THE EVENT is Coming! 9-20-2010

And there you have it, everyone. Told you something big was coming. What does the arrival of this new planet mean for Sophia's people and for mankind? Will Martinez discover that his wife is non-terrestrial and that is son is a hybrid? What is the meaning of the scroll and how does it relate to Dempsey and to Sean? (For some clues on that, check out Dempsey's Office) Will Sean find a way to save Leila and his unborn child from a slow and painful death? What will happen to Sophia and to Jarvis?

Hi, fellow Eventers! Well here it is, the finale of The Event. Will President Martinez be able to get his job back before Sophia releases the genetically enhanced flu virus meant to wipe out a large chunk of mankind? Is Sophia herself ready to really pull the trigger and commit genocide? What I can promise you is a edge of your seat action packed episode that will finally reveal what The Event is. And you don't want to miss the last few minutes because something really big happens. Please check my blog again after the episode for some additional info, and make sure you go to the "Dempsey's Office" area of our site. Something will be waiting for you there after the episode airs.

So make sure you tune in Monday 9/8c on NBC for the season 1 finale of The Event.

As a treat, here are a few behind the scenes photos from the past few episodes...

Hope everyone had a great weekend. And happy Spring! It's been pouring rain here in L.A. for the past three days. And I'm talking about a real storm. Can you believe that exactly a year ago, we were shooting the pilot for The Event. So much has happened in a year! But anyway, let's focus on today -- and tonight! Episode 14 is called "A Message Back" and said message is going to change everything for Sophia and her people. Meanwhile, Sean forces Vicky to join him in his quest to stop Dempsey (Hal Holbrook). But first, they'll have to find the mysterious old man. And the only person who might be able to point them in the right direction is Vice President Jarvis.

And today, I also have a little bonus for you guys. Music is an important part of our show. It helps enhance and set up the mood, and definitely contributes to the cinematic feel that we strive for. So I asked our composer Scott Starrett to tell us a little bit about what he does and what exactly goes into being a composer on a show like ours.

Tonight is a very important night for everyone here at The Event.  The second half of our season kicks off this evening and we want everyone to tune in!  Seriously, I mean it:  Tell your friends to tell their friends and their friends' friends!  Even if they didn't watch before, now is the perfect time to get on board (we even have a mini-recap at the top of the episode).  We're so excited to be back, and we're all very proud of tonight's two new episodes (111 - "And Then There Were More" and 112 - "Inostranka"), both directed by our EP/Director Jeffrey Reiner.

Just a few more days to go! Whether you're new to the show, missed an episode, or just want to brush up on your "Event" trivia, our official website is the place to go! All ten episodes from the first half of the season are available for free at nbc.com/theevent, along with character profiles, a show timeline, behind the scenes, games and much much more!

Spread the word, tell your friends, and tune in to a two-hour Event this Monday at a special time 8/7c on NBC.

As promised, here are more behind the scenes photos from episodes 111 (And Then There Were More) and 112 (Inostranka)...

It's been a while since my last post, but although we haven't been on the air for a while, production has kept us busy these past few weeks. We are currently filming episode 118 and writing episode 119. And yes! We are just one week away from our return. Everyone here is very excited about the second half of our season, which kicks off Monday March 7th with a double serving of The Event, a two hour episode at a special time, 8/7c on NBC. We then return to our regular time the following week, Monday March 14th, 9/8c.

These two episodes (111 - "And then there were more" and 112 - "Inostranka") set up the stakes for the rest of the season. And as you guessed from the title, yes, we are going back to the prison that was Sophia's home for 66 years -- the secret government prison at Mount Inostranka, Alaska, where Blake Sterling is going to find himself in a very explosive situation.

... we will return!  I know it's been a while since my last post, but it's because we've been really busy here at The Event.  But we're finally getting a break for the holidays.    

What a year 2010 has been! Personally, I was lucky enough to get a pilot made and picked up to series -- and then to have everyone at NBC believe in it so much. Then to have it become a hit show with such a fantastic and devoted fan base. I can't tell you how amazing it's been.  And yes, surreal -- the word I I've been overusing and will actually use to qualify 2010.  Thanks again to everyone at NBC, to our incredibly talented cast and crew, and especially to you, the fans. Thank you for your devotion! We do this for you. Over 200 people put countless hours of hard work this past year, working day in and day out to produce this show for you and to keep you entertained.

As you know, The Event is taking a break off the air for the next few weeks (we are scheduled to return on Monday February 28th with an eventful night and two episodes back to back before returning to our normal schedule), but we are already deep into production on the second half of our season. Episodes 111 and 112 are in the can, 113 and 114 are being written, and 115 is being broken. And we have some really cool thing in store for you, if I can say so myself.

But we understand that Feb. 28th feels like a long time from now, and we don't want you to go through "Event withdrawal."  So first, a few exciting announcements about the show. First, casting! Virginia Madsen will be joining us a Senator Catherine Lewis who might get into Martinez's way in an unexpected way. Also, Roger Bart joins the Martinez White House as chief of staff Richard Peel.  

Being an elected official is decidedly not a safe job. It appears Dempsey orchestrated the attack on Coral Gables to eliminate the president -- and did so with the help of Vice President Jarvis, who turned into Dempsey's puppet the moment he accepted his help to get elected. Talk about a deal with the devil (and no, I don't mean that literally, so no need to start a new chat room topic.)  Vicky is now on the lamb after refusing to execute Dempsey's orders. She wants out and knows the only way to achieve that is by eliminating a man who appears untouchable. Leila and Sean are following the trail of clues that will hopefully lead them to Samantha (don't miss episodes 9 and 10). Will Jarvis survive and if he does, how will he explain his actions to Martinez. And what exactly is Dempsey up to??? All that and more coming up in Episode 109 next Monday!

As promised, a few more behind the scenes photos...

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope you all had a fantastic weekend. Are you ready for another episode of The Event?  Tonight is Episode 108 - "For The Good Of Our Country" and it will take us back to that fateful day in Coral Gables. What exactly happened? And who wanted the President dead? Our characters' fates are on a colliding course and getting closer and closer to a major collision. I can't tell you too much about what's going on tonight. The episode does get deeper into one of our characters' past. Sean is about to find himself in a life or death situation and Leila will have to push herself to the edge  if she wants to save him. Come back tomorrow for a debrief and plenty of behind the scenes photos that I can't show you now without giving away the plot.

Well, I hope we managed to creep you out at least a little bit with the ending of last night's episode. The seemingly disparate story lines and our characters' fates are slowly but surely heading into a collision course, as Martinez gets closer to the truth behind the attempt on his life. How will the mysterious list bring Sean and Leila closer to finding Samantha? Will Thomas align himself with his mother Sophia now that she is back in power? Tune in next week for an explosive Episode 108 - "For the Good of Our Country" - and find out who was behind the assassination attempt on Martinez. Time to get back to writing the show (currently writing 111) but check out our interactive timeline, behind the scenes photos, our weekly episode debrief "Deconstructing The Event", and much much more at nbc.com/the-event.

The wait is over! After taking a break last week, we are back tonight with our 7th episode - entitled "I Know Who You Are." This time we'll discover a little more about Blake Sterling's past and some of the events that have made him the man he is today. Sean and Leila are still on the run, trying to figure out what might have happened to Leila's sister Samantha. Hal Holbrook is back (not just his voice this time!) and Paula Malcomson returns as Madeline. And don't miss the chilling ending! As always, keep checking out our official site nbc.com/the-event for tons of info and goodies, and truthseeker5314.com may have uncovered more clues as to what happened...Meanwhile, we just wrapped production on our 10th episode and we are hard at work on the scripts for 111 and 112.

A few behind the scenes shots from the 107 shoot...

Hey everyone!  I hope you all had a great weekend.  Everyone here at The Event has been working hard on prepping Episode 110 which starts shooting today.  It's a pivotal episode and I can't tell you much about it yet, but writing it has been a blast.

Last week we were excited to add Necar Zadegan to our cast.  You may remember her from the last season of 24.  She's a fantastic actress and we feel very lucky to have her join the cast as Isabel, a character who will make her first appearance in Episode 109.

But let's talk about tonight: Episode 106 entitled "Loyalty."  In this episode you'll get to know more about Simon - whose identity as a mole is about to be exposed. Tonight he will find himself at a crossroads while helping Thomas and Sophia stay one step ahead of Sterling's men and avoid capture. But Thomas never planned on getting caught - with or without Simon's help - and his escape plan will culminate in a shocking climax. You don't want to miss the ending!  Please tune in tonight at 9/8c on NBC. Below are a few behind the scenes photos to whet your appetite...

I hope you enjoyed last night's episode featuring Hal Holbrook's first appearance - via phone.  Sean and Agent Collier are so close to Leila - and heading right into a trap. And the passengers are not out of the woods yet: they've become pawns in the hands of the mysterious Thomas.  They're part of his plan - and trust me, you don't want to be them! But that's all for next week (which will feature a deeper look into Vicky's past). In the meantime, check out our debrief of Episode 4 - "Deconstructing The Event" - and more new content on our official site at nbc.com/the-event.

If you'd like to glean a few extra clues about the conspiracy, be sure to follow our characters on Twitter, including the mysterious blogger TruthSeeker5314. TruthSeeker has been posting some exclusive info at www.truthseeker5314.com.

Time for me to go back to writing the actual show. It's been quite busy for everyone as we are currently juggling several episodes in various stages of production - breaking Episode 10, writing Episode 9, shooting Episode 8 and editing 7, 6 and 5. In the coming weeks, we'll give you more exclusive insight into the production process - from breaking an episode to producing special effects, editing, adding music, stunt work. Stay tuned!

That's the title of our 4th episode, airing tonight. Sean is still on the run and searching for Leila, now with the help of Agent Collier who wants to avenge the death of her friends and colleagues.  Together they will start uncover a major clue that could give them the advantage. Our characters all appear to be on different paths - but they will soon begin to intersect as more pieces of the puzzle are revealed. Check out episode 4 tonight at 9/8c on NBC - don't miss Hal Holbrook's first appearance! - and come back tomorrow for more post-episode info.

I also want to welcome our new in-house digital contributors: Brian Beal and Adam DaSilva have been part of our assistant team since the beginning, and starting this week, they will bring us their invaluable and exclusive insight into the Making of The Event. They introduce themselves here. They have some awesome ideas and I'm really excited to have them on the team.  

And while we're talking about digital content, I also want to once again thank everyone at NBC.com. There's a very creative and talented team working hard every week to turn our online ideas into reality - sometimes at the last minute. In the middle of the night. So, a million thanks!

Tune in tonight and see you back on here tomorrow!

We're far from being done with Michael Buchanan and the passengers. No, they're not vampires, they're not zombies -- and they're not werewolves. But they are back. The question is why?  And what else do we have in store for them? The answer is in Episodes 104 and 105.

Don't miss Episode 3!

Things have been quite busy here at The Event. As we move deeper and deeper into our production schedule, we find ourselves having to juggle more balls - writing Episode 9, shooting Episode 8, editing Episodes 6 and 7, locking 4 and 5. So if you've been wondering where I've been - now you know.

Several hundred people work almost around the clock to bring you The Event, and the greatest reward is knowing the fans are enjoying it. So please tune in tonight for our third episode - "Protect Them From The Truth." Because sometimes, it's better not to know.

This is another action-packed episode with an explosive start and a chilling ending - and plenty of answers (and yes, new questions) in between. I will leave you with a few behind the scenes photos (more to come tomorrow) as I get back to writing our 9th episode. Hope you enjoy tonight's episode!

Find out more on how we created the 1944 post-crash footage here. Here are a few desert photos to whet your appetite...

Making every episode of The Event takes the concerted effort of over 300 writers, cast, and crewmembers week in and week out. We've broken down a scene from Episode 102, "To Keep Us Safe," to give a detailed look at the effort that went into the 1944 crash site.

For each hour-long episode of our show, we have a seven day pre-production period. In those seven days, the final draft of the script is broken down and creative decisions are made. Those decisions range anywhere from location choice, to casting, to which car a character will drive.

With the crash site sequence, director Jeffrey Reiner started by working with a storyboard artist on a conceptual drawing.  This helped the Locations, Art, Costumes, Special Effects, Visual Effects, and Camera Departments get a clear idea of the director's vision.  By looking at the drawings, our producers were able to determine the size and scope of the scene.  They could then begin to prep for the day of shooting.

Check out our behind-the-scenes gallery to find out more...

We still haven't told you everything...

...but at least we just answered some major questions in Episode 2 (WARNING: Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen it). Now you know what happened to the plane - or at least where it went. And you know who the Inostranka detainees are. Yes, one of the theories floating out there all summer was that the detainees were people from another planet, and that that was the Event. Trust me, the fact that Sophia and the detainees are from another world is only a piece of the puzzle - it's part of the canvas on which we'll be telling our stories.  

But the revelation that they're not from here is definitely NOT the Event.

You'll definitely find out what the Event is sooner than later, and you will get to experience life before, during, and after it with our characters. And we hope to make the whole adventure a fun and exciting ride for all of you.

Quite eventful however, was how our crew managed to transform a location in Santa Clarita, California, into the snowy Alaskan mountains where Sophia and her people made their fiery arrival.  (Special thanks to Brian Beals, Angel Desai and everyone on our cast and crew who contributed to these photos):



- Nick

I hope you enjoyed our first episode.  (If you missed, there's still time to catch a rerun or watch it online).  Just thought I would post more behind the scenes photos. Special thanks to all the assistants who are contributing content to our website. Many of the photos below were taken by Brian Beals (assistant to Jeffrey Reiner).

Gotta get back to writing episode 108, but keep checking back for more entries, photos and online games.

Well, today's the day! I can't believe it's actually happening. Over four years after writing the original version of The Event, the series is finally launching tonight. I'm both incredibly excited and nervous. NBC put together such an amazing marketing campaign, it's turned this little show of mine into a major...well, Event (it's hard to avoid the pun even when you try). It really does take a village to make a television show and I want to once again thank our incredibly talented cast and crew. Executive Producer Steve Stark and I will be answering questions on Twitter after our first episode tonight (10pm ET). Below is some conceptual artwork we created for the Inostranka facility for your enjoyment. Don't forget we also have discussion boards on our website -- a great place to ask questions and interact with other fans. And I hear a conspiracy blogger will be posting clues on their website after the pilot at www.truthseeker5314.com.  

Thanks for all your support.  We've done our best - now it's all in your hands!

As I've mentioned many times, I was a big 24 fan and couldn't wait for my weekly installment of Jack Bauer. And having been a fan of Evan Katz, I couldn't believe it when he agreed to come on board last May to be our showrunner.

Hiring a director for a pilot can be quite tricky. You have to find someone who gets your show, someone everyone agrees on, and try to get them on board before another pilot hires them away. I'd been a fan of director Jeff Reiner for a long time. I wanted The Event to have a grounded, realistic feel, and I really wanted our characters to pop, to be 3 dimensional. I love what Jeff did with Friday Night Lights, Trauma, and after watching the behind the scenes DVD extras of the Caprica pilot, I really believed he would be able to bring my vision to life. We talked about the project and right from the start, we were on the same page. He's definitely a force to be reckoned with and you know when he's on set. He knows what he wants and how to make it happen, how to make a script better as he translates it into a movie. But he's always respectful of the material. He definitely brought the story to a whole new level, and working with him has made me a better writer. Jeff is going to direct several episodes this season and is also one of our executive producers. I feel pretty lucky right now!

I'll occasionally introduce you to the fantastic people who are involved with The Event. Steve Stark has been involved with the project since I first came up with the idea and wrote the original script over four years ago, and he's now one of our Executive Producers. Steve is the one who introduced the show to NBC last fall. We worked on another version of The Event four seasons ago, but the project ended up not selling at the time. Steve and I really enjoyed working together and kept looking for opportunities to work together again. We even discussed making a film version, which never materialized. Last October, both he and I came up with the idea of giving The Event another shot. When he asked me if he could pass the script on to NBC, I said "of course!" And the rest is history.

In addition to our story editor Leyani Diaz, I would like to thank all of our assistants who worked hard to help us meet our deadline: Jeff Miller, Adam DaSilva, Nathan Taylor, Brian Beal, Amanda Sidwell, Corinne Shor, Deirdre Mangan, Joy Collins and Benji Smith.

Today John Badham is continuing to shoot episode 104, while we're writing the second draft of episode 105 and breaking the story for 106. Definitely a full plate.

As a treat, here are a few candid shots taken while filming our next two episodes.

I've promised everyone I would keep posting here on a regular basis, as well as on Twitter. Sometimes there's just not enough time in a day.  Or a week.  But I will do my best to find time and keep posting.  Which means I will probably end up often posting in the middle of the night or when part of my brain has already checked out.  So in advance, please forgive any typos, nonsensical sentences, and the occasional unfinished post that ends with jlkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk when I fall asleep on my keyboard.  Also, this will be a place for me to share my production journal and to give you the latest news about The Event, let you peek behind the scenes, and give you an insight into my personal experience as the creator of The Event. My ideas expressed on here do not necessarily reflects the ideas of NBC or anyone else associated with the show.

And while we're here, I wanted to share a few candid behind the scenes photos taken in Los Angeles and Hawaii during the pilot shoot last April.

- Nick

I know I'm a little late writing the second half of this post, but it's been a little busy lately as we started filming a couple of weeks ago, and have had several press events to attend.

Anyway, here are a few memories and photos from Comic-Con... 

Hey everyone!  So Comic-Con 2010 has come and gone. We premiered the pilot to a packed room. As soon as I finished my intro, I snuck in the back with some of the cast to enjoy the show with the audience.  I have to admit I was a little (a lot) nervous as the show started playing. But everyone in the room seemed to have a great time and really enjoyed it. Somehow our screening started late, which meant we had to cut our Q&A short. As in, very very short. Our moderator, E!'s Kristin Dos Santos (who, by the way, rules!), did her best to introduce everyone as quickly as possible after the screening but we still found ourselves kicked out after a mere 10 minutes. Don't worry, though. There will be many more opportunities for the press to ask us questions in the coming weeks, and Leyani and myself will do our best to answer your questions online.

To my fellow geeks and Comic-Conners of all kinds: Welcome!

I can't tell you what a thrill it is to finally be able to make it to Comic-Con this year, and to be there to actually introduce my own show. I am still waiting for someone to pinch me.

In addition to giving you a chance to see the world premiere of The Event, we all wanted to treat you with a few other cool things, including early access to our website before its official launch. This website will be your VIP pass to The Event. We'll have games, contests, cool features and downloads, discussion boards, and of course, we will also take you behind the scenes to meet the cast and crew.