Talking To The Producers Of Orphan Black! Erica Interviews Ivan Schneeberg & David Fortier And Gets The Scoop On Season 2! Spoilers Ahead!

As you all know, Erica is a huge fan of the BBC series Orphan Black. All I keep hearing is that the series is amazing! Erica had the good fortune to talk to producers Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier. She gets the scoop on season two, plus perhaps a spoiler or two!

Check out Erica’s interview after the jump!

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Hello gentle readers!

If you’re reading this, then you’ve already seen the first season of Orphan Black, right? This article will be full of spoilers and where’s the fun in watching something if you know how the mystery ends?

Orphan Black season 1 blu ray cove poster rare promo dvd cover

If you haven’t seen it, stop now and watch it. Really. I’ve already given you lots of reasons why.

For the rest of you people (the ones with great taste in TV), here’s a look at how Orphan Black is crafted and what’s in store for season 2 from Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier of Temple Street productions, producers of Orphan Black!

Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier of Temple Street productions, producers of Orphan Black!

While it seems like Orphan Black has popped out of nowhere, this show has been in development for four years and began with a script that jumped out at David and Ivan:

David: We both read it [pilot script] on the flight to London. We said we have to have this project and we called home and said do whatever you can to option it because we need this one.

Since Orphan Black is a serialized drama/mystery, the pair also focused on making sure the show has a map of where the story will go – something I was very relieved to hear so we don’t get a “clone of the week” gimmick when they need to vamp for time in a season – the downfall of many promising, high-concept shows (cough…Heroes, Glee…cough):

Ivan: The writing team, Graeme and John, and the folks here at Temple Street have spent a lot of time thinking about it so we have a pretty good sense of where its going. There obviously are lots of room for it to meander left and right as we get more and more into it, but all of us have felt that, for a show like this, it’s good to have a sense for where you generally want to end up when you start it up.

The show started with a central premise and it’s exploring that premise. There is an end in sight so you don’t feel that there’s a lot of trickery. Most of the twists and turns in the show are very, very well planned and mapped out. So that’s why I think that the audiences continue to enjoy it, don’t feel that they’re being cheated because none of it is trickery – it’s all very well attentioned. Well planned.

That attention to detail and planning also includes the development of additional clones:

David: Before the season starts, we know how many clones we’re going to have so there’s a lot of advanced notice. Things can change as we get deeper into it and the writers come up with ideas.

Orphan Black promo press still Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier of Temple Street productions, producers of Orphan Black!

Ivan: Rachel is a good example of that. The writers knew that Rachel was going to come into existence at the end of the season, but what she looked like, what kind of accent she would have, what her characteristics would be was developed over the course of shooting in collaboration with the writers and John Fawcett and Tatiana as usual.

Although it’s like picking a favorite child, David and Ivan lean towards a particular clone:

Ivan: I like Sarah. I see her as the heroine of the show so I’m partial to her.

Dave: I like Cosima. I think she’s weird. (Jokingly) She’s prettier than all the other clones.

Cosmina Orphan Black promo press still Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier of Temple Street productions, producers of Orphan Black!

The fan favorite, however, seems to be Alison.

Ivan: When we first met her, Alison seemed the most 2 dimensional of all the clones, the least developed, the closest to a caricature. But I think with Alison, what happened was, as we explored her story through the season, her journey was the biggest in many ways. Audiences followed that journey and got to know her. Cosima, when you first meet her, what you see is what you get. For Alison, the character you met at the beginning is not the person you saw at the end.

Cosmina Orphan Black promo press still Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier of Temple Street productions, producers of Orphan Black!

David: She’s the one that’s been most effected by what’s going on and you tend to sympathize with her emotional roller coaster that she’s living through. We’re seeing her become more and more self-aware. She’s been boxed up the most. She’s the one who has told herself more lies and watching her have the world open up to her and this revelation is heart breaking and great drama.

Since the suspense and mystery are at the core of the show, Ivan and David are understandably cautious when pushed for some clarifications on what happened in the taut season ending (Is Helena really dead? Will we see Kira’s father?). They pause and scramble to find a diplomatic answer that won’t give anything away:

David: The show is so well-thought through by the writing team there are very, very few loose ends.

Cosmina Orphan Black promo press still Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier of Temple Street productions, producers of Orphan Black!

How’s that for more mystery? At a broader level, they do give some idea of where season 2 will be going?

Ivan: The network is very supportive to do as much as we can with season 2. We’ll be delivering a show that raises the bar.

It’s going to be a bit more of the same since we’ve only really peeled off the first layer or two of the onion, so to speak. So there’s a lot more mystery to get into in terms of the Neolutionists, also Helena/Tomas’ story line and the church and what’s going on there — there’s just so much more to explore. So it’s continuing to dig deeper into those storylines. But we’re definitely going to open the show up – we’re going to see more of those worlds and, I think, as you can tell from the end of the first season, Sarah is on the run, she’s got an immediate problem she’s got to deal.

Cosmina Orphan Black promo press still Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier of Temple Street productions, producers of Orphan Black!

Ivan: We know what season 2 is all about and we’re really, really excited. We’ll be going deeper down the rabbit hole. Same pace, level of excitement and mystery. It’s really going to be an awesome season.

Dave: We’re really thankful that people are responding they way they are and we do understand the importance of having fans for the show. People love the show for a certain reason and for certain things that the show carries with it and we’re doing our best to make sure they’re getting more of what they like.

The cast and crew have been sending out various “thank yous” to the fans including a note from Tatiana (so that’s what a psychopath’s handwriting looks like!)…

Cosmina Orphan Black promo press still Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier of Temple Street productions, producers of Orphan Black!

… and a detailed, humorous sneak tweet at the plot lines for each of the 10 episodes next season from Mackenzie Donaldson, the assistant to the showrunners. I can’t wait for the space adventure, iron throne, lightsaber battle and SNL episodes!

Cosmina Orphan Black promo press still Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier of Temple Street productions, producers of Orphan Black!

Special thanks to David and Ivan for taking the time to chat with us! They’re hard at work on the second season of Orphan Black which begins production on September 22nd. The DVD and Blu Ray for season 1 is out July 16th and the new season of Orphan Black begins in the Spring.

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