HBO’s Lovecraft Country - The 92nd Street Y, New York
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HBO’s Lovecraft Country

Jurnee Smollett and Misha Green in Conversation with The Nod’s Brittany Luse

Oct 22, 2020


Join Misha Green (showrunner, executive producer, director and writer) and Jurnee Smollett (“Letitia ‘Leti’ Lewis”) of HBO’s hit Lovecraft Country, for a conversation about the show’s unique blend of social critique and the supernatural with co-host and executive producer of The Nod Brittany Luse. Based on the novel of the same name by Matt Ruff, the series follows Atticus Freeman as he journeys with his childhood friend Letitia and his uncle George on a road trip from Chicago across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father Montrose. Their search-and-rescue turns into a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and monstrous creatures that could be ripped from an H.P. Lovecraft paperback.

Smollett and Green give their insight into the genre-bending show; the creative challenges of making a paranormal horror story in the midst of real-world crises; stories from behind the scenes; and much more.

Jurnee Smollett

Jurnee Smollett

Jurnee Smollett is an award-winning actress and activist of rare talent and conviction …

Jurnee Smollett

Jurnee Smollett

Jurnee Smollett is an award-winning actress and activist of rare talent and conviction. Most recently, Jurnee was seen on the big screen in the highly anticipated Warner Bros DC Universe’s Birds of Prey which was released February 7, 2020. She can currently be seen in J.J. Abrams and Jordan Peele’s drama for HBO, Lovecraft Country which premiered on August 16th of this year. Up next she will star in the Netflix film, Spiderhead alongside Chris Hemsworth and Miles Teller.

Jurnee made her breakthrough performance at the age of 11, starring in Eve’s Bayou opposite Samuel L. Jackson for which she won the Broadcast Film Critics Award for Best Youth Performance and was cited by Interview Magazine as one of the five Hollywood stars to watch in the new millennium. Smollett-Bell starred in The Great Debaters with Forest Whitaker and Denzel Washington, who also directed the drama. In addition to receiving rave reviews, the film was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Picture and Jurnee won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture. She also starred in Tyler Perry’s film Temptation which was Perry’s biggest grossing box-office hit outside of his “Madea” brand. Other film credits include the independent feature, One Last Thing alongside Wendell Pierce, Hands of Stone opposite Robert DeNiro and Edgar Ramirez, Roll Bounce, Gridiron Gang, and Beautiful Joe.

In addition to film, Jurnee has had several roles on the small screen. She was last seen starring in WGN’s critically acclaimed drama Underground which followed the escape and risk filled travel along the Underground Railroad. The premiere of the show marked the highest rated original scripted program in the network’s history. Other television credits include HBO’s cult classic horror drama True Blood, NBC’s hit shows Friday Night Lights and Parenthood, House, Strong Medicine, NYPD Blue, and Grey’s Anatomy. She has also lent her voice to several episodes of the popular Disney Channel series, Sofia The First.

In addition to acting, Smollett-Bell is an activist for HIV/AIDS causes and Time’s Up. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Children’s Defense Fund.

Misha Green

Misha Green is showrunner, writer, executive producer and director of HBO’s Lovecraft Country …

Misha Green

Misha Green is showrunner, writer, executive producer and director of HBO’s Lovecraft Country. The one-hour drama series which was given a straight-to-series order, is also executive produced by Jordan Peele and J.J. Abrams. Based on the novel of the same name by Matt Ruff, the 10-episode series follows Atticus Freeman as he journeys with his childhood friend Letitia and his uncle George on a road trip from Chicago across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father Montrose. Their search-and-rescue turns into a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and monstrous creatures that could be ripped from an H.P. Lovecraft paperback.

Prior to Lovecraft Country, Green was co-creator, executive producer and a writer on the series Underground, which chronicled the lives of slaves in 1857 Georgia, who escape bondage to find freedom with the help of members of the Underground Railroad. Underground was the first scripted US television drama series with the focus on slavery and the Underground Railroad.

Underground broke ratings records for WGN during its first season by outpacing the network’s prior season ratings by more than 500% in total viewers and 1,005% among adults 18-49 in live-plus-seven viewing.  The show was honored with four NAACP Image Awards nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series. Additionally, the African American Film Critics Association named Underground as Best Cable/New Media TV show of 2016. The series was nominated for a TCA Award for Outstanding New Program by the Television Critics Association and was also a finalist for the Cynopsis TV Awards in the categories of Best New TV Drama, Best TV Drama, Best Series Writing, and Best Showrunner.  

Most recently Netflix made a seven-figure deal to buy Misha’s feature spec script, The Mother, an action story in the vein of The Professional and Wanted, about an assassin who will stop at nothing to save the estranged daughter she gave up years prior.  Misha will serve as a producer on the project.  

Green is also known for writing episodes of Sons of Anarchy, Spartacus, and Heroes, as well as producing Helix. She is a graduate of NYU Tish School of the Arts.

Brittany Luse

Brittany Luse is the co-host and co-executive producer of The Nod with Brittany and Eric …

Brittany Luse

Brittany Luse is the co-host and co-executive producer of The Nod with Brittany and Eric, a daily show about Black culture, airing on Quibi. Previously she hosted and produced The Nod podcast and Sampler at Gimlet Media. She also co-hosted For Colored Nerds, an independent podcast about race, news, and pop culture. Brittany's work has been featured by The New Yorker, The Guardian, and Teen Vogue, among others. Brittany was a 2018 recipient of the Newswomen's Club of New York's Front Page Award, and a 2019 resident at the Ragdale artists' community. She lives in Brooklyn with her fiancé.

Categories: Arts & Entertainment


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