Westworld’s Production Designer Breaks Down Season 2

Production designer Howard Cummings’s thirty year career has encompassed an incredible range of varied and stylized work: from the fantastical designs showcased in Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightening Thief, to the grounded realism seen in such films as Francis Coppola’s The Rainmaker, to the expressive realism seen in his 20 year stint working with director Steven Soderbergh on movies like The Underneath,

HBO Orders Game of Thrones Pilot Featuring White Walker Origin Story

If you are a history buff and Game of Thrones fan, then the upcoming franchise spinoff is for you. HBO is developing a Game of Thrones prequel set millennia before the Mad King went on the bloody rampage that sparked the original series. The cable network has been juggling ideas, and it seems like they have settled on a dark tale featuring the characters that most keep us up at night.

FX Renews Donald Glover’s Atlanta for Third Season

FX has ordered another season of Donald Glover’s award-winning, mind-bending comedy Atlanta. This series has been a hit for FX, both critically and commercially. Atlanta has won Emmys, Golden Globes, an AFI Award and a Peabody, to name a few of the accolades the show’s piled up. For the uninitiated, Atlanta follows Earn (Glover) and his cousin Al (Brian Tyree Henry) as they attempt to make it in Atlanta’s competitive rap world.

How the VFX Team of The Looming Tower Recreated Pre-9/11 New York

Nearly every American over the age of 25 remembers the horrific day of the September 11 attacks. Images of that day are tragically familiar. The events were so meaningful and are so well known that VFX artists on Hulu’s The Looming Tower took deliberate care to vigilantly recreate pre-9/11 New York. The series, starring Peter Sarsgaard, Jeff Daniels, Tahar Rahim, and Wrenn Schmidt, explores the tense relationship between the FBI and CIA that obstructed vital intelligence about the impending attacks.

BBC America’s President Sarah Barnett On How Killing Eve Slayed In Its Debut Season

After viewing the pilot of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s bleakly comedic series Fleabag a few years ago, both Sarah Barnett, president and general manager of BBC America, and Nena Rodrigue, the network’s executive vice president of original programming, acquisitions and production, were “fan-girling over Phoebe,” as Barnett puts it, drawn to her distinct point of view and wit. “We totally fell in love with Phoebe’s voice.”

They wanted to work with her, and soon enough,

David Fincher Shot 75 Takes of a Single Mindhunter Scene

The brilliant mind of director David Fincher is probably full of every tip and trick available to the contemporary filmmaker, but nothing beats good-old-fashioned perfectionism. Which, for the man behind Netflix’s crime series Mindhunter, means shooting a nine-and-a-half minute scene several times. Well, more than several times. Seventy-five times. In a single day.

That’s about twelve hours, not including the single break the crew took for lunch and the time Fincher took to share with his actors the laborious notes he scribbled during each take.

First-Time Showrunner Breaks Down his Dark hit Series The Sinner

Derek Simonds had been toiling on the periphery of show business since 2001, when his indie film Seven and a Match toured the festival circuit, but progress proved fitful. He developed Call Me By Your Name, penned some TV pilots and worked as a story editor on ABC drama The Astronaut Wives Club, but, Simonds says, “I was still banging on doors to be heard.”

Writer/Director Veena Sud on her Timely Netflix Drama Seven Seconds

A young detective, frantic because he cannot reach his pregnant wife, is driving through the snow, trying to reach her on his cell. He hears a sickening thud, but does not realize what he has hit – who he has hit – until he gets out of the car and sees the mangled bike under his wheel. A black teenage boy named Brent Butler was riding that bik,e and the cop is white.

When his colleagues arrive,

Joy Nash on her Breakout Role as Plum Kettle in Dietland

At one point in the two hour premiere of AMC’s latest drama, Dietland, Margaret Atwood’s most famous quote is uttered by main character Plum Kettle: “Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.” Other than being a perfect encapsulation of our current times, it’s also a sentiment that can anchor the stickily interesting Dietland, based on the novel by Sarai Walker and brought to AMC by TV veteran Marti Noxon.

Black Mirror’s VFX Supervisor on the Haunting Episode “USS Callister”

Each episode of Black Mirror is designed to be memorable in its own way, but none so far have spun what appears at first to be a mere goofy period romp into an emotionally complex depiction of covert malevolence quite like the feature-length opener of the show’s fourth season, USS Callister. Brilliant but overlooked Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons, once the beloved Landry of Friday Night Lights) is the creator behind an online gaming world for which his savvier,

The Middle May Score a Spin-Off Starring Sue Heck

Last week we said goodbye to one of our favorite TV families, the Hecks. We had no idea what we would do without them, but now we may not have to find out. Who could be more appropriate to carry on the legacy of The Middle than the middle Heck child? Series standout Eden Sher as Sue Heck is reportedly in talks for a spinoff at ABC.

Deadline is reporting that The Middle creators Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline are in talks with ABC and Warner Bros.

A Major Shift is Coming to The Walking Dead Next Season

There have been a lot of shocking goodbyes on The Walking Dead: Beth getting shot, Negan’s brutal slaying of Glenn and Abraham, the bite that took down Carl. However, the most surprising death might be one we haven’t seen yet. Deadline reports that series star Andrew Lincoln plans to depart the show after season 9.

Rick Grimes has led the crew through all the brutalities that come with a zombie apocalypse,

Queen Sugar Showrunner Kat Candler Leads the Charge for Ava DuVernay’s Game Changing Show

It’s no exaggeration to say that Queen Sugar, the popular OWN series, is changing television. From the beginning, creator Ava DuVernay committed to hiring only female directors, which has led to a number of other shows seeking women for their roster of directors and other below-the-line roles. This season, writer/director/producer Kat Candler has been given the challenge of maintaining this great forward momentum for women working behind the camera,

Costume Designer Ann Foley on Creating the Cyberpunk Aesthetic of Altered Carbon

Netflix’s original cyberpunk drama, Altered Carbon, has become as known for the multifarious aesthetics it draws on — from Blade Runner to the works of Edgar Allan Poe — as it has for its philosophical leanings. Based on the novel of the same name by Richard K. Morgan, the show’s premise is that 300 years from now, the body is a mere “sleeve.” The mind, one’s true self,

How The Voice Production Design Inspires Musical Creativity

Tonight, Spensha Baker, Britton Buchanan, Brynn Cartelli or Kyla Jade will be crowned the newest winner of The Voice. Whether you’re Team Blake, Team Alicia, Team Kelly, or even Team Adam, The Voice is always an inviting place to spend time every week. The talent is astonishing, the rivalry is riotous, and the environment is electric. Production designer James Pearse Connelly is responsible for transforming a singing competition into a glamorous music haven where dreams are born.

Writer/Director Ramin Bahrani on the Spooky Timeliness of his Fahrenheit 451 Adaptation for HBO

We’re living in times that are increasingly concerning. Okay, that’s a massive understatement. After the election of Donald Trump, dystopian novels became increasingly popular again with reissues of novels like George Orwell’s 1984 and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. The latter novel, which is now a bleak and hugely popular Hulu series, is a good example of the types of stories audiences have been looking to turn to in confusing and trying times.

Farewell to The Middle, One ‘Heck’ of a Show

There are few things in this world as simple and pure as a snow globe. A beautiful snapshot of an idyllic place that brings joy and comfort to those who cherish it. The Middle has been that rare perfect keepsake for nine incredible seasons, and tonight we say goodbye. Grab a jar of olives, meet at the fridge, and toast to the Hecks.

By 2008, reality TV had exploded.

President and Mrs. Obama Will Bring Their Storytelling Skills to Netflix

Former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama worked their way up from young dreamers to the most powerful stage in the world. Their messages of hope and hard work was heard around the world and now they’re sharing their voice with others. Netflix announced the Obamas have signed a multi-year contract to produce content for the streaming service.

The couple has established ‘Higher Ground Productions,’ a reference to Mrs.

Shogun World Felt Oddly Familiar to the Westworld Hosts

This is Maeve’s world and the rest of the hosts are just living in it. The mid-season finale of Westworld finally brought us into Shogun World, and it was a brutal introduction. The gorgeous parallels Jonathan Nolan has been teasing between the two parks really pays off in an interesting way. As always, HBO released a fascinating behind the scenes look at the latest episode, as well as a teaser for what’s to come in episode 6.

Clark Duke Isn’t Always Playing for Laughs on Season 2 of I’m Dying Up Here

Ron Shack was a struggling comedian who was so broke that he was living in a closet—an actual closet—with his best friend Eddie Zeidel during season one of I’m Dying Up Here.

Now, Ron is enjoying the sweet taste of success in season two of the Showtime drama series that follows standups working at a comedy club called Goldie’s in Los Angeles in the 1970s. In the second season opener of I’m Dying Up Here,