Tales from the Looparrives on Amazon on April 3rd.
What about learning fromLegionfrom a story telling perspective?
This is the only descriptor coming to mind right now, but both shows are kind of trippy.
Did you learn anything fromLegionin that sense?
HALPERN: They’re quite different.
I was trying to tell, withLoop, kind of simpler stories, really strip things down.
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There are what you might call surreal or trippy elements to it.
That’s just kind of the nature of how my mind works.
You said you veer towards surreal or trippy stories.
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When did you first realize that interested you?
HALPERN: No, not necessarily because my case is all over the map.
And it gives you the liberty to explore that.
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So I don’t have any advice for anyone adapting a role playing game.
So I think that that’s the advantage of adapting something that’s visual.
HALPERN: Oh, that’d be funny at this point.
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What about infusing your storytelling with a participatory quality?
Was that on your mind while writing?
And you just said it very nicely, that question of like, What would I do?
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Did you find any particular character perspective the most challenging to write?
HALPERN: Interesting question.
No, not really.
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Nothing leaps out at me.
So yeah, no particular character pops out at me.
I think writing children, perhaps, is just policing yourself.
I tried to remember as much as [I could about myself] being a kid.
There’s an idealization of those years that I just think rings false.
And trying to stay true to that.
Is that a fair assessment, or would you urge them to consider another style or format instead?
HALPER: Well, whatever brings people to the show.
As long as they come, I’m okay with that.
But I would say this is a far cry fromStranger Thingstonally, aesthetically, and in its storytelling.
How about some of the sci-fi and futuristic technology?
Weve got a good deal of that in other shows right now, likeBlack Mirrorfor example.
What is it aboutTales from the Loopthat really makes it stand out from the pack?
HALPERN: Yes, actually.
And not just feed on anxiety.
I think there’s enough of that going around.
That just didn’t interest me in this world.
And does the story wrap up in any sense?
Here you have the benefit of a larger serialized storytelling but also the quiet crafted singular pieces.
And it’s not traditional, in that sense.
You have this Loop facility, which can provide endless permutations of stories you could tell.
So this can go on indefinitely.
They’re no longer ordinary.
You were talking earlier about overseeing all of the shots.
I was wondering how your directors responded to that and what that kind of collaboration like?
And so, it’s a visual medium.
They were just wonderful collaborations so what they brought to the table was invaluable.
And I was there, especially on a first season show, to be that consistent voice and eye.
And so yeah, it was just wonderful collaborations with all these directors.
And why did you pick Mark [Romanek] to establish that visual language with you for Episode 1?
HALPERN: I met with Mark; I can’t say enough good things about Mark.
And we just saw eye to eye on so much about aesthetics and film and our taste.
We’re very aligned.
So it was a very emotional story that had science fiction elements.
There was a bit of a balance that I was trying to chase.
And who else do we have here?
I know Jodie Foster and Andrew Stanton are involved.
HALPERN: Andrew Stanton?
I’d worked with him onLegionandobviously he has that Pixar background.
The emotional storytelling thats told in those films was kind of a nice template.
And so I just worked really well with him onLegion.
So there was a wonderful amount of thoughtful prep that could go into it.
And Jodie is another one.
And she was just a wonderful artist to work with.
She’s legendary in this business, and it was just a privilege to work with her.
So she was wonderful to work with.
HALPERN: Oh, boy.
[Laughs] Wow, thats a hard one.
I almost got it.
[Laughs] Just going through the episodes here.
I might take that.
Tales from the Looppremieres on Amazon Prime on Friday, April 3rd.
