Pandora's Box, page 41
23. “My mother can’t watch this!”: Ibid.
24. “I didn’t think I needed to be naked”: Liz Berman, “Mary-Louise Parker Bitter over Nude Scene,” People, May 18, 2009, https://people.com/health/mary-louise-parker-bitter-over-nude-scene.
25. “Good luck with that”: Lacey Rose, “Orange Showrunner Jenji Kohan on Hollywood’s Pay Inequality, ‘F—You’ Money and Her Friends Regrets,” Hollywood Reporter, August 6, 2014, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/orange-is-new-black-showrunner-723403.
26. “This isn’t a director’s medium!”: Emily Nussbaum, “Jenji Kohan’s Hot Provocations,” New Yorker, August 28, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/09/04/jenji-kohans-hot-provocations.
27. “I know it sounds like the secret diary”: Devin Leonard, “Call-girl cable series unites rivals,” CNN Money, March 14, 2008, https://money.cnn.com/2008/03/13/news/companies/leonard_albrecht.fortune/index.htm?source=yahoo_quote.
28. “psychological oddities”: David Nevins, in discussion with the author, January 15, 2021.
29. “David wanted to take the programming”: Bob Greenblatt, in discussion with the author, July 15, 2021.
30. “my favorite kind of executive”: Lesley Goldberg, “Weeds Creator Jenji Kohan Revisiting ‘Little Boxes’ as the Showtime Comedy Prepares to Sign Off,” Hollywood Reporter, June 15, 2012, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/weeds-jenji-kohan-final-season-spoiler-little-boxes-337979.
31. When he became famous: Decca Aitkenhead, “Estate of play,” Guardian, July 11, 2008, https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/jul/12/television.
32. “I’ve had a very slow and frustrating development”: Bob Greenblatt, in discussion with the author, July 15, 2021.
33. “white-trash porn”: John Hendel, “Showtime’s Shameless New Show About Poverty,” Atlantic, January 8, 2011, https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/01/showtimes-shameless-new-show-about-poverty/69108.
34. “I have your next show”: Mikey O’Connell, “Homeland Declassified: Battles, Backlash, CIA Meetings and a Secret Call with Edward Snowden,” Hollywood Reporter, January 16, 2020, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/homeland-declassified-battles-backlash-cia-meetings-a-secret-call-edward-snowden-1269957.
35. “We just felt that our chances”: Lacey Rose, “The Re-Birth of Showtime,” Hollywood Reporter, March 27, 2012, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/birth-showtime-304910.
36. “It used to be”: Quentin Schaffer, in discussion with the author, October 28, 2019.
37. “Dude, make a fucking show!”: Confidential source, in discussion with the author.
38. “Rick Rosen called me up”: David Nevins, in discussion with the author, August 9, 2021.
39. “how the United States was of two minds”: Alex Gansa, in discussion with the author, August 11, 2022.
40. “retains the stricken look”: Fiona Sturges, “Homeland: Claire Danes Sulks Her Way Through More Relentless Catastrophising,” Guardian, February 17, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/feb/17/homeland-claire-danes-trump-mandy-patinkin.
41. “We’re doing this with Claire Danes”: Alex Gansa, in discussion with the author, August 11, 2022.
42. The Homeland folks asked: Mikey O’Connell, “Homeland Declassified: Battles, Backlash, CIA Meetings and a Secret Call with Edward Snowden,” Hollywood Reporter, January 16, 2020, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/homeland-declassified-battles-backlash-cia-meetings-a-secret-call-edward-snowden-1269957.
43. “The first thing we got was a litany”: Alex Gansa, in discussion with the author, August 11, 2022.
44. “We had [Bush’s CIA head]”: Ibid.
45. “‘There’s a senior intelligence officer here”: Mikey O’Connell, “Homeland Declassified: Battles, Backlash, CIA Meetings and a Secret Call with Edward Snowden,” Hollywood Reporter, January 16, 2020, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/homeland-declassified-battles-backlash-cia-meetings-a-secret-call-edward-snowden-1269957.
46. “That is the greatest thing that could have happened”: Ibid.
47. “Homeland was the ‘It’ show”: Sheila Nevins, in discussion with the author, February 9, 2022.
48. “Even when you have a hit”: Kim Masters, “The Walking Dead: What Really Happened to Fired Showrunner Frank Darabont,” Hollywood Reporter, August 10, 2011, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/walking-dead-what-happened-fired-221449.
49. “Fuck you all for giving me chest pains”: Laura Bradley, “Have You Ever Sent an E-mail as Profane as This Former Walking Dead Showrunner?,” Vanity Fair, July 13, 2017, https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/07/frank-darabont-walking-dead-emails.
50. “hunted down and fucking killed them”: Cynthia, Littleton, “Frank Darabont’s Firing Detailed in Latest Walking Dead Lawsuit Filings,” Variety, July 13, 2017, https://variety.com/2017/tv/news/the-walking-dead-frank-darabont-1202494548.
51. “AMC was always in the habit”: Vlad Wolynetz, in discussion with the author, December 2, 2022.
52. “They had nothing to do with it”: Confidential source, in discussion with the author.
53. “Jim was born on third base”: Vlad Wolynetz, in discussion with the author, December 2, 2022.
54. “Jimmy whisperer”: Confidential source, in discussion with the author.
55. “insulate everyone from the whims”: Vlad Wolynetz, in discussion with the author, December 2, 2022.
56. The New York Times reports: Kashmir Hill and Corey Kilgannon, “Madison Square Garden Uses Facial Recognition to Ban Its Owner’s Enemies,” New York Times, December 22, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/22/nyregion/madison-square-garden-facial-recognition.html.
57. On Thanksgiving weekend in 2022: Kashmir Hill, “Lawyers Barred by Madison Square Garden Found a Way Back In,” New York Times, January 16, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/16/technology/madison-square-garden-ban-lawyers.html.
58. “Jimmy’s not stupid”: Vlad Wolynetz, in discussion with the author, December 2, 2022.
59. “AMC Networks is the walking dead”: Benjamin Mullin, “Want to Understand Television’s Troubles? Look at AMC,” New York Times, December 18, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/18/business/media/amc-networks-streaming-cable.html.
60. “Collaborate to death?”: Alexis Soloski, “Yellowjackets Leans In to Savagery,” New York Times, November 10, 2021.
61. “couldn’t ride in the same van!”: Emily Longeretta, “Yellowjackets Cast Defend ‘Logical’ Group Decision in Episode 2, Explain What [Spoiler] Tasted Like,” Variety, March 31, 2023.
62. “You will have no part”: Sridhar Pappu, “How Taylor Sheridan Created America’s Most Popular TV Show,” Atlantic, November 10, 2022, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/12/yellowstone-tv-series-taylor-sheridan/671897.
63. “They refer to it as ‘the conservative show’”: Ibid.
64. As James Poniewozik puts it: James Poniewozik, “This Land Is His Land,” New York Times, November 10, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/10/arts/television/yellowstone-taylor-sheridan.html.
Chapter 8: Out of Luck and Off-Key, HBO Gets Game
1. “a lot of confusion”: Ginia Bellafante, “A Fantasy World of Strange Feuding Kingdoms,” New York Times, April 14, 2011, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/arts/television/game-of-thrones-begins-sunday-on-hbo-review.html.
2. “groggy slog”: Hank Stuever, “HBO’s Game of Thrones: A Lot to Sword Out,” Washington Post, April 14, 2011, https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/television/hbos-game-of-thrones-a-lot-to-sword-out/2011/04/11/AFIbEYdD_story.html.
3. “They’ve struck out right and left”: Lisa de Moraes, “Losing an Inside Job at HBO,” Washington Post, March 18, 2008, https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/17/AR2008031703138.html.
4. “was infatuated with Mann”: Confidential source, in discussion with the author.
5. “David [too] was very much in favor”: Richard Plepler, in discussion with the author, February 16, 2023.
6. “If you try to get a straight answer”: Kim Masters, “Michael Mann, David Milch Split Duties to Settle Power Struggle on HBO’s Luck,” Hollywood Reporter, April 21, 2011, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/michael-mann-david-milch-split-181092.
7. “I was surprised they were put together”: Dan Attias, in discussion with the author, June 24, 2022.
8. “Michael Mann wants to meet”: Allen Coulter, in discussion with the author, June 24, 2022.
9. “Don’t try to mix these two chemicals”: Allen Coulter, in discussion with the author, February 22, 2019.
10. “What am I supposed to say”: Ibid.
11. “I was seeing David at that time”: Ian McShane, in discussion with the author, July 31, 2020.
12. “Of course, it ended up horribly”: Brian Cox, in discussion with the author, June 24, 2020.
13. “No, no, no, no, no”: Confidential source, in discussion with the author.
14. “There was a day that David was going to kill Michael”: Geoff Boucher, “‘Luck’: Angry David Milch Brought Baseball Bat to Edit Bay?,” Show Tracker (blog), Los Angeles Times, March 14, 2012, https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/show-tracker/story/2012-03-14/luck-angry-david-milch-brought-baseball-bat-to-edit-bay.
15. “When he busted into the editing room”: Allen Coulter, in discussion with the author, February 22, 2019.
16. “I went to his office a couple of times”: Ibid.
17. “was zoning out”: Confidential source, in discussion with the author.
18. “He was known to be indifferent”: Allen Coulter, in discussion with the author, February 22, 2019.
19. “Usually, the creative executive on the show”: Confidential source, in discussion with the author.
20. “They were massively over budget”: Allen Coulter, in discussion with the author, February 22, 2019.
21. “He had to be appreciated”: Confidential source, in discussion with the author.
22. “I’d happily be in business with him”: Bryn Sandberg, “HBO Goes Back to Drawing Board With Lewis and Clark Miniseries,” Hollywood Reporter, February 3, 2016, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/hbo-goes-back-drawing-board-861767.
23. “When production is run”: Confidential source, in discussion with the author.
24. “It wasn’t like Lombardo”: Ibid.
25. “We couldn’t get anything moving”: Vlad Wolynetz, in discussion with the author, December 6, 2022.
26. “longest months of both of our lives”: Kim Renfro, “How Game of Thrones Nearly Ended Before It Began Thanks to a Disastrous Plot,” Insider, September 17, 2020, https://www.insider.com/game-of-thrones-failed-pilot-hbo-chapter-kim-renfro-book.
27. “We could have shot this in Burbank”: James Hibberd, “Inside Game of Thrones’ Disastrous Original Pilot: ‘Nobody Knew What They Were Doing,’” Entertainment Weekly, September 14, 2020, https://ew.com/tv/game-of-thrones-original-pilot-fire-cannot-kill-a-dragon-excerpt.
28. “I was just staring at Mike’s face”: Jim Windolf, “The Gathering Storm,” Vanity Fair, April 2004, https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2014/4/the-gathering-storm.
29. “was mulling whether or not”: Michael Mechanic, “Game of Thrones Has Succeeded Beyond Its Creators’ Wildest Dreams,” Mother Jones, March 4, 2013, https://www.motherjones.com/media/2013/03/hbo-game-thrones-season-3-interview-david-benioff-dan-weiss.
30. “I got no more than fifty pages”: Tim Van Patten, in discussion with the author, March 8, 2014.
31. “We had to start from scratch”: Alik Sakharov, in discussion with the author, March 15, 2014.
32. “That first year felt very probationary”: Kim Renfro, “How Game of Thrones Nearly Ended Before It Began Thanks to a Disastrous Plot,” Insider, September 17, 2020, https://www.insider.com/game-of-thrones-failed-pilot-hbo-chapter-kim-renfro-book.
33. “I put the phone down”: Terry Winter, in discussion with the author, May 20, 2022.
34. “Vinyl was shoved up his ass”: James Andrew Miller, Tinderbox: HBO’s Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers (New York: Henry Holt, 2021), Chapter 15, iBook.
35. “Neither Lombardo nor Jagger”: Allen Coulter, in discussion with the author, February 22, 2019.
36. “Mike Lombardo found out about this”: Terry Winter, in discussion with the author, May 20, 2022.
37. “No one can really tell Marty”: Allen Coulter, in discussion with the author, February 22, 2019.
38. “That’s head-to-head”: Terry Winter, in discussion with the author, May 20, 2022.
39. “fucking Martin Scorsese movie”: Ibid.
40. “The whole thing was a bad marriage”: Allen Coulter, in discussion with the author, February 22, 2019.
41. Under the headline, “Martin Scorsese: HBO’s Vinyl”: Ariston Anderson, “Martin Scorsese: HBO’s Vinyl Failed Because I Didn’t Direct Everything,” Hollywood Reporter, October 25, 2018, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/martin-scorsese-says-hbos-vinyl-failed-because-he-didnt-direct-episode-1154946.
42. “Our reaction would be”: Allen Coulter, in discussion with the author, February 22, 2019.
43. “If I expressed frustration”: Terry Winter, in discussion with the author, May 20, 2022.
44. “Lombardo hated Vinyl”: Ibid.
45. “It was really sad”: Terry Winter, in discussion with the author, May 20, 2022.
46. “I was stupid”: Sheila Nevins, in discussion with the author, February 9, 2022.
47. “Richard was really good at blowing smoke”: Confidential source, in discussion with the author.
48. “It wasn’t until I left”: Sheila Nevins, in discussion with the author, February 9, 2022.
49. “If you want to do something for television”: Josh Donen and Eric Roth, in discussion with the author, August 3, 2013.
50. “Francis Urquhart is not a character”: David Fincher, in discussion with the author, August 3, 2013.
51. “I wasn’t particularly keen to write”: Beau Willimon, in discussion with the author, July 28, 2013.
52. “I went, ‘Phew!’”: David Fincher, in discussion with the author, August 3, 2013.
53. “It was one of those things”: Ibid.
54. “I couldn’t imagine working”: Ibid.
55. So far as the networks went: Jon Nathanson, “The Economics of a Hit TV Show,” Priceonomics, October 17, 2013, https://priceonomics.com/the-economics-of-a-hit-tv-show.
56. “If we’re going to go from a pitch”: John Landgraf, in discussion with the author, July 25, 2018.
57. “MRC made a handshake”: Quentin Schaffer, in discussion with the author, October 28, 2019.
58. “I’m asking Kevin and Robin”: David Fincher, in discussion with the author, August 6, 2013.
59. “We had a big ask”: Beau Willimon, in discussion with the author, July 28, 2013.
60. “We were bemoaning this whole notion”: Josh Donen, in discussion with the author, September 13, 2013.
61. “The idea of creating a piece of content”: Ted Sarandos, in discussion with the author, September 23, 2013.
62. “MRC didn’t honor the handshake”: Quentin Schaffer, in discussion with the author, October 28, 2019.
63. “hubris, thinking that people would take”: Confidential source, in discussion with the author.
64. “I’m building a team that’s oriented”: Josef Adalian, “Inside the Binge Factory,” Vulture, June 13, 2018, https://www.vulture.com/2018/06/how-netflix-swallowed-tv-industry.html.
65. “After David Fincher directs a series for Netflix”: Lacey Rose, “Netflix’s Ted Sarandos Reveals His ‘Phase 2’ for Hollywood,” Hollywood Reporter, May 22, 2013, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/netflixs-ted-sarandos-reveals-his-526323.
66. “When somebody offers you exactly”: Dawn C. Chmielewski, “Ted Sarandos Upends Hollywood with Netflix Revolution,” Los Angeles Times, August 25, 2013, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-netflix-ted-sarandos-20130825-dto-htmlstory.html.
67. “Can’t kill [her] dog”: Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa, Woke Up This Morning (New York: William Morrow, 2021), chap. 6, iBook.
68. “Look, do you care if we lose half”: Beau Willimon, in discussion with the author, July 28, 2013.
69. “I don’t think the show is cynical”: David Fincher, in discussion with the author, August 6, 2013.
70. “they didn’t understand that feature directors”: Allen Coulter, in discussion with the author, February 22, 2019.
