Burn the Negative

Burn the Negative

From Sound, Light & Frequency by iHeartPodcasts

May 21, 2026 · 57 min · Season 1 · Episode 14

About this episode

Bryce Zabel and Brent Friedman reveal a long-hidden Hollywood story about the making of their series Dark Skies amidst corporate pressures and UFO mythology.

This week on  Sound, Light & Frequency , Bryce Zabel and Brent Friedman finally open the file on a Hollywood story they have kept private and closely guarded for nearly three decades. It begins during the making of  Dark Skies , their NBC alien-invasion series, at the exact moment when their dream job became a corporate pressure cooker. What followed was not just a normal network/studio battle over notes, wardrobe, or story points. It was a behind-the-scenes collision between UFO mythology, Hollywood power, franchise ambition, and two writers trying to protect the creative heart of their own series while realizing that forces far larger than they were had suddenly taken an interest. For years, Bryce and Brent stayed quiet because the stakes were real, the players were powerful, and the consequences could have ended more than a television show. Now, as part of their commitment to tell the full  Sound, Light & Frequency  story with transparency, they lay out what happened chronologically, carefully, and with the receipts they still have. It’s inside-Hollywood drama at its strangest: aliens, secrecy, studio politics, men in black, and a story so…

People in this episode

Hosts: Bryce Zabel, Brent Friedman

Topics covered

  • Hollywood
  • UFO mythology
  • studio politics
  • creative integrity
  • alien invasion
  • behind-the-scenes

Keywords

  • Hollywood
  • Dark Skies
  • UFO
  • studio politics
  • creative integrity
  • alien invasion
  • Bryce Zabel
  • Brent Friedman

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NBC

Books & works: Dark Skies

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