CraveOnline: I’m reminded of Rod Serling, back when he was doing teleplays in the 1950s.
John Ridley: Yeah.
He had that one about a person of color who moves into a white neighborhood and they end up running him out of town. The network got really nervous and said, let’s make him an ex-con, and white. Nowadays it seems like we can deal with that. But it’s interesting that you get to do a show called American Crime, right there that’s a statement…
Yeah.
And you get to have a show that is indeed about issues, not incidentally but as a mission statement.
Yeah.
I hear a lot of artists talk about how they didn’t set out to have a message, they just wanted to tell a good story. Here it seems you’re doing at least both simultaneously. Or is the message first?
No, I think you make a really, really good point. First of all, I really appreciate you bringing up that Rod Serling story because one of the reasons, as I’m sure you know, he went off and did Twilight Zone is because he said, “Yeah, I’m not going to do any more of these message shows. I’m going to do this fantasy thing so everybody will get off my back.” And obviously The Twilight Zone were amazing parables about who we are and all of that.
I do feel very, very blessed that the idea that we had an opportunity to do a show that is meritous (sic). I hope that it never feels like it’s a message show, or that it’s self important, but there’s no denying that what we’re trying to talk about is of merit. At the same time there was a space where, knowing that ABC was committed to the subject matter, I also thought, well, okay but we’re going to film this in ways that are going to be very different than what’s on network television. We’re going to edit it in ways that are different. We’re going to have a sound design that is very different. When are we going to get that point where ABC is like, “Fine, you can make the guy that you’re running out of town black, and he doesn’t have to be a convict, but just shoot it in a medium shot. Don’t do this other stuff you’re doing.”
So to your point, yes, we’re not only able to tell something that I hope is, again, just meritous and worthy of people’s time and attention, but also shot in a way that advances the language of cinema and works in a space where it doesn’t look like standardized television. That’s very, very special as well. That to me is where we’re entering into a new space in broadcast television, where they’re saying, look, we’re going to do things that quite frankly you also don’t see on cable, in terms of the people, in terms of the performers, and honestly in terms of behind the camera. Our writing staff, the directors that we have on board, that’s just not something you see. But then also presented in a way for people who love cinema to go, “Oh, this is very, very interesting how you put it together.” Again, I was blessed to have the cast and the crew that I have, and the post-production people. It’s a really especially talented group of individuals.
You mentioned earlier about the push and pull, about not letting an artist do whatever they want so they have to fight for it. And you said that ABC has been very receptive. Has there been anything they brought up that has changed the show, maybe for the better, maybe for worse, where it would be very different if they hadn’t brought it up?
Yes and no. Honestly they probably had about three notes that they were very insistent upon, and I have to be honest, all of them worked.
