Category: SHOWRUNNER
Making an Offer
Showrunner Nikki Toscano tells DQ about making Paramount+ series The Offer, which dramatises the true story behind the making of The Godfather.
Moving Heaven and earth
Dustin Lance Black, creator and showrunner of Under the Banner of Heaven, discusses how this long-gestating project came to television, the influence of his own upbringing and why the show offers a new perspective on true crime.
High drama
SkyMed showrunner Julie Puckrin reveals the family connection behind this series about a group of medics serving isolated communities in Northern Canada, its themes of identity and the secret star of the show.
Bringing home Loot
Showrunners Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard tell DQ about reuniting with star Maya Rudolph for Apple TV+ comedy Loot, their love of workplace dramas and why they never stop writing.
Love laid bare
Dolly Alderton, whose career has taken her from columnist, agony aunt and podcaster to author and now television showrunner, tells DQ about adapting her own memoir, Everything I Know About Love, into a BBC drama.
Down to Earth
Writers and executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet tell DQ about their latest collaboration – updating Walter Tevis’s classic sci-fi novel The Man Who Fell to Earth – working with an all-star cast and why humour is the show’s secret weapon.
Adding fuel to the Fire
Filmmaker Rama Burshtein-Shai makes the move to TV with her debut series Fire Dance. She tells DQ how the series explores the theme of forbidden love between a troubled young woman and a married man.
Arriving at Station Eleven
Patrick Somerville, showrunner of HBO Max drama Station Eleven, looks back on the making of this post-apocalyptic series set both before and 20 years after a devastating pandemic sweeps around the world.
Ticket to Valhalla
Die Hard screenwriter Jeb Stuart speaks to DQ about creating his epic Vikings: Valhalla for Netflix: “They didn’t come to me to remake The Tudors.”
Fresh drama
Will Smith’s iconic 90s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air gets a dramatic makeover in Peacock series Bel-Air. Showrunners TJ Brady and Rasheed Newson reveal how the story got flipped-turned upside down.
Express delivery
Spanish showrunner Iván Escobar has reunited with Vis a Vis star Maggie Civantos for Express, a crime thriller about a psychologist who falls victim to a new form of kidnapping. He speaks to DQ about the origins of the series and the growing popularity of Spanish drama around the world.
Keeping it in the family
Showrunner Peter McKenna looks back on making his Dublin-set crime family drama Kin and assesses the new confidence of Irish television storytelling.
Sensation and scandal
Faking Hitler showrunner Tommy Wosch reveals why he was inspired to dramatise this true story of events surrounding the publication of Adolf Hitler’s supposed diaries, which were revealed as forgeries.
Hate mail
Showrunners Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson tell DQ about making The Hot Zone: Anthrax, National Geographic’s scientific thriller that dramatises how the US was rocked by an anthrax attack just weeks after 9/11.
Guilty pleasure
Rebecca Addelman reveals how a true crime podcast inspired her Paramount+ dark comedy drama Guilty Party, in which a discredited reporter picks up the story of a mother who claims she has been wrongly sentenced to life in prison.
All in the Family
BMF showrunner Randy Huggins reveals how he dramatised the true story of Black Mafia Family, one of the most influential crime organisations in the US, set against the dazzling backdrop of 1980s Detroit.
Chapel of horrors
Showrunners Jason and Peter Filardi take DQ on a journey to Chapelwaite, their adaptation of Stephen King’s Jerusalem’s Lot, and reveal how they transformed the horror legend’s short story into a 10-hour series.
Dolled up
Creator Steven Conrad introduces DQ to Ultra City Smiths, a murder-mystery drama that blends film noir and comedy with music and dance, all using stop-motion-animated baby dolls.
Lost and found
Showrunning partners Dan Dworkin and Jay Beattie recall the journey to bring to the small screen Dan Brown’s thrilling novel The Lost Symbol, in which symbologist Robert Langdon races against time to prevent global catastrophe.
Night at L’Opera
Cécile Ducrocq, creator and showrunner of French drama L’Opéra, tells DQ why she wanted to take viewers into the world of ballet for this series about ambition, corruption and second chances.