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Lauren S. Hissrich Talks Netflix's 'The Witcher', Teases End of Season 1

Published Sun, 15 Jul 2018 08:15:52 -0500

by Mary Anne Butler

Last updated Mon, 16 Jul 2018 19:00:49 -0500

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Showrunner and head writer Lauren S. Hissrich is doing a pretty admirable job of keeping Netflix's The Witcher series updates rolling via her Twitter account. Her latest update focuses on the writers room, which she says has been going for 10 weeks at the time of her post.

It's been 10 weeks since we started the #Witcher writers room.

We were JUST discussing characters and emotional arcs and initial plot to start the season… and now we're talking about twists and fights and fancy ways to END the season.

It's going too fast for me.

— Lauren S. Hissrich (@LHissrich) July 14, 2018

If you'll recall, Hissrich's script is being adapted for a Netflix series, based on the original The Witcher novels by Andrzej Sapkowski, which the CD Projekt Red videogames are based on. She's been fairly active on twitter, combating the slew of not-so-thrilled fans of the material who have concerns.

After a West Wing reunion dinner with some notable friends fanned the reboot/revisit flames, Hissrich continued her update of The Witcher status of the show thus far from the writer's room, touching on where the first season is headed, HOW they're honoring the source material, and the current ending idea:

Any tv writer will tell you, it's the ONLY move. Before we begin, we have to know where we're going to end — or else we risk the episodes dragging, meandering, fizzing out, or being too crowded as we rush to the finale.

Let's discuss how we craft a season arc on #Witcher.

— Lauren S. Hissrich (@LHissrich) July 14, 2018

On the first day, @declandebarra (tall, carries a yard stick) draws eight identical columns on the white boards, labeling them 101 through 108: that's the pilot (101 = Season One, Episode One) through the finale. Remember the picture I posted months ago? See the columns? pic.twitter.com/AcPTDA5rJC

— Lauren S. Hissrich (@LHissrich) July 14, 2018

And that's a LOT of pressure, so instead of staring at 102, we turn our attention to 108. What's a satisfying conclusion to the season that not only fulfills Geralt and Co's emotional journeys, but also keeps the audience hanging on for another year, to come back for more? (🙏)

— Lauren S. Hissrich (@LHissrich) July 14, 2018

Spoiler: the end we're driving toward makes me weep.

— Lauren S. Hissrich (@LHissrich) July 14, 2018

Moving on: with the end firmly in place, we focus on filling in the columns leading up to it, from 102 to 107. And while I can't tell you what @hailzor and @BeauDeMayo wrote on the board (color-coded by character), here are some of the questions we asked as we did it:

— Lauren S. Hissrich (@LHissrich) July 14, 2018

Does Geralt (and Co) grow and change throughout the season, in episodic building blocks?
Is that change a right-sized puzzle piece to a more macro show-long development?
Is there enough pulse-pounding action? Is there enough equally-magnetic non-action? (This is SUPER important).

— Lauren S. Hissrich (@LHissrich) July 14, 2018

Is there enough emotion? Enough humor? Enough Roach? 🐴
Where do monsters fit in? And romance?
What world-building do we need to set up for future seasons? What courts, hierarchies, politics?
How do we establish that environment without OVER-explaining?

— Lauren S. Hissrich (@LHissrich) July 14, 2018

Are we spending enough time with each of our main characters, individually and collectively?
What other characters do we need to meet? What are their backstories?
How do can they be an organic part of this season, while saving the juice of their arc for a future season?

— Lauren S. Hissrich (@LHissrich) July 14, 2018

Are we honoring the books?
Are we honoring the world? The existing fans? New fans?
Are we adding the right amount of unexpected twists and turns so that the tv adaptation is as fun and surprising as other adaptations, while still staying true to the work's original intentions?

— Lauren S. Hissrich (@LHissrich) July 14, 2018

And a million more, and the answers go on the board, and then we — including @sne_k and Mike O, who've been with me for years, who I trust implicitly — kick the metaphorical tires. Because it's not enough that the season makes sense. It must be the BEST way to tell the stories.

— Lauren S. Hissrich (@LHissrich) July 14, 2018

So we write and erase and rewrite and re-break again and again, until it works, which is fine because no matter what, we have a PLAN. The reason we're moving so quickly (ten weeks!) is because we know where we're going, and we can't wait to get there.

— Lauren S. Hissrich (@LHissrich) July 14, 2018

Still no word yet on casting, but we've got a pretty good idea that the series may hit sometime in 2020, with a possible eight-episode order.

We'll let you know as soon as we hear anything about Netflix's The Witcher.

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