The people who know the secrets behind the unfolding story of castaways stranded on a remote island on the hit ABC series "Lost" know that somewhere in our collective imagination, we all hunger for life's answers.
Behind the mystery of the hatch, the Others and those darn numbers is a creative writing staff that is constantly examining the journey of life from various cultural viewpoints, and conjuring up adventures that fans can relate to on multiple levels.
"The show is called 'Lost' because all the characters are lost in their lives," says Damon Lindelof, co-creator and executive producer of the show. "We're really telling redemptive stories. We show character flaws in the past, and explore ways these people can evolve on the island and redeem themselves."
Each week, 10 writers collaborate to create the tales that feature 14 major characters in a production process filled with tight deadlines. During November sweeps, the schedule is so packed that a request for a photo shoot of the writers was denied for lack of time.
Behind the scenes, everything begins in "the writers' room" on the Disney Studios lot in Burbank, Calif., where the staff gathers to throw out ideas and chart storylines on big white eraser boards. Once Lindelof and executive producer Carlton Cuse approve a story, a writer is assigned to craft an outline, which must be approved by the network. Writing then starts on as many as eight drafts before an episode is shot.
"We have an eclectic and diverse group of writers who have a shared vision of the show, but bring a unique perspective to the storytelling," says Cuse, who also created and executive produced "Nash Bridges" and "Martial Law." "The premise of the show -- a plane traveling internationally from Sydney to Los Angeles crashes on an island -- is a great vehicle for showing how people from diverse backgrounds can knit together as one society.
"One of the most important messages of the show is that we are interconnected, and our survival as a human race depends on our ability to trust each other. Despite the intensity and darkness of our storytelling, there's a hopeful message of optimism. We relish the opportunity to do that across the board with actors who come from different backgrounds and perspectives."
The writing staff behind the scenes is also one of the more diverse ones in Hollywood, comprised of eight men and two women, two of whom are Asian American. One is Hispanic American.
Javier Grillo-Marxuach, supervising producer on "Lost," says the working environment on the show is one of mutual respect, freedom and fun, allowing everyone to share ideas without fear.
"The writer's room is the world's most sustained and lengthy group therapy session," says Grillo-Marxuach, laughing. "We're all introspective and slightly neurotic. We make 22 episodes during the year, and there's a push to get more incidents and emotion into shows during the sweeps period, so there's pressure to out-do ourselves during those times."
What's fun, he says, is shaping stories and seeing a part of yourself in the final product, something that often happens out of the writers' discussions.
"When I was a senior in high school, some friends and I stole all the snowmen in a neighborhood and put all of them in someone's yard," Grillo-Marxuach says. "When we did the Hurley episode, it became a sequence where Hurley and his friend stole garden gnomes and put them in the evil boss' front yard."
Christina Kim, the most junior writer on the staff, says she identifies most with the female characters on the show, and tends to speak up when storylines involve the Korean couple, Jin and Sun, or potential romances between characters.
"I'm co-writing a script now with flashbacks around Jack," says Kim, who graduated film school two years ago and was hired after completing the CBS Diversity Institute Writers Mentoring Program, designed to increase the number of minority writers in television. "I've also helped out with Jin and Sun's story. We have a translator in Hawaii who translates dialogue into Korean, and it comes back to me to make sure it all makes sense."
Fans are constantly trying to figure out what's next for the characters on the island, but like all good storytellers, none of the show's writers are sharing any secrets.
"We know the answers to what the mysteries are, and who the characters are," says Lindelof, "but the process of how that unfolds has to remain organic and evolve. You hear lots of ideas, and we're all finding the answers together."