Delivering a keynote address at the Iberseries & Platino Industria in Madrid, “Silicon Valley” showrunner John Altschuler did not mince words when giving his opinion of the tech people inhabiting the real Silicon Valley: “They’re greedy, ravenous, terrible people,” he said.
The idea for his hit HBO Max series came to him after reading Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs. “It’s a good book…. I came to a passage about Bill Gates ridiculing Steve Jobs, saying: ‘The guy can’t even write code.’ And I’m like, well, this is hilarious.”
Researching for the show took him to Silicon Valley where he had three meetings and all three companies said to him: “We’re not interested in making money, we’re interested in making the world a better place.” That line is often repeated in Season 1 of “Silicon Valley,” said Altschuler who was also a showrunner of the hit animated series “King of the Hill,” among other shows.
Speaking to Gersh Agency partner Roy Ashton on stage, Altschuler said he was also in Europe to find partners for an Irish-U.K. co-production he was developing, based on a book he co-wrote with his “Silicon Valley” co-creator Dave Krinsky alongside narrator-author Richie Stephens: “The Gangster’s Guide to Sobriety: My Life in 12 Steps.”
He rejected suggestions to take it to a studio in Hollywood: “I believe that there are underlying strengths to the Hollywood system that you do not have here. I believe that there is a feeling towards art and culture in Europe that we do not have in America. And I believe by bringing those together, you create something a little more interesting, a little bit unexpected, and that is how I believe we will succeed in the new marketplace.”
What he did lament was the lack of respect for writers in Europe. He related how he tried to meet with “Call My Agent” creator Fanny Herrero and the people in France were flummoxed.
“You want to meet the director?” they asked him and he gave an emphatic ‘no.’ “Directors come and go but the vision of that show was her vision and that’s what I was interested in.”
“Traditionally, Europeans and British writers have had to come to America to succeed. And I think that’s a shame, because then they’re writing for an American system. What I hope is that I can help European writers succeed in Europe and then show it to Americans,” he said.
“There is something wrong with the system that devalues any component of the creative process. ‘Silicon Valley’ got its first Emmy win from our production designer, and I can tell you, our production designer understood our show better than I did, because when he laid out the office where they lived, it came to life. So, I can tell you, the devaluation of the writer is the biggest problem in European entertainment,” he stressed.
Ashton cited a recent Writer’s Guild report that said there were 40% less writer jobs in the U.S. since the strike in Hollywood, to which Altschuler replied: “The strike didn’t cause these streamers to make eight episodes instead of 22 episodes.”
“Here’s the thing. It was always hard. It was easier when I came in. It’s harder now, but it’s always been a game of chance. So, you take your shot, you work hard, you stay at it, and you have as much chance to succeed as you ever did. It’s just a little unclear how to get there. but there are more avenues now than there’s ever been. So that’s the good and the bad,” he concluded.