On paper, Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner seem like strange bedfellows to adapt a postapocalyptic video game for TV. “ really is a blend of our backgrounds,” Robertson-Dworet, a screenwriter whose credits include and , says of her partner, a writer-producer best known for comedies , and . “I come from action and genre, and Graham knows the TV and comedy sides.
So is dramatic, but it’s also funny and weird.” Fortunately for them, fellow executive producer Jonathan Nolan and Amazon Prime Video, is also a hit. Before receiving its 16 Emmy nominations, the series premiered as the streamer’s most successful launch to date and earned a swift renewal.
Taking a break from their writers room — on the eve of Robertson-Dworet’s due date with her second child, no less — the pair discuss the five-year journey to marry their voices and what comes next. We joke that neither of us can write this show. I’ll do a pass and it isn’t quite right.
Then Geneva does a pass and it’s almost there. There isn’t anything on this show that doesn’t have to bounce back and forth between us a few times. We talked a lot about the Venn diagram of it — it has to be something that Geneva’s excited to write, that I’m excited to write and, especially for the first three episodes, Jonathan has to be excited to direct.
The appeal is in the middle of those three seemingly unrelated circles. Jane Austen isn’t sacred anymore. There might’ve been a time when you were a Phi.