Michael Emerson on the Writer's Strike

[spicedogs]

 

11/05/07 

The Writer's Strike From An Actor's Perspective: 'Lost' Star Michael Emerson Weighs In

Starpulse recently had the opportunity to talk with Michael Emerson, who plays baddie Ben Linus on LOST, while shooting in Hawaii. No, we didn't have the pleasure of experiencing the 83-degree temperatures or warm breezes via our telephone interview, but he talked about the show, his character, and how media formats led to a writer's strike.

While discussing the shocking third season finale of LOST,  Emerson noted, "I think it's a tremendous direction that they're taking the show. I hope this writer's strike doesn't interrupt the season."

So how much will LOST really be affected by the strike? After all, new episodes don't start airing until February. The cast and crew are currently shooting the seventh episode of the new season, and they have maybe one more complete script that's ready to go.

Emerson explained, "I think they were counting on an uninterrupted shooting schedule to have enough episodes to air it continually. If we spend very many weeks without shooting…LOST  is vulnerable because we don't have a stockpile of scripts.

"And if the writers walk, there's no one to polish scripts or do rewrites or anything like that. LOST would shut down fairly quickly. I'm just guessing, but I think LOST  could go eight or 10 days after a strike. Then we'd all have to go home I guess. "

Those who are really eager for the new season can expect to see mobisodes, or mobile phone episodes, in the near future. In the 13 weeks leading up to the premiere the network will release a mobisode a week, "which are sort of like lost scenes," explained Emerson. They are about two or three minutes long, and you can download them on phones and ABC.com.

"Of course this interesting tool, this mobisode tool, is one of the issues in all these various strikes, not just the writer's strike but also there's the potential for the actor's union to go out next summer, the directors, all that stuff," said Emerson. "All this new media is confusing and it's sort of like the wild west. No one has set rules and formulas. We're in a transitional period, I guess."

So what's Emerson's stance on what the writers are doing?

"I think they have to do what they have to do. I think there is a tremendous amount of new media and new delivery systems out there, which we don't have any way of controlling or any way of even keeping track of," he said. "If your image or the story you're telling is going to be downloaded on phones and screens and stuff all over the globe then the actors and the writers and the directors have to find a way for which they can participate in some of the vast profits from those sorts of things. I think that's what they're looking to do."

Stay tuned this week for more from Michael Emerson's exclusive Starpulse interview, where he talks about Ben's ambiguous personality, jungle creatures, and the new season.

Interview by Noelle Talmon
Starpulse.com editor

SOURCE: starpulse.com

   

Michael Emerson was also quoted in tv.ign.com as follows:

However, IGN spoke to Lost star Michael Emerson this past Friday and he said, "You know, I know that's out there but I don't think that's true. I think that story is not true. To the best of my knowledge, they never have more than one episode beyond what we're shooting." Emerson told us he was currently shooting the seventh episode of Season 4 and that "We probably have enough material to complete the first half of their season." It's assumed that ABC will likely decide to at least air the completed eight episodes in the spring.

Comments

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

I wonder whether we could. A cartoon version. All we need are some good artists. We do have some good movie makers.