“Paradise” executive producer John Hoberg had two main goals for Season 1 of the Hulu series. First, that his nephews would watch it, and secondly that his aunt would too, and text him afterward. “Paradise” achieved both — and didn’t stop there.
“I promised I wouldn’t do the thing that I’ve done every time since Twitter’s been around, which is to go there and just search #Paradise,” Hoberg told IndieWire. “I did, and it was constant. I could just refresh, and it was just people talking — and in addition to that, they were saying ‘You’ve got to watch this show.’”
Hoberg joined “Paradise” in the earliest stages, when creator Dan Fogelman had assembled a “mini room” that included writer Scott Weinger and executive producer Jess Rosenthal. There they laid the foundations of “Paradise”; a post-apocalyptic show done Fogelman-style, and the narrative marching orders of “big, engaging, entertaining.” Once Sterling K. Brown joined as star and executive producer, Hoberg admits — it felt like the stars were aligning.
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“We all felt like we were onto something, even in that first three months,” he said.
“Paradise” is nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards, and big ones too; acting nods for Brown, James Marsden, and Julianne Nicholson, and Outstanding Drama Series. The news hit while production winds down on Season 2, which can be a trying time all around.
“It feels different to be on a hit show when you’re just going to set,” Hoberg said. “This Emmy nomination gave another little boost, right when we needed it, because everybody was exhausted. ‘OK, that’s right. People are watching, so let’s do this.’”
The show included plenty of “This Is Us” alumni, which meant that production could skip what Hoberg calls the “get-to-know-you stage.” Brown and Fogelman cultivated a “collaborative and friendly environment,” and a writers room where everyone felt compelled to bring their A-game.
“You don’t want to be like, ‘Well, Sterling will make that line work,’” he said of the writing process. “It’s like, ‘I want Sterling to love this line.’” Brown would often visit the writers — always to encourage and observe, never to overstep — and provide the best test audience they could ask for. When Fogelman pitched the early-season twist where a certain rough-but-lovable Secret Service Agent is shockingly killed, Brown “stood up and walked out of the room for a second.”
“You get a 100 percent pure response from him,” Hoberg said. “Having enthusiasm when you’re working on a show is so important, and buying in and caring. When your lead cares that much, it just makes you care that much.”
On set, Hoberg felt the ongoing inklings of a hit; from Brown and Fogelman’s leadership by example, to Brown and James Marsden beginning to film scenes together, to seeing the performance that would mint Nicholson a double nominee this year. Hoberg penned Episode 7, “The Day,” which felt “like this is going to be something,” even in prep. That episode was rehearsed in large sections, “like a play,” immersing the actors in their dire circumstances, tense performances, and Kevin Bird’s production design.
As the premiere inched closer, inevitable nerves crept in, along with a running joke among the writers that the show didn’t exist and was just Marsden debuting “Jury Duty 2.” There was also the inescapable fear of the current TV era, that even if the show was well-reviewed it would “simply disappear.” And if it did find an audience, they had to embrace it wholeheartedly.
“We felt it was really good, but… do people buy the big buy at the end of the first episode? Because that’s a big buy,” Hoberg said.
They bought it, and “Paradise” provided exactly what the writers had hoped it would week-to-week; intrigue, entertainment, and answers — like “24” and “Lost,” two inspirations Hoberg cited, but with a digestible question-to-answer ratio. Soon, he was getting messages from old friends, distant friends, contacts in Europe, classmates from college. He overheard people talking about the show in a coffee shop (mad at Nicholson’s Sinatra, but not at the show), and had the show organically recommended by his landscaper.
With Season 2 production wrapping up and Emmys on the horizon, the “Paradise” team will get a well-earned break before hopefully another winter release and tight production schedule (they have the story mapped through Season 3). Hoberg described early cuts of the new season as “spectacular” (Brown told IndieWire in winter that “that shit slaps”) and looks forward to celebrating its success outside of the set and writers room.
“It gave us confidence, because we know people are invested in the characters,” he said. “A lot of the things people were saying and hoping for, even on Twitter and social media — there’s a lot of the things we’re not answering in the way that you might think, but we’re going in places I think people are hoping to go.”
“Paradise” is now streaming on Hulu. The 77th Annual Emmy Awards will air Sunday, September 14 on CBS.
