Exclusive: Catching Up with Godfather of Harlem writer, showrunner and producer Chris Brancato
Blackfilmandtv.com recently caught up with writer, showrunner and producer Chris Brancato who was nominated for a WGA for Episodic Drama for Godfather of Harlem, with Michael Panes.
Godfather of Harlem stars Forest Whitaker as Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson, a Harlem-based mob boss, and was recently renewed for a fourth season. Brancato is one of New York's few television showrunners. Brancato was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Narcos.
Brancato is the co-creator and writer of the upcoming upcoming drama series for MGM+, HOTEL COCAINE, which tells the story of Roman Compte, Cuban exile and general manager of the Mutiny Hotel, the glamorous epicenter of the Miami cocaine scene of late '70s and early '80s. The series will premiere in Summer 2024.
Brancato is also the co-creator of Golden Globe nominated series NARCOS, which ran for three seasons on Netflix and starred Wagner Moura, Boyd Holbrook, Pedro Pascal, Damián Alcázar. Additional credits include X-FILES, LAW AND ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT, HANNIBAL, and BEVERLY HILLS 90210 (the original). He has won a Peabody Award (BOOMTOWN), two Saturn Awards (HANNIBAL), and his series have received Emmy awards, as well as Golden Globes and BAFTA nominations. He was formally the President of the Writers Guild Foundation.
How do you feel about the WGA nomination?
Chris Brancato: Well, first of all, it was completely unexpected and gratifying. I have long since given up trying to do anything other than have as good a time as I can, in the difficult process of writing throughout the course of the long day. So I don't worry too much about recognition or awards in that respect. But this one in particular feels gratifying because Godfather of Harlem has been a show that because so an MGM plus has a much smaller viewership. And it's also on Hulu, but it has a smaller viewership than then if it was, say on Netflix. And, we feel like we're making a good show, an important show that views current events through the prism of the past, as regards many, many subjects that are of interest to all of us today. And for the Writers Guild, to recognize that particular episode, one that we worked very hard to craft the death of Malcolm X and his relationship with Bumpy Johnson, it's like I said, it was unexpected and extremely gratifying.
And it's also good, because a lot of times, shows get their recognition early on when they first start, when they get buzz, and all of that. Once you hit season four and five, they're no longer getting those nominations, unless it creates such a buzz that they have to pay attention to it. And like you mentioned, because it's on MGM plus and it's not getting the same notoriety as opposed to what Netflix does, and somebody's like, Hulu, or some of these other shows. So that's, that's also the bridge just happen to be a powerful episode. And, you know, Malcolm X is always a powerful name. Obviously, we just had Mr. X, K, even though it came out after the fact. But you know, these are names and no matter how many, it's probably you when you think about it, him along with Martin Luther King are probably the two figures, two black figures that can be constantly played by different people all the time. And you're getting a different take, as opposed to like, you know, somebody's playing James Brown or Whitney Houston. It's like, you got one shot at this. If you mess it up, you can't go back. Martin is like this, you still learning something new.
Chris Brancato: We had two Malcolm's within our three year span of the show. We had Nigel Farage play it brilliantly for two seasons. He had obligations that didn't allow him to do the season that was delayed by COVID and other factors. And so we had Jason Carvel play Malcolm in the last season. And yes, you're absolutely right. The very, very capable actors can step into those roles like Malcolm and King and give their own interpretation, which we feel both of our actors did excellently. The other thing that I think is interesting to note is you seen great portrayals of Malcolm X like in Spike Lee’s movie and then in other movies as well like Regina King’s One night in Miami, and yet here, we were privy to some information that came out about Malcolm's assassination that was was unknown, to Spike and to other directors and writers who have made movies about Malcolm which is to say that Malcolm actually had a gun on him, was given a gun by his protective detail because he refused to allow anybody to be searched at the door for fear that it would turn away students and people who wanted to come listen to him. So his security detail gave him a gun which he chose not to withdraw when when the killers approached, so we felt like we added a little something to the lexicon of the day, Malcolm died at the Audubon Ballroom. And also we did it through the perspective of the character of Elise, who's Bumpy’s daughter, and that gave it a different point of view. It was through the eyes and ears of a woman who is important to our show as bumpy’s daughter as connective tissue between bumpy and Malcolm. And so we felt like we did it in a in a kind of fresh way.
And the nomination helps the show because at least it tells those involved it is being watched. They are paying attention. And so like I said before, once you hit a certain amount of seasons, you wonder if anybody's paying attention? But it is, and that can give the show more legs to grow and see how far you can go with this. You have Forest Whitaker, and you wonder how much time can he give the series? He's always in demand for different things. You've got other projects coming up as well, such as Hotel Cocaine.
Chris Brancato: Well, first of all, Godfather of Harlem is my first love. And Forrest is my first love. So the attention will always be paid to that. I know he loves doing the show. So I expect it to continue as long as he wants to make it. And I'm told he wants to make it as long as we can. And we have a very interesting fourth season in development right now with a great group of writers. And so yeah, I mean, we get busy, but but we have these labors of love. And certainly that's this also was the show, because it broadcasts on MGM plus, and then about nine months later comes on to Hulu. There's actually now a vast audience that gets a chance to access it in one form or another. We've had something that almost no shows have. We actually have rising viewership every year, as almost every show has diminishing viewership as seasons go along. Narcos was a case of that. We're hopeful that the attention that the WGA nomination brings to the show and we're hopeful that the continued viewing on both Hulu and MGM plus, give us a fourth season that has even more viewers than ever before.