Head to Colombia. After being particularly interested in the war in Iraq and the hunt for the number one al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, in Minesweeper then in Zero Dark Thirty by Kathryn Bigelow, the two-time Oscar-winning American screenwriter Mark Boal explores with Echo 3 relations, more complex than it seems, between the United States and Latin America. “I think that this geopolitical situation needs more attention, because it is not sufficiently exploited by our media which often privilege European and Russian news”, explains the screenwriter, producer and now director of the series. According to him, his country’s discreet economic involvement with its southern neighbors is all the more fascinating as it proves to be fertile ground for writing and creation.
Echo 3 thus leads the public to the border between Colombia and Venezuela, at the heart of a conspiracy and a secret war, in the footsteps of Amber Chesborough, played by Jessica Ann Collins, a renowned scientist specializing in the study psychedelic drugs and at the same time a secret agent for the CIA. In the middle of her expedition, however, she will be kidnapped after a tactical device is discovered hidden in her personal belongings… Without any news of her, her brother, Bambi (Luke Evans), and her husband, Prince (Michiel Huisman), also best friends and former soldiers, will then move heaven and earth to try to find her, safe and sound.
If it is an original fiction, the story imagined by Mark Boal for his series is indeed rooted in the real world, the one where the United States has every interest in ensuring its presence in Colombia and throughout the world. ‘South America. Drawing on his years of experience in journalism, the filmmaker therefore makes it a point of honor to remain faithful and authentic to the current political environment.
“I always wonder what would happen in real life if real people were faced with a situation similar to the one in my script,” he explains. To do this, he devotes a major part of the time allocated to the development of his projects to doing his own research, like a report. “For example, I met people who found themselves in very delicate positions, survivors and victims of kidnapping, like Amber Chesborough,” confides the filmmaker.
Tensions and paradoxes
“I love when my characters are trapped in difficult and complicated situations. It is at this moment that one can reach raw emotions due to the intense circumstances”, continues Mark Boal. For Jessica Ann Collins, interpreting the human drama that Amber Chesborough is experiencing has, in fact, not been a long calm river. “The hardest part of filming for me was dealing with Amber’s mortality. It was as exhausting physically as it was psychologically and emotionally,” recalls the actress, who had to juggle experiences in front of the camera that were both traumatic and benevolent.
“What I love about Amber Chesborough is that she is passionate about consciousness expansion and psychedelia and working for the CIA at the same time. His intellectual curiosity pleases me a lot,” says Mark Boal. Like its protagonist, Echo 3 is a series of fiction punctuated with contradictions and ambivalence. “The storyline evolves as Amber, Prince and Bambi, among others, reveal new sides of themselves. I believe that circumstances lead my characters to mobilize different qualities, and vice versa,” he explains.
Going from writing a film to a series of ten episodes was finally “a huge opportunity” for the filmmaker. “I was able to take the time necessary to develop the story in general and bring more depth to it,” concludes Mark Boal, who compares the exercise toEcho 3 to that of a daily press journalist who would become a novelist. “It’s not a decision to be taken lightly,” he jokes.