Roswell, New Mexico ROSEWELL, NEW MEXICO REBOOT GEARS UP FOR THIS WINTER | NYCC 2018

Okay, first of all Nathan does your little friend have a name? Yes, his name is Enrique Yes, after Enrique Iglesias, and he doesn't have his mole on right now, but he very much is pre-mole removal So tell us about Liz and Max Liz Ortega is a scientist. She's an activist. She's a woman who is ignited and passionate She's been away working on a lot of wonderful biomedical research engineering for ten years She returns to her small town and runs into her high school heart crush and Finds out he's an alien and that is the catalyst for our season The way that her world is flipped upside down by this massive revelation And their way of finding each other in the midst of all of the complications that that causes Yeah Well, it's time to bring an alien.

My resume is not nearly as impressive I'm just the deputy of the of Chavez County Where Roswell is and and just taking care of my family and going about my quiet little life until Liz comes back And shakes everything up and will we see some romance going on here very much. It's a small-town Romance and it's also a murder mystery and the beautiful thing about the way our show is Structured is that it is that murder mystery is what's able to create this push and pull between us and It causes such a conflict for us to try to find each other And it's just so fun to play that with with Nathan Find that epic love because it really is the story of Max and Liz is epic, you know You are no stranger to throws with supernatural elements.

So how is this one different? Well, this is this I mean to me aliens aren't necessarily supernatural So I've always been a lover of sci-fi and to be able to play and in a world that Expands past the boundaries of the actual world is so much fun to me Here, you know, there's potential to go back to home planets and discover aliens, you know These epic battles and you know an outer space we can do all of that here and that's just such a fun playground Yeah, we're pitching a trip to Mars Are we come on guys We're gonna have a crossover with National Geographic's Mars.

Anyway, awesome show by the way awesome show. Yeah, absolutely So Liz is the daughter of illegal immigrants. So will there be some political undertones? Absolutely. I mean we're acknowledging that this is a border town and we're acknowledging that it's 2018 and our current political climate and it makes such a Fun added element in which we are as the art echo family also dealing with the protection of each other You know My father is undocumented and it's mirrors the way that Max and his family this alien family are also taking care of each other I'm also feeling other and it's just becomes a huge metaphor for what is alienation and what is feeling other and what is home and Can we all just you know get along?

All right quick one last question If you could describe the show in one word, what would it be? Epic small-town romance Yeah, I would I would say I Was dumped him I would say Awake awake. Oh, that's a good one. That's intriguing. I like that Well, thank you guys we can't wait to see it nice to meet you - thanks All right, perfect. I'm gonna be all right So tell us what are the challenges of writing this show so many?

I think the biggest challenges for me have been That I want to do so much and we have 42 minutes and 15 seconds every week I have we've really put together an incredible ensemble cast I mean the people who play the sort of tertiary characters are extraordinary actors like Michael Trevino and Tyler Blackburn and Heather Hemmons and Trevor st. John and so I want to make everybody the star of the show and tell these big stories for everybody and then like People are like, okay.

Well, this episode is gonna be a hundred hours long if we do all this stuff So my biggest challenge is really condensing all the things that we would like to do into one thing. I also feel This is getting a little more serious but like one of the biggest challenges right now for Me and I know for the entire writing staff is that there's so much going on in the world and there's so much Trouble happening and there's so much strife that sometimes it's kind of hard to come to work and be like let's talk about sexy aliens for a while because we You start to feel like you're not contributing And so this show has been a really special opportunity for me because we do sort of get to touch on Political questions that I think are really important We are exploring the way that politics in Washington affect the daily lives of people in a small town in New Mexico And sexy aliens also We make politics look sexy is that Somebody's got to do it We were talking to Janine about the whole illegal immigrant You know kind of backstory and the politics with that Is there a concern with getting too political with this at all No I'm not concerned.

I really wanted to to be honest like when they when the CW and Warner Brothers asked me to develop a Roswell adaptation I Said no at first because I really wanted to I thought that they wanted a teen alien romance And I really wanted to tell stories about what mattered to me at the time And I think that they really gave me the opportunity to do that they have been super Supportive of you know we're telling stories about what it feels like to be Different in today's society whether that's what it feels and in today's society in a small town in the middle and on a border state you know like whether that's I'm an immigrant whether that's I'm an undocumented immigrant or a legal immigrant or an alien or Gay, or you know the one black person in town Roswell has a really the real town of Roswell has a very very very small population of African Americans So we have when we're telling a story about an African American in this town.

We are telling a story about somebody who Has been denied a community, and I think that those things just fold into the daily lives in the daily and the sort of the sort of just the perspectives of these people and So no, I don't think it's too political. I think that It's as political as our lives are And it still has an escapist quality to it because they're sexy aliens I think we're stressing the sexy aliens What's Me Michael Gwynnis What's the pressure because there is an established kind of backstory, what was the pressure to move that forward now um?

There's pressure because I think that this original show and the books have meant so much to fans But to be honest they meant so much to me, so I feel like Incredibly honored to be able to play in a sandbox that meant a lot to me as a kid The original cast of the show has been incredibly supportive Um Shiri Applebee is coming in a couple of weeks to direct an episode with us Jason Bair I met at Julie Plex birthday party and was super super kind and very Gave us great advice watch the pilot loved it Will they do any cameo um?

Where we would like to sort of like find the right space for that um? My guess is that it won't be in season one if they do I'm definitely knocking on Nick Nick Weschler's door To come and visit us But I think it would be fun to like have them play somebody that was really different from who they've already played So we're working on it I would love them I would love them all to come and play with us in flashbacks.

We do a lot of flashbacks to 1947 And I think that would be a really fun place to see some Slightly familiar faces pop up, so we'll see we get the opportunity in the future. Well. We're really excited about the show Thank you for talking much. Yeah, nice to meet you nice to meet you hi Chris. How are you? I'm good yourself. I'm good. How's your comic-con going comic-con?

I've been here for two hours. I love it. I love it I'm caffeinated someone put makeup on me. I'm ready to roll. Yeah, so what what attracted you to this particular property? I kind of love that it is a cross between a bunch of things. I love it's a great Romantic story which I'm a softie at heart It's got a genre sci-fi elements which I also love and then we have a nods to Western So it's kind of like it's a nice tribrid of things that I love to all play with so it's the trifecta It is a perfect trifecta excellent What kind of pressure is there because there you know is an established background already for this show?

Absolutely you always want to honor what people love and I think that that's important to say We get what you love And now come with us on the on the journey to see how we've reinterpreted The things that you liked growing up and what are the challenges of being an executive producer on this show? Oh so many I think time time is really oh yeah, where do you put it because you you want to your time wants to be devoted to everything You want to make everything great and sometimes there's just not enough time to touch everything every single day.

Yeah Tell us about Karina's writing because I mean she's done some really great things in the past So so how does she kind of blend all of this together and what attracts you to her writing in a sense? She's one of the best writers I've ever met by the way She writes Karina. Where are you exactly? She writes a phenomenally Fast and she's great at hearing multiple ideas and being able to distill them down to me Like I know the perfect path that we've through this scene through this Act through this script.

So she's a seasoned professional knows what she's doing and she can get it done. Absolutely Like I can always trust After having a 10-minute conversation, she'll come back and she'll just written something that reflects all of that and then you know, 20% more fantastic Tell me the pressure about the political undertones for this because you you don't want to get too political But you have to address it in a sense.

Absolutely. Like we said a few things we want to We want to ask questions, even if we don't provide answers sometimes so we want people to have discussions We also don't mind it. We're entertainment first, but it doesn't It doesn't hurt to bake a little education in as well and ultimately for what we bring up We're a hopeful show America is a hopeful place Everyone is coming here looking for a home and a better life and that's a universal truth for everyone so ultimately those that any political thing that we say is really at its core about that and Why is CW the perfect home for this vehicle?

I think that they're great partners They've been really good at letting us tell the stories that Karina wants to tell And they also they also love quality. So they always push for how do we how do we get more beautiful shots? how do we really elevate what we're doing and They're a wonderful creative partners in that So to sum up this season in one word, what would that word be for you?

a romance You are a softie. I love it. Well, we are really excited We can't wait and we think Janine and Nathan are really great cast - they have really good chemistry together. So we're excited So thank you so much for speaking with us you do You