{"id":79085,"date":"2017-04-05T16:53:25","date_gmt":"2017-04-05T16:53:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/0de2709a84.nxcli.net\/0-kjasnb\/2017\/04\/05\/show-creator-monica-owusu-breen-talks-nbc-midnight-texas\/"},"modified":"2018-12-18T02:30:40","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T02:30:40","slug":"show-creator-monica-owusu-breen-talks-nbc-midnight-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/show-creator-monica-owusu-breen-talks-nbc-midnight-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"Show Creator Monica Owusu-Breen Talks NBC’s \u201cMidnight Texas\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Show Creator Monica Owusu-Breen Arrives At \u201cMidnight Texas\u201d<\/strong>by Brad Balfour<\/p>\n

April 4, 2017<\/p>\n

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As both a woman and person of color, American television producer and screenwriter Monica Owusu-Breen<\/strong> has accomplished the near-impossible in Hollywood, helming a major network show with her as writer, show runner and executive producer. Of mixed Ghanaian background, she not only achieved academic success \u2014 graduating from Brown University in 1990 \u2014 but worked her way up to write or produce for quite a list of top-flight television series. Since she started in 2001, that list includes \u201cAlias,\u201d \u201cBrothers & Sisters,\u201d \u201cLost,\u201d \u201cFringe,\u201d \u201cRevolution\u201d<\/strong> and Marvel’s \u201cAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

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In 2003, when Breen joined \u201cAlias\u201d as an executive story editor and writer, the espionage actioneer was in its third season. By the beginning of season four, she moved up to producer, and by its final season, she was its supervising producer. During those three seasons, she had co-written 11 episodes.<\/p>\n

As part of \u201cLost\u2019s\u201d writing staff, she welcomed their 2007 nomination for the Writers Guild of America (WGA) Best Dramatic Series Award for work on the second and third seasons. But her most auspicious and ambitious move has been to take on \u201cTrue Blood\u2019s\u201d Charlaine Harris\u2019 elaborate supernatural series which she\u2019s executive producing with David Janollari (\u201cSix Feet Under\u201d) of David Janollari Entertainment and the production arm of Universal Television. The pilot episode was directed by Niels Arden Oplev who handled \u201cMr. Robot\u201d and \u201cThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.\u201d<\/p>\n

The town of Midnight, Texas<\/strong>, sits between the living and hell. In this place, being normal is strange and only outsiders fit in; Midnight is a mysterious safe haven for those who are markedly different in ways few ever encounter. And, it\u2019s a perfect place for anyone hiding from the outside world. As town members fight off outside pressures from ever-suspicious cops, deadly biker gangs, and their own dangerous pasts, they band together and form an unlikely but strong family.<\/p>\n

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The community of \u201cMidnight, Texas\u201d includes charming, powerful psychic Manfred (Fran\u00e7ois Arnaud from \u201cThe Borgias\u201d), who communicates with spirits and finds safety in the town surrounded by both human and supernatural allies. It\u2019s also home to Bobo, proprietor of Midnight\u2019s local pawn shop (Dylan Bruce from \u201cOrphan Black\u201d); Fiji, a witch who owns the local wiccan shop (Parisa Fitz-Henley who is in \u201cLuke Cage\u201d); Olivia, a mysterious assassin with a weapon for every occasion (Arielle Kebbel formerly of \u201cVampire Diaries\u201d); Joe, an angel who knows all of Midnight\u2019s secrets having been around for millennia (Jason Lewis from \u201cSex and the City\u201d); Lemuel, a wise vampire with a long history in Midnight (Peter Mensah who was in \u201cTrue Blood\u201d); Creek, an aspiring writer with big dreams who learns her family is harboring a deep secret (Sarah Ramos — once in \u201cParenthood\u201d); and Rev. Emilio Sheehan, who can\u2019t resist the pull of a full moon (Yul Vazquez, who was in the film \u201cCaptain Phillips\u201d).<\/p>\n

Recently, a passel of journalists joined the cast, crew and creative team on the \u201cMidnight, Texas\u201d set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to get an advance peek into the creation of the upcoming NBC series \u2014 due to debut in July 2017. Here is an exclusive interview with Owusu-Breen \u2014 conducted in mysterious netherland of Midnight, Texas.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s hard enough being in this industry as a woman, let alone a woman of color. Do people have certain expectations of you or have you just been around so long that they look past it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Monica Owusu-Breen<\/b>: Both, I would say. It really depends on the room. It depends on the job. I didn\u2019t use my maiden name initially because I didn\u2019t want people to make assumptions. I wanted [my work to be thought of] as Monica\u2019s writing \u2014 [not defined by my last name]. Mostly I\u2019ve been one of a few, if not the only, black person on a staff.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also, frankly, benefited me in certain ways. I lucked out early on in my career to have two successful shows under my belt. Diversity is something people strive for in writer\u2019s rooms, and that goes for studios trying to get diverse writers, and especially action shows where it\u2019s very rare to have a woman, let alone a woman of color, in the room. Sometimes It made the job easier and sometimes it made it tough. It\u2019s really dependent on the show.<\/p>\n

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MIDNIGHT TEXAS — “Pilot” — Pictured: (l-r) Arielle Kebbel as Olivia, Peter Mensah as Lemuel — (Photo by: NBC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Were there ever times when you winced?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> There were times where I said I’m out. And there are times when \u2014 I won’t name names \u2014but there are people I won’t work with. There are times when my feelings have been hurt terribly and there have been times I walked out of room and said I\u2019m not coming back. It depends. Sometimes writer\u2019s room can be a little bit [like a locker room].<\/p>\n

Every show has its DNA and some DNA are darker than others and you have to spend 10 hours in a room with the same people and if there\u2019s not a certain level of respect it can get harsh, and those are the times I\u2019ve walked away and I\u2019ve been fortunate that I can walk away. Early on in my career I would suck it all up, and at this point I don\u2019t. But I don\u2019t have to either. I\u2019m lucky that way.<\/p>\n

Did you ever see yourself becoming a brand like J.J. Abrams or is that not in your character?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> I love what I write and I love writing.<\/p>\n

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So writing is at the heart of your work?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> Writing is at the heart and I\u2019m never happier than when I\u2019m behind the computer screen. Would I like multiple shows on the air? Sure, but to give my heart and soul, I can\u2019t imagine doing something other than [this] right now. It\u2019s everything. I fell in love with these characters and I hate when they go away and I mourn them when they die. So there\u2019s a very emotional connection. I don\u2019t know about the brand part, but I love making up worlds, so if I get the chance to do that again that\u2019d be awesome.<\/p>\n

Since the world of Midnight, Texas, is modeled on archetypes, the world at large and characters not in the books, the changes here make things look very interesting.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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MO-B:<\/strong> The thing is, even in the books there\u2019s this one moment where Fiji, who in the books is a white character, looks at the town and says, \u201cIsn\u2019t this beautiful that we have gay people and straight people and black people and latino people and we\u2019re all here and cool with each other?\u201d<\/p>\n

And I thought that\u2019s the heart. So as long I kept the heart of that, the specific casting didn\u2019t [have to] \u2014 not that it doesn\u2019t matter \u2014 but it\u2019s still true to the book. That said, Len, who in the book, was a white guy, old, decrepit and bent over, Peter is the exact antithesis of this. But we also keep true to his heart, true to the fact that Olivia loves him, and true to that he\u2019s an old Texan. With the history of a man who looks like Peter in Texas in the 17-1800s, he is very different from the realities of a rancher.<\/p>\n

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So that adds a new dimension.<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> Yes. Though we try to be true to history when we can, and that\u2019s fun. Frankly, my father\u2019s from Ghana, my mother\u2019s from Spain, I was born in London, and then I moved to Coney Island, Brooklyn when I was seven. I\u2019ver got to be honest, this world reflects my reality more than other shows I\u2019ve worked on.<\/p>\n

Have you ever been to Ghana?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> Not yet. My father lives there now, but we\u2019re kind of estranged. I do want to go at some point, it\u2019s just work, and life, and kids, and everything.<\/p>\n

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How old are your kids?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> My son is 19. He\u2019s autistic though, so we have\u2026 We want to go to Ghana but we can\u2019t take him places where it\u2019s so foreign that he will fight. It changes your life.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s amazing how you insinuate it into this world.<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> I really did change when my son was diagnosed, and one thing that became very clear to me is that we\u2019re all wired differently, our brains are all the different.<\/p>\n

In this business, everyone\u2019s a little autistic.<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> I could diagnose a lot of people, including myself.<\/p>\n

So you\u2019ve gotten attached to this fantasy aspect and how African Americans, Asian Americans, Jewish Americans, they all gravitate towards fantasy and science fiction.<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> Because they\u2019re outsiders and they\u2019re different.<\/p>\n

It was Jews who made the comics [like Stan Lee]!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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MO-B:<\/strong> Even being a kid and always feeling on the outside, you gravitate towards the X-Men.
\nIt makes for more interesting stories when your heroes are outsiders. When your heroes are insiders everything seems fine, there\u2019s no struggle there and there\u2019s nothing to write about.<\/p>\n

You understand the audience in so many ways.<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> I feel like I am the audience, to be honest. I\u2019m a fangirl who just happened to get into writing.<\/p>\n

What were you reading as a kid \u2014 comic books?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> No, not comic books. Science fiction was always fascinating to me.<\/p>\n

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Who was the YA of the day?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> I was really into V.C. Andrew which is more gothic, dark. [I was] very into vampires. The very first movie I saw was when I was in kindergarten, I snuck out of bed and saw \u201cNight of the Living Dead,\u201d and that changed everything. [I] loved it. My mother, who passed away two years ago, she would tell me \u201cRosemary\u2019s Baby\u201d as a bedtime story, like Hansel and Gretel. We weren\u2019t allowed to see \u201cThe Exorcist\u201d because my mother was Roman Catholic and \u201cOh, God!\u201d with George Burns. It was very funny. I watched them both as an adult and \u201cOh, God!\u201d is not as subversive as you\u2019d think.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Exorcist\u201d is.<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> But the Priest saves the day and kills himself at the end. I loved horror as a kid. Until I was seven, I lived in Fascist Spain in a little town.<\/p>\n

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NBCUNIVERSAL EVENTS — 2017 NBCUniversal Summer Press Day — Cocktail Reception — Pictured: (l-r) Arielle Kebbel, Francois Arnaud, David Janollari, Executive Producer; Yul Vazquez, Sarah Ramos, Peter Mensah, Monica Owusu-Breen, Executive Producer; Jason Lewis, Parisa Fitz-Henley, Dylan Bruce, NBC’s “Midnight, Texas” — (Photo by: Chris Haston\/NBCUniversal)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What was it like being dark skinned in Fascist Spain?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> It helped me a little bit in this career. Every time my dad walked around town he had to show his papers. It was this tiny little town in the middle of nowhere, much like Midnight Texas. I think it had 1,500 people when I lived there and now it\u2019s 700. I still go back but everyone knew my grandfather because I was the only person with dark skin. I knew what it was like to be an outsider, but also an insider.<\/p>\n

Did they think you were from North Africa?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> No, because everyone knew everyone, so everyone knew my mom went to England and got pregnant by a man that looked like Nat King Cole. I don\u2019t think he looked like Nat King Cole, but he was a young black man.<\/p>\n

How did you transition to the TV world?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> I was a production coordinator on music videos for a short time and hated it. So I went back to grad school to teach communication and film theory and I was going to write my dissertation on Oprah Winfrey and the political economy of Harpo Productions in race and gender.<\/p>\n

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And where were you based at the time?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> I was based in San Diego, but I didn\u2019t like it and told my husband so we had to move. I came up to LA and my friend from grad school said, \u201cDo you want to write some scripts?\u201d And I had always been a writer in my head. I\u2019ve written a lot and I minored in creative writing, but I was a stay-at-home mom with a baby. [My husband] was not very receptive and I needed an outlet, so my writing partner and I stayed up at night writing specs and we lucked out. We got a manager and an agent really fast and in one year I was staffed on \u201cCharmed\u201d and was there for three years. If I knew how hard it would be to break in, I might not have ever done it, but ignorance is bliss.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the critical right of passage.<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> It was a great learning experience for me. I had the luckiest career of all time. I didn\u2019t know anyone, so my writing partner and I sat in Barnes & Noble.<\/p>\n

Are you still working together?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> No. We split up and it was really hard. We\u2019re still best friends, she works on \u201cScandal.\u201d<\/p>\n

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What happened to your Oprah dissertation?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> It\u2019s still waiting. I’m all but dissertation on the PHD.<\/p>\n

Did you talk to Oprah?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> I did this weird thing that made me want to be a writer because I couldn\u2019t go to Chicago to study or talk to her. But she had that book club at the time, so I wrote her a letter saying how much Wally Lamb\u2019s \u201cI Know This Much Is True\u201d affected me and I got on the book club and observe it surreptitiously. It\u2019s a good book, but I wrote a letter and knew how to hit the emotional high points. When I got back I said I should be a writer. I didn\u2019t want to write the dissertation because that letter got me flown to Chicago, and that\u2019s telling me another sign. I\u2019ve been lucky.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t think the world needs your dissertation?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> It\u2019s not as much fun as writing vampires.<\/p>\n

Have you met Oprah?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> I met her and had dinner with her during the Book Club.<\/p>\n

Will this series be an iconic show with action figures like some of the other ones you have worked on?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> Sometimes I walk down the set and look at the cast and say you guys will be Halloween costumes for sure. I\u2019m just happy I like it.<\/p>\n

If you get one of those costumes for yourself which character would it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MO-B:<\/strong> I could be Fiji.<\/p>\n