Posted in: HBO, Preview, streaming, Trailer, TV | Tagged: Ava DuVernay, benjamin bratt, dmz, hbo max, preview, Roberto Patino, rosario dawson, trailer

DMZ Showrunner & EP Roberto Patino on Moving Beyond Politicking

In five days, viewers will get their chance to check out Ava DuVernay (When They See Us) & Roberto Patino's (Westworld) four-part limited series adaptation of DC Comics series DMZ. Based on the popular & award-winning DC Comics graphic novel, the Rosario Dawson (Briarpatch, Rent, Sin City), Benjamin Bratt (Law & Order, Traffic)-starring series takes viewers across the landscape of a dangerous and distorted Manhattan as one woman navigates a demilitarized zone in a harrowing quest to find her lost son. Now thanks to today's SXSW session, we're hearing from Patino about what viewers can expect.

In the following clip, Patino goes into detail about why it was important for the series to move beyond the politicking and focus more on the themes that could help lay the groundwork for true nation-building:

Hoon Lee (Banshee, Warrior), Freddy Miyares (When They See Us, The L Word: Generation Q), Jordan Preston Carter (The Haves and the Have Nots), Rutina Wesley (Queen Sugar), Mamie Gummer (True Detective), Nora Dunn (The Big Leap), Henry G. Sanders (Queen Sugar), Venus Ariel (NCIS: New Orleans), Jade Wu (Marvel's Luke Cage), Rey Gallegos (Animal Kingdom), Agam Darshi (Funny Boy), and Juani Feliz (Harlem) also star. Now here's a look at the official trailer for DMZ, hitting streaming screens on March 17th:

DMZ is set in the near future, when America is embroiled in a bitter civil war, leaving Manhattan a demilitarized zone (DMZ), destroyed and isolated from the rest of the world. It chronicles the harrowing journey of fearless and fierce medic Alma Ortega (Dawson) to find the son she lost in the evacuation of New York City at the onset of the conflict. Throwing gasoline on the flames of that conflict is Parco Delgado (Bratt), the popular, and deadly, leader of one of the most powerful gangs in the DMZ. He wants to rule this new world and will stop at nothing to secure that outcome. The drama will examine the stark political and cultural divide in American society, where Alma must contend with the gangs, militias, demagogues, and warlords that control this lawless no man's land. In doing so, she becomes the unlikely source of what everyone there has lost…hope.

Ariel's Nico is a foul-mouthed scavenger with a hankering for mischief, while Wesley's Athena is a calculating operative for the separatist Free States of America — and the most effective power broker in the DMZ that no one there has heard of. Dunn's Oona is a powerful fixture of near-mythical stature who oversees an all-female commune, along with the most valuable currency in all the DMZ: the water supply; Wu's Susie has a revolutionary past hat has shown her that the best of humanity can be discovered at its worst moments. Gallegos's Cesar is a ruthless and devoted consigliere who'll stop at nothing to secure his gang's authority in the DMZ, while Gummer's Rose is a jaded medic who tirelessly cares for the ill and injured of this disenfranchised population, regardless of the cost. Darshi's Franklin is one of the only smugglers who can get someone in or out of the DMZ. Finally, Feliz's Carmen is the fearless and fiery partner to the biggest bad in the DMZ and a critical source of power and community in her native Spanish Harlem, while Sanders's Cedric is a straight-shooting citizen of the DMZ whose only care in the world is protecting his grandson.

Patino, DuVernay, and ARRAY Filmworks' Paul Garnes are executive producers of DMZ, which was created for television by Patino and based on the comic book series published by DC and illustrated by Riccardo Burchielli. Patino serves as showrunner and wrote the first episode, which was directed by DuVernay. Filmmaker Ernest Dickerson directs and executive produces three episodes. Emmy winner Carly Wray is a co-executive producer. DMZ is produced by DuVernay's ARRAY Filmworks in association with Warner Bros. Television.

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