1. How did you create The House Between?

It wasn't necessarily a simple thing. Projects of this sort often arise out of ideas for other projects, and then magically come together right at the last moment. I had an old script, pre-2000, for instance, about a group of people trapped in a strange house together. I was going to shoot it as an independent feature after finishing Annie Hell in 1999. All the characters in this script were from different centuries, and the house was surrounded by a glowing force field. The house had booby traps, tunnels and secret crawlspaces, and there was someone or something watching the group that would occasionally appear on television sets and in mirrors.

I don't think I ever truly made that script work very well, but there was nonetheless this kernel of a good idea there that I later developed into something better and more complete. An interesting side note: that script opened in our real world on the eve of the millennium, as the first character (the equivalent of Astrid in THB) is kidnapped and knocked unconscious in a parking lot by a mysterious and unseen assailant. The next time we see her...she's waking up in the house and can't get out. She goes downstairs and sees at the breakfast table a man dressed like George Washington; from 1768. Alarmed, she runs to the front foyer, swings open the door and runs into a scintillating energy field, impossible to penetrate. That was the original set up.

Anyway, when I was creating The House Between, I realized I could keep many more secrets and be much more duplicitous with viewers if I depicted nothing whatsoever about where the characters had been before entering the house. That way, viewers had to take the characters' word for "who they are" (as did the other characters). I found that this worked very well in crafting mystery, surprise and double-crosses. What if someone was lying? What if someone knew more than they were saying?

Ditto with going back into distant historical time periods. On that front, I came to realize that things haven't changed that much between 1974 and 2007, and so kept my characters limited to those decades -- but I could still keep the "Time Travel" angle. Only the clever, attentive viewer would pick up those things early (like Astrid's use of 1970s lingo). I also felt this aspect would encourage viewers to watch the episodes more than one time.

Another project I was going to do in 2006 was a kind of Sci-Fi version of Curb Your Enthusiasm, with an obnoxious writer working the convention circuit with his wife, and making friends and enemies among Trekkers and the like. This was the project I began casting for, but I had a serious heart-to-heart with my wife, our executive producer, I told her that although I thought it would be fun to do a silly mockumentary-type project like that, what I really wanted to do was create my own legitimate science fiction series. Being the wonderful individual she is, she asked me a series of very difficult, very important questions on the topic, and I did my best to answer them thoughtfully.

Over coffee and donuts at Dunkin Donuts, we began hammering out the details of The House Between, and what the show would be about. One thing that my wife insisted upon was this idea that the show had to be about something larger than itself; that it somehow should speak to our times in the way that Star Trek or Buffy does. As you can guess, this was a major philosophical conversation. It was that day, I would say, that The House Between was truly conceived.

2. What came next?

Once I knew what the show was about, I had to decide who would populate the house at the end of the universe. Creating these characters was a lot of fun. One thing I did was make certain that every character was hiding a devastating secret; some aspect of themselves that they had not shared with the group. That way, I could play out a major surprise in each episode to keep the momentum going through a relatively brief (seven) spell of episodes. I feel like I had to know all this going in, from the very beginning, because the last thing I wanted was for people to accuse me of making the story up as I went along. I wanted the episodes - as cheap as they are in terms of production - to unfold with an overwhelming sense of inevitability, with one dramatic revelation leading into another, then another, then another.

3. What were your influences?

Honestly, they are the totality of science fiction television and film. I don't mean that to be a cop-out answer, but I have a deep love for the genre and its long history, and I've always wanted to do my own spin on science fiction TV stories, particularly those staple stories that always recur (like "Arena," for instance). In the first season of THB, I can point at story allusions to Sapphire & Steel, Blake's 7, Star Trek, Space: 1999, Land of the Lost, Solaris, Firefly, The Terminator, The Prisoner and more. I know some folks have compared the show to the movie Cube because of the set-up, but I never made that particular comparison myself. The "people trapped" premise in fact comes rather directly from a variety of easily identifiable sources. There was The Outer Limits and an episode called "The Guests" and a Twilight Zone story entitled "Five Characters In Search of an Exit," as well as Jean Paul Sarte's classic existentialist play, "No Exit." What makes The House Between so special, in my opinion, is not this set-up, but the characters in the house and "where" the house is (what it actually represents).

Visually, I wanted the series to look as though it was created between the years 1959 and 1964, the great epoch of black and white creepfests such as One Step Beyond, Thriller, Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits.

In part, that desire stems from a joke. I was looking at a special effects program for my computer early on, and I said "wow, this is state of the art." And Kathryn (wife and executive producer) - who wasn't that impressed with it - quipped "yeah...for 1960." So I decided, well...she's right. Let's do a show like it is 1960but on no budget. I knew that black and white would not only prove atmospheric, but it would hide the seams. Also, another great thing about Twilight Zone and One Step Beyond and The Outer Limits is that those series feel ageless and are dependent not on money and special effects, but rather clever writing and good acting. I hoped we could emulate that, too.

4. Were all the stories planned out before writing them?

They were in the sense that I knew where I wanted to end up in episode 7, and I knew that all the character secrets had to be revealed in various episodes. I knew I had to feature an introduction or set-up (a pilot - "Arrived"); I knew I wanted my cerebral, enigmatic British sci-fi type show ("Settled"); I knew that I wanted a monster or horror show ("Visited"); and I knew that I wanted a Star Trek-type humorous show that revealed the "flip" side of our characters. ("Mirrored.")

5. How did the third story, "Positioned" develop?

"Positioned," which is a Travis and Arlo story, is our action installment - "Die Hard in a Kitchen" - and honestly, it practically wrote itself. It is a very straightforward show, but one which says a lot about the general metaphor of the series. When I first proposed the series, at that Dunkin Donuts, I already had the plot and all the story elements for "Positioned" in mind. In one sense, that episode was my reason for doing the show. It speaks directly about the crisis of the 21st century: how to divide the resources of a limited world.

6. Which was the hardest episode to write?

"Trashed" was probably the most difficult show to write, because by that point we were ramping up to shoot and pressed for time. We were shooting in literally days. I couldn't get to the major revelation about Bill (being the Draftsman of Project Habitat) without some kind of outside "agent" as a catalyst since we had already established in "Arrived" and "Settled" that he was a secretive guy who wouldn't even spill the beans to Astrid. So that's where the villainous telepath, Sange, came in.

Bill's revelation led into a whole cascade of new revelations about Astrid and the others, and then a revelation about the house itself. Yet none of that important material was within my reach without this bad guy coming in to shake things up. At least not that I could see when writing the episode. Maybe I had tunnel vision.

7. Did you like that episode?

Well, people tend to be very mixed on "Trashed." Some people think it is the best show and others think it is the weakest. I'll say this: it had the most difficult role to serve, transitioning us from middle of series, to our end point. If we'd had twenty-four episodes instead of seven, "Trashed" would not have been so crammed with material. It covers an awful lot of ground, and is breathless. That's either a deficit or strength, depending on your point of view.

8. And the last episode?

"Departed," the last episode was kind of automatic pilot: a tying together of all of the various plot strands that had been dangling since episode one. I found it very easy to pick up all those pieces and finish the show. I have no memory of writing that show; it's like I wrote it in a fugue state. It was literally like knitting the last square of a quilt.

But "Departed," which I kept under lock and key and away from the eyes of my cast and crew until we started shooting, also had three points where it could have ended. One was ambiguous, one was dark, and one was super dark. On the recommendation of cast and crew, we decided to go with the ambiguous ending, which turned out nicely and saved us shooting time in the end. On retrospect, it would have been nice to end the first season with less a sense of closure than we have now, but you have to realize nobody knew how the shoot was going to go, or if the episodes would cut together, or when they would air, and it seemed safer to go with a definitive "end" than a cliffhanger.

9. Is it true you have three seasons mapped out?

It is true. The ending we didn't use in "Departed" becomes an important story element in the second season. It just got shoved back into the second season instead of capping off the first season. I don't discard my good ideas: they always come back to haunt me.

I've always known what I wanted the third season to be, but - again - fate intervened to modulate the approach a little. I was not going to set up the major third season arc until the beginning of the third season. But an actor fell ill during the shoot, and we found time to sneak in an episode called "Distressed" which begins to hint at the main third season conflict and our third season "heavy."

So the second season now does an awful lot - encompassing the original end of the first season, and the original beginning of the third season. Yet it is the stronger for it, I'd say. Each episode is packed with ideas and great characterization and I think fans will be pleased.

My original plan was to do three seasons and a feature film. But I'm flexible. It could be four seasons and no feature, especially if the third season becomes a kind of mini-four-part movie, which is one idea I've been looking at to help temper the exhaustion of the cast and crew. You have to realize, shooting these episodes is like running a marathon. And I'm not getting any younger.

10. What was it like working with the actors? Did they have good suggestions?

Our cast is really diverse, but tightly-knit, and I think the acting is terrific. I have no complaints on that front whatsoever. It was probably the greatest thrill of my life to shoot that first season and watch those five very talented individuals breathe life into my characters and dialogue. They BECAME those characters. It was amazing. The transformation was phenomenal and this group has earned my eternal gratitude. I can't write a House Between story without hearing their voices, or seeing their faces. They really are those people now. Sometimes it is weird for me to experience them in other contexts.

As far as suggestions, I always listen to what is brought to me and weigh heavily the actors' thoughts. For instance, Tony Mercer, who plays Bill, came to me with an important question during "Positioned" that absolutely demanded a re-direction of the script. I had one idea in my head when I wrote the story, and my amazing producer, Joe Maddrey, brought up the same point earlier, when he edited the script too, so I tweaked it. But even that modulation wasn't enough; and I don't think it was truly clear that we had to re-think until we were shooting and a living, breathing human being was acting that part. To Tony's credit, he never said "I won't do it that way," he just asked me what I wanted, and told me how he saw it. That was one occasion where the producer and actor were right, and the director was wrong.

Contrarily, I disregard - with great difficulty - comments from actors on scripts like "I don't think this script fits into our story arc." I'm sure to them, that comment feels 100% percent accurate, but they only see a part of the picture and ultimately I have to be the arbiter of such things. They don't see the grand scheme because they don't have all the information. And - being the bastard that I am - I don't really want to explain it to them. Because, frankly, I get a kick out of torturing the actors and making them wait for scripts and wondering what the hell is going to happen next. I think this really makes them feel invested even more in their characters and the stories and the THB universe. I tease them with hints of what is going to happen, or that there is going to be a twist...but god, I love torturing them.

You know, I don't fire off guns when I'm directing or anything like that, but this is a show about uncertainty and even though the actors know their characters well, I like for them to feel a little of that uncertainty from time to time, just to remind them where those characters are.

11. What is your relationship with each actor?

I would say all the relationships are good. In terms of specifics, as a director, the cast members need different things, and respond to different approaches.

Kim is a superb technical actor: she does the same thing in terms of movement from shot-to-shot, which makes editing very easy. She is very adept with the use of her body as a "tool," which is nice (and not at all easy). Since she's the "action" star that works out very nicely. I very rarely come up with a character direction that Kim hasn't thought about already. She prepares, prepares, prepares, and comes to the set ready with how she wants to do something; and usually an alternative or six. Kim is also the most likely, I would say, to have a concern with something specific in the script being out of character. She will come to me and debate the script until she understands exactly why she has to do something. Which is good and positive, really, because then we don't misstep. She is a fierce protector of Astrid, and doesn't take anything for granted or lightly. Again - that's all good. She exudes commitment and talent. It is very, very easy to get Astrid wrong on the page, and I think Kim is aware of that; and safeguards the character to make sure we don't veer away from what is established and right. She is enthusiastic, and up for anything in terms of her physicality or emotionality.

12. And Jim Blanton, who plays Arlo?

Jim Blanton is amazing in that he has taken a very enigmatic and strange character - Arlo - and turned him into someone that audiences just adore; and actually want to protect. Jim is about my age, but he puts on Arlo's outfit and suddenly he looks and acts eighteen. There's just something innocent and charming about Jim. He can get away with saying lines that other actors might not be able to. He can get away with doing things that would make other actors appear villainous, but with Arlo you just forgive him. I mean, he stabs Bill, and an episode later, everyone has forgiven him and still loves him! As an actor, Jim is very open to suggestion, and easy to direct. There's an emotional honesty about Jim as Arlo that is really astonishing. Sometimes, I will be looking at his close-ups through the camera screen and that face is just so open; the expression so child-like. I don't know how he is able to do that; to tap into that energy of innocence; but it is the mark of a gifted and natural actor. He also happens to have great bone structure - those cheeks!

13. What about Lee Hansen, Travis?

Hansen. Oh my lord, Hansen. Lee Hansen is the nicest person on Earth and also likely the funniest human being I've ever met. Travis gets all the best lines in the series, because he's my id, and Hansen just nails the one-liners. Every comedic take is a slam dunk. Lee is perfect for Travis not because he's a jerk in any way, but because Hansen is sharp-witted and thinks on his feet: and those are the qualities I sought for the character. Hansen is good physically - he's imposing and powerful when he's in the shot - and he's not afraid to come in and raise the bar during a scene. There's a scene in "Arrived" when he bullies Astrid not just with his words, but with his physicality, and it's powerful. Many people have also said to me that Lee is just very, very believable - that he invests everything he does with a sense of reality and believability - and I agree with that. In terms of direction, Lee knows how to deliver the lines, how to move, and how to express emotion. Just don't tell him the episode is about him, because then he gets self-conscious. As long as he thinks he's just this social butterfly, coming in to land a one-liner, he's spot-on perfect. Tell him he's a star, and he freezes! News flash: you're a star, Hansen.

14. What about Tony Mercer, Bill the scientist?

Tony Mercer: Tony is one intense cat. He has incredibly expressive eyes, and is a method actor in the sense that he feels everything Bill feels. There is never a false note in his performance, and believe me, he agonizes with Bill over the traumas on the show. Tony is intellectually curious and approaches his performance from an intellectual standpoint. Then once he decides why something would work, he finds the way to internalize that emotionally so it rings true to him on a gut level. With Tony, you have to earn everything: he's not going to let diffident or weak writing slide by, or let a character's motivation be wrong. He wants and demands that everything is honest and right. I have great respect for his process and his performances. I don't want to give anything away, but there is a season two episode ("Separated") in which he plays a very frightening, very intense character - and his performance is simply electric. His performance raised the bar and brought out the best in the cast. I talked with Alicia (Theresa) about it afterwards, that she had acted very differently in that episode than in the other shows, and she said it was because Tony actually scared her. Watching that episode, it's like a physical transformation: even the veins in Tony's forehead look different in that show.

15. And Theresa, your psychic astronaut?

Alicia plays Theresa, a character who has an odd way of talking (being from the future and all), and I must confess, I have fallen in love both with the character, and Alicia's excellent portrayal. There's some magic energy at work when Alicia puts on the costume and the wig and speaks my dialogue. We're getting dangerously close to personal fantasy territory here, but Theresa is like my ideal woman. She's beautiful, smart, confident and kind. She's evolvedshe's better than the run of the mill man or woman. Again, I have to go back to the fact that Alicia has this amazing presence. Whereas Jim is my age and playing young; Alicia is very youngand yet she effortlessly exudes this level of authority. You can see it in how the other actors react to her in the first season. She's this tiny, little woman, and yet whenever anything happens - the others look to her first for answers; she's the oracle. Alicia is a brilliant and fast memorizer, and her face is not just beautiful, but expressiveespecially those eyes. Theresa is my "resident alien" like Spock, Maya or Varian on The Fantastic Journey, and I also had in mind Sapphire from Sapphire and Steel. Alicia endows her with grace, elegance and wit, and is very easy to direct.

16. How as it collaborating with the crew?

Again - amazing. I have to credit Bobby and Kevin - our lighting crew - for the look of the series. They have done a superb job making the show look eerie, distinctive and stylish. They are tireless, hard-working, flexible - and most importantly - inventive. They aren't just the lighting team either. They've served as directors of photography on occasion; acted in an episode or two, and done anything that was needed. They are the most enthusiastic and wonderful people to work with. Bobby wrote a script for us this season, and I can't wait to see the final episode.

Rob Floyd is our fight coordinator, special effects dude, and make-up artist - to name just three of the many jobs he does - and he knows his stuff, too. He created our most memorable adversary, The Outdwellers, and I've incorporated many of his ideas into the scripts. We'll talk on the phone in pre-production and I'll say "I need a gag for this episode," and out of the blue, Rob will say something like "what if his skin is melting?" Or, "what if we do this?" He is a creative thinker and a problem solver, and what I appreciate most about him is that everything he creates for us - whether it is a fight, a movement, a special effect, a costume or make-up - emerges from his understanding of character. When we talk on the phone, he says "well, what's the character?" Everything he does comes from a very real and thoughtful place.

Rick Coulter is the director of photography, and he does more amazing things every episode. I've been watching his footage for Season Two, and he's been doing all kinds of experimental and gorgeous shots. I think that he does an outstanding job with the camera-work, and he also directed an episode in Season Two. Rick is a very laid-back guy, and I'll never forget how he looked that day directing "Reunited." His eyes were absolutely alive with energy, playing all the angles. I think he did an amazing job. He says he never wants to direct again, but I'm going to make him do it again because he's so damn good at it. I think the cast liked working with him as a director too. He's not as hyper as I am, but he's a reassuring and even-keeled presence.

I could go on and on, here. Phyllis Floyd is just absolutely the best presence to have on a set. She has a can-do attitude and jumps in where eagles fear to tread. You name it - she'll be there for you, and I admire that spirit. No set should be without its own Phyllis, that's for sure. Mateo and Cesar - their music is a character in and of itself on The House Between. They worked very long hours and under difficult circumstances (and on short notice) to produce literally hundreds of pieces of music for all the episodes. And each and every piece is absolutely beautiful. Mateo and Cesar are like Rob in the sense that their work originates very much with character. I love the music.

And jeez - Joe Maddrey - what can I say about the guy? He has been the better angel of my nature right from the first word written on the first script. He is a trusted confidante and advisor with an excellent sense of story and character. There is nothing he doesn't know how to do, which is why I take very seriously his wisdom on writing, shooting, editing, and the like. He also listens to me when I complain; which is very nice. Also, Joe has the unpleasant task of keeping us all on schedule so we make our days. This means he'll come up to me between shots and whisper in my ear that we have half-an-hour to get the scene, or we'll all be up to 2:00 am and stuff. In some ways, Joe is really my boss; but he doesn't act like one. He's the best guy to have on your side. When I need to vent at somebody, Joe is the guy. Who would want that job? I hope to never work on a film or TV show without Joseph Maddrey.

My other producer is my wife, Kathryn and she cracks the whip like nobody's business. She is objective and brutally honest with me in terms of editing, performance, sound, music, storyline, you name it. She doesn't pull her punches with me, and yet - at the same time, she is loving and supportive of me and the cast and crew; and of the whole process. She wants what is best for the show, and isn't shy about telling the director when he screws up. She also isn't shy telling the cast "what for" when they come to her with problems; which is helpful. She is fair, but she countenances no bullshit. Which is one important reason why I married her.

17. Was it interesting returning to these characters for a second season?

It was exciting and way too much fun. It really spoiled me for my other jobs. I have to say, when I first wrote the original seven shows, I wasn't quite as confident as maybe I could have been. The shows were each a pilot in their own way - a sign post saying "see, we can do a horror show!" or "see - we can do a comedy." Those episodes were good and all, but I felt about mid-way through watching the first season, that we could really go deeper into the characters and stories.

Frankly, I think the scripts for the second season shocked a lot of the cast and crew when they read them for the first time (and for the second and third times), and even when they were shooting them. I had people say to me "I can't believe how dark this has become," and I also had some cast members approach me in all earnestness and say "do I really have to do this? Do I have to say this line?" I think it was all very intense. I understand that at some cast readings (which I wasn't present for) there was a fair amount of wincing at the intensity and directness of some lines.

But the thing was this: I realized while watching the end portions of season one that The House Between had two paths it could potentially take in the second season. It could go along and be a perfectly acceptable, run-of-the-mill science fiction series exploring genre concepts but without going too deep, or it could - because there are no restrictions online - delve into the heart of darkness. Ultimately, I decided that the cast was capable, the crew was ready, and we should go for broke. I think it's still a controversial decision with a lot of the team. I occasionally will get an e-mail from a cast or crew member who will talk about the direction of the second season being "for better or worse." It is right, I believe, but not comfortable.

18. If you do a third season, will it continue in this direction?

That's a tough question. You can't open these doors and then just slam them shut and pretend they were never opened in the first place. The characters all must reach the logical end of their journey, no matter how dark or sad or tragic that destination is. By the same token, I don't think we have to make a depressing show. Even the darkest episode of Season Two has a lot of humor in it.

I will say this - the second season is more intimate, more action packed and more shocking than the first season, and we have to top ourselves for Season Three with stories that involve our characters to the same degree. Otherwise, it would be anti-climax.

19. Are any of the main five characters going to die before the series ends?

On that front, all I'll say is that I'm a big Blake's 7 fan.

20. What do you think is the message of The House Between?

Simply put, the Earth is humanity's "house at the end of the universe," and we - the citizens of this planet - are the people trapped inside. Unless we learn to tolerate each other's beliefs and be good to each other, we're hurtling to disaster. Resources are limited, we all believe in different things, and sometimes we hurt each other over petty issues...but these limitations must be overcome if we are to survive as a species.

21. Finally, if you had to explain the second season...

It is the Empire Strikes Back. By the time the last episode ends, you'll be quivering with disbelief, shock and horror, whimpering "that's it? That's it? It's over?" And then you will curse my name and wait for the third season.