Michael Piller: If you know my work on Star Trek, you know I was committed to executing Gene Roddenberry’s vision. I figured if the Trek franchise had been that successful for so long, he must know something. (Many writers had problems with Gene’s vision of the future.) We’re bringing the same reverence to Stephen King’s vision. Obviously, we have to create our own stories, but they will be influenced heavily by the characters in the book and be in the tradition of King’s work (all of his work, not just the horrific pieces). I don’t think Stephen King will be disappointed if and when he watches. Neither will you.
Lilja: How are you going to keep the show interesting? Not that I doubt you can, but there is also the risk that all episodes will begin to look the same. I suspect that you must have had many discussions on how to avoid this, right?
Michael Piller: In fact, it’s turning out to be quite the opposite—much to the consternation of some people at our network who want to know exactly what the series “is” (i.e. what’s our formula?). I don’t like formulas, and the show is different every week. A murder mystery in week two. A medical mystery in week three. A time travel show (in Johnny’s mind), an alternate reality show, Johnny on trial as a witch, Johnny under the influence of mind-altering drugs…every episode is different, tied together by Johnny Smith’s journey toward his new destiny.
Lilja: Are there different writers, directors and producers for each episode or is it the same throughout the entire season?
Michael Piller: We have a staff of writers, but many of the first season episodes were written by either myself and Shawn or freelancers. Different directors come in each week but Rob Lieberman has stayed with the series and directed the most episodes.
Lilja: Finally, can you give us some insight to what we can expect in the weeks to come? Can you reveal any plotlines?
Michael Piller: Think I’ve answered that one. Thanks for watching!
****
Ridley Pearson
Posted: July 11, 2002
I got an interview with Ridley Pearson, who was recently revealed as the author of The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red. Here he talks about a TV-movie version of the diary and how he came about writing the book.
Lilja: Hi Ridley. Thanks for granting me this interview! Could you tell me a bit about yourself?
Ridley Pearson: I “started out” as a road musician, playing for about ten years, while using my days to write (scripts at first, then novels). After eight and a half years of writing without pay, I got my first novel published, appropriately titled Never Look Back. I’m now working on my twentieth novel, under various names, including Joyce Reardon, used for The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer.
Lilja: Can you reveal what other names you have used?
Ridley Pearson: I’ve published three straight-ahead “mysteries” under Wendell McCall.
Lilja: How did you happen to write the book The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer? Was it your idea or King’s?
Ridley Pearson: My publisher got wind of Rose Red, and Steve and ABC allowed me to read the script, with an eye toward a tie-in. I saw the Diary mentioned throughout the script, and Steve agreed to have me write the Diary. He was swamped at the time, and had little interest in doing it himself. He read the first few chapters, got a huge grin on his face and said, “You’re having fun. Go for it.” And I was off and running.
Lilja: Was it hard to keep it a secret? I’m not sure if you are aware of it, but on the Internet people have been guessing on everyone from King’s wife, Tabitha, to one of his children, Peter Straub, someone unknown, King himself, so on and so on…
Ridley Pearson: I was required by contract to keep it a secret. ABC was extremely clear about that.
Lilja: Were there some hidden clues in the diary that (if read right) would have revealed that you wrote it? Other than that it was written in your style?
Ridley Pearson: Yes. And you’re the first to ask. I planted the name of a character from my Lou Boldt series: Mama Lu, in Lou Boldt becomes Madame Lu in the Diary. In Seattle, no less. I was sure someone would catch this, but they didn’t. And, in The Art of Deception, there is a clue leading back to Ellen’s Diary.
Lilja: Did you ever feel that someone was on the verge of revealing the secret, or did you feel it was safe all this time?
Ridley Pearson: I was very aware that the secret could break any time. I was with Steve, around the band, and he was talking about the project and not mentioning that it was secret, and I thought, “If anyone can spill the beans, it’s certainly Steve’s right to.” But it never leaked anyway. The trickiest job was for Bob Miller, Ellen Archer and those at Hyperion who knew. They rightly would not lie to the interested media, but they had to put them off and try to keep them off the proper scent. No easy task.
Lilja: Was it you or King who decided that it was time to reveal who wrote the diary?
Ridley Pearson: Hyperion, ABC, Steve and I had all wondered when the best time was. After the paperback was released, we all agreed now was the time. Steve and his assistant, Marsha, were extremely generous to break the news on Steve’s Internet site.
Lilja: How much did King decide the plot of the diary? Did you get some guidelines or did he leave it all up to you?
Ridley Pearson: The only guidelines came out of the script itself. Joyce Reardon introduces us to Rose Red and to the lives of Ellen and John, and it was up to me to decide (invent) how they got to where they were by the time Joyce defines various parts of their lives.
Lilja: I must say that you really did get some nice connections to King in the diary. I’m thinking of (among others) the pizza guy in the miniseries (played by King) and the postman saying something like “Pisa for Rimbauers.” Was this something you set out to do intentionally or did it just happen?
Ridley Pearson: I put all sorts of jokes into the book to make Steve chuckle when he read it, and to mislead readers as to who wrote it. The whole idea was to make this look and feel like Ellen wrote it. Steve and I, from the start, liked the “joke” part of this almost more than anything else; that is, that a diary had been found and had inspired Rose Red from the start.
Lilja: You mentioned in a statement that ABC-TV wanted to develop a two-hour movie of the diary. Has this gotten greenlighted? And if so, how far have they come with it? Will you do the script?
Ridley Pearson: We’re working on it now. I’m writing the script. Not yet a greenlight, but we’re very close.
Lilja: Moving on to your other works. I haven’t read any of your books (other than the diary, that is). Which one would you recommend starting with, and why?
Ridley Pearson: I recommend the new book, Art of Deception, because I think it’s my strongest to date. Fans of Steve’s would also like, I think, The Angel Maker and Beyond Recognition and Middle of Nowhere.
Lilja: What’s up next for you? I understand that The Rock Bottom Remainders will do some gigs next year and that you also have a new book, Art of Deception, out on August 6th, which you’re doing a book tour for.
Ridley Pearson: The ’Ders have a West Coast gig lined up for next April. (Check out my website, www.ridleypearson.com, for updates under “appearances.”) Steve may or may not join us on this tour. There is a documentary film being shot (about the band) to tie into the tour.
Lilja: Speaking of The Rock Bottom Remainders, will you guys ever release a new CD, video or book? I know from all the mail I get at my site that there are loads of fans out there that would love it if you did. Many of whom, like myself, don’t live in the U.S.
Ridley Pearson: If we ever released a CD, we’d damage the stereo that played it. There will be that documentary (about our friendships), I believe (hopefully not too much music!). The best bet is to come see us live.
Lilja: Can you tell me more about the documentary? When will it be released?
Ridley Pearson: If she arranges funding, it will be shot by Mary Kemper sometime early next year. I would imagine she would have a cut by Fall of ’03. Ms. Kemper’s first film, Wooster Stre
et, about a fine artist, has just been picked up by PBS.
Lilja: Thanks for talking to me, Ridley. It was a pleasure!
****
Mick Garris
Posted: January 1, 2003
I got an interview with Mick Garris, who is working on the movie version of Riding the Bullet as we speak.
Lilja: Hi Mick. Thanks for agreeing to this interview. I have been trying to get ahold of you for years, so I’m extremely pleased to finally do this interview. Who is Mick Garris? Tell me a bit about yourself and what you have done.
Mick Garris: I’ve always been interested in film and popular culture. In the 70s I was a singer-songwriter in a theatrical progressive rock band. I started writing short fiction at the age of twelve, though I had started drawing at an even earlier age. My father was a trained, professional artist (though never able to make his living at it), and I turned to screenwriting later on. Steven Spielberg was the first to hire me as a writer (on Amazing Stories, the TV show), and I started directing from there.
Lilja: Your version of The Shining will be released on DVD in the U.S. in January. Was it frustrating not being able to release it in the U.S. earlier?
Mick Garris: I tried for years to get the DVD out. I shot a lot of behind-the-scenes digital video, all throughout the production. I’m a big DVD fan, and the Warner Bros. Home Video people just kind of ignored me. But we put together what I hope will be a great disc (though without the behind-the-scenes footage, which was lost). It’s even letterboxed and 16:9 enhanced, with commentary from me and King and lots of the actors and technicians as well. I think it was worth the wait.
Lilja: It seems King really likes your adaptations of his work. Were you a fan of his books before you did Sleepwalkers?
Mick Garris: I’ve been a fan—a huge fan—of King’s since Carrie. I can’t believe I’ve been lucky enough to have directed my two favorite King projects—The Shining and The Stand—from scripts that he wrote himself.
Lilja: How did you get to work with King the first time? Were you contacted by King for Sleepwalkers or did you contact him?
Mick Garris: My agents at CAA, the agency that also handles King, put it together. Actually, I met with Columbia Pictures on Sleepwalkers and had a great meeting. They told me I had the job, but had to do a couple other meetings just because they’d already been set up. Then they hired one of the other directors! However, that fell apart, and they called me back, and the rest, for better or worse, is history.
Lilja: Since then you have done The Stand, The Shining and Quicksilver Highway, which are based on King’s work. This most people know, but what some might not know is that you also did the music video for Michael Jackson’s Ghost. I heard that King was involved in early story discussions. What happened? Why wasn’t King there until the end?
Mick Garris: Michael Jackson’s Ghost was a very complicated affair. King wrote the first couple of drafts of the script, after working out the idea with Michael. Then, when I was asked to direct it, I did some writing on it myself, as King was not available to continue working on it. I directed two weeks of shooting, then the production closed down when the so-called “scandal” broke around Michael. When it was resumed three years later, I was getting ready to shoot The Shining, and not available to finish Ghosts. I suggested that Stan Winston, who had been in charge of the FX and was a friend of Michael’s, should finish directing, and he did.
Lilja: Next you’re doing Riding the Bullet, and then Desperation, right? Tell me a bit about them. Have there been any actors or actresses chosen yet? Will there be future movies or miniseries?
Mick Garris: Riding the Bullet is a feature film, with a limited, independent budget. I wrote the script from King’s ebook, which on its own is only about a third or half a movie. We’re in the casting stages now, but nobody is set in stone yet. We’ll follow that with a three-hour television version of Desperation for the ABC network, who we did The Stand and The Shining for.
Lilja: I know King did a script for Desperation. Is that the one you’ll be using?
Mick Garris: King did three feature drafts; I will put it into the television format, then King will do a final polish. But it will be very faithful to the book.
Lilja: Is it possible that (if all goes well) Riding the Bullet will premier next year, and Desperation the year after that?
Mick Garris: Yes. The hope is that Riding the Bullet will be in theatres in 2003, and Desperation will air in 2004.
Lilja: I looked through the list of your movies and saw that most of them have been made for TV. Why is that? Do you prefer to work with that format instead of the big screen or is it just a coincidence?
Mick Garris: I would never choose television over feature films, but TV was the only way to do The Stand and The Shining. Most of my success has been in television, and that’s where I’m able to do the best material. I am not so established in features, though that’s the format I far prefer for many reasons: budget, censorship, no commercials, etc.
Lilja: If you could pick one of King’s books to adapt, any one, which would it be, and why?
Mick Garris: I’ve already been allowed to do my two very favorites, but I’d love to do Bag of Bones.
Lilja: Your wife Cynthia Garris has appeared in most of your King adaptations. How is it working with her?
Mick Garris: I love working with her. It’s hard to be off on location for a long time (I was away for a full year doing The Stand), and it’s hard to be a set wife, away from home without anything to do but watch. This gives us a good reason to be together. And besides, she’s a good actress, and I love having her around.
Lilja: You have also appeared in several of your films. Have you ever considered taking on a leading part?
Mick Garris: I’m not a good enough, nor handsome enough, actor to inflict myself onto the screens of the world for longer than a few minutes at a time.
****
Michael Collings
Posted: January 16, 2003
I recently spoke to Michael Collings, the author of Horror Plum’d and other books about King. Here is what he said:
Lilja: Hi Michael. First let me thank you for doing this interview. I’m really happy to chat with you. Who is Michael Collings? What do you do for a living besides writing books about Stephen King?
Michael Collings: In “real life” I am a professor of English at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. Actually, I have three titles, each with a slightly different responsibility. As professor of English, I teach British literature, emphasizing the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries; my area of specialization is Milton and the Epic, hence my interest in the epic quality of King’s writings. As Director of Creative Writing, I administer and teach in the CW program; my main interest there is poetry—and again, hence my interest in King’s poetry. And as Poet in Residence at Seaver College for the past six years, I present poetry readings and generally encourage greater interest among my students for poetry. To fill out my time, I design and make wire-wrapped jewelry (I’ve been the featured artist for Wire Artist magazine, an international trade journal; and a number of my pieces have been showcased there), play the organ for my church and write poetry.
Lilja: When I read Horror Plum’d I sensed that it was made for the really die-hard King fan. The one that wants to know everything about King’s work. Was that your intention?
Michael Collings: You are certainly correct in thinking that Horror Plum’d is not just “another book about Stephen King.” But, at the same time, I hope that it has interest for more than just the die-hards. It is also intended for students of King’s works (high-school students looking for material for term papers, college students interested in genre literature and popular culture), for scholars writing about him and for anyone interested in a book that demonstrates how influential to a part of our times and our culture he has become. In the narrowest sense, it is almost a sociological study of the way he exports American society throughout the world; in a wider sense, it suggests how re
markably well received his stories are throughout the world.
Lilja: How did you research for Horror Plum’d? There’s a lot (to say the least) of information in the book, and it must have taken some time to gather it all, right?
Michael Collings: Oh, yes! This book has been nearly fifteen years in the making. It started out as part of the original Starmont series I wrote around 1985-1990. After writing a number of individual volumes (Stephen King as Richard Bachman, The Many Facets, The Shorter Works, etc.), I agreed to do a final volume devoted to bibliography—The Annotated Guide to Stephen King. The title described the book nicely; it was intended more as a guide than a full-fledged bibliography, with entries and brief discussions for all of his published writings. Several years later, Ted Dikty, then publisher of Starmont House, transferred copyright of the guide to Rob Reginald at Borgo Press, who asked me to enlarge it for his series. The Work of Stephen King appeared in 1996, a decade after the original guide. For it, I rearranged all of the initial material into a new format, then brought the data up-to-date, including both works by King and works about him. Already the task had become daunting; the book ended up about five hundred pages long (using very small print). Borgo had designed the format so that the bibliographies could be updated with a minimum of effort, so I had kept current with new information about King, assuming that there would eventually be a revised edition. Instead, Borgo closed its doors, leaving me with a huge stack of new material and nowhere to market it.
About that time, Dave Hinchberger of Overlook Connection arranged for me to complete a bibliography he had begun of the works of Peter Straub. He published Hauntings in 1999. We followed that up with a full, annotated, definitive bibliography of Orson Scott Card, author of the popular Ender’s Game and other novels. Card is one of my favorite writers, and I had been collecting bibliographic data on him for as long as I had been working with King. In 2001, OCP published Storyteller, the international guide to Card’s works.
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