Ep. 90: How Sam Esmail Took ‘Homecoming’ From a Hit Podcast to a Hit TV Show

This week on TIFF Long Take, Rob and Geoff sit down with television writer, director, and producer Sam Esmail. Best known as the creator of the hit television series ‘Mr. Robot, Esmail recently directed all ten episodes of the new series ‘Homecoming’; an adaptation of the extremely popular podcast created by Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg. The series which premiered last weekend on Amazon Video, stars Julia Roberts, Stephan James, and Bobby Cannavale. Esmail talks about why he was initially reluctant to adapt ‘Homecoming’, the classic thrillers that inspired his vision for the show, and why he thought the series would work better broken into half hour episodes. He also talks about the TV shows that are currently inspiring him, whether the amount of TV currently being produced is sustainable, and what he thinks has elevated television to a higher art form in recent years.