SCIFI AND TV TALK: Birth of a TV Series - An Interview with Continuum's Simon Barry
By Steve Eramo
07/27/2012
When he was nine years old, Simon Barry had visions of one day becoming a fighter pilot, but that dream went by the wayside when he became hooked on films and filmmaking. At the age of 12, the future writer/producer began making super 8mm movies with a friend and from that point on never looked back.
“I knew that I loved films along with the production side of things, but I didn’t start thinking about that as a career until I was in high school,” recalls Barry. “That’s when I really became aware of film schools and university programs, so from there my focus was to somehow get into the business.”
While working his way up the ladder as a camera operator, Barry also found time to write. He penned the story for the feature film The Falling as well as co-wrote the screenplay for The Art of War. This year, he finally got his big break when his Sci-Fi TV concept Continuum was picked up as a series. Currently airing on Canada’s Showcase network, it follows the journey of Kiera Cameron, a Vancouver police officer from 2077 who involuntarily travels back in time to 2012 with a group of death row escapees that are intent on altering the future. For Barry, who also serves as the show runner and an executive producer on Continuum, coming up with the initial idea for the show was a true labor of love.
“I’d sold a lot of ideas for shows and written pilots that were a little out in left field, but I was having no luck in getting them produced,” notes Barry. “Although I was generating income from selling pitches and writing scripts, I really wanted to get a show picked up and made. So I started to kind of temper my desire to do something that was strictly desire with the realization or at least acknowledgement that the business of television required me to perhaps embrace something a little more familiar and try a blend of two solid ideas instead of one that was hanging on a single concept...
Continuum airs Sunday at 9/8C on Showcase in Canada. Cast includes Rachel Nichols, Victor Webster, Erik Knudsen, Lexa Doig, Stephen Lobo, Richard Harmon, Brian Markinson and Stargate Universe's Jennifer Spence.
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