Vampires and werewolves and fairies, oh my! True Blood has all the other-wordly creatures you’re likely to ever desire. In his 2011 Archive interview (NOW ONLINE!) creator Alan Ball describes how he and fellow writers come up with all of Bon Temps’ fantastical characters and storylines (the series has strayed a bit from Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse novels on which it’s based.)
Ball recounts how he discovered the novels and got involved with True Blood:
And muses on the current fascination with vampires:
True Blood returns with Season 5 tonight, Sunday, June 10th, at 9pm on HBO. Here’s the trailer to whet your appetite:
As the show’s slogan says, “Waiting Sucks,” but no more waiting after tonight!!
She’s spearheaded some of HBO’s most memorable and risque projects: Real Sex, Taxicab Confessions, Cathouse … As Vice President of Original Programming (overseeing family and documentary projects) Sheila Nevins has pushed the boundaries at HBO, and given the world some remarkable shows as a result.
In her 2006 Archive interview, Nevins describes the origins of Taxicab Confessions:
He’s the guy responsible for bringing Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha into our homes every Sunday night. Michael Patrick King was executive producer of Sex and the City, HBO’s hit series about four (originally) single gals livin’ the life in New York City. Before Sex and the City, though, King wrote for Murphy Brown and Will & Grace (among other shows) and has since gone on to executive produce CBS’ 2 Broke Girls.
In his 2011 Archive Interview, King details his work on Sex and the City, and discusses (SPOILER) Carrie ending up with Big:
“I think my life experience informs my directing much more than my acting skills. I think I know how to put an actor at ease, I don’t know the language, if there is a language, but I think every actor comes to the set with their own needs and then you have to handle them accordingly.” – Tim Van Patten, on his directing style
Director Timothy Van Patten is nominated for his 9th Emmy this year for Oustanding Direction for a Drama Series (Game of Thrones) ! In his Archive interview, he discussed his work on Boardwalk Empire, The Pacific, The Wire, Sex and the City, and the long-running HBO series The Sopranos.
On what it was like to work with Boardwalk Empire’s executive producer, Martin Scorcese:
In his three-and-a-half hour interview for the Archive of American Television, actor/director Timothy Van Patten discusses a career that has spanned East to West Coast and back again. He recounts his early life in New York and his move to Los Angeles, where he found success as an actor playing “Salami” on the MTM production,The White Shadow. Van Patten speaks at length about mentor Bruce Paltrow and the amazing education in television and film he received on the set of several Paltrow-led productions. He talks about his challenging transition to directing, a journey that eventually led to directing episodes of several short-lived series such as Home Firesand The Road Home, and of longer reigning shows Touched By an AngelandHomicide: Life on the Street. He concludes by describing how he found his niche directing episodes of acclaimed HBO series The Sopranos,Sex and the City, The Wire, and Boardwalk Empire, and expresses his deep respect for writer/producers David Chase, David Simon and Terence Winter. Van Patten also confesses that in addition to television acting and directing, he now has a hankering for writing, too. Ron Simon conducted interview in New York City on June 26, 2009.
Vampires and werewolves and fairies, oh my! True Blood has all the other-wordly creatures you’re likely to ever desire. In his 2011 Archive interview (NOW ONLINE!) creator Alan Ball describes how he and fellow writers come up with all of Bon Temps’ fantastical characters and storylines (the series has strayed a bit from Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse novels on which it’s based.)
