An Interview with Christopher Miller, Phil Lord, & Anthony King from ‘The Afterparty’

Christopher Miller, Phil Lord, and Anthony King are a trio of accomplished producers and writers that have worked on multiple massive franchises over the years. Currently, they all serve as executive producers and writers for The Afterparty on Apple TV+, and we recently had the honor of sitting down with all three of them to discuss season two and how this show has fulfilled them from a creative standpoint.

John Betancourt: How fulfilling is it as creatives, to tell this kind of unique and winding story?

Phil Lord: Oh, gosh, we don't do anything the easy way. And I think for us, it's just what is something that we haven't done before? And what you know, and what seems hard?

Christopher Miller: Yeah, it was really, really challenging to tell a story that's like an engaging murder mystery of funny, emotional storylines, with twists and turns and surprises. On top of that, having each episode be a totally different film style and genre. And having all those things play at the same time, and keep you interested and engaged, is a real challenge. But that's part of the fun, and then being able to play in these different film styles. Like you never get a chance to be like, “I'm gonna make a Hitchcock movie.” Or, you know, like, when on earth would we do like a Jane Austen costume drama, other than this show, and to be able to like, think about that, and, and why the choices are made in the films that we love and be able to like, like, get deeper on those things like, as students of film, it's like, actually, it's educational for us, as well as fun. And I think it keeps everybody on their toes, and everybody gets a chance to add something creatively to it. And the fact that we have this amazing team, that's all excited to make each thing cooler than the last. It makes it so special.

Anthony King: Yeah, when I think about watching this show, the audience that we’re hoping to watch it, we were looking to appeal to those people who like ‘who done its’, who want to try to figure out who the murderer is, before we tell you who the murderer is. But I think with the comedy in the genre, different film genres, there's also, if you don't care about that, there's a lot to watch that is fun, and hopefully emotional, and gives you something to care about, and to laugh at that, the murder is almost beside the point. For those viewers. And then of course, we also have viewers, there are puzzles hidden in the show. In this season, we have double the puzzles from last season, that are in the set design and will give you clues. And there's an audience online and on Reddit, who are masters, at least they were in the first season at solving those puzzles. And so, there's just so many different layers for the for different types of viewers to watch the show.

John Betancourt: So obviously, with those puzzles, it’s a bigger season, bigger story, what are you all most excited for audiences to experience this season?

Christopher Miller: Oh, man, I mean, yeah, I think the fact that we really felt confident to like, push the genres further and be bolder with the choices, to be able to do a costume drama, for example, or a film noir. That type of thing might have been too crazy to do in the first season. We don't know if people are gonna, like embrace the concept. But knowing that people were really excited about what made it unique and special gave us the confidence to feel like, “Let's go for it.” So, I'm really excited for the audience to see how much bigger and bolder and more twists and turns there are in the season. Because I'm really proud of it. I think it's… it's grown up from the first season.

Anthony King: Yeah, I think in the first season, most people's stories all took place in the night of the show. And we had one episode that was a flashback to high school that was very fun to get to see all these characters in a different phase of their life. And I think we really embrace that in season two. And a lot of the stories we tell have much larger backstories, some going back to when they're children or years in the past, and I think it just opened up the kinds of stories we felt like we could tell in season two.

John Betancourt: Phil, anything to add?

Phil Lord: No. I think these guys did a great job.
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This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

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