Alphas - Collider: Exclusive Zak Penn Interview

Source: Collider [follow link for complete interview]



ALPHAS - COLLIDER: Exclusive Zak Penn Interview

by Christina Radish
July 6th

The latest original scripted series for SyFy, Alphas is an action-packed thriller from writers Zak Penn (The Avengers, X-Men: The Last Stand) and Michael Karnow, that follows the lives of five ordinary people who become an extraordinary team with the power to stretch the capabilities of the human mind due to brain anomalies that have given them enhanced mental and physical abilities.

Operating within the Defense Criminal Investigation Service of the U.S. Department of Defense, and led by pre-eminent neurologist and psychiatrist Dr. Lee Rosen (David Strathairn), the team – which includes former FBI Agent Bill Harken (Malik Yoba), who can summon strength by activating the fight-or-flight response at will; Rachel Mizrahi (Azita Ghanizada), who can enhance one sense while rendering her remaining senses temporarily useless; Gary Bell (Ryan Cartwright), who has the ability to read a wide range of frequencies including television, radio, and cell phone signals; Nina Theroux (Laura Mennell), who can influence the specific neural pathways in the cerebral cortex that leave the brain vulnerable to suggestion; and Cameron Hicks (Warren Christie), who possesses flawless aim, perfect balance and greatly enhanced motor skills – investigates cases that point to others with Alpha abilities, while keeping their own gifts a secret.

During an exclusive interview with Collider, executive producer Zak Penn talked about how the show developed out of real research about the CIA trying to recruit people who were psychic, the time-intensive schedule of television versus film, how much he’s enjoyed getting to create a mythology from scratch, why it was important for these Alpha abilities to have consequences, and what having Ira Steven Behr as a showrunner has meant to the development of the series...

... Question: How did Alphas come about for you?

ZAK PENN: "Michael Karnow, who co-created the show with me and wrote the pilot with me, is a good friend of mine. He’s acted in the movies I’ve directed. And, he came to me with all this research about the CIA trying to recruit people who were psychic. The Men Who Stare At Goats is a version of it, that’s based on a true story. He talked about, “Wouldn’t it be interesting if some of those programs had actually worked out? What if they had figured out that people could actually do these things and learned how to use it?” I said, “Hey, that’s kind of a cool idea, actually.” And that very quickly evolved into the idea that became Alphas. It was originally titled Section 8, and we lost the rights to that title because there’s a video game with it, but that’s how it started. We started working on it and we sold it once to ABC, but then the writers’ strike came, and then we sold it again to SyFy. It all began with Michael’s idea..."

Alphas premieres on Syfy on Monday, July 11, 2011 at 10/9C.