{"id":8372,"date":"2019-04-15T17:01:29","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T15:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/?p=8372"},"modified":"2019-04-15T17:04:31","modified_gmt":"2019-04-15T15:04:31","slug":"qa-with-matthew-parkhill-co-creator-writer-showrunner-director-of-foxs-deep-state-eps-1-2-7-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/blog\/2019\/04\/15\/qa-with-matthew-parkhill-co-creator-writer-showrunner-director-of-foxs-deep-state-eps-1-2-7-8\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A With Matthew Parkhill – Co-Creator, Writer, Showrunner, Director Of Fox’s ‘Deep State’ Eps 1, 2, 7, 8"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Can you talk about how you juggle all your responsibilities on DEEP STATE season two?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of the showrunner side of things, the showrunner is someone who ultimately has the creative responsibility for the show. So, it\u2019s his or her vision, ultimately, and that covers everything from re-writing scripts to approving costume, hair, make-up, locations and casting actors. You\u2019ve got an entire overview of the show, of how you want the show to be, right from the big picture all the way down to the tiny little day-to-day details. A lot of showrunners write because part of the job as a showrunner is also to write and re-write scripts so that all the scripts have the same tone and the same feel throughout the episode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the writing side we also have a team of writers in a writer\u2019s room but for me, as a writer\/director, the writing is only the first half of the process. I don\u2019t really think about the writing and directing as different, because when I write it, I\u2019m also thinking about how I want it to be directed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You know what you want from the scene, you don\u2019t have to, as a director, say, \u201cWell, I need to talk to the writer,\u201d you can just make decisions there and then, because you know whether it\u2019s in keeping with that character or the tone of the scene or what the scene is about instinctively because you\u2019ve written it. So, yes, there are lots of different hats, it can be stressful but I can\u2019t imagine doing it any other way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you tell us, how has DEEP STATE moved on from season one to two?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DEEP STATE has moved on in the following way – there\u2019s a new arena, there\u2019s a new story, there\u2019s a new world. The world is still partly in London and Washington, but there\u2019s a new part of the story set in Mali in the capital of Bamako, and in the North in the Sahara desert in the land of the Tuareg people who traverse the Sahara. We have some of our same characters returning, we also have three or four major new characters. So, thematically it\u2019s moved on, I always think of season one as an 8-hour movie or a novel, and season two is another 8 hour movie with some of the same characters and some different characters but with a different setting. The way it\u2019s designed is so that you could watch season two without having seen season one, and become immersed in the story of season two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you think it\u2019s easier this way, to be the writer and director at the same time?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Definitely. I think it would be very hard for me to direct someone else\u2019s material because I know my material in my heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What kind of research did you undertake for this season?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I read a lot of books and I consume a lot of news. The genesis of this season was that I heard the news about four US special forces who were ambushed and killed in Niger. Immediately, I started to think, \u2018What were they doing in Niger?\u2019 I started to think beyond the tragedy and ask myself \u2018What\u2019s really going on?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For season one, it was the Iranian nuclear deal and that was my beginning point. There\u2019s always a place in the headlines where it begins. I always try and base it in real events that are happening and it grows from there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of talking to experts, I\u2019ve spoken to ex-MI6, ex-CIA, ex-FBI, ex-NYPD and LAPD. We\u2019re not a documentary, it\u2019s fiction, but I try to route it as much as possible in realness. Seeping yourself in real life events and then sort of building a narrative from there is, for me, is the most exciting way of working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have a crew that has stuck with you for season two. What have you asked them to do in terms of keeping it authentic?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It gets a lot easier if it\u2019s the same actors and DP, costume, hair and make-up. When you\u2019ve worked with people before, there\u2019s a shorthand. Part of working with someone for the first time is in getting to know that person, getting on the same page with them, creatively. It takes a lot of energy. What I love, whether it\u2019s Steve Summersgill on production design or Rachel Walsh on costume, Amy Stewart, our hair and make-up designer, what\u2019s amazing about all of those three key creative positions is, I can say to them, \u201cLook, this is what I want, this is what I\u2019m after,\u201d and I know they will go away and do research and make it happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about the scale of the show and what is it like shooting everything on location?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love shooting on location but it does mean it\u2019s harder on the crew and it\u2019s harder on the production machine because you\u2019re moving all the time. When you shoot on a soundstage it\u2019s nice and quiet, it\u2019s a controllable environment, it\u2019s not as stressful. When you\u2019re out on location and it\u2019s hot or there are noises going off or there are sewers backing up, then there\u2019s real life issues to deal with, it gets more stressful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The upside of it is, creatively, it\u2019s much more real and I get ideas and inspirations from real life locations. I\u2019ll see something and I\u2019ll say, \u2018I want to rewrite the scene and I want to change it to fit this building. I want to change it to fit that street.\u2019 I love putting actors in real places and I think certainly the actors on this show respond to that. They\u2019re in real places with real smells, real heat, real sounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is collaboration so important to you? How does that work for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collaboration is important for me because it makes the show better, it\u2019s as simple as that. My Director of Photographer may come to me and suggest a shot, that makes it better, the actor may say to me, \u2018Can I try this?\u2019 or \u2018Can I say this?\u2019 and that makes it better. When you start out as a director, you think you\u2019ve got to have all the answers. Everyone is looking to you for all the answers and you\u2019ve got to have control over everything, and actually, the better I\u2019ve got as a director, the less I feel that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve seen really good scripts and really good shows with really talented people not work. Most of the time it\u2019s because people are not making the same show, they\u2019re on different pages, creatively. If everyone is on the same page, life gets a lot easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you talk about the major difference between telling a story that is based in the Middle East versus this season, which is based in Africa?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There aren\u2019t any differences in the way I approach the script. It\u2019s all about making the story work and making it relevant and surprising. I think one of the keys to DEEP STATE is the emotion and the emotional storylines that run through it. We are primarily an espionage thriller, we are a political show, but what makes it worth it for me are all the emotional storylines running through it. Whether it\u2019s Harry or Leyla or Nathan or Aicha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The differences come in the design, where you\u2019re shooting it, the locations, but how I approach the story, whether I\u2019m setting a story in Mali or whether I\u2019m setting a story in Russia or America, it\u2019s always about the story and the characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the number one goal for you for season two, regarding the storytelling?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think the number one goal for me is to create what David Simon (creator of \u2018The Wire\u2019) called \u2018lean-in television.\u2019 You\u2019re not sitting back as the viewer, you\u2019re leaning in, hopefully on the edge of your seat. My goal is to create a show that you cannot turn away from, you\u2019ve got to pay attention. My goal is to create a great thriller that has a powerful emotional heart to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How is this espionage thriller different from others in the genre?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the things this show does that is different from a lot of espionage shows is we follow our characters to their homes. We look at the emotional consequences of their actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you summarise where we left off last season and where we\u2019re going to be picking up from?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first thing I would say is, you don\u2019t have to have watched last season to watch this season. It\u2019s like an eight-hour movie and last year\u2019s eight-hour movie told a lot of stories, This year\u2019s eight-hour movie picks up certain threads from characters like Harry and Leyla, and it takes them and puts them in a new world, which, this season, is the world of Mali.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This season we\u2019ve split the narrative into a past and a present storyline. The present storyline takes place now, the past storyline takes place two years ago. What that allows us to do is let the past storyline inform the present and the present inform the past. Part of what this show is about, for the audience, is putting together all these jigsaw pieces until they complete the puzzle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going into the past also allows you to look at when Harry and Leyla first met, how did they get to know each other. George White\u2019s character, who is dead in the present, but in the past, how did he go from a man who was serving Queen and Country to a man who was serving the powers of the deep state? I love things not being completely linear, I love jumping around in time. I think audiences are super-smart these days, there\u2019s so much great TV around, that they want to be challenged and they want to become part of a more challenging and bigger experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you keep the two storylines straight in your head while you are directing?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s easier for me keeping things straight in my head because I created it! It\u2019s there, it\u2019s always there, I always know and part of my job is to help the others keep it straight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why are strong female characters so important to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strong female characters are super important to me and they have been ever since my daughter was born. When my daughter was born, I became acutely aware of how women and girls end up getting a not-so-great deal in life a lot of the time, so I try and create female characters who are strong, who are powerful, who have their own storylines and aren\u2019t just like the girlfriend or the wife or the mother. They are those things too, we have characters who are mothers and characters who are wives, but they have their own powerful storylines and it\u2019s incredibly important to me the way we treat them visually. We have a lot of beautiful women on our show, but we\u2019re not a show that puts them in figure-hugging clothes or tight dresses, we don\u2019t sexualise them, they\u2019re not there to be eye-candy for somebody else. That goes for the makeup as well because if I can see it, it\u2019s not real, unless that character has made a particular decision to do that. For example, Sullivan\u2019s character is a senator and she\u2019s on the Intelligence Committee and there are times she will put on make-up. But Leyla\u2019s character or Aicha, they\u2019re on the run for their lives, when are they going to go and find time to put on some make-up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have the American actor Walton Goggins joining the team this season. How has that been?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s an amazing relationship with Walton. I count myself very lucky. He\u2019s a phenomenal actor and there are times, as a director, I just sit back and enjoy watching him work. He has such truth and pain and charm and he just lights up the screen. I love the way he works, but he\u2019s also an incredibly lovely human being to be around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With every episode and every script we talk and come up with ideas. He will say \u2018What about this? What about that? What if I did this? What if I said that?\u2019 It comes from such a place of generosity and he\u2019ll challenge me where I need to be challenged and he\u2019ll offer ideas where I want ideas and it\u2019s a lovely sort of collaborative experience, it really is. It\u2019s been one of my best working experiences working with him and I hope we carry on and do lots and lots more things together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the themes we\u2019re seeing is that it\u2019s never as simple as the good guys versus the bad guy. The lines get blurry.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are not a good guys versus bad guys show. What I find fascinating with our characters are the moral grey areas they stray into, all the time. The closest character we have to a noble character is probably Sullivan (played by Victoria Hamilton), but even Sullivan does things that affect her marriage because she is in pursuit of the truth and sometimes people who dedicate themselves to something better or something higher do it at the expense of their families. Even truly beautiful, lovely people are capable of meanness and selfishness, so I just find those characters more fascinating to explore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you talk about the economy of war?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In researching the show last year, one of the things that startled me and stunned me was that the war machine isn\u2019t just about bullets and missiles, it\u2019s about socks and towels and fatigues. I read an incredibly startling thing which was it costs several hundred dollars to deliver a gallon of fuel to the battlefield in Afghanistan. Think of the mark-up on that, right? The war machine isn\u2019t just about the guns and the bullets and the missiles, the money is made all the way down the line. It\u2019s a lot of industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you shooting two different styles for the two different time periods?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, the shooting style is the same but the grade will be slightly different. In the present, it\u2019s a much richer contrast, in the past, we will drain the colour out of the images a little bit. In the first episode, you\u2019ll have these titles that will say \u2018Present day. Two years ago\u2019, but the idea is, visually, the audience, very quickly, will know what time period they\u2019re in due to the grade of the show. Hopefully, within the first episode, the audience will say, \u2018Oh, I\u2019m in the past. I\u2019m in the present. I\u2019m in the past.\u2019 just from the visual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you surprised about the parallels to the stories you\u2019re telling and what we are hearing on the news today?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not surprised when we find that we are shooting something that is so current it\u2019s in the news that day. Walton came in one day with an article from the New York Times that said that the CIA have spent six months building drone bases in Mali and Algeria, in secret, which is part of what our story is. I\u2019m not freaked out because I know it\u2019s happening through what I\u2019ve been reading in the books I use for research. If you do your research properly you don\u2019t need to make these stories up. It makes my job very easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you have a favourite scene that you\u2019ve shot or looking forward to shooting?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The funny thing about that is, they keep getting replaced. I go to work and I think I\u2019m really looking forward to a certain scene. We shoot quite fast and I\u2019ll finish the day and I can\u2019t even remember what I shot that morning. What I love is when a scene surprises me. When two actors take a scene and there\u2019s a sudden warmth there that I didn\u2019t expect or there\u2019s a heartache there or pain there that I didn\u2019t expect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you tell us about Harry and Leyla in season two?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019ve got much bigger, meatier stories this year which I\u2019m very happy about. In the past storyline, we show how they came together and how their relationship started. In the present, we start eight months after the end of season one and we start in a place where their relationship was broken and so it\u2019s kind of interesting because, in the past, you see them together and in the present, you\u2019re seeing them dealing with the broken relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We see Alistair Petrie back as George White in season two even though he died at the end of season one. Can you explain that storyline?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest mistake I made last year was killing George White off. The way this show works, I\u2019ve got all the story worked out before we start shooting. I know which character is going to live and die before we start shooting. What you don\u2019t know is who you\u2019re going to cast, so someone like Alistair Petrie comes along and just kills that role of George White, and for me and a lot of people, it\u2019s become one of their favourite characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m sitting there like an idiot saying, \u2018Why did I kill that character?\u2019. One of the remedies to that is, if I tell a story in the past, I can bring him back without doing the twin brother storyline or the \u2018he\u2019s not really dead\u2019 storyline, which I didn\u2019t want to do, because he\u2019s dead! So, telling that storyline in the past was a way to get to work with Petrie again and get to work on that amazing character again. As he said to me yesterday, the biggest problem is, if we do a season three, how am I going to bring him back again?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If DEEP STATE three happens, can you give us any hints?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DEEP STATE season three! What I do, is I think of a world. A lot of people were asking if I was thinking of setting the show in Russia this year. I did, but the reason why I didn\u2019t do it is because I think there\u2019s going to be a lot of shows set in Russia coming in the next few years. I\u2019m trying to find something that is hopefully different, like setting a show in Mali. I\u2019ll be looking for some sort of idea or story that gets me excited, and makes me go \u2018What\u2019s that about?\u2019 and \u2018What if this happened?, and then it\u2019s about finding a new setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about Deep State season 2<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q&A with Joe Dempsie (Harry Clarke)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q&A with Walton Goggins (Nathan Miller)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q&A With Karima McAdams (Leyla Toumi)\ufeff<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DEEP STATE 2 will broadcast on FOX Africa on Wednesdays at 20:45 CAT, from 15 May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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