00:02Hi, and welcome to Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter.
00:05We're here today with Jenji Kohan, David E. Kelly, Lisa Joy, Noah Hawley, Ava DuVernay, and Ryan Murphy.
00:12And we're just going to dive right into this.
00:15So most, if not all of you, have multiple projects going right now.
00:19Some TV shows, some films. Curious how much pressure there is, quote, empire?
00:25There's a lot.
00:27I think we should defer to Ryan.
00:28Yeah, he's the king.
00:30Do you have a few projects?
00:31I never hear that from anybody. I never feel that pressure or hear that word.
00:36I just sort of feel like I feel a lot of people in the business probably do get into the
00:42yes
00:42because you're used to years and years of no.
00:46So if you are so lucky, dream come to life.
00:49If you get another dream, I think your impulse is to move towards the dream and try and get that
00:54ignited.
00:54That's what I love to do.
00:56And what I've learned to do is to have like a group of three or four really strong collaborators who,
01:02you know, lieutenants who can help me who also have the same dream or the same interest.
01:08So I've put together a team that I love and we support each other.
01:12But I don't know. I feel like the television business has exploded so much that there is great opportunity for
01:21content if you have the track record and the will.
01:25Well, that's how I feel.
01:26Sure. Noah, you had said recently that once Fargo became a real success and you had some real heat behind
01:32you, you started saying yes a lot and then all of a sudden.
01:36Well, yeah, like Ryan said, I think there's a freelance muscle where there's feast or famine.
01:40And then certainly as a showrunner and broadcast, you put everything you have into a show, they cancel it after
01:45two episodes and then you have nothing you have to rebuild from scratch.
01:49So there was a certain moment where I thought, well, the more things you have going, the less you're riding
01:54that roller coaster.
01:55But is there a point where you say, oh, God, well, yeah, I think for me, what I didn't realize
02:01was, you know, at the point at which the show that you make is successful, then whatever you say yes
02:08to is going to get made.
02:10I was still in the old paradigm. So so that's how I found myself with so many things.
02:16So I've learned to say no. I'm not sure I have yet, but I've learned I'm holding out there'll be
02:21a no soon.
02:23For the rest of you. And how hard is it to say no? I mean, is that something that's in
02:27your vernacular? Can you do that? Do you have the confidence to say no?
02:30I think one of you look around this table, they're all good at what they do. And with success sometimes
02:36comes the burden to be successful.
02:39So when someone comes to you with a project, more than likely it's going to be someone you have worked
02:45with, a studio partner before, and they've already cultivated a loyalty.
02:49And the best projects, the best companies feel like teams. And I think there's part of us that want to
02:56be a team player.
02:57So you do want to lean in. But I think that the key is to step back and try to
03:06approach the material with an objectivity to see if it's really what you love and want to write.
03:12Because if you don't love it, the job turns into a monumental grind. And if you do love it, you
03:22wake up and you never have to go to work.
03:24Yeah.
03:24I think when you ask the question about the confidence to say no, I think embedded in that very question
03:28is the idea that privilege does not apply.
03:31And so for me to say no, in my mind, in the way that I internalize it and process it,
03:37is very much that there may not be another chance.
03:40And there's a natural tension with anyone, no matter who they are, woman, person of color, anyone, just in this
03:45industry to get the chance for the open door.
03:47But when you add to that, that there are issues of representation and marginalization that go on top of the
03:53artist's natural feeling of can I get my thing made, that there's another barrier if you're a woman and another
04:00barrier if you're a person of color.
04:01On top of the barrier of just an artist trying to work in this industry, it becomes really challenging for
04:07me to say no.
04:07I get an opportunity from Netflix. Would you like to make a commercial? Apple? Yes, I will make that commercial.
04:12I mean, I'm running around doing everything because, and on top of that, the fear that the industry might show.
04:50I mean, I don't know.
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