“Lost” executive producer Carlton Cuse will be visiting Windward on April 28.

Editor’s Note: This event will not be live streamed to the Windward community as previously announced. This event is by RSVP only.

By Gina Segall ‘12
Staff Writer

Carlton Cuse, executive producer and writer of the hit TV series “Lost,” will be visiting Windward School on April 28 at 7 p.m. for its second installment of the Windward Salon Series, where he will discuss with Windward faculty member David Boxer the art of storytelling and writing.

“I think in storytelling we convey the essence of the human experience,” Cuse said. His appearance at Windward is especially timely because “Lost” will wrap up its final season in May. The show, created by J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof and Jeffrey Lieber, has been on ABC since 2004 and will complete the series with its sixth season. The show follows a group of plane-crash survivors on a tropical island and employs a nontraditional story structure, utilizing flashes into the past and future.

“My partner Damon (Lindelof) and I have tried to ignore a lot of the traditional rules of drama storytelling as it pertains to television,” said Cuse.

The evening’s host and moderator, David Boxer, is collecting “favorite stories” from Windward community members that he will give to Cuse before the evening. Boxer said Cuse is interested in how “we as people actually tell stories, disjointedly, jumping around in time.”

This unpredictability might be one of the reasons for the show’s success. Also, Cuse will focus on the storytelling aspect of “Lost” rather than directly discussing the final episodes.

Cuse will be addressing students during his visit to Windward. He said his advice to aspiring high-school age writers or producers is “to watch a lot of movies, to immerse yourself in whatever narrative form you want to pursue.”

Cuse said that it might be surprising to hear that writing on “Lost,” normally a serious and dramatic show, is actually very enjoyable and funny. “I would say my favorite part of every day is the time I spend in the writers’ room,” he said. “I think as a writer you draw on everything you know.” Cuse also has executive produced other TV shows such as “Martial Law,” “Nash Bridges” and “The Adventures of Briscoe County Jr.”

The Windward Salon Series is a new lecture series that brings to the Windward campus a variety of thought-provoking guest speakers on subjects relating to history, art, science, literature, media and other topics. The series aims to give Windward parents and interested faculty and students the chance to hear from notable experts in their fields in the intimate setting of the new Center for Teaching & Learning.

The goal is also to create an opportunity for the school community to discover the possibility of lifelong learning where speakers engage with the audience in conversation and dialogue. Each event hosts a guest speaker who discusses his or her specialty. The first event was a successful evening with installation artist Lauren Bon.

The Windward Salon Series, Carlton Cuse in Conversation with David Boxer, Wednesday, April 28, 7 p.m., CTL.