Writer/Director/Producer J. J. Abrams

HollywoodReporter.com has recently published an interview it conducted with director/writer/producer J. J. Abrams, the director of this year’s Star Trek remake. The film made almost $400 million worldwide, and has made Abrams’ name bigger than ever.

The interview itself is short and unfocused, which probably means that is was held over the phone when Abrams had some free time during his very busy schedule. Being that the movie was released May 8th the interview isn’t very timely, but with fans it is usually the case that good exposure is never too late.

The interviewer, Jay Fernandez, asks a short line of questions that don’t seem to be searching for elaborate answers. Being that there was a probable time-crunch this is somewhat understandable, however the simplicity of the questions (as is almost always the case) leads to answers that aren’t all that illuminating. One example is the very first question, “Was there any part of making Star Trek that felt personal?” The wording of this particular question asks for a very broad response because A) it’s relatively common knowledge that directors typically invest their personal feelings into a project at least somewhat (hopefully more than just a little), and B) because of this the general answer of “yes” is already known before the question was even asked. Abrams, as well as most interviewees, know all this at least subconsciously and respond accordingly by replying “yes,” followed by a short list of summarized examples. Knowing that Abrams was sure to say “yes,” the question should have been phrased in way that asked for particulars, such as “What facet of the film did you have the most personal connection with and why?”

I fault Fernandez only slightly, as a lack of time will always keep an interview and its questions from being as interesting as possible. However, that being the case it would behoove him to ask better questions so as to take better advantage of the short amount of time.

Just a thought.