How Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail is adapting the hit podcast Homecoming into an utterly original TV series.
“I’m controlling over anything I create,” says Sam Esmail. “I’m very precious about it.” The writer, director, and show runner is used to constructing worlds purely of his own design, most successfully with his Golden Globe– and Peabody Award– winning USA Network series, Mr. Robot, a dizzying descent into the mind of a brilliant, paranoid hacker. Esmail’s latest project—the 10-episode Home coming—is a psychological thriller that lands on Amazon in early November and stars Julia Roberts in her television debut. It also marks the first time he has directed someone else’s material, and a podcast no less. Translating an audio driven narrative for the screen inspired Esmail to loosen his notoriously tight grip on creative control, while maintaining a firm grasp of his own vision. Here’s how he found the right balance.
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This story is from the November 2018 edition of Fast Company.
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This story is from the November 2018 edition of Fast Company.
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