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For years, Dino Leone has been a reviewing 'ninja', loyal community member and devoted staff writer of many projects on MZPtv. Now, with the impending premiere of Eden - a dark, eight-part original supernatural drama - for the first time he is set to display his own work to the masses. He talked to producer A. J. Black about what his long-awaited opus is all about before we all listen to the owls on Tuesday September 20th...
Eden, then. Where exactly did the idea spring from?The idea first started out as what if I could do a show similar to
Twin Peaks for MZPtv. I know that the closest we've had to a show is Jordan Hyman's
Homeostasis and we almost had a Virtual Season 3 of
Twin Peaks but that fell by the wayside.
So I let the idea develop slowly and eventually I came up with a pitch. I did write a pilot, but with only a few people who read it, I knew it needed a lot of work. it was a first draft mind you, but it was enough for the idea to keep developing in my head.
Eventually the story took a turn from that original incarnation and it evolved into a more darker story-line as I progressively wrote it.
Aside from the title, we've got Cain, Abel, Caleb, Aegis, all have very Biblical overtones. Was this intentional on your part or simply an added touch?I suppose I was heading in that direction, but the plot eventually veered away on its own tangent. The town's name could have been called anything after that. I called it Eden, as the original name of the town was: Eden Hollow. (Also the name of the original show.)
The biblical names were meant to have a meaning, but in the end, they are just an added touch. Though I might still cop some flack from naming two characters Adam and Eve who have two sons called Cain and Abel!
The names were intentional in the end, but their meanings tend to reflect the personality of each character to some degrees.
AMBER TAMBLYN as 'Elisha Aegis'
Some commentators have suggested Eden is borrowing quite heavily from other shows, Harper's Island in particular. How will this story differ from what we've seen before?I can honestly say I haven't seen
Harper's Island. I wanted to check it out, but never got around to it. As stated before the inspirations for
Eden are
Twin Peaks,
American Gothic, Korean and Japanese Horror movies, the movie
Ink and a few other shows that I can't recall at the moment. On a VS level, the two main inspirations were
The Heretic and
Homeostasis.
I do realise that the show may sound similar to other shows. I tried not to be influenced too much by what they were like. It's hard when you have an idea and you're about to write it and lo and behold someone else has beaten you to the punch! When I saw Joshua Maley's script for a movie he's writing:
The Way of Seeming I thought: "Oh no, it sounds exactly like Eden!" But on reading it, there is a similar vibe but a different way of story-telling.
Eden I suppose will differ a little bit from those shows, as there are elements in the show that will definitely give it its own tone. Originally the show was to be a full-blown series, but in cutting it down to an eight part mini-series, I cut quite a lot of story-arcs out that would have fleshed out the series even more. The end product developed into something else, and what I had planned for the ending of the series has completed changed for what has been planned for the ending of the mini-series. Hopefully it will all work out in the end.
In terms of content, what kind of narrative can we see employed here? What's the style of Eden and how will that translate to the page?It's clear the series centres around Elisha. It's her story and she's trying to understand what happened to her when she was a child. Considering the nature of what happened to her, the atmosphere I try to convey will be creepy and unsettling for her. But she should feel compelled to find the truth.
When writing creepy scenes, one has to ensure that the descriptions are engaging. I like to think that if the scenes were actually filmed, then they would have more impact. I hope my sense of style does translate well in the scripts.
LOGAN MARSHALL-GREEN as 'Abel Magen'
How does it feel, at last, to be premiering your own work on MZP-TV after many years as a much loved staff writer and reviewer?I feel satisfied that I've finally achieved the goal. I've often read posts how hard it is to show-run, and I've even had a go myself. There is so much you need to do and prepare behind the scenes that often the humble reader who isn't staff doesn't seem to realise how much effort actually does go on behind the scenes.
Eden took me the best part of eighteen months to write. From the time I wrote the storyboard for the first part, to the time I finished the finale. I had to deal with real life and sometimes the desire to not even write the series. I knew in my head how the story was going to end up and I often wondered why am I even writing this?
But you could say Elisha herself compelled me to tell her story. The plot of the mini-series would not let go, and there were nights I would just play the scenes in my head over and over. I knew I had to put it down to paper eventually and hope it all played out.
The final product however will be determined by the readers. It may be a hit, it may not be. But all I can say is that I've finally finished a project and I can move onto the next one.
Also writing the mini-series gave me a sense of duty to how I should run a show in the future. Although, I can wholly recommend that writing an eight part mini-series on you own is a big task in its own right! If ever I found myself doing something like this again, I will ensure that it is all written out before I officially pitch it. That way all the hard work has been done. And if I decide against pitching it after all that work? It's at least a learning experience for me to see what really goes on behind the scenes of writing a show.
Now Dino is out there as a mini-showrunner, will you stop here or might we see you become the next Adam Scott and produce new ideas?Ha! ha! I already have two ideas brewing in my head for potential mini-series. I'll see how
Eden fares before I decide on what my next course of action is. But I do want to write more mini-series. Eventually leading to a full series down the track. I still have a few ideas back in the grey matter that won't let go. So who knows?
But right now, I want to take a rest! These past few months have been a long slog but it has been totally worth it. So over the next few months, I'll be going back to reading, and it looks like I have a mountain of shows to read!
Thanks for the interview. Hopefully I've answered enough and I hope that this show is enjoyable to read as I had fun writing it. ^_^
MZP Movies and Mini-Series airing exclusively on MZPtv throughout 2011 and beyond...
