Development officially began in 2009, when TNT announced that it had ordered to pilot an untitled alien invasion project. "Falling Skies" was created by Robert Rodat, who is best known for writing the Oscar-winning film "Saving Private Ryan", which was directed by Steven Spielberg. Rodat wrote the pilot episode from an idea which was co-conceived by Spielberg. Originally, "Falling Skies" was called "Concord", referencing the Battles of Lexington and Concord and Tom Mason's profession as a former History Professor. Spielberg then came up with the title "Falling Skies". "I felt that this was a very interesting postapocalyptic story with a 21st century [spin on the] spirit of '76. I came up — out of the blue one day — with the name Falling Skies, which is basically what happens to the planet after this invasion. What is unique about this particular series is that the story starts after a successful conquest of the world," he stated. What attracted Spielberg to the project was the story of survival. "I've always been interested in how we survive and how resourceful we are as Americans. How would the survivors feed the children? How do they resupply themselves militarily in order to defend and even take back what they have lost?" he added. Like much of Spielberg's work, such as "The Pacific" and "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial", "Falling Skies"' running theme is family and brotherhood. He said of this "It's a theme I harken back to a lot because it's something I believe in. It's something I have the closest experience with. [Laughs] They say write what you know, and with seven children and three sisters... I tend to always come back to the family as a touchstone for audiences to get into these rather bizarre stories."