By Uptin Saiidi
New York – Seven years ago last night, a plane crashed on a mysterious tropical island, starting the story of one of television’s biggest phenomenons, “Lost.” To help commemorate, The New York Television Festival hosted a creative keynote with co-creator and head writer Damon Lindelof, which was moderated by MTV’s own Andrew Jenks, star of “World of Jenks.”
The critically acclaimed series, which premiered to 23 million viewers in 2004, held a loyal fan base through six seasons, and Damon credits much of its success to the Internet. “I’m convinced we wouldn’t have made it past season three if the Internet didn’t exist,” he told the crowd of about 200 guests. “If a fan goes online and shoots a comment, like, ‘Oh, come on!’ there’s a chance that a writer will read that. We all read comments from fans, whether we admitted it or not.”
Realizing Internet feedback was an integral part of the success, Damon made sure to connect with the audience by going to Comic-Con and doing podcasts. “I wanted a foot in both worlds,” he said, referring to balancing his own creativity with what the audience wanted. Although he did call the audience somewhat hypocritical, saying, “They wanted to be heard, but they also didn’t want to think things were made up, they wanted to know there was some sort of master plan. There’s a huge contradiction between these two things.”
Damon also touched on his key to success as a writer in the industry. “Anyone who’s made it, has made a very bold move at some point. It’s like a double-dutch jump rope, you have to wait for the right time to get in, but when you’re in, you say, ‘This is easy.’ I know so many people in the industry who stand outside the whole time.” Read More...
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