Producer Nicholas Weinstock: Think Local, Go Global | FilmInk

Few producers have a creative pedigree like Nicholas Weinstock.

With a background in publishing, journalism, communications, as well as being the author of three books, Weinstock has had roles as head of development at Apatow Productions for comedy powerhouse Judd Apatow, where he produced Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Step Brothers and Pineapple Express, as creative head for Ben Stiller’s Red Hour Productions, and has produced numerous other successful films and shows. Weinstock also helped launch the production company Chernin Entertainment, alongside executive, Peter Chernin.

Weinstock’s impressive CV also includes developing and producing Get Him to the Greek and Bridesmaids; Showtime limited series Escape at Dannemora, which was nominated for 12 Emmy Awards; drama series In the Dark, which ran for four seasons on the CW and Netflix; critically acclaimed independent films Dinner in America and Plus One; and the hit, Emmy Award-winning Apple+ series Severance, which he executive produces.

Weinstock is also the founder and president of Invention Studios, an independent creative company developing a diverse slate of movies and television series for both major American and international platforms.

Invention is currently working on projects for countries including U.S., England, France, Italy, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Israel, Lebanon, New Zealand, Australia, India, Egypt, Nigeria, Benin, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi and South Africa, and partnering with studios and networks including Fremantle, Paramount, CBS, Amblin and Apple. Weinstock also founded Craft Services, an online community and creative incubator for more than 600 emerging writers in more than 20 countries.

At Screen Forever, Weinstock sat down with FilmInk to share his advice for Australian producers, and spoke about the increasing need for collaboration, and what he is looking for from Aussie creators.

You’ve had some incredible achievements as producer throughout your career, which include working with Judd Apatow and Ben Stiller. The landscape for producers seems to have become drastically different in recent years. How has the Hollywood marketplace changed in your view?

“I do think the business has radically changed over the past couple years, especially in Hollywood. I think a combination of labour strikes and corporate mergers and other consolidations have made it very hard to do shows and movies in the traditional ways. But, I actually am kind of excited about the opportunity that creates because things have gotten much more global. Consumers have gotten much more global in their interests. I think a lot of viewers are pretty agnostic right now about where shows come from, what part of the world they represent. As long as there are good stories, people are even willing to read subtitles, which is a new development for dumb Americans [laughs], and really opens up the whole world in terms of storytelling.”

As a US producer, do you think the market has become more interested in global tastes? 

“I do. I think it’s much more international. I think people are curious about other parts of the world, and the comedies and dramas that can come from them. And I think, business wise, everybody – certainly from a producer’s point of view – has had to get much more entrepreneurial, and much more adventurous and much more flexible, frankly, in terms of business models, in order to do cool stuff. And that’s led a lot of people into international interests, myself included.”

How important is it whether you’re from Australia or whether you’re in the States, that shows translate beyond the borders?

“Much more important than it’s ever been. I think there’s a bad version of that and a good version of that. The bad version is what Hollywood has mostly done previously, which is if something comes from another country and you want it to be international, you artificially inject an American movie star into it, an international storyline. What I think is a much better and more interesting way to go, and more authentic, is to look for certain international stories, if it lends itself to that organically, but also to just think more deeply about resonant themes … mother daughter stories and buddy comedies and really relatable situations and human situations that you can really explode into great comedies and dramas. But that resonate just in terms of human beings watching it around the world.”

What would be your advice for Australian creators? 

“I’m working on six television series with Australian creators now, and three movies, and I’m having a great time. There is something special about Australia in terms of the creative power of the place and the history and the culture. And certainly, it’s at a time when the world is hungry to discover that we are about 30 years overdue for reinvention, since Crocodile Dundee in terms of what the world thinks of as current Australian culture. I’m excited for people to diversify that perception. And in terms of advice, my real advice as to try and support these creators. There’s sometimes a swagger to Australian creators that is really welcome, a kind of courage and a boldness, and sometimes that courage waivers when it comes to going international or … ‘is this really going to resonate overseas and is Hollywood really going to be interested in this?’ The answer is yes, if you have the courage of your conviction. So, I encourage more swagger and more daring. And a lot of what we’re doing as a company is trying to help with resources and creative development to make sure the creator can realise her or his vision.”

A lot of the conversation at the moment seems to be that the streamers are constantly changing their appetites, one year they want this, then they want that. Do you advise paying attention to that?

“In a word? No. I understand why these studios and streamers are coming out with their mandates. The word mandate may be the most overused word in Hollywood right now. I understand the need for them on a corporate basis. There’s nothing wrong with them. But I will point out that in the history of the entertainment business, the number of cool shows and movies that have exploded worldwide because they were done according to a corporate mandate is zero. That has literally never happened in the history of the creative arts. So, I don’t encourage a lot of attention paid to corporate mandates. I think you should be a savvy purveyor of creative products, and you should know the marketplace and know who you’re speaking to when you go to sell something and what their needs are. But in terms of the actual creation, I think it’s damaging and limiting to think according to mandate.”

Is there a particular type of project you are looking for at the moment, at Invention? 

“I wish I were smart enough to have a genre on targeting, or a story that I think is going to be the next big thing. I’m not that smart. Because we do so many genres and such a wide array of stuff, I think the thing we’re always looking for is something that feels a little bit groundbreaking, a little bit new. It hasn’t been done before, so I wish I were good at the producer trick of doing exactly what was done before and making more money on it and buying more houses. I’m not very good at that. The reason the company’s called Invention is because I think as a company, we’re much more interested in trying to break a little ground in seeing if we can do game changing stuff all over the world. So, as long as something has that kind of creative bravery in it, we tend to be excited about it.”

So, for Australians, keeping an eye on the global marketplace, but also something that speaks to viewers at home, is the best bet?

“Yeah. I don’t think you need to divorce yourself from your homeland in order to do something global. I actually think digging in, being as specific as you can, as authentic as you can, will just add power to it. I think the way to really think internationally, unless you happen to have a spy story that happens in six different countries or a road trip through four cities around the world, I think the real way to resonate worldwide is to write really emotionally. I think it’s a lot of what’s missing from stuff that feels a little bit shallow and tends to go away quickly out of the public imagination. I think the most powerful stuff is emotional and thinking really about those universal relationships and situations that we can all relate to, even if they happen in small town Western Australia, it’s still going to resonate.”

What did you learn from the success of Severance, which is such a global hit? 

“That began as a project by a writer who not only had never done anything in television, he didn’t even have an agent. He just had a very particular sensibility, a very strange and wonderful sense of humour and sense of imagination. And, we built that to be an exciting, admittedly strange, but very original show. The real lesson for me was that you can build anything great into something successful. Actors will come on board. The fact that we got Patricia Arquette and John Turturro and Christopher Walken to come on board this strange vision of an unrepresented young writer is a real testimony to the power of creativity. And so, I’ve really learned to not think too much about auspices or the fanciness of something from the beginning, and really just think about the creative power of it, because everybody now, more than ever, is really up for a creative adventure. Actors, directors, studios, streamers. if you build it powerfully and if it has that kind of inherent originality, you can do amazing things these days.”

Despite the challenging marketplace, would you say you’re optimistic about the landscape for challenging, unconventional series?

“As long as you have a strong stomach lining… I’m not going to lie to you. It’s hard. It really is. I fall on my face with projects three times a week, and you have to embrace the fact that it’s hard, but it’s also very promising. And, largely because it’s so international these days, you can actually create something in your bedroom in Brisbane that can explode worldwide a year later. You really can.

“I’m very bullish on it, and at the same time, I’m plenty cynical. I live in Hollywood, I see people acting like jerks and buyers being conservative and writers being screwed over, every day. But, the truth is, writing has always been hard and producing has always been hard. And creating imaginative products that are not pre guaranteed has always been hard. It was hard to write a play in the 1600s too and get it produced. This is nothing new. So, I admit how hard it is. But at the same time, I think it is a terrific time in a way now because people are so nervous, and buyers are so wary and tentative. It’s actually the best possible time to create something that can explode and be bold and courageous because it’s against a backdrop of really dull conservatism these days. And there’s a real hunger for something really cool. So, I am all for leaning into that possibility.”

You have a background in comedy. Do you think that genre will come back, because it’s obviously one that’s been more challenging to produce lately?

“Yeah, it’s a challenging time for comedy in particular, partly because comedy requires looseness, it requires gameness, and it’s hard to convince very nervous executives to loosen up and have a wild time with an adventurous comedy for sure. But I am very confident for the same reasons, I think a killer comedy right now would be everybody’s favourite show. We are watching things explode, Colin from Accounts, a lot of radical shows that you wouldn’t see coming, Deadloch and other things out of Australia, and things out of Hollywood and other places too that people wouldn’t have expected would be the bankable television series. But it’s so funny that you have to watch it. It’s a great time for that. It’s not going to be the thing that companies are asking for in their corporate mandate.

“But to be honest, comedy’s never been that. Seinfeld was developed off the radar as a late night special in the wrong television department in Hollywood, and it was the way it got on the air. I developed the movie Bridesmaids for three years as a script without getting that moving, and there were no movie stars in it, and it was part of no corporate mandate. Comedy tends to be a little bit renegade in its nature. So, I think we have to embrace the fact that it’s going to seem hard until it’s successful.”

What challenges do you see writers as having to contend with in the next few years in terms of the marketplace?

“I think for better or for worse, it’s diversifying a lot. When I started in Hollywood 20 years ago, if you were a writer and you had a hit show, you literally bought three cars and were set, for a long time. That’s not really true now, and it’s not true for producers either. You really need to be much more entrepreneurial, and I think frankly, over the next few years, that’s only going to increase. It’s not massive paydays and a life of leisure if you happen to hit something. I think we all have to think like business builders, including writers, and really have a portfolio of projects and really be nimble about going out with those projects and how to put them together, both domestically and internationally. And then I think there’ll be a lot of success. It just won’t look like the easy road.

“And I think it really requires partnerships. A lot of why I am here at Screen Forever is to talk to people about partnering and sharing resources and sharing ideas, both in terms of international producing and co-productions and just in terms of brainstorming with writers and creators. I think the more we can team up, the more we’ll get through a pretty hard time in the business and into better times.”