Posted in: Netflix, TV | Tagged: interview, jackdaw, Jamie Childs, jenna coleman, neil gaiman, The Sandman

The Sandman Director: Neil Gaiman, A Quick Season 2 Update & More

Writer & director Jamie Childs (Jackdaw) spoke with us about working with Neil Gaiman on The Sandman and offered a quick Season 2 update.

Writer and director Jamie Childs has accomplished so much in such a short time since directing his first short, 2012's The Bond. He took his talents to television directing two episodes of the British show Vera. He would later gain momentum with his stints on Lucky Man and Next of Kin before landing his biggest opportunity with BBC's Doctor Who helping to usher in the 13th Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker in Series 11. He's also landed other high-profile work, including HBO's His Dark Materials and Disney+ series Willow. While promoting his feature film debut in Jackdaw for Fantastic Fest, which reunites him with his The Sandman star Jenna Coleman, Childs spoke with Bleeding Cool about his work on the Netflix TV adaptation of The Sandman, directing episodes two- five, how creator Neil Gaiman served as a creative buffer against the more toxic parts of fandom, and an update on the second season.

Bringing "The Sandman" to Live-Action Life

Childs is cognizant of how harsh fans can be if the adapted medium doesn't translate well enough from the source material. "Season one's biggest challenge was attacking that material and being like the people that directly. It's had a history of people trying to do it and then not quite getting off the ground," he said. "What was going to make us different? Partly one of the things that made it quite different for us is that we created and made sure [Neil] was involved. If he said it was okay even if we were deviating from the material, you can't argue with that. If the fans are like, 'Well, that didn't happen in the comics.' I'm like, 'Neil Gaiman thinks it's okay.' He's the authority on this, and you had him bounce off and make sure that we kept it true to the essence of what was there in the comics originally."

Working on the Netflix series was a challenge Childs welcomed. "Going back, the thing I loved about the 'Sandman' comics was the atmosphere," shared Childs, who focused on "making sure that I tried to carry the atmosphere through to the show. I felt that in my gut, and we were doing the right thing. It was scary." He provided an update on his future in the series. "I'm directing season two now. They're on pause because of the strikes; I'm quite involved in season two, so planning over the whole series with the showrunner."

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