Apple TV+ 'Dickinson' not shying away from sex in NYC premiere
Stars Hailee Steinfeld and Jane Krakowski alongside creator Alena Smith introduced the new Apple TV+ series "Dickinson," in New York City on Saturday night, and AppleInsider was there.
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The Dickinson panel: Moderator Hillary Kelly, creator Alena Smith, and actresses Hailee Steinfeld and Jane Krakowski
The Apple TV+ era officially kicked off Saturday night at a Lower Manhattan movie theater, with the first public screening of an Apple TV+ original series. The first episode of Dickinson, the Apple streaming service's modern-day take on the early life of the 19th-century poet Emily Dickinson, premiered Saturday night at the Regal Battery Park theater, as part of the Tribeca TV Festival.
The series, which has the look of a costume drama but also offers quite a bit of comedy, was well-received by an audience in a very-nearly full theater. There was applause at the end, albeit not a standing ovation, for the 30-minute episode.
The conceit of the show, which received a straight-to-series order from Apple back in May of 2018, is that it's set in Emily Dickinson's actual time, and follows the lines of her actual life. The difference is, the characters speak in modern language, and the show also features contemporary pop music.
Two stars of the show, Hailee Steinfeld and Jane Krakowski, were on hand for a post-screening panel, as was the show's creator and showrunner, Alena Smith.
There's a song by pop star Billie Eilish in the first episode, and rapper Wiz Khalifa shows up as a version of the Grim Reaper. Smith, the creator, called it "our crazy psychedelic version of the 1850s."
"If Emily wasn't understood in her own time, maybe we can understand her in ours," Smith said on the panel, about the show's main idea. Dickinson, famously, did not become a well-known poet until after her death, in 1886.
"The reason why Dickinson was the right figure to use for a crazy world like this again, is that she broke all the rules of her time, sort of in secret," the show-runner added. "Her life was boring. Like, not a lot happened the action was up here [in her head]."
Steinfeld, who starred in the Coen Brothers' True Grit, the second and third Pitch Perfect movies, and the indie hit Edge of Seventeen, plays Dickinson. 30 Rock veteran Jane Krakowski co-stars as her mother, also named Emily. Veteran character actor Toby Huss plays Emily's father, putting on a New England patrician accent when he nearly always plays Southern characters.
There will also be guest stars on some episodes, most of them playing historical figures. Comedian John Mulaney, who made a memorable joke about Emily Dickinson in one of his stand-up specials, will portray Henry David Thoreau.
Steinfeld is among the executive producers of the show, as are Smith and veteran Hollywood and TV director David Gordon Green, who directed the first episode.
The star said on the panel that the script was "unlike anything I've ever read, as a whole this was a character that was written in a way that I've never seen," Steinfeld said. "That Alena was able to take what we do know and also sort of explore the imagination of what this person who wrote these incredible things might be, and show that in a show overall, it's so different, and so wonderful."
Smith got her start as a playwright, and has been a writer on TV series such as The Newsroom and The Affair.
It's often been discussed, in the run-up to the launch of Apple's streaming service, that the company was seeking to downplay risque language and sexuality in its original shows. However, the first episode of Dickinson includes both a memorable curse word and a brief scene of a sexual encounter.
It's also clear that the show won't be shying away from the belief among most historians that Dickinson had a long-running same-sex romantic relationship with her sister-in-law, Susan Gilbert. A theatrical movie released earlier this year, Wild Nights With Emily, was primarily about that relationship.
Additionally, Smith said that a future episode of Dickinson will deal with the painting of a portrait, in a plotline meant to echo modern-day controversies about nude selfies.
While the actresses spoke a lot about the difficulty of wearing corsets on the set, Krakowski did specifically thank Apple for being generous with its costume budget for the show.
"For me, what's really special, is working on this with Apple, and Apple Music," Steinfeld said. She called the new tune "a song that I am incredibly proud of, and I feel that after embodying this character I have a more fearless approach."
Krakowski added that she had heard the song earlier that day and described it as "awesome."
The screen at the Dickinson premiere
Quite a few people at the premiere were there as fans of Steinfeld's. It's clear that Apple and the show's producers are counting on her to draw fans to the series when it launches.
Krakowski said she hopes "a generation of young, feisty women" discover and appreciate the show. Smith told a story about how a young girl in Manila recently saw Steinfeld and quoted a line from the trailer of the show -- "I'm nobody- who are you?" -- back to her.
Apple has not announced whether it will be releasing the episodes of its series all at once, the way Netflix does, or if they will come out once a week or in some other configuration. However, Smith said on the panel that she hoped a future episode featuring Louisa May Alcott would coincide with the release of this year's new Little Women film, which is set to arrive at Christmastime.
It is known that Dickinson is one of nine pieces of content that will be available at the launch of Apple TV+. It will join The Morning Show, See, For All Mankind, Ghostwriter, Helpsters, Snoopy in Space, the documentary The Elephant Queen and Oprah Winfrey's untitled new TV series.
When the Apple TV+ service debuts, it will cost users $4.99 per month. Purchasers of a new Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac will get one year of the service for free. Apple TV+ content can be watched across an entire family, with Apple's Family Sharing feature.
The Dickinson panel: Moderator Hillary Kelly, creator Alena Smith, and actresses Hailee Steinfeld and Jane Krakowski
The Apple TV+ era officially kicked off Saturday night at a Lower Manhattan movie theater, with the first public screening of an Apple TV+ original series. The first episode of Dickinson, the Apple streaming service's modern-day take on the early life of the 19th-century poet Emily Dickinson, premiered Saturday night at the Regal Battery Park theater, as part of the Tribeca TV Festival.
The series, which has the look of a costume drama but also offers quite a bit of comedy, was well-received by an audience in a very-nearly full theater. There was applause at the end, albeit not a standing ovation, for the 30-minute episode.
The conceit of the show, which received a straight-to-series order from Apple back in May of 2018, is that it's set in Emily Dickinson's actual time, and follows the lines of her actual life. The difference is, the characters speak in modern language, and the show also features contemporary pop music.
Two stars of the show, Hailee Steinfeld and Jane Krakowski, were on hand for a post-screening panel, as was the show's creator and showrunner, Alena Smith.
There's a song by pop star Billie Eilish in the first episode, and rapper Wiz Khalifa shows up as a version of the Grim Reaper. Smith, the creator, called it "our crazy psychedelic version of the 1850s."
"If Emily wasn't understood in her own time, maybe we can understand her in ours," Smith said on the panel, about the show's main idea. Dickinson, famously, did not become a well-known poet until after her death, in 1886.
"The reason why Dickinson was the right figure to use for a crazy world like this again, is that she broke all the rules of her time, sort of in secret," the show-runner added. "Her life was boring. Like, not a lot happened the action was up here [in her head]."
Steinfeld, who starred in the Coen Brothers' True Grit, the second and third Pitch Perfect movies, and the indie hit Edge of Seventeen, plays Dickinson. 30 Rock veteran Jane Krakowski co-stars as her mother, also named Emily. Veteran character actor Toby Huss plays Emily's father, putting on a New England patrician accent when he nearly always plays Southern characters.
There will also be guest stars on some episodes, most of them playing historical figures. Comedian John Mulaney, who made a memorable joke about Emily Dickinson in one of his stand-up specials, will portray Henry David Thoreau.
Steinfeld is among the executive producers of the show, as are Smith and veteran Hollywood and TV director David Gordon Green, who directed the first episode.
The star said on the panel that the script was "unlike anything I've ever read, as a whole this was a character that was written in a way that I've never seen," Steinfeld said. "That Alena was able to take what we do know and also sort of explore the imagination of what this person who wrote these incredible things might be, and show that in a show overall, it's so different, and so wonderful."
Smith got her start as a playwright, and has been a writer on TV series such as The Newsroom and The Affair.
Sex and portraits
In the opening credits, Dickinson is referred to as "An Apple original," although there's no new Apple logo or production company graphic.It's often been discussed, in the run-up to the launch of Apple's streaming service, that the company was seeking to downplay risque language and sexuality in its original shows. However, the first episode of Dickinson includes both a memorable curse word and a brief scene of a sexual encounter.
It's also clear that the show won't be shying away from the belief among most historians that Dickinson had a long-running same-sex romantic relationship with her sister-in-law, Susan Gilbert. A theatrical movie released earlier this year, Wild Nights With Emily, was primarily about that relationship.
Additionally, Smith said that a future episode of Dickinson will deal with the painting of a portrait, in a plotline meant to echo modern-day controversies about nude selfies.
While the actresses spoke a lot about the difficulty of wearing corsets on the set, Krakowski did specifically thank Apple for being generous with its costume budget for the show.
A new song
Steinfeld, who is also a pop singer, announced on the panel that she has recorded a new original song for the show, called "Afterlife," which will arrive on Thursday, Sept. 19. The singer said that this is her return to music after a hiatus of a couple of years."For me, what's really special, is working on this with Apple, and Apple Music," Steinfeld said. She called the new tune "a song that I am incredibly proud of, and I feel that after embodying this character I have a more fearless approach."
Krakowski added that she had heard the song earlier that day and described it as "awesome."
The screen at the Dickinson premiere
Here for Hailee
Quite a few people at the premiere were there as fans of Steinfeld's. It's clear that Apple and the show's producers are counting on her to draw fans to the series when it launches.
Krakowski said she hopes "a generation of young, feisty women" discover and appreciate the show. Smith told a story about how a young girl in Manila recently saw Steinfeld and quoted a line from the trailer of the show -- "I'm nobody- who are you?" -- back to her.
Apple has not announced whether it will be releasing the episodes of its series all at once, the way Netflix does, or if they will come out once a week or in some other configuration. However, Smith said on the panel that she hoped a future episode featuring Louisa May Alcott would coincide with the release of this year's new Little Women film, which is set to arrive at Christmastime.
It is known that Dickinson is one of nine pieces of content that will be available at the launch of Apple TV+. It will join The Morning Show, See, For All Mankind, Ghostwriter, Helpsters, Snoopy in Space, the documentary The Elephant Queen and Oprah Winfrey's untitled new TV series.
When the Apple TV+ service debuts, it will cost users $4.99 per month. Purchasers of a new Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac will get one year of the service for free. Apple TV+ content can be watched across an entire family, with Apple's Family Sharing feature.
Comments
So not Emily Dickinson, just some other character with the name in common. A reimagining of a recluse.
it could be entertaining, but I hate how Hollywood has to outrageously distort historical figures, probably to send a modern message with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. And the worst is some people might think it is biographical. Imagine poor English teachers marking essays for the next few years.
What a load of pretentious cobblers. They’ve turned her into the Walter Mitty of poetry.
Most historians? MOST?? I suggest "some" or "historians who are interested in Dickinson" or something that qualifies this... Is that contemporary English speaking historians? Perhaps even naming the historians would be nice.
Do not take this response as an invitation to continue this line of discussion on the forums here.
But then I'm a poet, which is not exactly a prime AI or mass TV audience demographic, and I'm a fan of classic women writers (Dickinson, Jane Austen, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Charlotte Bronte, George Sand [Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin], Virginia Woolf, Mary Shelley, et al.
And what fans aren't biased in some ways...??
So yeah, if I get the service (buying new gear soon I hope), this will be probably my first watch.
Original content is always a risk. On some shows, maybe Dickinson, releasing just one might not be enough to grab a viewer's commitment. Releasing three, enough to grab most inclined viewers attention, and then releasing subsequent episodes one per week would be a good way to go.
Amazon and Netflix have a lot of content, much of which isn't original, so they can afford to release some show in their entirety. HBO's GoT had no problem keeping viewers for 8 seasons while doing the one-a-week thing.
Obviously I’m not privy to the costs involved and no doubt this is a complex process that I can't expertly speak to. Yet I’m willing to bet Apple is better off with 40 million subscribers paying $4.99 a month than 10 million subscribers paying $9.99 a month. Further, increasing the price from $4.99 to $9.99 would, I believe, have that significant an impact on the number of subscribers. My guess is that Apple setting the price so low comes down to it having the potential to generate more profit, not less. Keep in mind that Apple routinely offers decent titles for a lower cost than most other content providers so keeping costs down on this front would not be out of character. When 4K first hit, Apple made the 4K versions of films available, free of charge, whereas to this day, studios are offering 4K blurays at a significant premium to plain old HD blurays. Apple sees this sort of thing differently which is why it makes sense to do its own content, hence controlling the process without the interference of content producers clinging to an outdated model.
So I guess we shouldn't be allowed to have Peaky Blinders or Boardwalk Empire or The Favourite or Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter because someone might get confused and write their senior thesis on it as if they were historical tomes, the horror! This isn't a documentary.