INTERVIEW: Blood & Treasure Series Creator Matthew Federman and Stephen Scaia

The CBS drama Blood & Treasure is coming to a close this week after a summer filled with plenty of action and adventure. We had so much fun watching Danny McNamara and Lexi Vaziri travel all over the globe – and the story travel back in time – in order to retrieve the much-sought-after sarcophagus of Cleopatra and stop an international terrorist. Excellent summer viewing!

NiceGirlsTV was given the opportunity to interview series creators Matthew Federman and Stephen Scaia about the inspiration behind the show and so much more.

Matthew Federman (left), cast members Sofia Pernas and Matt Bar, and Stephen Scaia (right)

Let’s check out what they had to share with us:

NGTV: What was the inspiration behind creating Blood & Treasure?

Matthew & Stephen: We’ve been obsessed with treasure hunter stories probably since we first saw Indiana Jones. This was our fifth attempt making one. The others all died at the pilot stage. What helped this one go forward was that we learned how ISIS was using looted antiquities to fund terrorism. So that became the inspiration for how to do this show differently and gave it real-life stakes.

Also, we both miss when our whole family would crowd around the TV and experience something together. We love the feedback we’re getting that it’s one of the few shows out there that people of all ages love to watch as a family.

NGTV: How involved were you in the casting process?

Matthew & Stephen: Very involved. In TV the writers become producers as they go up the chain and eventually the showrunner(s) makes the final decision on everything. In the case of casting that final decision is shared by the network and studio. When it goes well you bring them someone you love and they see what you see. Sometimes there are discussions and disagreements and together you refine what you’re looking for. In the end, we got a great cast that all of us were thrilled by. The thing that was most important was our Danny and Lexi. The show lives or dies on their chemistry, and with Matt Barr and Sofia Pernas, we got crazy lucky. Not only do they have off-the-charts chemistry but they’re individually great actors, have fantastic comedy chops, can do believable action (including many of their own stunts), and they’re both generally great people to work with.

NGTV: How did you approach John Larroquette and James Callis about recurring on the show?

Matthew & Stephen: Actually, they came to us! …via our US casting director, Liz Barnes. She’s fantastic, and the great and interesting main cast was all because of her. In addition to finding Matt and Sofia, she united us with old friends (we had worked with Michael Shaw on Limitless), gave us a chance to work with heroes of ours (nothing is quite as incredible as making a comedy legend like John Larroquette laugh), and helped us make amazing new ones (if you ever get the chance to travel the world with James Callis, we highly recommend it).

NGTV: Was there any part of the season one story that you weren’t able to include due to any kind of constraints?

Matthew & Stephen: We had a lot more flashbacks than what made the air which revealed more of the characters’ backstories. The flashbacks didn’t work for everybody for a number of reasons including pacing. So we pared back to just the ones we absolutely needed to tell the story.

NGTV: How much research was involved in the overall mystery about Cleopatra?

Matthew & Stephen: A lot of research in a lot of different time periods. Our rule is we don’t contradict known history, but there are many gaps in the historical record either lost to time or because things were done in secret. In those blank areas is where we play, though even then we are frequently using theories or conjecture still based in history. For instance, we put Antony and Cleopatra inside the pyramid because we wanted them to be somewhere intact and not ravaged by time, protected by a group. We took a leap to say there must be undiscovered areas still inside some of the pyramids. Sure enough, as we were making the show an article came out that they scanned the Giza pyramids and found a very large undiscovered chamber inside. Thankfully we got our first season out before anything else was reported about that hidden room.

NGTV: Did your work on Jericho and/or Warehouse 13 have any influence on Blood & Treasure?

Matthew & Stephen: Jericho was a great experience and taught us a lot for how to fuse a big premise with small, intimate moments so the characters don’t just feel like pieces moving around a chessboard. Warehouse 13 was the only procedural show we ever worked on, and while it’s not a straight-up procedural there was still a lot of thinking about following the path of something that would put you into dicey situations against characters that don’t want you to have it. Some of that thinking has gotten into the show.

NGTV: Can you tease anything for season 2 of the show?

Matthew & Stephen: New treasure, new adventure…this time going to Southeast Asia. Can’t say anything more than that for now.

NGTV: Are you working on any other projects between season 1 and season 2 of the show or will you be focusing only on Blood & Treasure?

Matthew & Stephen: Last season we had a year-and-a-half to write all the eps, shoot them, then edit them before we aired. This season, we’re doing it all in less than a year! So the entire process will be compressed. We’ll be in a sprint to get this show made and on the air for next summer. No time to waste!

The season finale of the debut season of Blood & Treasure will air on CBS on Tuesday, August 6 at 10/9c. Season 2 will roll out sometime next summer.