Category: SHOWRUNNER
Titans of Industry
Industry showrunners Mickey Down and Konrad Kay reflect on the unique journey behind making the HBO financial drama, reveal how they evolved from students to showrunners, and offer their advice to aspiring creatives.
Wellness gone sour
Apple Cider Vinegar tells the ‘true-ish’ story of an Australian wellness influencer who claimed to have cured her terminal brain cancer. Showrunner Samantha Strauss discusses her interest in bringing it to the screen and working with star Kaitlyn Dever.
Starting a Riot
Happy Valley creator Sally Wainwright previews her upcoming BBC and BritBox music drama Riot Women, discusses how it was influenced by her personal experiences and explains why she now recommends singing as a way to build bonds between cast members.
Devlin in the detail
Sci-fi writer and producer supremo Dean Devlin previews his upcoming fantasy series The Librarians: The Next Chapter, offers his advice to aspiring writers and explains why he believes escapist entertainment should get more recognition.
Sticky situation
Brian Donovan and Ed Herro, co-creators and showrunners behind Prime Video’s maple syrup heist series The Sticky, discuss walking the line between comedy and drama, working with Blumhouse and Jamie Lee Curtis and living in fear that someone would beat them to dramatising the real-life robbery.
Modernising Matlock
Matlock is returning to television, but this new version is more than a gender-flipped reboot. Creator Jennie Snyder Urman discusses her ambition behind the legal drama, partnering with star Kathy Bates and the “unimaginable” task of being a showrunner.
Time after time
The Inbetweeners co-creator Iain Morris tells DQ about reimagining Terry Gilliam’s 1981 fantasy adventure Time Bandits for Apple TV+, his partnership with co-creators Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, and acting with Lisa Kudrow.
Serpent’s tale
Revolutionary Road screenwriter Justin Haythe discusses his move into television as the showrunner of Samantha Morton-led historical drama The Serpent Queen, why Catherine de Medici is “infinitely interesting” and becoming a director.
Up all Night
Night Therapy writer Raanan Caspi talks about his decade-long journey to make his first television series, why it stands up as the next evolution of Israeli hit BeTipul (In Treatment) and why AI won’t replace screenwriters.
Life lessons
Spanish drama Nos vemos en otra vida (See You in Another Life) dramatises the true story of how a teenager became involved in a terrorist attack on Madrid in 2004. Creators Alberto and Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo explain how they approached making the fact-based series 20 years later.
Marbella vice
Following their success with La Unidad (The Unit), Dani de la Torre and Alberto Marini take DQ inside their new Spanish crime drama Marbella, which dramatises a true story set in the murky underworld of the titular town – a popular tourist spot that has also been described as the UN of organised crime.
Apocalypse soon
Best known for working on Rick & Morty, Dan Guterman’s first original series is a more melancholic affair as one woman faces up to the end of the world and her place in it. He tells DQ about making Carol & the End of the World and why he wants to surprise people with this animated dramedy.
Jean therapy
Stanislavs Tokalovs and Teodora Markova, showrunners of Latvian comedy-drama Padomju džinsi (Soviet Jeans), discuss crossing borders with comedy for this story of a rock music fan who starts an illegal clothing line inside a psychiatric hospital.
Fading force
Déjate Ver (Show Yourself) writer and director Álvaro Carmona takes DQ inside the making of this idiosyncratic dramedy, in which the protagonist begins to disappear, forcing her to reconnect with a world she doesn’t quite understand.
Family misfortunes
Tout va bien (Everything is Fine) creator Camille de Castelnau tells DQ about stepping into the showrunning hot seat for the first time on her own series, which follows a family dealing with the fallout from a devastating medical diagnosis.
Getting to know Elsbeth
The Good Fight attorney Elsbeth Tascioni gets her own series in CBS crime drama Elsbeth. Showrunner Jonathan Tolins breaks down the origins of the show, his relationship with the character and the evergreen comfort of the murder-mystery genre.
Uncharted waters
Finland’s Miikko Oikkonnen offers DQ an insight into his career and his writing process before discussing his approach to dramatising a real-life ferry disaster in factual drama Estonia.
Tracing Descendants
Icelandic series Descendants marks the showrunning debut of actor, writer and director Tinna Hrafnsdóttir. She tells DQ about the dysfunctional family drama and why she wants to create connections with the audience.
In the driving seat
Showrunner Eugen Tunik tells DQ how he wanted to look at the Ukraine war from a new angle with In Her Car, in which a therapist takes her clinic on the road to help a number of characters in distress.
Catering for demand
Mrs Sidhu Investigates introduces Meera Syal’s high-end caterer with a side gig in solving crimes. Creator and writer Suk Pannu tells DQ how he brought the radio drama to Acorn TV and why cosy murder mysteries are back in fashion.