MovieWeb recently spoke to television writer Sherman Payne during the lead-up to the release of Emperor of Ocean Park, a new conspiracy thriller series he created that is now streaming on MGM+. Payne was previously a writer and story editor on Legacies, which fans know is part of The Vampire Diaries universe. Since creator Julie Plec recently said she wants to further expand the universe, we were curious if Payne would ever want to return to the franchise and play a part in said expansion.
“I love Julie and I think she is a fantastic writer, and I think that she is a fantastic producer,” Payne told MovieWeb. “I mean, how lucky am I that I got to work with Julie Plec and then also go work with John Wells [on Shameless]. Those are the people who taught me how to showrun.”
He went on to add:
“But [Julie] has created a universe with
The Vampire Diaries
that I think could support plenty more spinoffs. I mean, it’s just such a rich lore, and she really understands what her fans need from those kinds of shows. I mean, she understands it in her bones. And so with her behind it, or like sort of overseeing it,
I think it could go on forever. And you know, if Julie ever wants to hit me up, if we want to do
Vampire Diaries
the Black version, [then] alright
.”
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Meanwhile, Forest Whitaker Stars in Sherman Payne’s New Show
More recently, Payne is the showrunner of Emperor of Ocean Park, a thrilling new legal series that offers plenty of twists and turns tied to its titular judge character, played to perfection by Oscar winner Forest Whitaker. Says Payne about the iconic performer, “He’s just a cool guy. That humility is really there. He wants to know that he’s doing a good job. He really cares about the work. He is not a legend who comes to work to phone it in. He really wanted to bring his A-game every single time, and he cared what [director] Damian [Marcano] and I thought about his performance.”
Payne continues:
“That’s what you really want in a collaborator from a fan’s standpoint. And I’ve mentioned this before, you know, I love his films, I grew up on his films. When we were creating a list of people who could potentially be in the age range and the right sort of caliber to play the judge, his name was at the top of every list with a bullet.
So the fact that he agreed to do it, and that he worked so hard to get it right, you know, [it was] a really, really great experience with him
.”
Emperor of Ocean Park is now streaming on MGM+. Watch our interview with the showrunner and Damian Marcano below: