Joseph Finder, Author Of ‘Paranoia,’ Talks Film Adaptation And Edward Snowden, Bradley Manning [EXCLUSIVE]

Paranoia author Joseph Finder saw his 2004 novel about inter-corporation espionage get turned into a major film starring Liam Hemsworth, Gary Oldman and Harrison Ford. Discussing the process of seeing the thriller take shape on screen, Finder also weighed in on NSA hacker Edward Snowden in an exclusive interview with Uinterview.

The story of Paranoia follows low-level corporate employee Adam as he spies on a rival corporation, an idea that began to form for Finder after a conversation with a pal in the intelligence community. “A friend of mine who worked in the CIA who told me that there’s more espionage going on between corporations than between nations, and I said that could be a cool idea for a thriller,” Finder revealed.

Finder, though thrilled to see Paranoia come to life in a film, saw many things altered during the production process. Diplomatically, Finder doesn't gripe about the creative changes, but does admit that even if he had disagreed with something, he wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it.

“One of the screenwriters did talk to me about some of the plot’s points and some of the research and that was a good conversation — that was Berry Levy,” Finder told Uinterview. “Otherwise, I had no connection with the screenwriters, and nobody on the set asked for my advice. I mean I visited twice and I was a stranger.”

Something that both the book and film definitely have in common is the idea of spying – and whether or not the ends justify the means. When asked to weigh in on the Snowden case, Finder mused, “Well, my spin is that Edward Snowden should have stayed in the U.S. and faced the music if he wanted to be a whistle blower. If he was convinced of what he was actually doing, he should have made an appearance in court and made his point.” Citing a lack of corporate loyalty in the younger people of today, Finder doesn’t believe that Snowden and Bradley Manning, who recently announced she wanted to be known as Chelsea Manning, will be the last to expose confidential information under the guise of serving a greater good.

Paranoia, rated PG-13, is currently in wide release. Amber Heard, Lucas Till and Richard Dreyfuss also star.

– Chelsea Regan

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