Michigan native Craig Silverstein's new drama,
set during the American War of Independence,
explores the origins of modern espionage., 'v

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Suzanne Chessler
Contributing Writer

adapted into intriguing viewing. After
reading the book, Silverstein agreed and
came up with a pitch based on it.
s political uprisings around the
"Turn brings the audience into a world
world fill national news reports,
they only thought they knew," Silverstein
uprisings from this country's
says. "I think viewers will see something
Revolutionary War times are about to fill a
different from what they may have learned
new series, Turn.
in school — an exciting, visceral and
The drama has been written and execu-
exotic time instead of an old, stodgy, flute-
tive produced by Craig Silverstein, who
and-drum time
grew up in Beverly Hills, Mich., and is
While the characters are true, the plot
looking forward to the series premiere at 9
does not represent an exact account of what
p.m. Sunday, April 6, on AMC.
happened. Still, the narrative does not break
The series' first 10-episode season cen-
with the larger elements of the war.
ters on farmer Abe Woodhull (Jamie Bell)
"Besides learning about the beginnings of
and tells about the origins of the Culper
espionage in America, audiences will learn
Ring, a team of agents serv-
about the attitudes of people
ing George Washington
living in the colonies,"
to turn the tide of the war
Silverstein says. "There's a
while ultimately establish-
lot more ambivalence than
ing the foundation for
might be expected. A lot of
modern espionage and
people just wanted to stay
intelligence.
out of war.
"I think this series espe-
"Politically, families were
cially will resonate with
divided house by house and
viewers as they [recognize
even within households.
that] language used during
It had more of a feeling of
the Revolutionary War is
a civil war than a scrappy,
being echoed in the upris-
indigenous popula-
tion fighting off a brutal
ings that have happened
Craig Silverst ein
recently:' says Silverstein in
oppressor"
a phone conversation from Virginia, where
Other actors in the series include Seth
series filming has been taking place.
Numrich as Ben Tallmadge, Heather
Lind as Anna Strong, Daniel Henshall
"The British referred to colonists as reb-
els and insurgents, and they expected the
as Caleb Brewster, Meegan Warner as
colonists living on British-occupied Long
Mary Woodhull, Kevin McNally as Judge
Island to greet them as liberators:'
Richard Woodhull and Burn Gorman as
Silverstein started projecting ideas for
Major Hewlett.
"This show is very different from others
the program in 2008 when he was working
on another series, Bones.
I've done in that it's based on a true story:'
Producer Barry Josephson had given
says Silverstein, 39. "I've been working in
him the book Washington's Spies by
make-believe very happily up until this
point.
Alexander Rose with the idea it could be

A

"It does follow the body of work I have in
terms of the theme of people who are trying
to figure out what the right thing is to do.
It's a difficult and complicated question:"
Silverstein — with a strong TV back-
ground that includes work on Terra Nova
and Nikita — has been pursuing the same
career goal since his youth when he and
friend Scott Selfon, a classmate at Groves
High School, experimented one sum-
mer by making a mockumentary filmed
around Birmingham.
After attending Michigan State
University, Silverstein transferred to the
University of Michigan to finish credits
toward his film degree.
"The most important class there was
taught by Jim Burnstein (writer of The
Mighty Ducks and Love and Honor),"
Silverstein says. "In his screenwriting
class, students had to write full, feature-
length scripts. I wrote two of those and
drove out to Los Angeles with them.
"One of them, after a while, gave me
my first shot working on a TV show, The
Invisible Man. That was my first profes-
sional break. I met a fantastic guy, David
Levinson, who created the show, and he
became my mentor.
"He gave me opportunities that a
writer starting out doesn't necessarily
get. He pushed me to cast and edit my
own shows, and by the end of the run, I
directed one of my own episodes."
Next was work on The Dead Zone and
a pilot for Warner Brothers, which did
not go forward but gave Silverstein cred-
ibility as a show creator.
Standoff became the first series he
created that made air time. It was about
hostage negotiators and starred Ron
Livingston and Rosemarie DeWitt.
"It was tough and fun," says

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Above: A scene from Turn, starring
Jamie Bell.

Silverstein, whose TV credits have
included creative responsibilities for The
Inside and K-Ville. "The stars met on the
show and got married, and I'm happy
about that:'
Silverstein met his wife, Laurie, while
they were film students at the University
of Michigan. Their relationship developed
while pursuing careers in California,
where she recently sold two pilots.
The couple, with three children,
enrolled their two school-age youngsters
in Jewish day school. The youngest was
born last year.
"The religious school is an interesting
experience for both my wife and me," he
says. "Although we both went to Hebrew
school, we also went to public schools:'
Carolyn and Barry Silverstein, now of
Franklin and parents of the TV careerist,
deepened Jewish observance in their
family through attendance at Temple
Emanu-El in Oak Park, where Craig was
a bar mitzvah.
As Silverstein researched the
Revolutionary War (1775-1783), he
learned about Haym Solomon, who
came from a Sephardic background and
helped with financial resources for the
Continental Army. Washington thanked
him personally.
"That's a character we'd like to
explore," says Silverstein, planning a
production break with time to teach
his son golf, a sport enjoyed by his dad
and grandfather. "Haym Solomon gets
involved later in the war, and we start
the series in 1776:'

❑

Turn premieres at 9 p.m. Sunday,
April 6, on AMC.

JN

April 3 • 2014

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