September 14th, 2020 
Jackson Murphy 
A new chapter of the Jurassic era is born with the debut of animated series Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous this Friday September 18th on Netflix. Five-time Emmy-nominated executive producer and showrunner Scott Kreamer talks Dinos, Dominion and getting the Spielberg seal of approval.
Jackson Murphy: What was the initial inspiration for wanting to add an animated series to this franchise that’s been beloved by so many for several decades?
Scott Kreamer: Initially the idea was: we’ve always seen the kids in these films as the side characters in desperate need of rescue by Dr. Grant or Owen Grady or another adult. The idea behind this is: what if we put those kids front and center with no one to rescue themselves but each other?
JM: And you make it happen. One of the cool moments of the first episode is when you use the iconic John Williams music while the kids are ziplining above the dinosaurs.
SK: It’s everything. Jurassic without that score is just not the same. The first time I saw it, I got chills. It’s so important. It’s so iconic. It sets the tone for what we’re trying to achieve here with the entire series.
JM: And how much studying of the classic movies went into the animation and the visuals for the show?
SK: A lot – and not just that. As far as storytelling goes… as far as pacing. A lot of cartoons today move very fast and you’re trying to keep this new generation of kids engaged. We really wanted to sit in some of those moments and let them breathe. A lot of that comes from all the films. We were trying to take the cinematic approach to this, as well as the storytelling. We didn’t want to rush through things. We wanted to sit in Jurassic World… Jurassic Park… the feelings that gave us when we first saw the films.
JM: I agree that, in watching the first two episodes, you definitely take your time – especially in the second episode when the kids go to the lab and we see different aspects of that. I like the gradual nature of that because we want to learn what’s going on.
SK: Yeah. We really wanted to make sure we weren’t rushing through anything… if we want the audience to feel the joy or the laughter or the horror – whatever it may be.
Sean Giambrone as Ben Pincus; Ryan Potter as Kenji Kon; Jenna Ortega as Brooklynn; Kausar Mohammed as Yaz Fadoula; Paul-MikÈl Williams as Darius Bowman
JM: In thinking back to the first time you saw Jurassic Park, or even Jurassic World five years ago, were there things you remember and thinking, ‘I definitely want to incorporate this. I’ve always wanted to see this in the park”?
SK: Going back to Jurassic Park, who can forget the introduction to the T-Rex? And talk about taking your time. Wherever possible, the whole team definitely wanted to include [references] there. And when it comes to Jurassic World and knowing that our story is taking place along the same timeline, there’s some amazing stuff there and amazing thrills with the dinosaurs. We really poured over that film as far as weaving our story within it. So we weren’t breaking any continuity but yet we were coming upon some iconic things that took place in the film that we could interweave our characters into.
JM: Do you bring-in dino experts… to help you with all the details?
SK: Early on, the very brilliant writers and myself and our story editor – we went down to the Museum of Natural History and poured over the dinosaurs. DreamWorks also brought in people from the Natural History Museum here in Los Angeles, and they were showing the different ways that [dinos] act and move. We’ve done a lot of research. And we did start with the Industrial Light & Magic models of the dinosaurs, but those are so vast and such big files, we had to simplify them to work in a television pipeline. At the end of the day, a lot of research has gone in… to get involved and look at these dinosaurs as animals and not monsters.
Glen Powell as Dave a camp counselor; Jameela Jamil as Roxie a camp counselor
JM: Fans should appreciate that… and already (when the news came out about this series) were thrilled that Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall and Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow are all executive producers on this series. How was it working with them, and what value did they see in having this show be a part of the legacy?
SK: It’s an honor. We were very lucky to have their input. Colin, especially, has been super hands-on. He has been in our writer’s room a number of times. We’ve also talked to him virtually because he’s based in England. Whether it’s reading every outline script or looking at every design, Colin has really been hands-on the whole way through.
When Steven gave his blessing for the project, his only marching orders were, ‘Don’t do the kiddie version!’ We were very lucky to spend some time with him. Right before Quarantine hit, he came to DreamWorks and talked to everybody at the studio. And then we got about an hour with him just to walk him through what we’re doing. Getting his seal of approval and him asking great questions about the characters, as well as the production side, was fantastic. And also getting to spend time and the input of a legend like Frank Marshall, who also weighs in on our stories, it’s an embarrassment of riches. Nobody knows Jurassic like these guys do, but they’re also master storytellers. Not only did they bring that to it, but they also gave us the freedom and were very clear that they wanted us to tell the story that we wanted to tell.
JM: That’s great. Were there storylines, characters or any elements off-limits because of what’s happening with Jurassic World: Dominion, the new live-action movie?
SK: Another good thing to have Colin involved is that we were able to get a sneak preview of things that are happening in Dominion. There were certain things that we had in mind that were perhaps either stepping on something that was going to be coming, whether it was using a specific dinosaur or a specific storyline or specific characters. So yes, there were some constraints, but nothing crazy. We were able to pivot. But having Colin involved, who was writing the script for Dominion while we were producing this show, has been incredibly helpful.
JM: Has it honestly sunk in yet that you’re providing this new Jurassic World show not only for kids to enjoy but also adults who grew-up in the ’90s – who now, through this, get to relive their childhood?
SK: We definitely set-out to make a product that people of all ages could enjoy. We didn’t pull the punches on the scares. We tried to tell a story that everyone would enjoy. I’m ready for it to be out in the world. I’m excited about that. It’s been a long process. We put a lot of time – a lot of care – a lot of love into this. I’m ready for it to be out there, and fingers crossed that people end-up loving it as much as we do.
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