Ep386 - Branden Jacob-Jenkins, Showrunner FX - Hulu Series ‘Kindred’

“I’m pretty sure that what started me writing was reading,” said Branden Jacob-Jenkins. “I was always bookish and I remember a day when I read something and thought, ‘I don’t think that was good’ and realized maybe I could do it better. Maybe I could tell stories.” As a teenager, Branden wrote short stories, fiction, poetry, and everything in between. He entered some young writing workshops, then found his way to other “film nerds” who he thought were the “cool kids.” Through fiction, he started to find his voice. These days, Branden is mainly known as a playwright, but following the success of people like Beau Willimon (House of Cards) and Elizabeth Meriwether (New Girl) who made the jump from stage to silver screen. So when his agents asked if there were ever a TV show he would want to create, what might that be, Kindred was the answer. “I had re-read Kindred for about the fifth time in my life and I thought that it could be a TV show.” “It became this Moby Dick for me for like ten years while I was chasing the rights,” he said of the new series. “Finally, it all slowly came together.” The description reads, “A young aspiring writer discovers secrets about her family's past when she finds herself mysteriously being pulled back and forth in time to a 19th century plantation.” Subscribe for video interviews on YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/CreativePrinciples?sub_confirmation=1 If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!