NBC Press Day: Syfy's Haven

NBC Universal kicked off their summer press day with a panel for Syfy's upcoming series Haven, which launches in July and is based on Stephen King's novella "The Colorado Kid."

"It felt like a good companion to Eureka... but from a different perspective," said Syfy's Mark Stern of the upcoming series, which is executive produced by Scott Shepherd, Lloyd Segan, and Shawn Piller. "Haven is like the Stephen King alternative to [Eureka], not the dark, grim Steven King version of that but the 'Green Mile' version of that with people beginning to experience strange supernatural abilities but not being aware of it."

Emily Rose plays FBI Agent Audrey Parker who finds herself investigating a series of unusual phenomena in the small town of Haven, Maine.

"They've created this small, interesting town that like a magnet has drawn Audrey to it," said Rose. "This character that has a lot of things that she's trying to figure out about herself and she comes to Haven, where these people are trying to deal with all of these things on their own."

Those things would be the inexplicable emergence of supernatural abilities among the townspeople of this small sleepy town, as Audrey finds herself enmeshed in a bit of a love triangle between her new partner, local cop Nathan Wuornos (Lucas Bryant) and Duke Crocker (Eric Balfour).

"I'm really excited to be playing this part," said Rose. It's so rare to find a really well-written female lead... Audrey is an orphan and is literally trying to [solve] this mystery of her family. What's so great about playing a female lead, especially in law enforcement, is that these women really do exist and they're fascinating."

Rose said that the chasm between Audrey's investigation skills and her inherent female nurturing is "an important duality to the character."

Stern said that the series was originally called Sanctuary... but was a problem for us because we already have a show called Sanctuary.

Filming in Nova Scotia in small lobster fishing town. with one restaurant and one post office. ("eye candy")

Stern says that Haven will look unlike any other show on the air right now. "It's real Maine," said Stern, catching himself. "It's Nova Scotia doubling for Maine but it's a closer doubling."

The series will offer a mix of procedural and serialized elements. "There will be weekly stories," said Rose, "but [also] a deeper arc of Audrey's backstory."

King's "The Colorado Kid" provides a spine for the series and the writers have incorporated the story into the franchise. "The bones of 'The Colorado Kid' are buried in this franchise," said Stern.

King has given his blessing to the project, said Stern, and he's being kept in the loop but he's not involved in the day-to-day mechanics of the series.

The series is "gearing more towards the extraordinary rather than the disgusting or the horror--though there will be some horror in it," said Stern.

Haven premieres July 9th on Syfy.