
one is a fiction created by his brain and ultimately you know what we see in
the pilot episode is that he is actually less interested in figuring out what's real
and what's not than maintaining those two worlds.
Because as long as he has got both of them he has got access to his wife and
his son then he hasn't really lost anything. And the upshot for a detective
living across two worlds is that he discovers that the cases in one seems to sort
of be reflected or replicated in the other.
And that provides him with insight and clues that allow him to do his job
differently than he did before and, you know, differently than any other
detective that we have gotten to see on television.
Alice Chapman Newgen: Oh wonderful. That sounds great. Now can you tell us about any
upcoming guest stars?
Howard Gordon: Well - this is Howard speaking. We have a wonderful casting director, Cami
Patton who has given us some fresh faces and some faces that, you know - one
person who as a standout is Brianna Brown who will be in the third episode,
you know, the pilot one as one of the three. I don't know which one.
Brianna Brown is somebody who is terrific. Kyle can you think of anybody
else who...
Kyle Killen: We've got Kevin Weisman from Alias. He did a long arc at the end of our
season. He is in the last three episodes.
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
02-15-12/10:30 am CTConfirmation #21579717
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And then Laura Innes from The Event and ER is someone that I think
originally came on for a sort of a guest spot but we ended up really building
out that role so she is in numerous episodes and has a really big part in arc for
the season.
Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Kyle Nolan with NoReruns.net.
Please go ahead.
Kyle Nolan: Hi guys thanks for taking time to talk to us. So in the show Michael has these
two separate realities that are similar in some ways and different in other
ways. Can you talk about how you guys keep track of all of that from the
writing and production side of things?
Kyle Killen: It's - that absolutely was one of the trickier elements of like getting started.
We found that we would get confused when discussing what we were - what
someone was pitching or talking about.
So we have adopted, you know, one world is the green world. That's the world
in which he has his son and his partner is Bird and his therapist is Dr. Evans
and that matches his green rubber band. When we are talking about it we write
in green marker and we use green notecards.
Our outlines are written in green and red ink. Like anything to make it crystal
clear.
The other world, the one with his wife and Vega partner and Dr. Lee that's
always red. But that is reflected in the final product with the way that the
show itself is shot and color timed.
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
02-15-12/10:30 am CTConfirmation #21579717
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The two worlds ha a different feel, you know, David Slade our pilot director
developed that language for separating.
So the things that are initially confusing to us when we are just trying to break
story. I think by the time they reach an audience so much attention has been
paid to how to make it clear where you are that all of the little tricks that we
needed sort of go away.
And hopefully, you know, when you see it on the screen you are pretty
instantly oriented as to which world you are in.
Kyle Nolan: Great and as to the question of which is the true world and which is the dream
world, is that something that you actually going to answer or is that just
something that's going to be left open at least for the foreseeable future?
Kyle Killen: Well it's an inherent question at all times and that there are people and events
that take place in the show on a weekly basis seem to reflect on the nature of
what is real and what is manufactured.
And, you know, sometimes those questions, pursuing those questions are
important to the case that he is on or understanding his own story as he looks
back at the events that happened to him that caused the situation, the accident
that got him here.
But I think long term the show isn't built around answering a single question,
you know, which is real. The show is really about a man who has decided and
desperately wants to live in both of these worlds. Who refuses to acknowledge
which is real and which isn't?
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
02-15-12/10:30 am CTConfirmation #21579717
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And as you try to live two lives in parallel and you see them start to go in
dramatically different directions. I think the idea is that hopefully the audience
like the character becomes invested in not wanting to let either of those go.
Howard Gordon: So there is also - this is Howard following up a little bit which is that, you
know there will be obviously it will ebb and flow over the course. That
question will ebb and flow over the course of this first season.
But there is also a big question that is answered and that we drive toward at
the end of this season so which is, you know, what exactly did happen that
night?
And that is a question that, you know, will be answered and should give
people a pretty strong sense of closure in terms of an ongoing question.
Operator: The next question comes from the line of Mary Powers with The Voice of TV.
Please go ahead.
Mary Powers: Hello. At this point I know it is very early in the game. Do you have an end
game for the show or an idea of how you want it to end or is that something
that you are just working through as the show progresses?
And then as I guess a second question is, is it a possibility that perhaps both of
the worlds are a dream and not just one?
Kyle Killen: I wouldn't - I'd say we have to answer your first question I would say we have
some pretty distinct ideas about where we'd go and how we would like to sum
it up.
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
02-15-12/10:30 am CTConfirmation #21579717
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I think also part of the joy of this process is leaving yourself open to, you
know, the inspiration that comes from putting a bunch of creative people
together in a room and letting the story evolve.
You know rather than being dogmatic about something. You know letting a
group of people discover it together is frankly why you do the job.
As for, you know, the possibilities of how it could turn out I wouldn't take
anything off the table. I also don't want it to seem it is morph and we don't
know, you know, heated discussions about what ultimately is satisfying and
what I've always imagined it to be.
And I think for the moment that is also part of the joy of being on a show like
this that you get to tackle really, really big questions like that. So I guess we
hope to be around long enough to put that out there.
Mary Powers: Okay thank you.
Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Michael Elkin with the Jewish
Exponent. Please go ahead.
Michael Elkin: Yes good morning. Howard I'm just wondering in the reciprocal agreement
with Israel if you are going to offer them the first opportunity to remake this
show and have it air on Israeli TV? I'm being a little sarcastic here.
Howard Gordon: I know, I know that would be a very interesting. It is certainly available.
Michael Elkin: Okay I - go ahead I'm sorry.
Howard Gordon: That was it. No, no that was it.
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
02-15-12/10:30 am CTConfirmation #21579717
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Michael Elkin: Okay I know you...
Howard Gordon: I made a joke but it wasn't that funny.
Michael Elkin: I know you took some heat over home lab as far as that adaptation is
concerned. Do you have any regrets over that Golden Globe speech?
Howard Gordon: Do I have regrets? You know, no I mean inevitably you are going to see the
blinking red light and the orchestra plays and then you leave people off your
list and apologize to them backstage, so not really. I owe the biggest apology
to my wife apparently.
Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Tara Bennett with SFX Magazine
TV Geek Army. Please go ahead.
Tara Bennett: Hi guys. I saw the pilot last year at Comic Con and I love it. And I know that
you guys creatively had to take a little bit of a break and that to me made a lot
of sense because it is such a complicated premise for a show.
What were some of the things that you were kind of working on most tracking
how to kind of navigate this really interesting premise of yours?
Kyle Killen: Speaking from me this is Kyle - it was really - the shows themselves well I
think they come out the other end in a relatively easy to understand and enjoy
form.
The behind the scenes stuff was really - they were just difficult to figure out
and because the show lends itself to so many different directions, you know, it
is procedural.
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
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It has serialized elements, it has, you know, cop stories and it has personal
stories finding the right balances for that in a way that you tell the different
stories in a satisfying way in the course of a single hour long episode.
It just felt like a magic trick and those take times to pull together and really
the break allowed us to assess what we had learned and make sure that going
forward, you know, we were doing the things we did best and really learning
from the things that we found hadn't quite worked the way we had hoped.
So that hopefully the episodes that came on the other side of that really
reflected, you know, everybody's best efforts and our best product.
Tara Bennett: Did you find that there is - you said you kind of wanted to have an organic
nature for the show and not feel too strapped in to telling it in one certain way.
In that process did you figure out is every episode always going to have the
red and green stories? Or have you opened up that maybe some episodes will
just be in the green world and other episodes just in the red world or do you
find that that alchemy of those is really what the DNA of the show is.
Kyle Killen: Well I think you kind of nailed it. I mean I think it was about discovering that
there isn't a one set template but you have to let the story, whatever it is lead
the shape of that individual show.
And I think, you know, trying to write the show by checkboxes or, you know,
being dogmatic about how much of this and how much of that or this
character or that character that really didn't work.
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
02-15-12/10:30 am CTConfirmation #21579717
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So, you know, it does more if there are episodes that naturally tend to be more
in the red than the green or more in the green than the red. I mean part of the -
what's fun about the show is the duality.
So in some ways it's everything we have done so far always touches on both
of those worlds but we absolutely have episodes where one significantly takes
the lead over the other and they just - it balances out in the end both worlds,
you know, from an episode to episode basis are always pretty equally
represented.
But on an individual episode basis I think it was very freeing to decide that it
just didn't have to be split down the middle.
Operator: Our next question comes from the line of (Cody Elephano) with Sinisnob.net.
Please go ahead.
(Cody Elephano): Hey guys starting with the Superbowl you guys have been receiving strong
advertising push on some of the more prominent shows on NBC.
I am wondering what you think of the ads and how you feel or if you feel
there is a challenge in getting across such a complex plot and nailing kind of
the tone of the show in like a 30 second ad?
Howard Gordon: Well we just - Kyle and I came from - this is Howard speaking. Went to a
NBC marketing and promotions meeting a few days ago or last week rather
and saw their campaign and were kind of blown away by it.
I mean by its intelligence and by its commitment. I mean the network is
clearly very committed to it and they are spending money on it. And we saw
some of the promos, two in particular kind of blew us away. One really does
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
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sell the procedural aspect and the duality and the other really sells the
emotional anchor.
And I think they are airing them across a lot of platforms. And I think
remarkably, legibly people can understand what they are going to tune into
and they have been getting a lot of positive response. So we are very psyched
about NBC's approach to this.
(Cody Elephano): Great and going back to simple news even about the casting or NBC picking
up the show. A lot of Web sites who have been reporting on the news who
have been, you know, inevitably connecting the show in some ways to the
film Inception. And I am kind of wondering how you guys as the creator of
the show kind of feel about that comparison and if you welcome it or not?
Kyle Killen: I don't - I mean I thought Inception was an incredible movie. I don't know
how much, you know, we have directly in common with it, you know, other
than there is certainly that idea of your waking life and your dream life and
the dreams feeling incredibly real, sometime so real that you can't quite tell
which is which.
I think beyond that it is not necessarily an Inception-like experience on a
weekly basis. Like where we are simply playing different notes. But anytime
someone associates your work with something that, you know, is iconic and I
thought fantastic. I have no problem with that what so ever.
Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Brandon Rowe with Spoiler TV.
Please go ahead.
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
02-15-12/10:30 am CTConfirmation #21579717
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Brandon Rowe: Hi guys. Thanks for taking my question. This question is directed toward the
both of you. The original name REM and you decided to change it to Awake.
Can you tell me a little bit about that?
Kyle Killen: Honestly I believe legally it is hard to name your show after a band that has
been around for 20 years. So we came up with something different and
ultimately it is something I really I have kind of grown to like as I actually
kind of like it more.
I think it reflects - it somehow reflects the emotional content of the show
rather than the phenomenon of the show in a way I think it really speaks more
to what it is about.
Brandon Rowe: And if you had to choose a third title?
Kyle Killen: I had enough trouble with one and two. I don't know if I can get to three.
Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Diane Morasco with Morasco
Media. Please go ahead.
Diane Morasco: Thank you so much. Good morning gentlemen. Awake is a fresh and unique
premise which is absolutely mesmerizing so thank you so much for that.
But I wanted to know, how do you want your creative vision perceived by
your audience? And why should viewers tune in?
Kyle Killen: Well this is Kyle. I guess if they perceived it precisely the way you just
described it I would be happy with that.
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
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I mean the idea simply I think we wanted to take things that people were
familiar with and, you know, stories and shapes that we are tried and true on
television and bend and twist them in a way that felt new and interesting.
And by putting two stories against each other and against through the lens of
what is real and what is not I think we have found some interesting, you
know, the stories comment on each other in a way that you just aren't able to
do with other shows.
And I think that is why people should tune in. I think, you know, it may or
may not work for an audience. We don't know until we have put it in front of
them but I think they will at least see there is an effort to try to do something
different.
That it is not the same cop, doctor, lawyer model. It has got a lot of the things
that I think people embrace about that model. But, you know, we're just trying
to see what else it can do, where else it can go.
Howard Gordon: And also - this is Howard speaking. It also, you know, plays with a very
interesting premise which is, you know, what if we - one of us were faced
with this terrible loss and what if we could have them and yet not have them.
And there it is - it asks a really fundamentally fascinating and very emotional
question. And again through that prism tells procedural stories but at the very
heart of it there is an incredibly emotional premise.
Diane Morasco: Thank you I have one more question. For you Kyle, what do you think is
going to make this show snap? Like the one word or two words that you
would say that would make somebody snap and take notice?
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
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And for you Howard my question would be, what is the most emotional part
of it do you think the audience will capture right away?
Kyle Killen: I don't know, you know, unfortunately being a person who writes - it takes me
60 pages to say what makes the show work. It is hard to do it in two words but
I think it is hopefully it feels, you know, new and refreshing because of that.
Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Steve Sunu with Comic Book
Resources. Please go ahead.
Steve Sunu: Hey guys, thanks so much for taking the call appreciate it. What is different
from shows that you two have done before individually like 24 and Lone Star
in that it is pretty heavily based in the science fiction concept of the dual
reality?
I mean there are a whole lot of science fiction shows on network television
right now so how does Awake reconcile the nature of a network television
procedural with some of these science fiction elements?
Howard Gordon: Well again Howard speaking and I am speaking about Kyle's creation. So it is
easy to (unintelligible) so correct me if I am wrong but I think it is the fact
that it comes from a very, very gettable - it is not about the space time
continuum or about, you know, particle theory or string theory.
It is really about an emotional response to loss and how this man's mind
created the premise that we are enjoying dramatically. That was the end. Kyle
do you have...
Kyle Killen: No I think that's it. I mean it feels less like an exploration of the forefront of
our, you know, of our knowledge or anything like that than it is really - if it is
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
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science fiction it is emotional science fiction. It comes - it feels less sciency
and more personal.
But you - it's something that you do in response to a great, deep personal need
as opposed because the laws of physics allow it.
Steve Sunu: Excellent and as a follow up I was wondering if you could speak to how the
actors, specifically Jason Isaacs are able to work on these dual realities on set?
You know how do they deal with the segregation of the two realities?
Because it seems like it is almost like two different shows are going on, on the
same production.
Kyle Killen: Yes I think that is an accurate description and I think it's sometimes it is
difficult for them as it is for us to, you know, because not only is the show two
stories in two worlds but it is not shot in order.
And so this scene isn't just this scene. This scene has to reflect not just what
would have come before it but what would have come before it in the other
world.
And therefore, informs your opinion as a character of this scene in a way that
is different from everybody else in the scene you are carrying with you a clue
or a notion or a sense of urgency that nobody else shares.
And I think Jason goes to great lengths to keep track of all those things and
bake them into his approach to a scene. And, you know, he does that through
an incredible amount of research and preparation.
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
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I mean he invests a lot of time on every scene and just making sure he gets,
knows and understands what it is that he and everyone else in the scene needs
to be doing so that all of that will track for the audience.
Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Reg Seaton with the Deadbolt.com.
Please go ahead.
Reg Seaton: Hi guys thanks for taking the call. With so much competition in the reality
genre and with other high concept shows having a tough time. What is the
biggest challenge for you to make a show like this work?
Kyle Killen: Go ahead Howard.
Howard Gordon: No you go.
Kyle Killen: I don't know. I mean there is always competition. There is always - it always
seems like an impossible task to launch one of these things.
I think ultimately, you know, you as a group of, you know, creative people
who are committed and excited about something you have to put forth the best
version of it that you can. And then when you get the support of a network
like NBC and their marketing arm, you know you do your best to draw people
in.
But ultimately I think it is probably the quality of the product and people's
enthusiasm for it. I mean where commercials can do so much it's really about,
you know, what are your friends and the people that you respect and the
critics that you listen to what do they say about it?
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
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That's what I think pierces the, you know, the haze of marketing for the
millions of entertainment options that are available. What is somebody telling
you?
This actually stands out. This is different. This is worth your time and
commitment. And, you know, we hoped and believed that we've put together
something like that and we will since see how many people agree with it.
Reg Seaton: And what is the biggest challenge in trying to be too different yet like you
were saying draw upon familiar elements that viewers know?
Howard Gordon: Well I think - this is Howard speaking. I think it is again and again with the
networks who are desperately competing with cable fare which has lower
barrier to entry in terms of the number of people who need to watch it to make
economic sense and also fewer episodes.
So you can have a very different creative proposition and often a more
compelling one. So networks have been forced to in some ways tell stories
that are very big ticket kind of box office ten pull ideas and at the same time
have to have franchises that are durable and with narrative engines that can
run for years.
And I think that is a conundrum and I think, you know, what Kyle has created
sort of feels like it checks off all those boxes, you know, and so in many ways
it is incredibly appealing and certainly was to NBC.
Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Maria Pedone with ACED
Magazine. Please go ahead.
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Maria Pedone: Hi guys and thank you for doing the conference call. I was wondering if there
is any crossover between the two realms by way of characters. Like is there
one character that is consistent in both worlds?
Kyle Killen: Yes this is Kyle. That's an element that we have certainly played with. I mean
the - since one of them is within in his mind and it comes from him we are
able to toy with what he brings from one to the other. And sometimes that is a
character and sometimes it is whether it's these clues.
We play constantly with the idea of things crossing over from one to the other
and sometimes that is helpful and sometimes it's extremely problematic.
That's really the, you know, the Kevin Weisman arc towards the end season
kind of goes to the heart of that idea of being able to keep the people from one
world separate from the other and the problems inherent when you aren't able
to do so.
Maria Pedone: And the character (unintelligible)...
Operator: Unfortunately I think her line was experiencing a little bit of difficulty. We
will go on to the next question. And it is a follow up question from the line of
Mike Hughes with TV America. Again please go ahead.
Mike Hughes: Yes I have a different thing but first of all just real briefly I wanted to ask
Kyle what Laura Innes' character is and roughly what episode will she start to
appear?
Kyle Killen: I think she appears it the first episode after the pilot. She is the captain of the
precinct where Britten works in both worlds. In one world obviously she is the
captain where he has one partner and then the same in the other.
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
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Mike Hughes: Okay thanks. And the other thing I wanted to ask, you made a decision that
the shows in the past didn't do. They usually waste a lot of our time by having
a guy go around and say, oh I can't believe it, what is this and so on and so
forth.
You skipped all the way past that and gave us a very smart guy who does
things like have the different wrist bands and gave us an analytical mind and it
seemed to save a lot of that fog in between and get right to the thing.
How did you decide to have kind of like a smart, calculating central character
like that?
Kyle Killen: Well again I guess it goes to the heart of what it is - as an audience we are I
think we are naturally intrigued by and wonder, you know, what is real and
what is not. But the main character decided to live in both worlds.
So we are joining in at a point where he has come up with a whole set of
systems to allow him to navigate those two worlds and that is why I think he
is driven not to existentially walk around and just question but simply to press
ahead in one direction and the other simultaneously.
Mike Hughes: Okay good thanks.
Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Jamie Ruby with Scifivision.com.
Please go ahead.
Jamie Ruby: Hi again. So obviously a lot of the show is going to be really sad I imagine. Is
there like some humor balance in that or how do you deal with that?
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
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Howard Gordon: Wait a second (unintelligible).
Kyle Killen: I don't think a lot of it is going to be sad at all. I mean actually you are looking
at two groups of people who are, you know, they are trying to move ahead and
I think that, you know, because we have joined them a certain amount of time
past the accident.
Obviously it weighs on them and it is absolutely never easy in the wake of a
tragedy but I think it is as much about, you know, the hope and the promise of
moving forward and what the shape of that looks like. I think as it is about,
you know, the tragic accident that preceded it.
Howard Gordon: But it is emotional, you know, it absolutely it doesn't - it's Howard speaking. It
doesn't - the show is not afraid of, you know, acknowledging and, you know,
playing with the emotion that is obviously a part of what's happening.
Jamie Ruby: All right thanks. And the other thing is have - is there anything that the two of
you have learned about yourself that you were surprised to know after
working on this project?
Howard Gordon: What did we forget?
Kyle Killen: You know speaking from - yes exactly. I mean speaking for myself, I mean
it's, you know, I think I've learned that I don't know how Howard is still alive.
You know it's been - it's the process of creating a complicated television show
over a short period of time is an incredibly difficult one. And, you know, to
look at a show like Awake and to do, you know, a 13 episode season.
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
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I lie awake at night wondering how they survived doing a show twice as
complicated in 24 for eight years. I shudder at the thought.
So - but at the same time I've learned that with the help of a committed and
talented group of people around you, you can surmount things that at certain
points look completely insurmountable.
Operator: As a reminder ladies and gentlemen to register for any questions or comments
please press the 1 followed by the 4. And our next question is also a follow up
question from the line of Jamie Ruby with Scifivision.com. Please go ahead.
Jamie Ruby: I guess I got right back through. Actually if I could for a second I wanted to
digress a little bit but Howard you have obviously worked on a lot of different
series.
Could you just really quick talk a bit about working on the X-Files?
Howard Gordon: Well the X-Files was a - in some ways this show made me feel like I felt when
I came on the X-Files. I read that pilot and I felt like this is really interesting
and this is something I haven't seen before and this is very clear.
And Awake in many ways, you know, just interested me as a writer and as a
viewer I mean I kind of feel like I have to be interested in something as a
viewer before I am interested in as a writer.
And the X-Files was a phenomenal experience. It was a great group of people,
you know, whom remain friends starting with Alex Gansa who I started with
and actually broke up with that first year.
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
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I stayed on the X Files for four years. He left in the middle of the first. And I -
he came back and started working on 24 in the 7th season. But it was really -
we very obviously a lot younger then and it was a show that no one had any
expectations about.
(Sandy Greusher) who ran the network programmed it at 9 o'clock and put all
the marketing dollars in the Adventures of Brisco County. So we had no
expectations and no - and we were allowed to do, you know, do with it what
we wanted.
But it was kind of as Kyle said, one of those lucky collaborations where
everybody brought something different to the table and made it greater than
the sum of any of its parts.
I mean the general question it was a very exciting experience to do something
that, you know, nobody looked at and then became obviously this very big
show for Fox and internationally.
But I certainly learned a lot on that show in terms of producing and, you
know, though I had worked through a number of years before that, that's really
a show where I felt like I learned a lot of the things that still, you know, I
think about today.
Jamie Ruby: Okay great. And then quickly back to Awake. Is there anything specific that
the two of you scene-wise obviously that you can talk about but something
specific that you are looking forward to the fans seeing for the first time?
Howard Gordon: Well because it's Kyle's creation I'll say I really love - I'm looking forward to
the fans seeing the penguins. That's all I'll say.
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Operator: Our next question comes from the line of (Cody Elephano) with Sinisnob.net.
Please go ahead.
(Cody Elephano): When you guys found out that you weren't on the fall schedule and you would
be mid-season at earliest did you use that time to kind of tinker with things or
do rewrites or reshoots or did you save that for your production hiatus?
Kyle Killen: You know there is really no difference in how you - when you start and what
you are doing. I mean we are finished and finishing alongside, you know,
shows that were fall series
So you start work at essentially the same time so it doesn't - there was a little
bit more lead time which we were incredibly grateful for as we, you know, I
think we hit several times it has been a complicated show to figure out on a
week to week basis and make work in a satisfying way so any and all extra
time was incredibly welcome.
And then I think just the opportunity of being a mid-season show, you know,
to sort of get a launch that isn't cluttered with the launch of everything that
doesn't feel like a, you know, a demolition derby of new shows.
I think also a great opportunity especially for something like this which is, you
know, which is a little different and the opportunity to sort of be promoting it
and talking about it in a time when 10 other things aren't also announcing that
they are new and different. I think it sets up well for a show like this.
(Cody Elephano): Great and Kyle how did your experience as working on Lone Star, you know,
just, you know, having a nearly universal acclaim and then being pulled after
your first two episodes. How does something like that or does it change your
approach to working on network TV?
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
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Kyle Killen: I mean it does and it doesn't. I think anybody who tries something and has it
not work would be stupid not to look at what occurred and what lessons you
could take away from that.
And I think when we talked earlier about the nature of completely serialized
versus shows that offer some standalone elements. I think that was one of the
big takeaways.
You know with Lone Star I think - I mean the effort was always to try a cable
style show on network and the risk in that is if you don't get a network sized
audience in Week 1 you are going to be battling uphill from then on.
Because you are not just saying please join us for Week 2, please join us for
Week 3 but please also go back and catch up on Week 1 and Week 2 so you'll
have some idea of what's happening.
And I think trying to lower the barrier to entry for subsequent episodes so that
a show could gain momentum rather than just bleed it from the top is
something that felt like it was going to be smart to bake into future network
television ideas.
Operator: Our next question comes from the line of (Cathy Huddleston) with
(Blaster.com). Please go ahead.
(Cathy Huddleston): Hey guys. Thanks for doing this. As you look forward to developing the
series over time. What do you see as your biggest challenges?
Howard Gordon: Well this is Howard speaking. I mean the biggest challenge is taking a
premise and actually building it.
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
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I mean making it, you know, being true to the premise of the pilot and of the
series and at the same time keeping it moving forward in interesting ways
without making the machine, you know, come apart or betraying that, you
know, the ground rules that you have set up.
So that is always the biggest challenge is sort of keeping it fresh and
developing it and knowing where the story lives.
And hopefully learning, you know, again in this case there was a lot of - there
was a fair amount of trial and error because you only have so much real estate
in the course of an episode.
And yes I mean it is just evolving and that's I think is the challenge with any
series.
Operator: Our last question comes from the line of Dayna Barter with Off Color TV.
Please go ahead.
Dayna Barter: Hi guys. Listening today it really sounds like the emphasis is kind of on the
character's journey and not so much on answering the ultimate question. But I
know that there is probably some fear that that will frustrate some viewers.
So I wanted to ask how you are looking to balance the case of the week format
with progress towards the ultimate answer?
Kyle Killen: I guess to me it only frustrates people if the show focuses on the idea that well
that is constant question that we are asking. And I think really what the show
does is it ultimately builds out these two worlds so that you are asking
questions and have concerns and are invested in both of them.
NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Tracy St. Pierre
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So that every time the pendulum swings more towards one or the other, you
feel the same threat and fear that wait, wait, wait this one is real and the other
one is not that the main character does.
And that you are as invested in getting things back to a place where the two
places you enjoy seeing the character be feel like they can go on. But
constantly playing with the shifting sands under his feet is something that I
think actually benefits his investment in those two worlds.
Dayna Barter: Great thank you.
Operator: And unfortunately that is all the time we have for questions today. I'll now
turn the call back over to you Ms. St. Pierre.
Tracy St. Pierre: Thank you guys so much for joining us and I know there are a couple more
questions on the line so if you have any follow up please give me a call at
818-777-2940.
Operator: Ladies and gentlemen that does conclude the conference call for today. We
thank you for your participation and ask that you please disconnect your lines.
END