THR held a Q&A session with Fringe co-creators Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. Here are the mostly Fringe-related parts:
Hollywood Reporter: Has your trajectory as writers and producers followed any kind of plan?
Roberto Orci: At the very least, it was always our intention of breaking into movies by first going through television, so that worked out.
Alex Kurtzman: Television taught us to look at the big picture because when you’re working on television you’re writing and having to consider production at the same time. That really impacted the way we approached producing “Eagle Eye,” and I think that the studio found it refreshing to be able to communicate with writers as producers as well.
THR: What’s most appealing about working on huge-budget, special effects-driven adventures?
Orci: Well, to use a surfer analogy, it’s just the biggest wave you can find. It literally requires all your muscles, and it’s a certain kind of sport.
Kurtzman: In a lot of ways, it lets you be a 12-year-old kid again and love the experience of sitting in the theater in the summer seeing big movies happen in front of you, but it’s the added bonus of also being a grown-up who’s partially responsible for it. That balance is exhilarating.
THR: Where have you been finding the ideas you’re working into “Fringe”?
Orci: The latest thing being published about physics, the latest stuff that the Defense Department is doing, the latest things that are being discovered by corporations that have more money to invest in certain things than governments — that’s what we’re reading. Some of it trickles down through alternative media. Some of it’s right on the front page of regular stuff. “Pentagon creates invisibility cloak” was reported by every major news provider a few weeks ago. That’s the beauty of “Fringe.” It’s happening now, and it’s right in front of your face. You just have to choose to see it.
Kurtzman: Absolutely anything seems possible these days. So many things that were dismissible as outlandish or over-the-top even five years ago are now headlines, so why can’t we take the spirit of that and put it in a television show?
You can read the entire Q&A here.
