Brand New Cherry Flavor combines creative drive and supernatural vengeance, all wrapped up in a package that's equal parts Hollywood glamor and dirty backroom deals. Based on the novel by Todd Grimson, the series stars Rosa Salazar (Alita: Battle Angel) as the magnetic and enigmatic Lisa Nova, an aspiring director who makes her way to Los Angeles with a vision she wants to turn into a film.
But after being screwed over by shady producer Lou Burke (Eric Lange, Antebellum), things take a turn for the dark and downright creepy. Bent on justice and a bit of revenge, Lisa seeks help in the form of the occult. Egged on by a supernaturally powerful woman named Boro (Catherine Keener, Get Out), the would-be filmmaker begins to spin a web of horror that threatens to take everyone she loves down with her.
Series creators Nick Antosca and Lenore Zion spoke to Screen Rant about the elements of the novel that most appealed to them, the lightning-in-a-bottle quality of their cast, and the boundaries they push when creating art about the creation of art.
Screen Rant: What was it about the novel that sparked interest in you? How did you come across it, and what led to this Netflix series?
Nick Antosca: I had read the novel in something like 2008 or 2009, and I had no idea what I was getting into. I was kind of stunned by its really unique blend of genres, satire, and a great lead character.
I'd been thinking about it for a number of years when Lenore and I met. We were both writers, and we ended up working on Channel Zero together. I sent her the book in probably 2016. And, yeah.
Lenore Zion: Yeah, he sent me the book and was like, "Tell me what you think of this." And as you mentioned, Nick, I was also kind of surprised [by] every page I turned. The thing that I love about the book more than anything, really, is that you have no idea what's coming next every time you turn the page. And that's remarkably hard to accomplish. Todd Grimson's a fantastic writer.
I love Rosa Salazar, she never misses. But what drew you to her and marked her out as the perfect Lisa Nova?
Nick Antosca: She brought such great energy and such powerful performances to Undone and Alita: Battle Angel. We had seen her in small roles in other stuff as well, so we just felt like she would bring some of that intensity and powerful, chaotic, creative energy that we needed for Lisa Nova.
Lenore Zion: She's also down to work her ass off. She will put herself in seriously uncomfortable positions in order to get the shot right. She is committed - and she also has a great sense of comic timing, by the way.
Arkasha Stevenson, whom you previously collaborated with on Channel Zero, directed the first episode. How did she help set the tone for the series?
Nick Antosca: Arkasha really has a unique vision and a unique point of view, and the season of Channel Zero that she did is so bonkers, that I don't know who else could have pulled it off.
When we were starting to think about directors for Brand New Cherry Flavor, we met with a lot of people, and Arkasha just understood the nightmare that we were trying to create. She also brought a lot of really vivid and surprising ideas to it. She also reminded us a little bit of Lisa Nova; she identified with her. So, she brought an unquantifiable chemistry to it.
Lenore Zion: Yeah, and a unique passion for the material.
Jeff Ward has also joined from Channel Zero, although I always think of him as Deke from Agents of SHIELD. Can you talk about what he brought to this role, and how his push-and-pull dynamic with Lisa evolves throughout the season?
Nick Antosca: Right! It is that tension, that push-and-pull, and they play really well together as characters. He is somebody who thinks that he has a death wish, but really he doesn't and is just looking for connection. And that connection with Lisa Nova has some serious consequences for him.
The character in the book is really in it briefly, so we built it out a little bit more for the series. And when we were thinking about who has a certain kind of movie star charisma but also a vulnerability, we thought about Jeff.
Lenore Zion: Yeah, there's a sweetness to the way that he plays Roy that I think we found really refreshing and unexpected.
I did not know that he was a minor part of the book, which leads me to ask what aspects of the book were you most committed to maintaining in the series? And what were you finessing or expanding on?
Lenore Zion: I would say the aspect of the book we wanted to hold on to most was just the spirit of it; the spirit of catching you off guard and surprising you with every new piece of plot.
Nick Antosca: Yeah, and Lisa Nova's creative drive. For us, the show is about a lot of things, but it's really about a director trying to make her film. She's a creative person trying to get her vision out into the world.
There's a lot that changed from the book, and this series basically takes the first section of the book and explores that. What was most important was that story of somebody trying to try to realize their vision despite all these obstacles.
The book continues past the point that the show ends, but this is being considered a limited series. Might there be a second limited series if things go well, or is it that you only wanted to tell this part of the story?
Nick Antosca: We planned it as a contained story. Never say never if all the stars align, but we felt we wanted to take this journey with this character. So, we took elements of what Todd created to tell a contained story.
This really is a dark yet magical way of exploring how difficult it is to get something made in Hollywood, and yet how easy it is to be taken advantage of. How did you walk that line between the reality of her situation and the surrealism of everything she does and goes through?
Lenore Zion: I think we have to throw a lot of credit really over to Rosa for that. She brought incredible nuance to the way she played Lisa, and I think that was important because the reality of the situation - that is completely unreal - had to come from her. It had to come from the human element, and she brought it. That's where it came from.
Another person who brought it is Catherine Keener. Even though I've seen her in so many different roles, she always surprises me with new dimensions. How did you build on Boro in the book and what did she bring to the role?
Lenore Zion: I mean, everything. She's amazing.
Nick Antosca: Yeah, Catherine's a genius. You see her in all these different roles, and she has so much versatility. We always thought that she's just so cool, and we wanted to explore that aspect of Catherine Keener that we felt hadn't been fully realized.
It's a tough role to play because the character has this mysterious backstory. I don't want to spoil it completely for the readers, but we talked so much with her about it. In the first couple of weeks, between takes or between setups, we would take long walks around the block and just talk about what happened to her in the years previous and what Boro's story is. She's so collaborative and so amazing, and it was just really cool to work with her.
Lenore Zion: She also had quite a bit to do with her wardrobe. She went out and did a bunch of thrift shopping on her own, and a lot of the stuff she wears - if not all of it, actually - came from the wardrobe that she picked out for Boro. She's got a very clear vision she brings to the character.
Nick Antosca: When she first arrived on the ground, we just went over to her place, and she had brought all these amazing outfits from Miami. She showed us all the different cool things that Boro could wear, and a lot of that ended up in the show.
The book takes place in the 90s, so it's something of a period piece. How deliberate a choice was it to maintain that setting, thus cutting out FaceTime conversations, YouTube uploads, and Twitter wars like #RestoreTheLisaverse?
Nick Antosca: You just answered the question. We didn't want to have screens and TikTok or whatever. That makes it easier to be a filmmaker, right?
Also, Todd's book was inspired by horror movies that had come out around that time, in the 80s and 90s. When we were imagining what the show could be, we were watching a lot of movies from the 80s and 90s, so that influenced the feel and vision of what it was going to be. That was another reason we didn't update it to the present day.
Lisa's bisexuality is an important part of her character, and crucial to the plot as well. Were there any behind-the-scenes discussions about providing good representation while also making sure you're serving the story?
Nick Antosca: Sure, yeah. We talked a lot with Rosa about this. The character's bisexual in the book, so we wanted to make sure that we were representing it faithfully. We had queer writers in the writers' room, and we just had a lot of conversations about how to make sure that was treated well.
Lou Burke, the sleazy Hollywood producer, is objectively terrible. But at the same time, because of everything he has to go through, he comes across at times as almost sympathetic. How do you approach this character who deserves some punishment, but maybe not this particular punishment?
Lenore Zion: I think that we were excited to cast Eric [Lange] because, generally speaking, you feel like you like him. He's a likable guy. He's got charisma, and there's something about him that makes you want to see his perspective. And so, it felt like casting against type.
We needed Lou to be a human, and to have a sympathetic experience. Because otherwise, it just becomes very two-dimensional, and the story has less up. And so, I think that Eric's performance as Lou really helps enrich that entire storyline.
One of my favorite lines from the series was also in the trailer: "Are you sure you're the hero of this story?" It feels emblematic of not only Lisa but also the story as a whole. How do you handle the art of storytelling when your focal character's narrative is so biased?
Nick Antosca: Well, she's definitely the protagonist, right? She may not always be right, but we just felt it was so much more interesting to pose that question - although, obviously Lou isn't the hero.
But it's a story about Lisa's journey, and how the creative energy of an artist can get sidetracked and corrupted or hijacked. When he asks that question, hopefully the audience starts to ask, "Was it worth it? Is revenge worth it?" just as Lisa starts to ask it.
All 8 episodes of Brand New Cherry Flavor premiere August 13 on Netflix.