THR Full Drama Showrunner Roundtable: Sam Esmail, Julian Fellowes, John Ridley, & More

[@susiecutie27]

sam esmail is great great great

[@WaveMilkman]

You know it!

[@bluefilmsltd]

Love Esmail, genuinely feel that he's a gifted storyteller.

[@BarbaraDr2023]

Thank you for this intelligent conversation, and a well-prepared host asking great questions. It has been a pleasure to listen.

[@meloncholicbliss]

respect John Ridley with the Walmart Hoodie

[@preettyE]

The downton abbey guy looks just like I would've stereotyped him ;p

[@molefilebone]

Major respect for John Ridley.

[@Nadia4Evers]

NETFLIX, USA, FX, LIFETIME, BBC, ABC amazing that we dont just have primetime shows being acclaimed... the diversity is real my friends

[@Kameaux]

Do you mean Network shows? Coz ABC is a terrestrial network.

[@julianreed7]

This is becoming the norm, because cable/subscription networks can take much bigger risks. AMC/HBO/Netflix have owned award seasons for years now. If anything, network television is fighting to remain relevant. The reason something like American Crime can exist, and is wholly backed by the network. Definitely great to see the diversity though. Great stuff to watch everywhere.

[@TheWeirdoinchains]

Downton Abbey is ITV. I guess it shows on BBC in the USA?

[@lkpr3130]

KEEP THESE COMING RUIN MY LIFE GUYS

[@kaatyblue]

Sam Esmail speaks just like Rami haha same voice, same rhythm

[@neeby89]

For so many conversations about casual sexism on these roundtables, has anyone noticed how they always only mention the men's names in the video titles? I went back a little and saw that they'd left out mentioning Jenji Kohan in one title. And who's to say who's more popular between John Ridley and Marti Noxon? I don't know what kind of social media tricks go into naming the vids, but just a thought.

[@Heffery413]

I think you are right... there is something going on with the naming conventions. I would say, however, that Ridley is likely more widely known because of his Oscar win.

[@ruthdsouza13]

I know this may be controversial... men writing for women, women writing for men, black for white or white for black ... is fine as long as you have done your research or have the expertise of the topic you are writing about ...

[@shicrapt]

Completely got my attention the whole time... so did the showrunners.

[@forwardslider9001]

Julian Fellowes, for a full hour here, is displaying an aspect of gentlemanly courtesy that requires a great deal of kindness, forbearance, sophistication, and refinement. Either you get it or you don't.

[@chrislategan8242]

"Sure!"

[@VinnieMTG2024]

very good table :)

[@misssmargo]

I love the roundtables!

[@tommyrobb9686]

I wonder if they've all seen each others work.

[@carlalussini]

Guys, you've been giving us these jewels in such a mesured way.. but waiting to post this one to the day after one of the arguably most important entertainment-related long weekends of the year was such a weird choice!

[@Deathwink1]

+didierrnt comic con

[@hyperrealsg]

+didierrnt I'd guess what the original poster was referencing this past weekend was SDCC (San Diego Comic Con), arguably the must buzzed about pop culture conventions held annually

[@kaatyblue]

Wow, I "remember" an actual rape scene in that plot of Downton Abbey too! AND I was sure Jessica Jones has said "fuck" at least once, WTF??? Hahaha

[@TheTasneemali]

Interesting talk ! enjoyed it!

[@WaveMilkman]

I didn't know the Monopoly Man was is the TV business.

[@SuperiFox]

28:11 can't believe they went there

[@Danetto]

I like the camera in this

[@molefilebone]

I wholeheartedly agree with John on the discussion of white men being given major blockbusters. I have watched these roundtables for a few years and Hollywood has a major problem regarding diversity. There's always one black person among whites.

[@JoDeKeCh]

how ist this a problem? here we have six guests of whom one is black and one is arabic. so we have 33 per cent non-whites in here. that's kinda representitive for the us-american population. in fact we even have a slight overrepresentation. blacks are actually 13 percent, but on this round table 16 per cent. and the one arab? holy smokes, i think there's not even one percent arabs in the us, but here we have sam esmail as another 16 percent of the conversation. stop seeing racism everywhere.

[@hermanmelville3871]

JoDeKeCh and three women.

[@AndromedaImagination77]

what Julian says around 4:03 is true, it happened with Silence of the Lambs.. people say and have a memory of it as if it had blood baths and violence, and yet the movie barely has a little spatter of blood and thats it. Go watch it again yet we all think of a horror movie at the time

[@noellenn2122]

If you play drinking game each time the host utters "aha" and "mmhmm", you probably will end up needing a liver transplant. Very distracting.

[@neeby89]

Or "Sure!"

[@anorarahim5790]

and "Sure"

[@iama842]

it wasn't really that distracting, she's miles ahead of that british dude they had for the oscars

[@audreyhorne]

She's better than the British guy, who is the absolute worst, but she's not Stacey.

[@TheTrueReiniat]

Shes better than the guy from the Oscar's roundtables, he was interrupting all the interesting discussions.

[@blakebard]

Class acts.

[@pedrobarragan746]

Really great lineup here but THR should get Bryan Fuller or Joe Weisberg

[@mr.phillips]

42:44 she says every single person has casted an asshole. Is that hyperbole? If not, anyone know who Sam Esmail's difficult cast member was?

[@sarahtheavocadoslayer3019]

Julian Fellowes making a joke at Sam Esmail saying he’s dealt with loneliness. *cringe*

[@bhupinderfilm]

Sam, I would like to work with you. Thanks all for sharing your experience.

[@donghyunlee6893]

how does nina jacobson fit into this exactly? shes not a writer or producer. she's an exec.

[@cookiemonster8474]

they're showrunners. & her production company produces the people vs. oj I'm pretty sure, so she does produce

[@hbergfeld1]

She is the show runner

[@donghyunlee6893]

hbergfeld1 shes an exec not a show runner. creator/writers are.

[@dylanblue2271]

Julian Fellowes is a tiresome, self-aggrandising egocentrist. He always ruins these kinds of things, when he's involved with them.

[@agyeiwaaasante2037]

Relieved I wasn't the only one, he rubbed me kind of the wrong way

[@audreyhorne]

He's awful, self-involved and keeps interrupting everybody. Why is he so loud?

[@dylanblue2271]

I'm English and he's from the upper middle class in England and that's just the way they are. They assume everyone wants to hear from them all the time.

[@Roman888]

God he was so annoying.

[@manantial773]

Disagree, he was very funny and self aware!

[@floramcplant129]

There's gotta be a pony in here somewhere

[@Danetto]

@min 28 ??? Ryan coogler is white?

[@dia606]

Why are Brits less receptive to social justice issues, tending towards dismissing race and gender experiences? They seem aware on other topics but with responses to #OscarsSoWhite or here, seems like a real pattern

[@hermanmelville3871]

dia606 they're not dismissive. They understand that art/entertainment is not sociology.

[@byron5016]

wut? what kind of separation is that? Art is a way of expressing feelings and matters by stories, how is sociology incompatible with that?? Art can englobe everything, that's its fucking purpose : no limits but creativity

[@fastenbulbous]

Enough with the identity politics.

[@diego96rg16]

why? does that make you uncomfortable?

[@joesephyunna6568]

The slow beat italy buzz because machine delightfully gather along a tenuous name. synonymous, wide yam

[@glass12]

"A white dude coming out of Sundance with an OK film and getting handed a multi ten of million dollars franchise, you don't see it with women, you don't see it with people of color." Somebody should tell John that "Dope" (A good film, not great) came out of Sundance and now Rick Famuyiwa is handling The Flash. Things are changing.

[@ajl2089]

Famuyiwa's 1st film came out in 1999, "Dope" was his 4th, The Flash will be his 6th. Safety Not Guaranteed was Trevorrow's 1st film, Jurassic Park was his 2nd. Thats what Ridley is talking about.

[@glass12]

Valley42 Well he didn't make that distinction. Either way it was "Dope" that got Rick the job, things are changing, that's what I'm talking about.

[@ajl2089]

He didn't make that distinction but I've heard the exact same argument from other directors about how directors of color/women are not getting those opportunities despite proving their ability over years vs. someone like Trevorrow ("A white dude") getting the opportunity after only 1 movie. Possible I'm inferring something Ridley isn't saying. Agree things are changing though with Famuyima and Ryan Coogler directing big budget franchise movies now. It's the internet. I'm splitting hairs.

[@hbergfeld1]

The difference is that Dope is an amazing movie.... It was more than okay

[@glass12]

hbergfeld1 A matter of taste indeed.

[@1muzikmania]

that was kinda boring

[@lovettlois5748]

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