Posted in: Peacock, TV | Tagged: M.I.A.

M.I.A. Creator & Showrunner Talk Crime Drama, Ensemble Gems and More

M.I.A. creator Bill Dubuque and showrunner Karen Campbell discuss long-term plans, finding their leads, working with the cast, and more.

M.I.A. creator Bill Dubuque and showrunner Karen Campbell are something of experts when it comes to the crime drama, with Dubuque's work on Warner Bros' The Accountant franchise and the Netflix series Ozark, and Campbell's work on Showtime's Dexter. The Peacock series follows a young woman, Etta Tiger Jonze (Shannon Gisela), who dreams of a life in Miami's glittering sub-tropical kingdom, but when her family's drug-running business shatters in tragedy, Etta embarks on a dangerous journey through Miami's neon-lit underbelly that will define who she is and what she's ultimately capable of. Dubuque and Campbell spoke to Bleeding Cool about their creative process for the framework of the series and long-term goals, the long, exhaustive search to find their lead and why Gisella stood out, how they recruited powerhouse screen veterans like Cary Elwes, Edward James Olmos, and Mike Colter, and what made Miami the perfect backdrop.

M.I.A. Creator Bill Dubuque and Showrunner Karen Campbell on Crafting the Miami-Based Crime Drama

BC: What's the inspiration behind M.I.A.?

Dubuque: It was the fact that I get to write whenever I want. I'm fortunate enough to be able to do that, Tom. What I wanted to do was take a character, start that character at ground zero, no money, no family, wounded, in an area they weren't familiar with, and over multiple seasons, make them one of the most powerful people in the city. Once I had that idea, I thought, "How do I reverse engineer this into a relatable character?" There wasn't any sort of story or person that I based it on. It was the idea of transformation and growth.

What made Shannon ideal for Etta, and the way she carries herself on screen?

Campbell: Tom, she just harnessed the essence of Etta. Shannon tapped into her wit, grit, and determination. She radiates intelligence, and she has charisma, and it was awesome being able to find Shannon, because we had an opportunity to break exciting new talent. We had over 300 submissions for the role, and from some wonderful actors, but it came down to answering the question, is she Etta? When we found Shannon, it was undeniable.

What made South Florida ideal for the setting of the series, with the crime drama genre aspect and the sociopolitical ramifications?

Dubuque: Miami is one of those areas, Tom, that no matter where you are in the United States, you say "Miami," people have expectations of what Miami is. It's a little bit of a formula that if you take ordinary people, put them in extraordinary situations, and you ratchet up the violence, danger, tension, and then you put that in a geographical area that people have a preconceived notion of, and you give them just enough to meet those expectations, then you subvert them. It's like, "Why didn't I expect this, right? I didn't know it was this," then you have an area that can also act as a character. That's the reason for Miami.

Now you have such a wide range of talent from the up-and-comers, the TV vets, and everything from Cary Elwes in there, and guest stars like Mike Colter and Edward James Olmos. How did you get them to appear? Did you send feelers out there, and they happened to roll in?

Campbell: You know, Tom. We had an awesome casting director [Rich Delia] come aboard, and when you're dealing with legends like Cary, Edward James Olmos, and Mike Colter, you really have to count on those actors responding to what's on the page, and thankfully, they did, then you've got the magic of someone like Cary. He slipped into Kincaid's loafers seamlessly, really internalized the arc that we had for Kincaid this season. It's similar to Mike and Edward. Although E.J.O., we only have him for that one episode, he makes such an incredible impression that we're very grateful that we had such heavy-hitting talent to breathe life into these characters.

What's the most difficult part about crafting the stories all season long and parsing those journeys out?

Campbell: Oh man, Tom, how much time do you have? It's one of those things where you want to make sure that the character's journey remains intact, but at the same time, you have to balance the fact that we still need to entertain, keep the story propulsive, keep the story moving, and really find that balance where you're still creating a show that's character-driven storytelling. It has a lot of heart, but it also must move at a certain level of propulsion for the audience to be engaged. Bill and I are very much aligned. We want the audience to be entertained, to be moved, and be left wanting more. If we've done those things, then our hopes for M.I.A. have been realized.

When conceiving this sort of show, is it something in your mind, like, "I can create a steady endpoint this season and it can be an end for the series, but also have in the back of my mind, I have a three-season plan." Or is it just something you have to treat each season as it goes?

Dubuque: Karen and I talked about a five-season arc, and obviously, when you might plan something. Tom, it doesn't mean that's what's going to work out. Maybe it's five, six, or maybe three, but to me, when I think of a character, when they have a story, I always think, "Where's this going to end up? What kind of ending do I want?" You build it in from there, but then when you get talented writers in a room, you find that if this goes here, you thought it was going to go there, it doesn't go there. Everything zigs instead of zags, but I hope that answers your question. Yeah, we had a pretty clear idea of how we're going to play this out.

M.I.A., which also stars Danay Garcia, Brittany Adebumola, Dylan Jackson, Alberto Guerra, Maurice Compte, Gerardo Celasco, and Marta Milans, is available on Peacock.

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