In September we learned David Fincher would helm the entire first season of HBO‘s upcoming series “Utopia“, and in addition to that we have previously been made aware of two other untitled television projects from the Gone Girl director: the first a 1950s-set crime-noir series Fincher was developing with writer James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential), and the second a series about “music videos in the 1980s and the crew members who worked on them.” Yesterday both untitled projects were officially titled, and we learned a few other small details about each.
The Fincher-Ellroy noir series is called “Shakedown“, and it centers on a private detective working in the murky underbelly of Los Angeles in the 1950s. The project was previously in development at FX in 2012, and is inspired by the career of real-life private eye Fred Otash, about whom Ellroy also based his fictional novella “Shakedown”, though the HBO series is not derived from that material. [Deadline]
As for the project about the world of 1980s music videos, that one is apparently called “Living On Video“, and it is a half-hour show about the world Fincher became known for before making his move into the world of film. Casting is currently underway, and while we aren’t made fully aware of Fincher’s directorial involvement in “Shakedown“, it sounds like Fincher only intends to direct the first episode of this series, and after that he will step back into an executive producer role like he did on “House of Cards” [The Wrap]
David Fincher‘s exploration into the world of television has quickly morphed into something far more substantial, and while I’m hopeful he will continue making films long into the future, any new Fincher project is worth anticipating, if you ask me.
In addition to Fincher, it seems another film director will be making her own foray into the world of television. Ava DuVernay, whose movie Selma has received rave reviews thus far, has a new project in the works, an eight- or ten-episode cables series centered on the black experience in America. Though I haven’t yet seen Selma, I am very much looking forward to doing so, and learning DuVernay has a television project in the works gives me hope we will be hearing more diverse voices like hers in the years to come. It’s not necessarily a massive shift just yet, but it’s definitely a start. [The Guardian]
Between series like “House of Cards“, “True Detective“, and “The Knick“, television is quickly becoming a new medium for talented directors to work in, and with multiple series in development for Fincher and now this one for DuVernay, I’ll be curious to see if more directors start taking to this type of long-form storytelling.
