For Silicon Valley in 2026, is it a time of Renaissance or a return to the Darkish Ages? AMC Network‘s “The Audacity” goals to probe all the facility, drama and affect that exudes from San Jose and environs.
Stars Billy Magnussen and Simon Helberg took half in Selection‘s annual summit on the Shopper Electronics Present in Las Vegas on Jan. 7 to preview the dramedy set to bow April 12 on AMC Community. Created by Jonathan Glatzer, an alum of AMC’s “Higher Name Saul” and HBO’s “Succession,” “The Audacity” revolves round an aspiring tech CEO character performed by Magnussen and a profitable however deeply alienated founder and inventor performed Helberg.
Dan McDermott, chief content material officer for AMC Networks and president of AMC Studios, and “The Audacity” govt producer Gina Mingacci additionally took half within the session that’s featured on at present’s episode of Selection‘s “Strictly Enterprise” podcast.
“This present is a throwback in a variety of methods to the origins of AMC storytelling with exhibits like ‘Mad Males’ and ‘Breaking Unhealthy,’ ‘Higher Name Saul,’ ‘Killing Eve,’ ” McDermott explains. “We give attention to three main issues: One is lightning-in-a-bottle characters that may get away and develop into a part of the cultural dialog. We will put them on a billboard and everyone will know that’s Duncan [Magnussen’s character] from ‘The Audacity.’ The second is that they take the viewers into a singular world or subculture that we both haven’t seen portrayed or haven’t seen portrayed on this specific means. And the third is we wish to be entertaining and enjoyable, in fact, however we additionally need our exhibits to have an actual cultural which means and ballast and be about one thing vital.”
Magnussen’s enthusiasm for his function because the chief of an upstart data-mining agency is palpable. He was instantly drawn to the topic and shocked by Glatzer’s scripts.
“There’s instances in historical past the place there’s a Renaissance and Silicon Valley is a type of instances in our trendy period which is defining humanity,” he noticed. “What higher place to make a darkish comedy than in that place that develops our society at this level. For me, 20 years on this trade, you see the script that Jonathan Glatzer wrote and also you’re identical to, ‘Rattling, that is unbelievable.’ “
‘Strictly Enterprise’ host Cynthia Littleton with ‘The Audacity’ stars Simon Helberg and Billy Magnussen, AMC Networks’ Dan McDermott and govt producer Gina Mingacci (Photograph by Brenton Ho/Selection through Getty Photographs)
Selection through Getty Photographs
Helberg was pressed on whether or not he did a variety of analysis on Huge Tech and AI to convey his character to life. “I didn’t should analysis to loneliness,” he quipped.
“My character, Martin, like many individuals in all probability within the Valley is a little bit of a maladjusted genius. Went to Stanford at 15, made a piece of cash early on in tech, and now he spends each waking minute locked in his storage with an AI companion that he’s creating to assist alienated youngsters,” Helberg defined. “However he has his personal alienated teenager daughter who he fully neglects and all the opposite folks round him too. He’s a little bit of a recluse. And there’s loneliness on the coronary heart of all of the characters, they usually’re all attempting to attach, they usually’re attempting to attach via know-how, which has some pitfalls.”
“The Audacity” is a giant swing for AMC and the producers at a time when it’s extraordinarily exhausting to launch wholly unique ideas amid the crush of IP-based materials that swirls round linear and streaming TV. Mingacci, a former AMC govt who govt produced the BBC America/AMC drama “Killing Eve,” stated that top hurdle is all of the extra motive to pursue recent and distinctive tasks.
“It truly was the identical problem as ‘Killing Eve,’ which is, we should not have as a lot cash as everybody else has, not as a lot time to make it, however you wish to be right here. You wish to be taking part in right here and hopefully we’ve delivered on that,” Mingacci stated. “There isn’t a one higher than AMC to make morally advanced characters come to life. And people are very particular exhibits which might be exhausting to get made proper now.”
The episode additionally options highlights of Variety‘s CES conversation with Anthony Wood, founder, chairman and CEO of Roku.
(Pictured high: ‘The Audacity’ stars Simon Helberg and Billy Magnussen with AMC Networks’ Dan McDermott)
