As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Tranter reveals they “had to really push to get a second season and had to really push again to get a third.” At around $2 million per episode, Industry was cheap by HBO standards, which likely saved it.
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Tranter reveals they “had to really push to get a second season and had to really push again to get a third.” At around $2 million per episode, Industry was cheap by HBO standards, which likely saved it.
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Season 1 wasn’t a hit. Despite solid reviews praising its breakneck pace and performances—plus endless coverage of its nihilistic behavior earning it the nickname “Millennium Mad Men”—ratings were fractional.
Tranter reveals they “had to really push to get a second season and had to really push again to get a third.” At around $2 million per episode, Industry was cheap by HBO standards, which likely saved it.
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Season 1 wasn’t a hit. Despite solid reviews praising its breakneck pace and performances—plus endless coverage of its nihilistic behavior earning it the nickname “Millennium Mad Men”—ratings were fractional.
Tranter reveals they “had to really push to get a second season and had to really push again to get a third.” At around $2 million per episode, Industry was cheap by HBO standards, which likely saved it.
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
That first episode went through roughly 60 iterations across three years of development hell. Getting the green light was one of departing HBO boss Richard Plepler’s final acts in February 2019.
Nobody Watched—Until Everybody Did
Season 1 wasn’t a hit. Despite solid reviews praising its breakneck pace and performances—plus endless coverage of its nihilistic behavior earning it the nickname “Millennium Mad Men”—ratings were fractional.
Tranter reveals they “had to really push to get a second season and had to really push again to get a third.” At around $2 million per episode, Industry was cheap by HBO standards, which likely saved it.
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
That first episode went through roughly 60 iterations across three years of development hell. Getting the green light was one of departing HBO boss Richard Plepler’s final acts in February 2019.
Nobody Watched—Until Everybody Did
Season 1 wasn’t a hit. Despite solid reviews praising its breakneck pace and performances—plus endless coverage of its nihilistic behavior earning it the nickname “Millennium Mad Men”—ratings were fractional.
Tranter reveals they “had to really push to get a second season and had to really push again to get a third.” At around $2 million per episode, Industry was cheap by HBO standards, which likely saved it.
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
HBO’s Casey Bloys, now the company’s CEO, asked whether they’d actually “had any fun when you were in this job?” They rewrote everything, this time capturing what Down calls the “anticipatory energy” of entering the workplace fresh.
That first episode went through roughly 60 iterations across three years of development hell. Getting the green light was one of departing HBO boss Richard Plepler’s final acts in February 2019.
Nobody Watched—Until Everybody Did
Season 1 wasn’t a hit. Despite solid reviews praising its breakneck pace and performances—plus endless coverage of its nihilistic behavior earning it the nickname “Millennium Mad Men”—ratings were fractional.
Tranter reveals they “had to really push to get a second season and had to really push again to get a third.” At around $2 million per episode, Industry was cheap by HBO standards, which likely saved it.
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
HBO’s Casey Bloys, now the company’s CEO, asked whether they’d actually “had any fun when you were in this job?” They rewrote everything, this time capturing what Down calls the “anticipatory energy” of entering the workplace fresh.
That first episode went through roughly 60 iterations across three years of development hell. Getting the green light was one of departing HBO boss Richard Plepler’s final acts in February 2019.
Nobody Watched—Until Everybody Did
Season 1 wasn’t a hit. Despite solid reviews praising its breakneck pace and performances—plus endless coverage of its nihilistic behavior earning it the nickname “Millennium Mad Men”—ratings were fractional.
Tranter reveals they “had to really push to get a second season and had to really push again to get a third.” At around $2 million per episode, Industry was cheap by HBO standards, which likely saved it.
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Enter Down and Kay, two former banking employees who’d never written for television. Their first script, based on their own miserable experiences, was—as Kay freely admits—“really dour” and “glacially slow.”
HBO’s Casey Bloys, now the company’s CEO, asked whether they’d actually “had any fun when you were in this job?” They rewrote everything, this time capturing what Down calls the “anticipatory energy” of entering the workplace fresh.
That first episode went through roughly 60 iterations across three years of development hell. Getting the green light was one of departing HBO boss Richard Plepler’s final acts in February 2019.
Nobody Watched—Until Everybody Did
Season 1 wasn’t a hit. Despite solid reviews praising its breakneck pace and performances—plus endless coverage of its nihilistic behavior earning it the nickname “Millennium Mad Men”—ratings were fractional.
Tranter reveals they “had to really push to get a second season and had to really push again to get a third.” At around $2 million per episode, Industry was cheap by HBO standards, which likely saved it.
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Enter Down and Kay, two former banking employees who’d never written for television. Their first script, based on their own miserable experiences, was—as Kay freely admits—“really dour” and “glacially slow.”
HBO’s Casey Bloys, now the company’s CEO, asked whether they’d actually “had any fun when you were in this job?” They rewrote everything, this time capturing what Down calls the “anticipatory energy” of entering the workplace fresh.
That first episode went through roughly 60 iterations across three years of development hell. Getting the green light was one of departing HBO boss Richard Plepler’s final acts in February 2019.
Nobody Watched—Until Everybody Did
Season 1 wasn’t a hit. Despite solid reviews praising its breakneck pace and performances—plus endless coverage of its nihilistic behavior earning it the nickname “Millennium Mad Men”—ratings were fractional.
Tranter reveals they “had to really push to get a second season and had to really push again to get a third.” At around $2 million per episode, Industry was cheap by HBO standards, which likely saved it.
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Back in late 2015, Tranter was fascinated by a paradox: Why were young people still flocking to finance jobs after the 2008 crash exposed banking’s darkest corners?
Enter Down and Kay, two former banking employees who’d never written for television. Their first script, based on their own miserable experiences, was—as Kay freely admits—“really dour” and “glacially slow.”
HBO’s Casey Bloys, now the company’s CEO, asked whether they’d actually “had any fun when you were in this job?” They rewrote everything, this time capturing what Down calls the “anticipatory energy” of entering the workplace fresh.
That first episode went through roughly 60 iterations across three years of development hell. Getting the green light was one of departing HBO boss Richard Plepler’s final acts in February 2019.
Nobody Watched—Until Everybody Did
Season 1 wasn’t a hit. Despite solid reviews praising its breakneck pace and performances—plus endless coverage of its nihilistic behavior earning it the nickname “Millennium Mad Men”—ratings were fractional.
Tranter reveals they “had to really push to get a second season and had to really push again to get a third.” At around $2 million per episode, Industry was cheap by HBO standards, which likely saved it.
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Back in late 2015, Tranter was fascinated by a paradox: Why were young people still flocking to finance jobs after the 2008 crash exposed banking’s darkest corners?
Enter Down and Kay, two former banking employees who’d never written for television. Their first script, based on their own miserable experiences, was—as Kay freely admits—“really dour” and “glacially slow.”
HBO’s Casey Bloys, now the company’s CEO, asked whether they’d actually “had any fun when you were in this job?” They rewrote everything, this time capturing what Down calls the “anticipatory energy” of entering the workplace fresh.
That first episode went through roughly 60 iterations across three years of development hell. Getting the green light was one of departing HBO boss Richard Plepler’s final acts in February 2019.
Nobody Watched—Until Everybody Did
Season 1 wasn’t a hit. Despite solid reviews praising its breakneck pace and performances—plus endless coverage of its nihilistic behavior earning it the nickname “Millennium Mad Men”—ratings were fractional.
Tranter reveals they “had to really push to get a second season and had to really push again to get a third.” At around $2 million per episode, Industry was cheap by HBO standards, which likely saved it.
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
The journey to HBO’s coveted 9 p.m. Sunday slot—where Season 4 premieres January 11—was anything but guaranteed. Executive producer Jane Tranter, co-founder of Bad Wolf production company, remembers Industry as the “little engine that could.”
Back in late 2015, Tranter was fascinated by a paradox: Why were young people still flocking to finance jobs after the 2008 crash exposed banking’s darkest corners?
Enter Down and Kay, two former banking employees who’d never written for television. Their first script, based on their own miserable experiences, was—as Kay freely admits—“really dour” and “glacially slow.”
HBO’s Casey Bloys, now the company’s CEO, asked whether they’d actually “had any fun when you were in this job?” They rewrote everything, this time capturing what Down calls the “anticipatory energy” of entering the workplace fresh.
That first episode went through roughly 60 iterations across three years of development hell. Getting the green light was one of departing HBO boss Richard Plepler’s final acts in February 2019.
Nobody Watched—Until Everybody Did
Season 1 wasn’t a hit. Despite solid reviews praising its breakneck pace and performances—plus endless coverage of its nihilistic behavior earning it the nickname “Millennium Mad Men”—ratings were fractional.
Tranter reveals they “had to really push to get a second season and had to really push again to get a third.” At around $2 million per episode, Industry was cheap by HBO standards, which likely saved it.
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
The journey to HBO’s coveted 9 p.m. Sunday slot—where Season 4 premieres January 11—was anything but guaranteed. Executive producer Jane Tranter, co-founder of Bad Wolf production company, remembers Industry as the “little engine that could.”
Back in late 2015, Tranter was fascinated by a paradox: Why were young people still flocking to finance jobs after the 2008 crash exposed banking’s darkest corners?
Enter Down and Kay, two former banking employees who’d never written for television. Their first script, based on their own miserable experiences, was—as Kay freely admits—“really dour” and “glacially slow.”
HBO’s Casey Bloys, now the company’s CEO, asked whether they’d actually “had any fun when you were in this job?” They rewrote everything, this time capturing what Down calls the “anticipatory energy” of entering the workplace fresh.
That first episode went through roughly 60 iterations across three years of development hell. Getting the green light was one of departing HBO boss Richard Plepler’s final acts in February 2019.
Nobody Watched—Until Everybody Did
Season 1 wasn’t a hit. Despite solid reviews praising its breakneck pace and performances—plus endless coverage of its nihilistic behavior earning it the nickname “Millennium Mad Men”—ratings were fractional.
Tranter reveals they “had to really push to get a second season and had to really push again to get a third.” At around $2 million per episode, Industry was cheap by HBO standards, which likely saved it.
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
As Down puts it: “This show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.”
From Banking Hell to HBO’s Sunday Night Throne
The journey to HBO’s coveted 9 p.m. Sunday slot—where Season 4 premieres January 11—was anything but guaranteed. Executive producer Jane Tranter, co-founder of Bad Wolf production company, remembers Industry as the “little engine that could.”
Back in late 2015, Tranter was fascinated by a paradox: Why were young people still flocking to finance jobs after the 2008 crash exposed banking’s darkest corners?
Enter Down and Kay, two former banking employees who’d never written for television. Their first script, based on their own miserable experiences, was—as Kay freely admits—“really dour” and “glacially slow.”
HBO’s Casey Bloys, now the company’s CEO, asked whether they’d actually “had any fun when you were in this job?” They rewrote everything, this time capturing what Down calls the “anticipatory energy” of entering the workplace fresh.
That first episode went through roughly 60 iterations across three years of development hell. Getting the green light was one of departing HBO boss Richard Plepler’s final acts in February 2019.
Nobody Watched—Until Everybody Did
Season 1 wasn’t a hit. Despite solid reviews praising its breakneck pace and performances—plus endless coverage of its nihilistic behavior earning it the nickname “Millennium Mad Men”—ratings were fractional.
Tranter reveals they “had to really push to get a second season and had to really push again to get a third.” At around $2 million per episode, Industry was cheap by HBO standards, which likely saved it.
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
As Down puts it: “This show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.”
From Banking Hell to HBO’s Sunday Night Throne
The journey to HBO’s coveted 9 p.m. Sunday slot—where Season 4 premieres January 11—was anything but guaranteed. Executive producer Jane Tranter, co-founder of Bad Wolf production company, remembers Industry as the “little engine that could.”
Back in late 2015, Tranter was fascinated by a paradox: Why were young people still flocking to finance jobs after the 2008 crash exposed banking’s darkest corners?
Enter Down and Kay, two former banking employees who’d never written for television. Their first script, based on their own miserable experiences, was—as Kay freely admits—“really dour” and “glacially slow.”
HBO’s Casey Bloys, now the company’s CEO, asked whether they’d actually “had any fun when you were in this job?” They rewrote everything, this time capturing what Down calls the “anticipatory energy” of entering the workplace fresh.
That first episode went through roughly 60 iterations across three years of development hell. Getting the green light was one of departing HBO boss Richard Plepler’s final acts in February 2019.
Nobody Watched—Until Everybody Did
Season 1 wasn’t a hit. Despite solid reviews praising its breakneck pace and performances—plus endless coverage of its nihilistic behavior earning it the nickname “Millennium Mad Men”—ratings were fractional.
Tranter reveals they “had to really push to get a second season and had to really push again to get a third.” At around $2 million per episode, Industry was cheap by HBO standards, which likely saved it.
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
It’s a risky move that could alienate fans—but Down and Kay wouldn’t have it any other way.
As Down puts it: “This show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.”
From Banking Hell to HBO’s Sunday Night Throne
The journey to HBO’s coveted 9 p.m. Sunday slot—where Season 4 premieres January 11—was anything but guaranteed. Executive producer Jane Tranter, co-founder of Bad Wolf production company, remembers Industry as the “little engine that could.”
Back in late 2015, Tranter was fascinated by a paradox: Why were young people still flocking to finance jobs after the 2008 crash exposed banking’s darkest corners?
Enter Down and Kay, two former banking employees who’d never written for television. Their first script, based on their own miserable experiences, was—as Kay freely admits—“really dour” and “glacially slow.”
HBO’s Casey Bloys, now the company’s CEO, asked whether they’d actually “had any fun when you were in this job?” They rewrote everything, this time capturing what Down calls the “anticipatory energy” of entering the workplace fresh.
That first episode went through roughly 60 iterations across three years of development hell. Getting the green light was one of departing HBO boss Richard Plepler’s final acts in February 2019.
Nobody Watched—Until Everybody Did
Season 1 wasn’t a hit. Despite solid reviews praising its breakneck pace and performances—plus endless coverage of its nihilistic behavior earning it the nickname “Millennium Mad Men”—ratings were fractional.
Tranter reveals they “had to really push to get a second season and had to really push again to get a third.” At around $2 million per episode, Industry was cheap by HBO standards, which likely saved it.
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
It’s a risky move that could alienate fans—but Down and Kay wouldn’t have it any other way.
As Down puts it: “This show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.”
From Banking Hell to HBO’s Sunday Night Throne
The journey to HBO’s coveted 9 p.m. Sunday slot—where Season 4 premieres January 11—was anything but guaranteed. Executive producer Jane Tranter, co-founder of Bad Wolf production company, remembers Industry as the “little engine that could.”
Back in late 2015, Tranter was fascinated by a paradox: Why were young people still flocking to finance jobs after the 2008 crash exposed banking’s darkest corners?
Enter Down and Kay, two former banking employees who’d never written for television. Their first script, based on their own miserable experiences, was—as Kay freely admits—“really dour” and “glacially slow.”
HBO’s Casey Bloys, now the company’s CEO, asked whether they’d actually “had any fun when you were in this job?” They rewrote everything, this time capturing what Down calls the “anticipatory energy” of entering the workplace fresh.
That first episode went through roughly 60 iterations across three years of development hell. Getting the green light was one of departing HBO boss Richard Plepler’s final acts in February 2019.
Nobody Watched—Until Everybody Did
Season 1 wasn’t a hit. Despite solid reviews praising its breakneck pace and performances—plus endless coverage of its nihilistic behavior earning it the nickname “Millennium Mad Men”—ratings were fractional.
Tranter reveals they “had to really push to get a second season and had to really push again to get a third.” At around $2 million per episode, Industry was cheap by HBO standards, which likely saved it.
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Season 4 ditches the trading floor entirely, scattering characters across media empires, political backrooms, and fascist dynasties.
It’s a risky move that could alienate fans—but Down and Kay wouldn’t have it any other way.
As Down puts it: “This show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.”
From Banking Hell to HBO’s Sunday Night Throne
The journey to HBO’s coveted 9 p.m. Sunday slot—where Season 4 premieres January 11—was anything but guaranteed. Executive producer Jane Tranter, co-founder of Bad Wolf production company, remembers Industry as the “little engine that could.”
Back in late 2015, Tranter was fascinated by a paradox: Why were young people still flocking to finance jobs after the 2008 crash exposed banking’s darkest corners?
Enter Down and Kay, two former banking employees who’d never written for television. Their first script, based on their own miserable experiences, was—as Kay freely admits—“really dour” and “glacially slow.”
HBO’s Casey Bloys, now the company’s CEO, asked whether they’d actually “had any fun when you were in this job?” They rewrote everything, this time capturing what Down calls the “anticipatory energy” of entering the workplace fresh.
That first episode went through roughly 60 iterations across three years of development hell. Getting the green light was one of departing HBO boss Richard Plepler’s final acts in February 2019.
Nobody Watched—Until Everybody Did
Season 1 wasn’t a hit. Despite solid reviews praising its breakneck pace and performances—plus endless coverage of its nihilistic behavior earning it the nickname “Millennium Mad Men”—ratings were fractional.
Tranter reveals they “had to really push to get a second season and had to really push again to get a third.” At around $2 million per episode, Industry was cheap by HBO standards, which likely saved it.
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Season 4 ditches the trading floor entirely, scattering characters across media empires, political backrooms, and fascist dynasties.
It’s a risky move that could alienate fans—but Down and Kay wouldn’t have it any other way.
As Down puts it: “This show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.”
From Banking Hell to HBO’s Sunday Night Throne
The journey to HBO’s coveted 9 p.m. Sunday slot—where Season 4 premieres January 11—was anything but guaranteed. Executive producer Jane Tranter, co-founder of Bad Wolf production company, remembers Industry as the “little engine that could.”
Back in late 2015, Tranter was fascinated by a paradox: Why were young people still flocking to finance jobs after the 2008 crash exposed banking’s darkest corners?
Enter Down and Kay, two former banking employees who’d never written for television. Their first script, based on their own miserable experiences, was—as Kay freely admits—“really dour” and “glacially slow.”
HBO’s Casey Bloys, now the company’s CEO, asked whether they’d actually “had any fun when you were in this job?” They rewrote everything, this time capturing what Down calls the “anticipatory energy” of entering the workplace fresh.
That first episode went through roughly 60 iterations across three years of development hell. Getting the green light was one of departing HBO boss Richard Plepler’s final acts in February 2019.
Nobody Watched—Until Everybody Did
Season 1 wasn’t a hit. Despite solid reviews praising its breakneck pace and performances—plus endless coverage of its nihilistic behavior earning it the nickname “Millennium Mad Men”—ratings were fractional.
Tranter reveals they “had to really push to get a second season and had to really push again to get a third.” At around $2 million per episode, Industry was cheap by HBO standards, which likely saved it.
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Two showrunners with zero television experience somehow created one of HBO’s most audacious dramas. Now, after years of fighting for survival, Industry has finally broken through—and creators Mickey Down and Konrad Kay are tearing up their own rulebook.
Season 4 ditches the trading floor entirely, scattering characters across media empires, political backrooms, and fascist dynasties.
It’s a risky move that could alienate fans—but Down and Kay wouldn’t have it any other way.
As Down puts it: “This show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.”
From Banking Hell to HBO’s Sunday Night Throne
The journey to HBO’s coveted 9 p.m. Sunday slot—where Season 4 premieres January 11—was anything but guaranteed. Executive producer Jane Tranter, co-founder of Bad Wolf production company, remembers Industry as the “little engine that could.”
Back in late 2015, Tranter was fascinated by a paradox: Why were young people still flocking to finance jobs after the 2008 crash exposed banking’s darkest corners?
Enter Down and Kay, two former banking employees who’d never written for television. Their first script, based on their own miserable experiences, was—as Kay freely admits—“really dour” and “glacially slow.”
HBO’s Casey Bloys, now the company’s CEO, asked whether they’d actually “had any fun when you were in this job?” They rewrote everything, this time capturing what Down calls the “anticipatory energy” of entering the workplace fresh.
That first episode went through roughly 60 iterations across three years of development hell. Getting the green light was one of departing HBO boss Richard Plepler’s final acts in February 2019.
Nobody Watched—Until Everybody Did
Season 1 wasn’t a hit. Despite solid reviews praising its breakneck pace and performances—plus endless coverage of its nihilistic behavior earning it the nickname “Millennium Mad Men”—ratings were fractional.
Tranter reveals they “had to really push to get a second season and had to really push again to get a third.” At around $2 million per episode, Industry was cheap by HBO standards, which likely saved it.
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Two showrunners with zero television experience somehow created one of HBO’s most audacious dramas. Now, after years of fighting for survival, Industry has finally broken through—and creators Mickey Down and Konrad Kay are tearing up their own rulebook.
Season 4 ditches the trading floor entirely, scattering characters across media empires, political backrooms, and fascist dynasties.
It’s a risky move that could alienate fans—but Down and Kay wouldn’t have it any other way.
As Down puts it: “This show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.”
From Banking Hell to HBO’s Sunday Night Throne
The journey to HBO’s coveted 9 p.m. Sunday slot—where Season 4 premieres January 11—was anything but guaranteed. Executive producer Jane Tranter, co-founder of Bad Wolf production company, remembers Industry as the “little engine that could.”
Back in late 2015, Tranter was fascinated by a paradox: Why were young people still flocking to finance jobs after the 2008 crash exposed banking’s darkest corners?
Enter Down and Kay, two former banking employees who’d never written for television. Their first script, based on their own miserable experiences, was—as Kay freely admits—“really dour” and “glacially slow.”
HBO’s Casey Bloys, now the company’s CEO, asked whether they’d actually “had any fun when you were in this job?” They rewrote everything, this time capturing what Down calls the “anticipatory energy” of entering the workplace fresh.
That first episode went through roughly 60 iterations across three years of development hell. Getting the green light was one of departing HBO boss Richard Plepler’s final acts in February 2019.
Nobody Watched—Until Everybody Did
Season 1 wasn’t a hit. Despite solid reviews praising its breakneck pace and performances—plus endless coverage of its nihilistic behavior earning it the nickname “Millennium Mad Men”—ratings were fractional.
Tranter reveals they “had to really push to get a second season and had to really push again to get a third.” At around $2 million per episode, Industry was cheap by HBO standards, which likely saved it.
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”
Two showrunners with zero television experience somehow created one of HBO’s most audacious dramas. Now, after years of fighting for survival, Industry has finally broken through—and creators Mickey Down and Konrad Kay are tearing up their own rulebook.
Season 4 ditches the trading floor entirely, scattering characters across media empires, political backrooms, and fascist dynasties.
It’s a risky move that could alienate fans—but Down and Kay wouldn’t have it any other way.
As Down puts it: “This show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.”
From Banking Hell to HBO’s Sunday Night Throne
The journey to HBO’s coveted 9 p.m. Sunday slot—where Season 4 premieres January 11—was anything but guaranteed. Executive producer Jane Tranter, co-founder of Bad Wolf production company, remembers Industry as the “little engine that could.”
Back in late 2015, Tranter was fascinated by a paradox: Why were young people still flocking to finance jobs after the 2008 crash exposed banking’s darkest corners?
Enter Down and Kay, two former banking employees who’d never written for television. Their first script, based on their own miserable experiences, was—as Kay freely admits—“really dour” and “glacially slow.”
HBO’s Casey Bloys, now the company’s CEO, asked whether they’d actually “had any fun when you were in this job?” They rewrote everything, this time capturing what Down calls the “anticipatory energy” of entering the workplace fresh.
That first episode went through roughly 60 iterations across three years of development hell. Getting the green light was one of departing HBO boss Richard Plepler’s final acts in February 2019.
Nobody Watched—Until Everybody Did
Season 1 wasn’t a hit. Despite solid reviews praising its breakneck pace and performances—plus endless coverage of its nihilistic behavior earning it the nickname “Millennium Mad Men”—ratings were fractional.
Tranter reveals they “had to really push to get a second season and had to really push again to get a third.” At around $2 million per episode, Industry was cheap by HBO standards, which likely saved it.
Then came Season 3. Sensing it might be their last shot, Down and Kay went all-in.
We said to each other, let’s just swing as hard as we can for the fences and if it blows up, who cares?
Audiences loved the swing. That season delivered disastrous IPOs, a brawl in a kids’ soft play area, abusive billionaire parents, and two sudden deaths—one shockingly violent.
One side character, the foulmouthed VP Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), even got his own episode: a high-intensity, coke-fueled descent into chaos inspired by the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
The Season 3 premiere debuted with 300,000 live viewers and surpassed 1.6 million with delayed viewing. HBO’s VP of drama programming, Cela Sutton, says the network realized it “had a hit on our hands” and gave Season 4 the fastest green light in the show’s history.
Blowing Up the Trading Floor
Season 4 throws out the Pierpoint trading floor—the show’s original centerpiece—and scatters its characters across entirely new territories.
In a way, that creative freedom has been amazing. We were writing about one world, and at the edges of that world were other worlds, like media and politics. With Season 4, we were like, now we don’t have a trading floor, we can actually just go into those spaces.
At the center sits Tender, a fintech startup pursuing monopolistic dominance through bullying and buyouts. Opportunistic politicians and investigative reporters circle the action. Fascist dynasties emerge. Sinister Jeffrey Epstein undertones lurk beneath.
Even the sex and drugs—already abundant—get turned up with a bleaker, more manipulative edge. Though not always: Henry snorting cocaine off a harpsichord in his manor as schoolchildren walk by on a field trip provides one of many darkly comedic moments.
Season 4 also experiments with genre. Kay describes one particularly dark episode as a “neo-Gothic period drama in a big house.”
Both creators acknowledge the gamble. In a show about risk-taking and its destructive consequences, such a detour from origins is itself high-stakes.
But I honestly think there’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to take a risk. I’m sure some people will be like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? It’s supposed to be set in a bank!’ But this show is whatever the fuck we want it to be.
Major Casting Upgrades
Landing Kit Harington for Season 3 was a statement—the show’s first major signing. But Harington was already a fan.
Mickey and Konrad are quite disparaging about their first season, but I don’t feel that at all. For me, it stood out as a piece of TV that was unlike any other and they’d written characters that were fully realized and rich.
Season 4 brings an entirely new level of talent:
- Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Whitney Halberstram, Tender’s snake-oil-salesman co-founder with shadier elements slowly rising to the surface
- Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) takes on Haley Clay, a provocative assistant whose backstory emerges later in the season—completely against type from Don Draper’s little daughter
- Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) joins the ensemble
- Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) arrives in a sizable role
- Kal Penn appears early on
Casting director Julie Harkin says agents now pitch clients constantly. “You get the U.K. agents ringing you all day, and then as soon as teatime hits, it’s the U.S. It’s hard to keep up with it.”
Cinematic Evolution and Musical Breakthroughs
Down and Kay marked their directorial debuts with Season 3’s final two episodes, but helmed four of eight in Season 4—including what they admit is the “most out there.”
Cinematographer Federico Cesca, who joined in Season 2, has broadened the show’s visual language with inspiration from favorite directors. Season 3 featured an “almost Kubrickian” ayahuasca flashback and another scene he bills as “‘Barry Lyndon’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange.'”
Season 4 includes notes of Magnolia, The Brutalist, Michael Clayton, and Margin Call.
The show’s euphoric electro score—composed by Berlin-based Canadian Nathan Micay—has become iconic. Music supervisor Oliver White says Micay’s ability to “make the trading floor sound like a dance floor” required few notes initially.
But Season 4 brought new creative direction.
On the last season, the common note I’d get would be ‘Make this sick,’ and on Season 4 it’s been ‘Make me touch God.’ With them at this point I know it just means: Channel the movie ‘Heat.’ Just channel all of ‘Heat’ into a 30-second TV cue.
Rising popularity has unlocked previously unavailable tracks from top artists—many now fans themselves. Daft Punk’s baroque-inspired disco track “Veridis Quo” plays over a nightclub scene. The Donna Summer estate sent a note calling the show’s use of “State of Independence” in Season 2 “one of the best uses they’d seen for the song.”
What Comes Next?
With a three-year exclusive HBO deal signed just 12 months ago, Season 5 seems likely. Kay admits they have an “ending in sight” and are “starting to write towards the bull’s-eye.”
But where exactly their hedonistic adventure through wealth and power concludes remains uncertain—even to them.
We don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. We’re constantly making it up as we go along. We never had a big thesis statement about the world or capitalism; we just write what we think is interesting at the time. And that sometimes manifests in weird fucking things.
For actress Myha’la, even though Season 3’s finale “was written as though it was the end,” she always believed they’d return.
I’m sure the second they finished that finale, they were like, ‘What else can I write?’ Just for the sheer joy of competing with themselves, and because they love to make art—they love the challenge.
As Down puts it: “Writing yourself out of a corner is a great creative challenge.” Kay adds: “But there’s no corner you can’t write yourself out of, especially in our world, because it’s mine and his brainchild.”