‘Silicon Valley’ Showrunner on How Studios “Despise Writers,” Terrible Tech Execs, and What ‘The Big Bang Theory’ “Didn’t Get Right”
The good, the bad, and the ugly sides of Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and Europe were in focus in a day 2 keynote at the fifth edition of Iberseries & Platino Industria, in which outspoken Hollywood showrunner, screenwriter, and producer John Altschuler (Silicon Valley) shared insights and experiences.
“The studios have always hated writers. They despise writers,” he argued. “The first organized union was the Writers Guild. They hate us. But what they know in Hollywood is that without a script, you have nothing.”
That means that Hollywood productions are writer-driven, he said, in contrast to Europe, where projects are more director-driven. “That is the biggest disconnect between America and Europe,” Altschuler concluded. Bringing together the successful, proven production processes of Hollywood and Europe’s appreciation for art can create something new that combines the best of both worlds, he suggested.
Altschuler also shared how their middle-class backgrounds meant that he and Beavis and Butt-Head and King of the Hill creator Mike Judge immediately got along. “In Hollywood, they despise the middle class,” he then offered.
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About his experience working on King of the Hill, he said: “I worked with Brad Pitt, Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston,” Altschuler said, highlighting that everyone wanted to be on that show back in the day.
Altschuler also recalled coming up with the idea for Silicon Valley to put a comedic spotlight on the technology sector and culture, which he said wasn’t shown in film or TV before. “The closest was The Big Bang Theory, a sitcom that was about geniuses, and it didn’t get it right,” he argued, adding that, “I like big targets.”
Tech executives are one such big target, and he met some of them, he told the keynote event. That is why season 1 of Silicon Valley, parodying them, keeps showing characters who say, “We don’t want to make money, we just want to make the world a better place,” Altschuler explained, adding: “Now these really are some of the most horrible people. … They’re greedy, ravenous, terrible people. So I was like, ‘This is a show’.”
In terms of big picture commentary, Altschuler told the Iberseries audience that “IP, intellectual property, is everything.”
Of course, things have changed in the digital age. “The business has changed dramatically,” he offered. And he shared that he is developing, as an Irish-U.K. co-production, a series based on The Gangster’s Guide to Sobriety: My Life in 12 Steps, a book he co-wrote with Dave Krinsky and Richie Stephens.
The first day of Iberseries had included appearances by executives from the likes of Disney+ Spain, the studio Gaumont, independent production powerhouse Banijay, and Telemundo Studios, with a late session starring Argentinian actress-turned-producer Luisana Lopilato, which was attended by her husband Michael Bublé.
