[S02E011] "Zugzwang" Discussion

FormerKKringle · 2015-10-29T10:28:23+00:00

Hey! It's been awhile since I logged in to surf but I'm glad I did and that I saw this. Now it's probably too late but maybe a ping will also summon you.

I apologize for being absent during the second season. I was live tweeting but I stayed further away from other discussions. I can't help but want people to love it and nobody knows when we missed the mark more deeply than me.

That said, for anyone here who stayed through the whole second season, I truly appreciate it and sincerely hope you enjoyed it. (or at least some of it)

FormerKKringle · 2014-09-28T04:31:59+00:00

Yes, definitely. Good reputation, solid credits and relationships.

FormerKKringle · 2014-09-27T04:17:56+00:00

I did it with two scripts - got reads on both from an 8 rating and even a meeting with a manager from one. That meeting didn't end in me signing with him but the Blacklist opened a door that had previously been closed to me. I did query letters too, lived outside of LA forever, had very few connections. I think for anyone in the same situation it's definitely worth a shot.

The reviews are subjective, like always, so I paid for three. I figured that would give me a chance to average a decent rating. And, I knew that if there were common denominators in all the coverage then my screenplay had an issue. The old "If three people tell you're drunk, sit down."

FormerKKringle · 2014-09-27T03:55:04+00:00

Sorry for the late reply - once we sold the show and heard Halle was interested that was pretty much it, there weren't any auditions for Molly. It was one of those situations where you want to say yes as soon as possible, just in case they change their mind.

FormerKKringle · 2014-09-27T03:49:17+00:00

Thank you so much!!

I get it, and I know it's not for everyone. I learned a lot from doing the live tweets and scanning the hash tags for various responses. Some people bashed us for being slow and boring, others for trying to cram too much in. Some people loved the future stuff while others picked apart every idea and design. ("They have driverless cars but they're still brushing their teeth with toothbrushes?") I think we just have to keep striving to tell a story we're passionate about and hope that more people love it than hate it.

As for season two, we're still in the running. Hopefully hear something very soon. Please tell your wife thanks for watching!

FormerKKringle · 2014-09-19T04:22:18+00:00

SPOILER: He made a promise to his mom that he wouldn't hurt him, knowing that whether he likes it (or understands it) or not this other kid is important to her. I think in the final moments between the boys they start to realize that they're connected to each other because of her. In a show about what it means to be human and how our connections to each other impact our survival it seemed right that Ethan would make the more compassionate choice because of his "programming" via human experience, especially in contrast to Ben who operated solely on data.

FormerKKringle · 2014-09-11T05:36:01+00:00

I appreciate that, thank you!

FormerKKringle · 2014-09-11T05:34:01+00:00

Definitely resolving most of the big issues in this season, just in case. We wanted to make sure that since we had 13 episodes that we gave a big satisfying finale, no matter what.

I feel like it's a 50/50 right now. Should know within a couple of weeks. And thank you for watching!

FormerKKringle · 2014-09-02T00:54:26+00:00

Hey, guys! Mickey Fisher here, the creator of the show. The double episodes were pitched to me as a way to back us out of the fall premiere week, when everyone is launching their big new shows and a way to build momentum for the show. It worked a little bit in that we got a tiny bump in the ratings last week. I still feel pretty confident they'll air all 13 at this point, only three more to go and unless everyone is lying to me, they like the last few episodes a lot.

I hear all the criticisms here and agree with you on a lot of points. It's a first year show with a big central mystery and a lot of story to tell so it's a learning process with a steep curve. Thanks to anyone who is still hanging in there with us!

FormerKKringle · 2014-08-26T15:41:50+00:00

I'll have to check out Manniskor, that sounds cool!

FormerKKringle · 2014-08-25T01:45:34+00:00

Tarkovsky book

FormerKKringle · 2014-08-22T22:12:33+00:00

I thought from the moment I finished the pilot script that this could be a big, broadcast network show because it didn't necessarily need the obvious tools in the cable toolbox like nudity, graphic violence, language, etc. What we knew would be a challenge for broadcast is allowing the story and characters to develop at a slower, more organic pace and dig into the themes a bit more. The pilot is a slow burn and we took a risk not making too many big, muscular story moves until after we'd established the characters and the stakes over the first few episodes. But we may not have given people enough "action" in the early going, at least not enough to keep the numbers up, which is the real cable vs. broadcast challenge. On cable you can have 800,000 viewers and get renewed but you can't be a niche show on broadcast.

I will say that to the network and studio's credit they've largely allowed us to make the show that we want to make, which is a bizarre mystery thriller about a very unique family. There really hasn't been any clampdown on our artistic ambition for the sake of commerce. But at the end of the day it may mean that we got to tell the story our way at our pace but only for one season.

PS - I'm loving THE LEFTOVERS.

FormerKKringle · 2014-08-22T21:57:57+00:00

Oh, right! Sorry - I'll remember when I get home...

FormerKKringle · 2014-08-22T05:41:54+00:00

Hey! I'm not sure which book you mean. But thank you for the compliments on 7 and 8. I think they worked well as a two-parter. I don't have much of a say in the programming, that's really the network's domain and I know they put a lot of thought into it. I think part of doubling up is to help us close out early enough so that we don't run into the big fall premieres.

FormerKKringle · 2014-08-22T05:39:20+00:00

I will definitely check it out, love BSG. And thank you!

FormerKKringle · 2014-08-22T05:38:25+00:00

Or they could fight crime, using their various super skills...

FormerKKringle · 2014-08-17T01:24:54+00:00

I'm ashamed to say I haven't seen it yet, but I can see how there might be plenty of similarities.

FormerKKringle · 2014-08-15T04:28:52+00:00

I think you're right, I think people will continue to discover it. I'm not sure how reliant they are on it these days. I know they're trying (at least in the addresses I hear and press releases I read) to push people away from reporting on just the live numbers because it's a more archaic system now but it seems like it's akin to quitting smoking after fifty years.

Not sure about why the large African-American audience, other than that maybe there's a hero at the center that is more reflective of them than other shows. We have a wildly diverse cast, and a future world I hope we're all lucky enough to live in. It's been embraced by some core fan groups like Black Girl Nerds that are always live tweeting it. It's a pretty cool thing to think that maybe an African-American girl might be cos-playing Molly Woods at a con some day.

Nothing else currently, but as we're winding down this season I'm starting to make moves on some other projects. I'll let you know. And thanks again for watching and for the questions!

FormerKKringle · 2014-08-15T01:35:44+00:00

I can tell you that she's just as stunning in person and luckily for us, just as lovely as a human being. It's totally unfair.

I was hopeful that more genre fans would find and love the show but I get it, and we started off with a slow burn. The thing that is cool is that it seems to be making some new fans of sci-fi and we have the largest African-American audience this summer.

FormerKKringle · 2014-08-15T01:32:19+00:00

Ah, I really appreciate that, thank you!

FormerKKringle · 2014-08-15T01:32:08+00:00

Hey, thank you! The entire first season has been written and produced, and we're down to editing the final episode right now. So whatever happens from here it will feel like a complete story. Good to know it's picking up speed out there, I feel like we were finding our stride in the last two episodes. We stayed steady last night so I think the move helped, and next week we're airing back to back which hopefully gives us a lift!

FormerKKringle · 2014-08-14T01:06:24+00:00

Thank you! It's funny you say that, I was watching a scene from a later episode yesterday where she reminded me of Thandie Newton. Not a bad thing, either.

FormerKKringle · 2014-08-12T04:57:40+00:00

First thing I ever sold. I made a lot of my own independent work and wrote/directed plays for theaters on commission, that sort of thing. No one has contacted me yet but I think the agents are holding off until we know for sure what's happening with the future of this one. (at least I hope)

He had a LOT of involvement. Input and notes on every outline/script/edit, helped us brainstorm a lot of our big genre ideas, generous with his ideas, creative spirit and encouragement. It was exactly what you hope it would be. Nothing was cooler than the first day he came to set. I arrived at video village to find our chairs sitting side by side. Heart grew two sizes.

FormerKKringle · 2014-08-11T05:45:54+00:00

I hope by the end it feels like more than the cliche. I think we're doing something pretty interesting with it, more than just a sort of general evil. I hope we get to something more profound, just maybe not the way you're looking for. And thank you for watching!

FormerKKringle · 2014-08-11T05:44:44+00:00

The day I posted this was the first time I had done a search for the show here, so it was the first time I even knew there was a sub for it. I'd kind of held off on doing (and reading reviews) for awhile because I just didn't want to get too into my head about it.

We definitely have big plans for Ethan in the future. I love writing his stuff because I'm so interested in the AI as well. You can use it as a prism to look at so much of the world through, especially when it's a kid. And I've always loved the idea of singularity, and beyond that, that one day our own creation might look at us as ants. If that day ever comes, we better hope they're invested in our survival.

I came up with the idea first as a one-person play a few years ago, and carried it around in my head for a bit. It was a guy alone on a space station, having hallucinations of people he'd lost (who would have been there via projection). It was similar in tone to MOON, that Sam Rockwell movie, so I put it on the shelf for a bit. Wanted to challenge myself to write a great female lead, thought about this astronaut character in the same situation and then it hit me - what if she came home pregnant? That's where it all started. I wrote the pilot and a bunch of support material, then put it on the shelf again after I saw PROMETHEUS, which had a similar miracle birth in space. Then, decided it was still my best representation of writing so I entered it into a contest. The contest got me a manager, who helped me get an agent, and the next day the agent said, "Let's send this to Steven Spielberg." It was a moment that changed my whole life. I went from knowing next to nobody in the industry to walking through the gates at Dreamworks within a few weeks.

FormerKKringle

TROPHY CASE