Matt Nix is the Creator of the hit spy series on USA Network, Burn Notice. Mr. Nix graciously agreed to an interview with Suite 101 where he an talked about the spy thriller, and the characters Michael Weston (Jeffrey Donovan), Sam (Bruce Campbell), Fiona (Gabirelle Anwar) and Madeleine (Sharon Gless).
Burn Notice returns with seven new episodes on January 22, 2009, for Season 2.5. The season premiere is "Do No Harm."
Why is Burn Notice Filmed in Miami?
Suite 101 asked Matt Nix how they happened to choose Miami as the place that burned spy Michael Weston gets trapped in. Miami is one of the most glamourous places in the world, but the spy hates being there. Matt Nix stated that originally he had Newark, New Jersey in mind, but USA wanted the story to take place in a sunny locale. Here is his complete statement:
Matt Nix
"Well, I’ve told this story on other occasions, but the short version is basically I had the brilliant idea of putting it in Newark, and basically because I was sort of picking a city randomly, I thought, oh, you know, I’m exploring the psyche of this guy, and he came from this kind of dark place, and that’s what led him to be a spy, and so, you know, it felt like kind of a natural choice to have him come from this sort of gritty place where he was – you know, the mean streets of Newark, and then that led into a life as a spy.
Then, as I was developing the show, USA kept pointing out that A) they don’t really do things set in Newark. They’re kind of a blue sky network, and that's not their thing, and B) they kept observing that the thing they really liked about the show was that it was funny, and they were sort of like, we like that part, you know. Can you do more of that? And I was very resistant to it.
But then, ultimately, they said we’d really like the show to be set someplace sunny like Miami. And then I kind of sat down, and at first I was very resistant to it. Then I thought, well, you know, I’m going to give this a shot. And what I discovered when I actually did it was that I had kind of been setting out, you know, writing the Newark version was kind of writing the fish in water story. You know, it makes sense. He’s a fish. He’s in water, you know. But taking that fish out of the water and putting this sort of gritty, dark spy in Miami allowed for ultimately a lot bigger contrast, a lot more fun.
You know, my question to the network was just, hey, like, I’ll put it in Miami, but does he have to like being there? You know, can I make him a guy who doesn’t want to be in Miami? They said sure, whatever, you know, that sounds great. Whatever works for you, and make it fun for you creatively, and I did. And ultimately I was really glad that we set it in Miami because it allows us to explore a lot of these themes, but do it on a beach, and do it against a bright background, and I think it makes it sort of fun and keeps us from taking ourselves too seriously, so it turned out to be a central part of the show, and I do find myself in the odd position though for a writer to be, you know, thanking my lucky stars that I got that network note. But I do."
Cast and Production of Burn Notice
- Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Westen
- Gabrielle Anwar as Fiona
- Bruce Campbell as Sam
- Sharon Gless as Madeline
- Tricia Helfer as Carla
- Matt Nix Creator, Executive Producer and Writer
- Mikkel Bondesen, Executive Producer
- Jeff Freilich, Executive Producer
Burn Notice airs on USA Network AT 10 PM Eastern on Thursday nights. New episodes start on January 22, 2009
Review of Burn Notice 2.5 Premiere Do No Harm
Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly on Burn Notice
