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IR Interview: The Producers Of "Hijack" [Apple TV+]
The Inside Reel
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8/17/2023
Producers Jamie Laurenson & Hakan Kousetta of 60Forty Films talk to The Inside Reel about development, structure, tone and concept with their new series on Apple TV+: "Hijack".
Category
📺
TV
Transcript
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00:00
(screaming)
00:02
- There's other stuff going down.
00:14
- Five passengers on that plane do not exist.
00:17
- It's a network running all across Europe.
00:19
- To them, we're an incoming missile.
00:22
- She wrote us, Orkdan.
00:29
- I can tell you, it's not gonna be us.
00:31
- Well, thank you very much for taking the time,
00:39
but also for producing great series.
00:43
'Cause the thing is, it takes time to develop these things.
00:46
They just don't come out of the box.
00:48
And with both "Slow Horses" and now "Hijack,"
00:51
you guys have sort of found sort of that cadence,
00:54
that pace, but also very specific storytelling.
00:57
Could you talk about that from both your perspectives?
00:59
Bringing "Slow Horses," but now specifically "Hijack."
01:03
- Yeah, I mean, they're obviously both very different shows
01:08
and had very different genesis.
01:10
"Slow Horses" is obviously based on some great set of books
01:16
by Mick Herron and was actually
01:19
a longer process in development.
01:22
We were very lucky to find the perfect home for both shows
01:26
with Apple TV+, who kind of recognized the unique kind
01:31
of aspects of "Slow Horses."
01:32
'Cause I think one of the most original thing about it,
01:35
obviously a spy genre is not in itself original,
01:38
but that tone and that voice that Mick brings to it is.
01:41
And it took Apple TV+ to really recognize
01:45
that you can be funny and serious and all those things
01:48
and do all that thing in the same place.
01:51
So that was a huge opportunity for the show
01:55
and for us and "Hijack," I'll let Hakan talk to.
02:00
- Yeah, I mean, "Hijack" did take a little while,
02:03
but not as long as "Slow Horses."
02:05
It came as a, the concept was devised by George Kay,
02:10
the writer, and Jim Fieldsmith,
02:12
the lead director on the show.
02:14
But it was one of those ones that we sort of got
02:18
like a one-pager.
02:19
The moment you saw it,
02:19
you kind of knew exactly what it could be.
02:22
And so that was definitely a faster development process
02:27
compared to "Slow Horses."
02:28
But it was, but yeah, so it's just,
02:32
I mean, it's just, I suppose the things in common
02:33
with the both shows is there's a certain amount
02:36
of connectivity with the audience
02:37
that I think they both achieve.
02:39
Everyone's sort of relate to the characters
02:42
that are depicted, I think,
02:43
and sort of as fanciful as some of the circumstances are,
02:48
there's still something sort of relatable
02:50
and not, you know,
02:53
and something that you can sort of feel
02:56
some empathy for or affinity with, I think.
02:59
- Would any remaining passengers for flight KA29
03:04
please make their way to gate B15?
03:07
- Good morning, everyone.
03:08
This is Captain Robin Allen speaking.
03:11
Flight time today is six hours, 54 minutes.
03:14
(dramatic music)
03:17
(alarm beeping)
03:21
- Stay in your seats!
03:26
Get down, now!
03:27
- Get down!
03:28
(tires screeching)
03:29
- Operation has commenced.
03:31
- Phones, tablets.
03:32
- Plane is under control.
03:34
- You need to see this.
03:37
- Plane did, of course.
03:38
- Someone is calling for help.
03:41
(alarm beeping)
03:44
- Got family, loved ones?
03:47
- We got one job to do right now,
03:48
just get through to them.
03:50
- I got a message from the plane.
03:53
- Dad says incident on board.
03:55
- What exactly does your dad do for a living?
03:58
- It's difficult to explain.
03:59
- Sam's the best at handling it.
04:01
- Handling what?
04:02
- The negotiation.
04:04
- Because obviously hijack's
04:05
a different logistical challenge.
04:07
- Yes.
04:08
- Having seen the whole series
04:09
and seeing the two series of "Slow Horses"
04:12
is with hijack, 'cause you're within a confined space,
04:14
even though you cut away to different things,
04:16
so you have to keep the story moving,
04:18
but the logistical element of maintaining it
04:20
in the plane, the tension, all these things,
04:23
can you talk about that?
04:24
'Cause it builds over the episodes,
04:26
but it has to have the character beats that really move it.
04:29
Can you talk about that?
04:30
'Cause that's the inherent challenge
04:31
of that kind of genre piece within it.
04:34
- I think that that's absolutely right.
04:35
I think in some ways, the interesting thing
04:38
about the kind of development of the story of hijack
04:41
is you set yourself a problem
04:44
and you have your cast of characters,
04:47
heroes and villains, to either solve
04:50
or thwart those problems.
04:53
So it is like a puzzle box in a sense
04:56
that you're trying to unlock along the way.
04:59
And as you say, the cutting away to outside the plane
05:04
had to always contribute to the story on the plane.
05:09
It had to either create an opportunity
05:12
to solve a problem on the plane
05:13
or create a new problem or explain and deepen
05:17
the jeopardy that those characters
05:19
that you're beginning to care about on the plane
05:21
are likely to be going through.
05:23
So it's a very sort of tautly wound dial in a way
05:28
and getting that calibration right
05:35
was part of the process through writing,
05:37
through shooting and editing.
05:39
And I think also the decision was made very early on
05:43
to sort of stay within the confines of the plane
05:45
when we're on the plane.
05:46
Like you never fly through a window
05:48
or the camera's not sort of doing funny tricks around.
05:51
And I think that really adds to the authenticity
05:54
of that environment that lends itself in turn
05:57
to the intricacy of the story and the plot
06:01
and heightens the anxiety and that aspect of the show.
06:08
(plane engine roaring)
06:10
- There are 200 people on this flight.
06:12
If they try something and then this plane goes down,
06:16
I don't get home to my family.
06:18
Let me make you an offer.
06:21
- I've been handed demands.
06:25
- If it's all going wrong in the first hour,
06:27
imagine the next six.
06:29
We need to get a message to the whole plane.
06:31
We just need to be ready.
06:37
(people screaming)
06:40
(dramatic music)
06:43
(dramatic music)
06:46
(whooshing)
06:49
[BLANK_AUDIO]
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