00:00Oh, we've got huge plans,
00:01but whether Netflix shares them is another matter.
00:15Oh mio Dio.
00:16Can we ask you a question first?
00:19Yes, okay.
00:20Have you seen any of the show?
00:23Yeah, the first five episodes,
00:25but they gave me a read.
00:27Okay.
00:28Yeah, I know everything.
00:30Yeah, so it's really interesting
00:32how this show really speaks about today's society
00:38because when I was little,
00:40I watched a show in which there were teams playing for winning.
00:45Instead here, it's only one person that wants it all.
00:48So in your opinion,
00:49what can this show tell us about nowadays?
00:59Well, it can tell us all kinds of things.
01:01What can this show tell us about nowadays,
01:04about the way we are or how we live today?
01:07It can tell us all kinds of things
01:08because just as in the scripted show,
01:11this was an environment where people were under intense pressure.
01:16And you see how people behave with each other under intense pressure
01:20in a very competitive situation.
01:22and a lot of life is like that.
01:27So it's a kind of microcosm for life.
01:31And I think that we took the games from the scripted show,
01:36but we added quite a few other games that would bring out people's moral choices
01:41and their values.
01:43And we saw people behaving in ways that were quite selfish and competitive,
01:47but also there were many occasions where people were supportive and helpful.
01:52And again, I think that reflects the real world.
01:57Our mantra for the show was how you play is who you are,
02:00as one of the guards says in the first episode.
02:04And I think just to pay tribute to the drama,
02:05the drama created a game that revealed that,
02:08that put human nature to the test.
02:10And that was one of the attractions for us in translating it
02:12into the unscripted world.
02:14But as Stephen says,
02:15the surprise was that so much sort of warmth and humanity
02:20and kindness and collaboration
02:24resulted from a situation where people are being pitted against each other.
02:32What were you researching while choosing the people who are in the show?
02:39What were you looking for in them?
02:43We wanted a whole variety of people on the show.
02:45We wanted to represent a microcosm of lots of different people.
02:50We wanted people of different ages.
02:52We wanted people from different backgrounds,
02:54from different countries,
02:57because the more different people we have,
02:59the more different and interesting reactions we have
03:01to all the stimulus of the game
03:03and the social interaction and the alliances.
03:06So we weren't looking for one thing in particular.
03:10They had to jump through certain hoops.
03:12They had to be sort of physically able to take part in the games
03:16and mentally robust.
03:19But then we were looking for very different characteristics.
03:21Some people were introverted,
03:23some were extroverted.
03:24Some people were, you know,
03:26lone wolves who like to play by themselves
03:28and perhaps not align with other people.
03:31Other people were very social beings.
03:33So we were looking for a broad, broad mix of things.
03:37We didn't know what would be the characteristics
03:40that would triumph in the show.
03:41And I still, you know, after making the show,
03:44it's quite hard to say what they are
03:45because it's so ruthlessly relentless
03:49at getting rid of people to find that one winner.
03:54But I suppose one of the things that was most powerful
03:57was when people demonstrated a level of complexity of character
04:00and they came in presenting as one thing
04:02and then other aspects of them emerged
04:03under the sort of conditions of the game.
04:06And that's always one of the things
04:07that makes these shows compelling.
04:11Brian said that he's the one
04:14and empathy is a weakness.
04:18Do you believe it's...
04:21Empathy really is a weakness
04:22when you're trying to win
04:23or it can be an asset?
04:27Do we believe that empathy can be an asset or a hindrance?
04:33Empathy is a weakness or an asset
04:35when you're trying to win?
04:37Well, I think it can be both.
04:40I mean, you do have to be pretty ruthless to win the game.
04:44But at the same time,
04:46there's always a risk that people will turn on you
04:48and there were opportunities in the show
04:50for our players to turn on each other.
04:53So if you haven't been able to get on with people,
04:58then you could have been eliminated.
05:00But at the same time,
05:01if you wanted people to help you,
05:03then empathy would ensure that you would survive.
05:08So I think it can be both.
05:10I think the best people were people who could either wear a mask of empathy
05:14but also remove it at times to be dastardly.
05:22Why, in your opinion, we enjoy so much watching people under pressure?
05:28Are we mean to why we love it so much?
05:30I don't think it is that, actually.
05:32I think it's because we're all curious about what people are really made of
05:37and who people really are.
05:39And there's something about the conditions of this particularly ingeniously designed game,
05:43all tribute to the drama for that,
05:45that reveals that.
05:47So if you're at all curious or interested about people,
05:50this is that with the temperature turned up.
05:59I like to think that people imagine what would they do in this situation
06:03and then as they watch other people undertake that pressure
06:06or undertake that game,
06:08are holding them up as a benchmark for their own behaviour.
06:11So, oh, I would be better at that than that person.
06:13Oh, I couldn't do that.
06:14I don't have that within me.
06:18People derive enjoyment from comparing themselves to others
06:23through this dramatic function of the show.
06:26People are always more interested in watching people under pressure
06:28and doing jobs that are under pressure.
06:30You know, it would be quite boring watching a programme
06:33about a librarian doing filing.
06:35But if you watch a doctor having to save somebody's lives
06:38in a busy A&E ward, then it's dramatic.
06:41It's life and death.
06:42And this was a game that was all about life and death.
06:48And where did you take the inspiration for the new games you designed?
06:57Variety.
06:58I mean, all the games in the original drama are based in the schoolyard
07:04or games of childhood.
07:05So we didn't stray too far from any of the new games
07:08that we designed from childhood.
07:10And I suppose the interesting thing that the games say
07:13is that we have a sense of ruthlessness instilled in us
07:18in our childhood games.
07:19You know, childhood games can be very competitive.
07:22They can be brutal.
07:23They can be mean.
07:24And that's particularly what's interesting, I think,
07:26about Squid Game.
07:27So we didn't stray very far from that.
07:30They weren't overly complex games.
07:32They weren't games of very difficult strategy.
07:36But we stayed close to the themes of childhood and the schoolyard.
07:40But also, I think one of the things that's so impressive about the drama
07:43is it's got a complete singularity and originality
07:46and distinctiveness of tone.
07:48So in our conversations, you could just feel very instinctively,
07:52yes, that does belong in the Squid Game world.
07:54And no, that doesn't belong in the Squid Game world.
07:56It really helps us.
08:03It's a very important thing.
08:04This show can go on forever.
08:06How many seasons are you planning to make?
08:10We've got huge plans,
08:11but whether Netflix shares them is another matter.
08:16I mean, it's something one could obviously do again.
08:21We have to wait to see whether the audience loves it as much as we do.
08:27I think they will.
08:29Thank you so much.
08:30Thank you.
08:31Thank you very much.
08:31Bye.
08:32Ciao.
08:43Ciao.
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