Pictured: Joseph Fiennes, star of ABC’s FlashForward and author Robert J. Sawyer.
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Author Robert J. Saywer has provided SciFiChick.com with an exclusive interview! Below, Sawyer discusses his reaction to ABC’s version of his novel FlashForward and some of his more recent work.
How involved have you been in the television version of FlashForward?
My contractual position is “consultant.” What that involves varies form day to day, and, frankly, from episode to episode. Today, for example I spent 35 minutes on the phone with David S. Goyer, who is the executive producer of the TV series, and wrote three little memos to him. Other days, I go over script pages, and on still other days I do nothing at all. I’m there to help whenever they need me, but David, Marc Guggenheim, Jessika Goyer, and the rest of the team putting the show together, are, of course, very capable and creative.
I read that you’re on board to write for the show. How was the experience writing an episode?
I haven’t done it yet. I’m writing what’s called episode 117 – first season, 17th episode. I’ll head down to Los Angeles at the beginning of November, so that I can join the staff writers in beating out the episode. FlashForward is a serial – it flows from one episode into the next – so I can’t do mine in isolation. I feel quite privileged, though; I’m the only freelancer getting to write for the show this season; all the other episodes are being written by the staff.
What was your reaction to the new characters in FlashForward?
I think they’re terrific! Remember, the story in my novel is a global event. You could start telling it anywhere: Geneva, as I did in the book, or Beijing, or Nairobi, or Winnipeg – anywhere at all. They decided for practical reasons on L.A. – that’s where they’re filming, after all. Of course, the characters take elements from people in my novel: Olivia and Mark Benford are facing the romantic crisis of Lloyd Simcoe and Michiko Komura from my book; Demetri Noh’s quest to prevent his own murder is the same as Theo Procopides’ quest in my book; and so on. But the new characters are terrific; my own personal favourites of the new ones are Demetri and Dr. Bryce Varley.
What did you think about the decision to change the FlashForward from a 21 year jump to 6 months?
