Echoes of California Sound

In a cultural landscape saturated with retellings of the Manson era and true crime sensationalism, screenwriter Tina Kilberg offers a strikingly human alternative: Terry Melcher .. & More. Her upcoming series isn’t a retread of crimson-tinged headlines but a reclamation of voice and legacy, one that centers the often-overlooked music producer who helped shape the California Sound of the 1960s. Best known for being the son of Doris Day and, unfairly, for his proximity to tragedy, Melcher is finally getting a narrative that digs deeper than crime and consequence. Kilberg’s work reframes him not as a footnote in infamy, but as a pivotal figure in a cultural revolution, and invites us to reconsider how we write history, and who we write it for.

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What inspired you to write a series about Terry Melcher, and why do you think his story still resonates today?

Terry Melcher was a producer who helped define California Sound as we know it today—and yet his name rarely comes up unless it’s tied to true crime, the previous tenant at 10050 Cielo Drive, or the producer who turned down Charles Manson for a record deal. I was more or less drawn to the injustice of that. He shaped a generation’s music, but got reduced to a title that I don’t find very honorable or deserving. It’s very easy for legacy to be rewritten or forgotten altogether—this is the main theme that I’m interested in; as it still resonates today. This project is about giving Terry a voice he never got to fully use. I want to do everything I can to give him that recognition. I think people will eventually fall in love with him and his musical genius as much as I had when I first discovered him.

There are so many portrayals of the Manson era—how is ‘Terry Melcher .. & More’ different from what we’ve seen before?

Most depictions of that time obsess over crime, gore and shock value. I was never interested in that sort of thing. I want to reclaim the humanity that’s been buried underneath—if I can say such a thing—underneath the headlines. My screenplay has more of a character—driven narrative that focuses on the emotional toll of fame, how people have different ways of using and reaching it, the silence around public figures, but also the cultural heartbeat of 1960s Los Angeles and counterculture. It’s mostly centred around music and legacy, but I’m hoping that audiences will be able to tap in and eventually, come to their own conclusions about why they’ve been fed true crime for so long. I kind of want people to watch the series and take a step back and say,

‘Wow, a new recollection of historical events. A shapeshifter who made his contributions during the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival.. worked with Paul Revere & the Raiders, had dinners with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, cause he was the son of Doris Day! And yet, we never heard of him until now.'

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Your screenplay dives deep into the music scene of the ‘60s. What kind of research did you do to authentically portray that world?

My initial research varied from studying biographies and archival interviews to get a more introspective glimpse of the personas, musical history, but also licensing records given that it’s essentially a music biopic. To keep my vision alive I had to look into how virtual production and permits work today, because creating an authentic atmosphere onscreen about storylines that took place 60 years ago matters.

Who are you hoping to portray in the series?

I was initially interested in portraying Barbara Parkins, but eventually felt more connected to Peggy Lipton. Since I’ll have creative control, the easiest thing would be to issue a casting call asking for a 5’7’’, age range 20-30, blonde with long hair and audition a series of beautiful young girls, but Peggy had a lot of introspective depth and thoughtful qualities to her—and I was worried that a casting call focused so heavily on her appearance would overlook all these other aspects, particularly capturing introspective depth—so I’d rather challenge myself and honor who she truly was by going for it myself.

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Terry Melcher is often remembered in connection to Manson—but what are some of the most overlooked parts of his legacy that your script brings forward?

Image versus reality. The way legacy is shaped by media and how that doesn’t necessarily guarantee truth. I think there’s a fine line between the two. I want to explore how emotional repression and the cost of staying silent in the context of fame can be both a weapon and a burden.

Fame is a double-edged sword; a zero-sum game—where there’s a few wins for one person, there’s a series of losses and vengeance behind him from multiple people.

What are some themes in ‘Terry Melcher .. & More’ that you feel are especially relevant to audiences today?

I hope it starts a conversation about how media distorts legacy; the emotional costs of silence—especially when it’s concerning a public figure, but also how legacy is often built on who gets to tell the story, rather than the truth itself. When we look into people whose lives get cut short and are exploited for the next 50 to 100 years, it’s a rarity that we ever get to truly hear their own voices. How much do we really hear from a person when all we see is their death? The mismanagement of biopics is a big issue, if not a timeless theme explored constantly in today’s films, TV-shows and documentaries surrounding a public figure. I consider the battle between media and legacy to be urgently relevant in our culture today.

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You’ve also spoken about the limitations of true crime and sensationalism. How does your project avoid falling into that trap?

By prioritizing storylines around personas—and not crime. I don’t want to exploit violence. I’m more interested in exploring the climate in Los Angeles and how the 1969 crimes changed Hollywood forever. In a way, the city itself is a character.

I want people to feel like they’ve been transported to 1969 Los Angeles as much as I can through this cinematic portal—to walk the same streets, breathe the same air, and live through the same fear and uncertainty that haunted the end of that era. The goal isn’t shock; it’s understanding the truth—and sometimes getting to that truth is what holds the potential to create the ultimate shockwave of all.

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What’s the ultimate message or emotional takeaway you hope audiences will walk away with from ‘Terry Melcher .. & More’?

That forgotten legacies matter; but also that reframing a legacy takes time. And that being the first to tell it doesn’t always matter—being thoughtful does. One thing I’ve learned while writing the screenplay is that it’s never too late to reframe the narrative. I believe history should be told by those who care enough to listen—and brave enough to speak for those who couldn’t. This isn’t just about 1960s counterculture, but about reclaiming the voice of someone who helped redefine an entire generation. So my perspective evolved perhaps in the sense that this project became about more than just Terry—it became about who gets to tell history.

Actress Tina Kilberg

Photographer Charalampos Papis

Makeup Artist Andria Maria Grigoriou

Where Legacy Begins

‘Wow, a new recollection of historical events. A shapeshifter who made his contributions during the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival.. worked with Paul Revere & the Raiders, had dinners with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, cause he was the son of Doris Day! And yet, we never heard of him until now.'

Fame is a double-edged sword; a zero-sum game—where there’s a few wins for one person, there’s a series of losses and vengeance behind him from multiple people.

Gemmy Quelliz