Interview Bryan Burke [IGN]

Interview: Bryan Burk
The Lost producer proffers a few of the show's secrets.
by Todd Gilchrist
August 28, 2006 - As one of the executive producers of the hit ABC show Lost, Bryan Burk is one of the very few people who know what secrets lie unearthed on the mysterious island where the cast is stranded. But more recently, Burk spent time on a slightly more recognizable one - specifically, Oahu, where the show is filmed - in the service of answering questions about the forthcoming Lost Season Two DVD set.



In addition to talking about what was the chief focus of the show during Season Two, Burk addressed concerns and questions about audience response, the show's flashback-laden structure, and what is possibly in store for Season Three.


Producer Bryan Burk (l) with actor Terry O'Quinn.



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IGN DVD: Now that you've completed two seasons, how would you differentiate your experience working on Season Two from Season One?

Bryan Burk: How would I differentiate Season Two from Season One? Oh, completely different for me. That's what was so exciting was we try to reinvent the show every year, and the idea that Season One was really about these people trying to figure out how they were going to survive and where the hell were they and what the hell was going on - kind of really the first chapter, so to speak, when you crash on a desert island where there's weird things going on. Season Two really started to open up the door and you realize that there have been people here before you and in fact one of the people is still there, with Desmond. There's really a whole world that was going on on the island before long before you crash, and I think we definitely answered that world and answered what was going on in the swan hatch. We really told a lot of that story - so much so that people talk about whether or not we're dispensing information too slowly or too quickly. We just think, well this is definitely at the right pace, because when you look at how much further along on the show now than you were a year ago when our conversation would be 'what's in the hatch'? if I told you it was a guy pressing a button every 108 minutes you'd be like, 'what'? And suddenly it all makes much more sense a full season later. Hopefully we'll reinvent ourselves again because it's going to be much more about the Others - all you need to know about the Others, which will shed a lot more information as to what the hell's going on in the world of Lost.

There's never going to be an episode where all of your answers come, like 'here it is'! but what will happen is by the time the show has run its full journey you will know everything you need to know about the show and you'll be enlightened in a completely different way. As you watch the show, your perception of watching the show changes. Like as you go into Season One, obviously you don't know about the Dharma Initiative or any of that stuff. Going into Season Two, you also didn't know about it, but now it's a whole different thing. So now you go into Three, your whole perception of what's going on is a different thing, so you as an audience will completely change in your viewership so to speak. So the information you're getting is on a completely different level from where it was two years ago.

IGN: So do you plan to continue using the same structure or formula for the show or is there a point you might like to get to where audiences are informed enough about the characters' back stories that you no longer need the flashbacks to fill out the episodes?

Burk: No, I think we have so many stories that we haven't told yet as part of the thing, the bigger picture. When we've run out of stories the show's over, so the flashbacks are definitely part of the show. The island story is one element of it, but I think everyone's flashbacks and everything really tell the story not only of who these people are, but who they were and particularly I think a lot of it ties into what the hell is going on too.

IGN: What are some of the things that you learned during Season Two in terms of viewer response, or maybe just things you realized didn't work as well as you anticipated, that you will be applying to Season Three?

Burk: Hm, that's an interesting question. Well, the big thing we learned was that people hate reruns almost as much as we do, so thank God that ABC really has helped us out and helped the show in a way that I'd never heard of them doing which is so great for us, which is that they heard people's complaints and they've set up the show in two different parts. So we're showing the six episodes followed by a break where they will introduce a new show, and then we're going to come back with our 17 and go straight through. So just the idea that a show that has so much forward momentum and drive as ours, to break it up with repeats obviously does not behoove anyone. So I think in this case we're really taking advantage of the fact that we're going to have a pod of six episodes followed by a pod of 17 episodes, or the rest of the season. That was our biggest thing and stumbling block.

IGN: How much viewer input do you listen and/or respond to? For example, it worked out either by accident or design that the less likable characters on the show didn't survive the season.

Burk: You know I don't know. It's kind of - it's the magic of television, which is if we do our jobs right, whether or not you like or hate somebody is all contingent on the character you're creating. I remember when we started Lost we would look at test scores, whatever that means, and read about things and Shannon, the Maggie Grace character drove people crazy- this kind of rich obnoxious girl. But a year later when we killed her people were horrified and that's kind of the greatness of television, where you can start with characters that people definitely want off the air and are like 'I hope they kill her', and then eventually you get the replies - and we actually do - where people are horrified. And we say, 'wait a minute! You hated that girl'.

The truth of the matter is the idea of Ana Lucia's character not making it to the end of the season was something we knew from the beginning, so that was kind of a journey that you go on. But ultimately we're very aware of all of our audiences and how they feel about it and everything, and that only fuels us in a way that is necessary. We really look at it more of whether or not what we're doing is landing properly, and if people are liking a character that is not supposed to be liked or they're not liking a character that's supposed to be liked, or if [developments] are landing properly, that's really how we kind of look at the audience response.

IGN: Building on that, are we going to find out more about Libby, or is her story over?

Burk: It's Lost. Nothing's ever over.


Source : IGN