ABC Teleconference with LOST Producers (Spoiler-Free Version)
Hey Losties,
Today was the official ABC Teleconfrence call with LOST Producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and I was one of the lucky few who had an opportunity to listen in.
The conference call was like a live podcast and it was a great experience to listen to the producers again. You can truly get a sense of their passion and love for the show.
Now as most of you know podcasts can contain spoilers and they did not shy away from providing us with some nice tidbits. However, I know many of you out there do not like spoilers and so I have removed all of the spoilers from my summary so all LOST fans can now enjoy it.
If you want to know the spoilers you can find them here:
ABC Teleconference Call Details with Spoilers
Here are my notes from the call:
NOTE: I did my best to write as much down as possible and note where the question came from. Also this is just a summary and I put quotes around the actual words the producers used.
They start off with confirming the remaining schedule with the extra hour being added and part 2 of finale moving to May 29th - They confirmed that the finale breaks down as follows"
May 15th Season finale Part 1
May 29th Season Finale Part 2 (2hours)
Titles in spoilers section.
Why the push for 2 Hr Finale? Because of story or things you wanted to do?
Little bit of both we thought of Season 1 Exodus and felt that the emotional and "epic" story telling needed the extra time. Plus we had an 8 hour story planned and to have it crammed to 5 was tough. So we felt it would be a little rushed and we needed and wanted the extra time to do it right. They also talked about the initial script being like 80 pages and they wanted to make it 100 hundred but had to be cut to 50.
The show ends in 2010 how do you figure out this whole process to reach that point? Do you know the last scene or line??
YES last scene has been determined, but say they do have some wiggle room with last line but have been working towards it. They talk about having two pieces of the bread of a sandwich and that they working on the insides of sandwich and want to know how much mayo they need to use and then of course they laugh.
Will the FF/FBs ever end or blur?
They view the show as a "mosaic" it is possible that what is past, future or present could change. All depends on the point of view of telling the story. They have no hard rules just approach it all with a certain narrative and figure out the best story to fit it.
How many people know how the show will end?? Any family members/friends trying to get secrets?
Not many know and they can count it on their hands. They joke about telling Dick Cheney. LOL...Wives and significant others do not want to be spoiled. Cuse said something about his wife always saying "shhhsh".
With following Grey's Anatomy, do you think those viewers will tune in? - Thur night is best night to watch and they are happy to be there. They said that they can't complain about being behind such a big hit.
Finales are always historic, what added pressure do you have...?
It is hard and we are not trying to employ smoke and mirrors but want it to be exciting. They said each season is like a book and the end is like the last chapter in a book where it is most exciting.
Question about Locke being key component of show: Jack and Locke are two significant opposite poles of the show. The conflict is the central conflict of show the show.
On Philo/Sci Theories - Lindelof confirms that his Philo 101 class proved to be bountiful for show because he learned all about Locke and Rousseau from that class. Cuse confirmed that America History degree from Harvard was key and that it is amazing what they have read has played into the show so much.
You seem to listen an pay attention to fans and then "course correct"?
They say that they are big fans of TV as well, so they are able to react based on fans reactions because they understand what we think. Also say that they have the same tastes as fans.
34 Episodes left after this season
Confirm that this year's season finale is written and in the process of revising
Enhanced Episodes - Cliff notes for the show, if you are a show expert then it is below you, but they are mainly for casual fans that do not spend time digging into everything
Any plan for after season for online?
Beginning discussions about it. They loved Find815 and hope to do a similar type of prologue to lead into Season 5. Also confirmed that they are discussing what to do with ComicCon.
Use of music in storytelling is important and they are picky about using music because characters are actually "listening" to it instead of it being played over the show. Nirvana song was "haunting" to focus on Jack's character in S3 finale
First episodes of this season were the setup for the "payoff" in the upcoming episodes.
What surprised you the most this season...!?
How much we liked the new freighter characters....we really liked our casting and they have worked well with what we pictured and visioned. Unfortunate we haven't had enough time to explore that.
Season 5 (Episode 5x01) planned to start the during the last week of Jan 09
Des/Pen impact on you and fans?
We introduced Penny in S2 finale and it was certainly our intention to make it one of the central and "epic" love stories of the show. We know some of the best episodes have been because of Des/Pen relationship.
Sonya Walgner is in high demand in her current show on HBO, but we will use her again if and when she is available.
There might come a time where the word "flash" will not be relevant based on what has been happening and it depends on the point of view of the story. For example now we are off island and question is will that become present time...!? Trying to keep us on our toes.
Next season's time slot depends on what happens with these next 5 episodes being after Grey's Anatomy so no one knows.
The end of the series is the END not planning on leaving it open ended. Reference Harry Potter and JK Rowling again.
Said that they are very good friends and get along great...!!
They do NOT regret picking an end date and they lobbied for it since Season 1 and it is what they always wanted to do.
Thanks for reading and I will try to update and edit because of typos or anything I missed.
Today was the official ABC Teleconfrence call with LOST Producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and I was one of the lucky few who had an opportunity to listen in.
The conference call was like a live podcast and it was a great experience to listen to the producers again. You can truly get a sense of their passion and love for the show.
Now as most of you know podcasts can contain spoilers and they did not shy away from providing us with some nice tidbits. However, I know many of you out there do not like spoilers and so I have removed all of the spoilers from my summary so all LOST fans can now enjoy it.
If you want to know the spoilers you can find them here:
ABC Teleconference Call Details with Spoilers
Here are my notes from the call:
NOTE: I did my best to write as much down as possible and note where the question came from. Also this is just a summary and I put quotes around the actual words the producers used.
They start off with confirming the remaining schedule with the extra hour being added and part 2 of finale moving to May 29th - They confirmed that the finale breaks down as follows"
May 15th Season finale Part 1
May 29th Season Finale Part 2 (2hours)
Titles in spoilers section.
Why the push for 2 Hr Finale? Because of story or things you wanted to do?
Little bit of both we thought of Season 1 Exodus and felt that the emotional and "epic" story telling needed the extra time. Plus we had an 8 hour story planned and to have it crammed to 5 was tough. So we felt it would be a little rushed and we needed and wanted the extra time to do it right. They also talked about the initial script being like 80 pages and they wanted to make it 100 hundred but had to be cut to 50.
The show ends in 2010 how do you figure out this whole process to reach that point? Do you know the last scene or line??
YES last scene has been determined, but say they do have some wiggle room with last line but have been working towards it. They talk about having two pieces of the bread of a sandwich and that they working on the insides of sandwich and want to know how much mayo they need to use and then of course they laugh.
Will the FF/FBs ever end or blur?
They view the show as a "mosaic" it is possible that what is past, future or present could change. All depends on the point of view of telling the story. They have no hard rules just approach it all with a certain narrative and figure out the best story to fit it.
How many people know how the show will end?? Any family members/friends trying to get secrets?
Not many know and they can count it on their hands. They joke about telling Dick Cheney. LOL...Wives and significant others do not want to be spoiled. Cuse said something about his wife always saying "shhhsh".
With following Grey's Anatomy, do you think those viewers will tune in? - Thur night is best night to watch and they are happy to be there. They said that they can't complain about being behind such a big hit.
Finales are always historic, what added pressure do you have...?
It is hard and we are not trying to employ smoke and mirrors but want it to be exciting. They said each season is like a book and the end is like the last chapter in a book where it is most exciting.
Question about Locke being key component of show: Jack and Locke are two significant opposite poles of the show. The conflict is the central conflict of show the show.
On Philo/Sci Theories - Lindelof confirms that his Philo 101 class proved to be bountiful for show because he learned all about Locke and Rousseau from that class. Cuse confirmed that America History degree from Harvard was key and that it is amazing what they have read has played into the show so much.
You seem to listen an pay attention to fans and then "course correct"?
They say that they are big fans of TV as well, so they are able to react based on fans reactions because they understand what we think. Also say that they have the same tastes as fans.
34 Episodes left after this season
Confirm that this year's season finale is written and in the process of revising
Enhanced Episodes - Cliff notes for the show, if you are a show expert then it is below you, but they are mainly for casual fans that do not spend time digging into everything
Any plan for after season for online?
Beginning discussions about it. They loved Find815 and hope to do a similar type of prologue to lead into Season 5. Also confirmed that they are discussing what to do with ComicCon.
Use of music in storytelling is important and they are picky about using music because characters are actually "listening" to it instead of it being played over the show. Nirvana song was "haunting" to focus on Jack's character in S3 finale
First episodes of this season were the setup for the "payoff" in the upcoming episodes.
What surprised you the most this season...!?
How much we liked the new freighter characters....we really liked our casting and they have worked well with what we pictured and visioned. Unfortunate we haven't had enough time to explore that.
Season 5 (Episode 5x01) planned to start the during the last week of Jan 09
Des/Pen impact on you and fans?
We introduced Penny in S2 finale and it was certainly our intention to make it one of the central and "epic" love stories of the show. We know some of the best episodes have been because of Des/Pen relationship.
Sonya Walgner is in high demand in her current show on HBO, but we will use her again if and when she is available.
There might come a time where the word "flash" will not be relevant based on what has been happening and it depends on the point of view of the story. For example now we are off island and question is will that become present time...!? Trying to keep us on our toes.
Next season's time slot depends on what happens with these next 5 episodes being after Grey's Anatomy so no one knows.
The end of the series is the END not planning on leaving it open ended. Reference Harry Potter and JK Rowling again.
Said that they are very good friends and get along great...!!
They do NOT regret picking an end date and they lobbied for it since Season 1 and it is what they always wanted to do.
Thanks for reading and I will try to update and edit because of typos or anything I missed.
If you enjoy this site and want to help support in it's continued running, there are a number of ways that you can help: