The person who made “Murder at the End of the World” and got an award from WGA feels sad about how Hollywood doesn’t use measures to see how well something is done. But they also say it feels good because it gives them freedom.
When Brit Marling and her friend Zal Batmanglij got the idea for their newest show, “A Murder at the End of the World,” every TV channel they talked to wanted to make it. This was after the success of their other show, “The OA,” but also after Netflix canceled “The OA” after just two seasons. Marling says making shows in this business means accepting that bigger forces can shape things. She says choosing the right people to work with is important.
The show is about a hacker named Darby Hart, played by Emma Corrin, who goes to a retreat about climate change and people start dying. The show ended up on FX, where Marling felt the people in charge cared about the stories.
Marling talks about how they find people to work with. They like to work with writers who aren’t from Hollywood. For example, for “The OA,” they got a playwright named Dominic Orlando from Minnesota. For “Murder,” they got science fiction writers Rebecca Roanhorse and Cherie Dimaline who hadn’t written for TV before.
Marling talks about feeling tired of the industry sometimes, but she also sees moments of energy and creativity. She mentions feeling unsure about her own writing and directing choices sometimes, especially when they have to deal with tough filming locations.
Making “A Murder at the End of the World” made Marling feel both worried and hopeful about the climate crisis. She says seeing how people are trying to fix things gives her hope. She talks about how the show looks at how some people hoard resources because they’re scared of the crisis.
Marling talks about getting new ideas for stories, even when she’s busy promoting a show. She says sometimes ideas come to her in dreams or in moments when she’s not thinking about work.
She says the love story between two characters in “Murder” came to her easily. She talks about how the show’s love story feels like it could happen at any time because it’s timeless.
Marling says she doesn’t know what success means in the TV business anymore. She says she cares more about how people feel about her shows than about how many people watch them.
She says she doesn’t feel comfortable using social media to talk to fans, but she appreciates when people love her work. She says she’s not sure how to deal with criticism sometimes.
She talks about being a fan of the TV show “ER” and the filmmaker Miyazaki. She says she gets starstruck when she sees people she admires.
Finally, Marling talks about whether rich people can be good people. She says she thinks it’s hard for people with a lot of money to stay connected to other people.