After years of waiting, Greek-American producer Laeta Kalogridis’ dream has come true. The latest science fiction TV series “Altered Carbon” aired on Netflix last week, based on a 2002 novel with the same name, which reportedly cost $6-7 million per episode.
Kalogridis optioned to make the book come alive 15 years ago, and the outcome has worked in her favour. The talented producer is known for her productions including her role as executive producer on James Cameron’s “Avatar”, “Shutter Island”, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and “Alexander”, with Colin Farell, Angelina Jolie, and Anthony Hopkins.
In the world of Altered Carbon, human consciousness can be downloaded onto “stacks”, a piece of metal stored at the base of the skull, which can then be transferred into new bodies, known as “sleeves”. And while most people can afford a new sleeve at the end of their lifespan, only the very rich can afford to continually switch and avoid the entire aging process.
Kalogridis noted that this was the most important takeaway for her from the book. “[The] widening gap, between those who have and those who don’t,” she said. “What I regard as the corrosive quality of that. Maybe this comes out of being Greek; it is a deeply anti-democratic thing to have a few people who own everything and everybody else being underneath it. It’s bad for human society.”
Personally, the creator and the writer feels that “it is a very, very bad thing for anyone” to live forever. “I’m interested in not taxing the planet, [and death] is the greatest safeguard we have been given against the worst parts of our selves,” she told media.
Netflix’s Altered Carbon, with a first season of 10 episodes, aired on February 2nd on Netflix and Kalogridis is also currently working on two new films for 2018.
