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Mystery Is Strength: Lost, LOVELAND, and The Mystery Box

J.J. Abrams traces his love for the unseen mystery –- a passion that’s evident in his films and TV shows, including Cloverfield, Lost and Alias — back to its magical beginnings.

Here’s something I think about a lot while working on LOVELAND. Because many aspects of the project are necessarily and openly improvisational, and there’s an evolving storyverse alongside the reality (think ghost inches…what’s up with *that*?), there are fundamental uncertainties and abstractions as to what LOVELAND is and will become. I want to make that mystery as interesting as possible, and set the tone that anything is possible (because it really is).

One inspiration here is definitely the television show Lost. Above is a great TED talk by its creator on his concept of “the mystery box” and how it informs his work. At the same time as we strive for enough clarity that there is no false advertising and people get what’s going on, we want to embrace the mystery and make it as fun and as valid and as compelling anything else, and keep the surprises going. People should be able to watch and follow and enjoy LOVELAND as a story, at the same time they do anything else with it.