Now that the writer’s strike is over and all the scribes are busy pounding out scripts on their keyboards, Eureka producer and writer Jaime Paglia returned to sit down with our reporter Linda Craddock for his promised second interview. You can also read Linda’s December 2007 interview with Jaime.
Enjoy this new post-strike talk with Jaime Paglia as he shares some “Eureka” news.
Linda Craddock (SoSF): I appreciate you taking the time as always.
Jamie Paglia (JP): No problem.
SoSF: So tell us about the process of arriving at a resolution to the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike and some of the events that lead up to a long and difficult process for everyone involved.
JP: Well, I think the obvious key to the agreement was that the guild remained unified and we were not going to fracture [before] the producers and the things we were asking for were reasonable and fair. We didn’t get everything we wanted but as far as negotiations, both sides are going to end up a little unhappy. There has to be a compromise reached and there are certainly, looking forward that we want to try and get in three years but the main issues such as jurisdiction over new media, separated rights and residuals based on a percentage formula based on a distributors gross. Those were some of the key issues and the fact that we now have those things in place, the precedence has been set for the future and that was the main thing to ensure protecting potential participation and profits in the new media for future writers so I think that everyone felt that that was a big victory.
SoSF: Will the impact the strike had on the industry as a whole influence the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) with the upcoming actor’s guild contract negotiations?
JP: I don’t see how it couldn’t, especially considering how much of a team effort this was between the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the writers guild. We owe the Screen Actors Guild a huge debt for their support in this and there’s no way we would have managed to secure some of the things that we did, and these were issues from way back in October when we were coming up to the expiration date of our basic agreement that the AMPTP said were non-starting issues and they wouldn’t even discuss most of the things (terms) that we ended up getting in some small or in some large part. SAG joining with us, standing by us and marching with us, refusing to cross our picket line, shutting down the Golden Globes, I think sends a very clear message that this was not something they could ignore and the screen actors can count on the writers guild for our support should they end up not getting what it is they are asking for. So I think the precedence has been set and they are going to have to be reasonable from the beginning of negotiations or face another potential shutdown.
SoSF: And they would probably want to start negotiations early.
JP: I would hope so. I think it only makes sense. If you see a deadline coming up, there’s no point in waiting until the last minute. [We] might as well get through the process as quickly as we can so that hopefully an agreement can be reached without any kind of interruption.
SoSF: So you guys are pretty much satisfied with, obviously, the outcome.
JP: I think that clearly the overwhelming majority of the membership was in support of ratifying this agreement but, again, there are things that we don’t have jurisdiction over yet that we want. We should have coverage in animation, in reality. We should have the same basic rules that apply to network primetime that we’ve been talking about in terms of residuals, formulas as such. Those don’t apply yet to basic cable and for me and my staff, while other writers that work on shows that are on basic cable, clearly that we are hoping will be achieved in future negotiations, but given where we were and what we were asking for, yes, you could say the majority, as in the case with the vote of our membership, was in support of this agreement.
SoSF: Great and congratulations on your accomplishment. You’ve resumed working on Eureka I gather?
JP: We have. We’re back in the writers’ room now for a few weeks and its fast and furious trying to get up and running. We’re doing 21 episodes this time and they probably won’t all air together. They will probably split the season like they do for ‘Battlestar Galactica’ but we will be doing 21 episodes and I have been beating my head against the wall on my season premiere trying to get it exactly right and we’ve got the first 6 or 7 episodes sort of mapped out and we’re breaking all those stories as quickly as we can so we’re off to the races.
SoSF: Have you started filming?
JP: We start filming, I think in the latter half of May is our start date for production.
SoSF: So based on season 2 finale, will Joe Morton’s character Henry return for the new season?
JP: Well, we certainly have to resolve what’s going to happen to Henry so that’s going to be the big question. We left a few things sort of up in the air, and the end of last season one would be is Allison going to accept ‘Starks’ proposal or turn him down, but the main story is Henry going to prison. Those are two things that will definitely be addressed in the season premiere. A bigger issue is Carter ever going to find a future with Allison or has that already been lost. It’s definitely going to be an interesting season. I think season 2 ventured a little more into the dark side. One of the things I want to make a concerted effort to do is find a little more of the light again in our show, not that we won’t have real drama, and real emotion, but we want to see our characters finding their friendships again. Part of this season, especially in the first episode is are Henry and Carter going to resolve what’s happened between them and is Allison going to end up more of a confidant and a friend or a potential love interest for Carter after having been driven apart by her agenda last season with Kevin and the artifacts and Nathan or, a potential wedding in the works for her and Stark so those are some of the big issues we are definitely going to be exploring.
SoSF: How far into the season, if you know at this point, can we expect an answer to Beverly’s disappearance?
JP: That will be clarified very soon, yes.
SoSF: Is there any particular character on the radar that you want to make any adjustments to, bring out more, etc?
JP: I think they all have really grown and that’s a testament to our actors as well as our writers. They’ve brought some great dimension to their characters and it gives us just that many more tools with which to play with. We’ve got a lot of talent at our disposal. We can definitely do an episode that focuses on Jo Lupo or Zoe or even Vincent in the café. These are people that I now have an attachment to and want to know more about them and we’ve got these people coming back this season. Zane is coming back, Jo’s love interest, and lots more Fargo as well and we’re going to be introducing a new character that is going to stir things up right off the bat.
SoSF: I was going to ask you about new characters this season.
JP: Yes and it’s going to be a lot of fun. There’s going to be a new character coming to town and who or what she or he is here for will have to remain a surprise.
SoSF: As the creator, what inspired you to come up with such a unique concept of some of the great minds of the country gathered in the small town of Eureka for sci-fi television?
JP: Well I have to point out co-creator. I co-created the show with my buddy Andy Cosby. I think the original conception of the show was born from our two sort of very unique and complementary skill sets and backgrounds. I had grown up in the Pacific Northwest, lived in a very small town in Warrenton, Oregon, population 2200 so I’ve always been attracted to stories that centered in those small towns where people know each other and the way of living is just unique. Andy was more the big concept sci-fi geek, card carrying member, and proud of it.
We sat down for lunch one day and were kicking around a story idea and I said if we’re going to do a television series, what would we do as he and I had been doing feature films together so we starting dredging up old concepts and one that Andy had that was supposed to be a half-hour animated idea that was basically about a Homer Simpson kind of dad who has a Lisa Simpson daughter who tests so high the government comes in and says we have a place for people like her to live and we want to move you there and Homer trying to figure out how to live with all these geniuses in this special government town. I thought that was a really interesting concept so I thought what if we grounded it into reality and don’t make it a half-hour but an hour long drama, more of a dramedy, I guess. We sat down and it happened over one lunch one day and by the end of it we’d come up with [a] U.S. Marshall driving through the Pacific Northwest, has a car accident, discovers this strange little town and something’s gone wrong here and he ends up getting pulled into the investigation because that’s his nature and by the end of it he’s helped save the town from a disaster and has been let in on this secret and gets assigned to be the town sheriff. That was pretty much the genesis of the show.
SoSF: I ask people based on the current project and I’ll ask you, how would you qualify the success of Eureka to date?
JP: Well, I’m certainly thrilled that we’re coming back for a season 3 with more episodes in the order. I think we’ve been very fortunate and the sci-fi audience and viewers have embraced us from our premiere. We broke records for the highest rated premiere in the channel’s history for an original program and we’ve managed to maintain our #1 ratings for two seasons now and I’m very grateful for it and I certainly don’t take it for granted and I think it just makes us work harder to do better and we are also aware that audiences can decide that they don’t like your show anymore (laughter) so hopefully as long as we’re making a show that we like and makes us want to keep coming back, we hope that the audience will [continue] respond to it as well. I feel very fortunate that we’ve been as embraced as we have.
SoSF: Well, I know you’ve just returned to the writers table to get season 3 started with the start of filming pending. Do you have any other projects that peak your interest beyond the show?
JP: Well, some of the things I’ve been working on with my original writing partner, my wife Kristen… she is a very fine writer, more creative than I am, I’ll say and there’s a new show that we’ve been developing that we’re hoping we can go get set up sometime soon [and a] feature film script I’m still trying to finish. Part of the problem with the strike was people were working on individual projects on a spec bases, which is one of the things that tends to happen during strikes and you walk the picket line but you can’t work on things you’re getting paid for but they work on spec material. I probably should have done more of that. I didn’t finish anything. Probably would have been a smart move (laughter) and I’m lucky our show wasn’t canceled, but we’re going to have a full year of work ahead of us on ‘Eureka’ so my attention is definitely focused on that.
SoSF: Absolutely, Jamie thank you again for taking the time for the interview, I really appreciate talking to you again.
JP: I appreciate your interest, thanks again.