By Beth Harris
LOS ANGELES (AP) --Donald Glover warned his fellow writers from the first day on "Atlanta" that the show would get canceled for what it was going to attempt.
He was wrong.
The buzzy FX series won Emmys and drew praise for its social commentary and experimentation that pushed boundaries when it debuted in 2016. The show begins its fourth and final season on Sept. 15. The premiere includes two episodes of the 10-episode season.
"I feel like this is probably the most grounded season. It explores people more than we have before," Glover told a TV critics' meeting Tuesday. "We're right now kind of living in a time where you just don't give people the benefit of the doubt so I feel like this is a good time to kind of explore that more."
Glover writes, directs, executive produces and stars as Earn Marks, a Princeton dropout who manages his rapper cousin as they navigate the Atlanta rap scene.
The show's run has been spread out, with FX citing scheduling conflicts for creating a wide gap between seasons two and three. The sophomore episodes concluded in May 2018, and season three debuted this past March.
"Our show started kind of punk, like no one cares about a lot of stuff," Glover said. "That was my mindset anyway, but by the end we cared about a lot of stuff. A lot of our lives changed in a lot of ways so we kind of grew up. We ended up being a show about people and before it was about do people matter."
The show has been criticized by some Black viewers, including those who claim it's inauthentic about the Black experience, and Glover has been singled out for his depiction of Black female characters.
"I listen to the criticisms, but I'm also like the conversation isn't as elevated as it should be," Glover said. "This is such a Black show on a lot of levels. To say that it's for white people is like we're cutting ourselves down. It's just sad to me mostly."
Stephen Glover, who co-writes the show with his older brother, is bolstered by Black viewers he runs into telling him they're inspired to "do cooler and weirder stuff" because of the show.
"For me that is the real kind of conversation that's happening out there that I listen to," he said. "I kind of get my feelings from the streets."
Last season took place almost entirely in Europe and included four installments that focused on one-off characters, which drew mixed opinions from viewers. Some of that stand-alone element is back this fall, although the show returns to its home city.
"It felt for a lot of people like a step out of the way we do things, but for me it's kind of like we've always done stuff like that," Stephen Glover said. "Maybe people won't hate us so much this time."
A laughing Donald Glover added, "If the question is did we learn our lesson, the answer is no."
Director Malin Ingrid Johansson Brings “Deck 5B” To The Toronto International Film Festival
In her young career, director Malin Ingrid Johansson continues to gain recognition on the festival circuit while looking to extend her reach into the American advertising market. On the latter score, she’s joining the roster of Little Minx, the production company under the aegis of Rhea Scott who’s known for nurturing the careers of filmmakers and helping to successfully establish them in the U.S. across commercials, music videos and other varied projects.
As for Johansson’s film festival pedigree, she first saw her short film Madden, a coming-of-age story inspired by her teenage years on a farm, debut internationally at the Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival) 2023. Madden was also awarded best Swedish Short at last year’s Gothenburg International Film Festival. Furthermore, Johansson is currently in development on a feature-length film based on Madden.
Now another Johansson short film is making a major splash. Her Deck 5B premiered this week at the Toronto International Film Festival during its Short Cuts program. Among the production houses behind Deck 5B--and earlier Madden--was Pine, a Stockholm-based shop which reps Johansson for commercials internationally.
In the interest of avoiding a spoiler alert, SHOOT in this piece provides a deliberately sparse description of the storyline for Deck 5B. Suffice it to say that the short stars Alma Pöysti as Mia, a mother torn between the needs of her young son and her own desires for romance and fulfillment. Johansson said that she was deeply moved by Pöysti’s portrayal of the recently divorced Mia and considers getting the chance to work with the actress as a major career highlight. Earlier this year,... Read More