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".
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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]