Jay Dyer is a veteran TV writer having worked on shows like Californication, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, All About the Andersons and Half & Half. So, how did this guy who wasn’t much of an expert on soccer and Mexican culture get a series about soccer and Mexican culture for Netflix?
“When my agent first approached me, I had the same reaction, ‘Why do they want to meet with me?’” he asked. “Sports and Spanish, what’s going on here?” Dyer said. Turns out that Netflix had just discovered Gary Alazraki, the director of Nosotros Los Nobles, one of the highest grossing Mexican film of all time. They asked Alazraki to bring a TV concept to Netflix, but wanted to match him up with other writers who could bring a TV show to life. That’s where Dyer came on board.
“We did write in English,” Dyer says of the process. The writers room included five writers — including Alazraki — who worked off of his pitch to create the show. “We approached it like any other television show,” Dyer said. “The story is universal.” Club de Cuervos is a comedy about a prominent Mexican family who must deal with the aftermath of their father’s death as well as the fate of his beloved soccer team. As his children rival each other, they start to learn more about themselves in the process.
ScreenwritingU sat down with Dyer to discuss his process of running a writers’ room, building a series arc and writing comedy in another language. All 13 episodes are available on Netflix starting August 7.
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE:
Watch the trailer here:
Photo credit: Netflix
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