TV show Clarice

SAN team had an exclusive opportunity to collaborate with the producers of the TV show Clarice. We had a pleasure to talk with Elizabeth J.B. Klaviter is Executive Producer of Clarice.

SAN: Tell us more about the synopsis of the show, who is producing a show, director, cast.

Clarice picks up a year after The Silence of the Lambs, when we find Special Agent Clarice Starling back in the field for the first time since facing down Buffalo Bill. As she navigates what appears to be a new serial killer case, Clarice fights her own demons: PTSD from that harrowing case, and the burgeoning fear that her father - her hero - was not the man he seemed to be. Rebecca Breeds stars as Clarice. The series was created by Jenny Lumet and Alex Kurtzman, Elizabeth J.B. Klaviter is Executive Producing/Showrunning.

SAN: How did you come up with the idea for the show?

As Alex tells it, he and Jenny came up with the idea for the follow-up series after realizing one day - where is Clarice Starling? What happened to her? For a character so iconic to horror fans and feminists (not that those terms are mutually exclusive) she solved one of the most infamous serial killer cases of all time and then just - disappeared. We wanted to bring her out of the darkness, out of the basement, and back out into the world. 

SAN: How was this project developed? Who is your target audience? 

Jenny and Alex spent a lot of time with the source material, exploring both the film and the novel. They did a deep dive into the Thomas Harris universe and Jonathan Demme's masterpiece. As we were developing and writing the season, the entire creative team let their imaginations run wild in recreating the twisted darkness the original material is so well known for. Our goal is to reach traditional horror fans, but also anyone interested in true crime, whodunit's, and psychological thrillers. 

SAN: Tell us more how the new TV show gets created. 

It's a thoroughly collaborative process. The writers work with our producing partners and production team to create an entire world - from the specificity of hair and makeup in 1993 to what pagers to use as props to larger commentaries on race, gender, and social justice. Every decision that leads to something you see or hear on screen is thoughtfully made by a whole team of people working towards the same goal - to make an excellent television show. 

SAN: In the episode Add-a-Bead ViCAP investigates the suspected suicide of Karolina Savich, a medical student on a foreign visa. How did you come up with this idea? What were the challenges in preparation of this episode? (Note to the readers: This answer may include some spoilers)

As she puts together the pieces, Clarice realizes how lonely Karolina felt so far away from home and feels an emotional tie to her.  Things escalate when Clarice discovers Karolina was pregnant when she died, and Clarice must find out who the father was.

Our intention with this series is to give voice to victims themselves, especially women who are exploited and abused by larger systems. With Karolina, we wanted to explore a driven, compassionate, and intelligent young woman who survived for as long as she could, but whose ultimate untimely death demanded justice. 

Because the show takes place in 1993, her experience in the Yugoslavian War was instrumental in creating and developing her character. Karolina found refuge in the United States, but was closely connected to her family still trapped in Sarajevo. She loved her country and wanted to return someday to practice medicine and help it heal, but that future was stolen from her in America. Karolina's story is not unlike other immigrant experiences, and we wanted to honor the truth of that. Like women, immigrants' voices are also often silenced - we worked hard to bring that intersection to the forefront. 

While building a profile of Karolina, Clarice discovers she kept letters from home in a safe deposit box. One of the biggest challenges of this episode was finding someone who could read and write Cyrillic to properly translate the letters. Fortunately, our Property Master, Antonio Germinario, was able connect with SAN magazine. Having letters written in Cyrillic was a wonderful authentic detail and made Karolina’s story real in a very tangible, poignant way.