IR Interview: The Producers Of "Hijack" [Apple TV+]

The Inside Reel

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".

Transcript

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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