Sumith Prasad
The narrative of HBO’s satirical comedy series ‘The Franchise’ mainly progresses through the POV of Daniel Kumar, the first assistant director of the superhero movie ‘Tecto: Eye of the Storm.’ When Eric, the director, struggles to deal with countless challenges in making the film, Daniel takes the burden on his shoulders without any complaints or expectations. He is well aware of the lack of credit he receives, but the awareness doesn’t stop him from being the most hardworking crew member of the project. The film and its making appear highly authentic and realistic, which leaves one intrigued about the possible real-life counterpart to Daniel!
Daniel Kumar is a Homage to the Countless Hardworking Assistant Directors
Daniel Kumar is a fictional character without any particular real-life counterpart. However, creative heads behind ‘The Franchise,’ mainly Jon Brown, Armando Iannucci, and Sam Mendes, approached the protagonist as a representative of the countless assistant directors/crew members who were and are undoubtedly essential to making big-budget films like the fictitious ‘Tecto: Eye of the Storm.’ “The beating heart of the show has more to do with the ADs, PAs, the script supervisors, line producers and crew who actually make films and get no public praise for it,” Mendes explained the foundation behind Daniel’s creation to The Hollywood Reporter.
Even though Daniel doesn’t exist in reality, Brown and Mendes were adamant about addressing the real-life challenges assistant directors face without any change. They developed the project with enough experience working on high-profile projects, including the acclaimed filmmaker’s two ‘James Bond’ movies and the creator’s ‘Succession’ and ‘Veep.’ They had witnessed enough Daniels boiling their blood to complete project after project without receiving any credit. Through the protagonist, the show addresses this unfortunate reality behind the filmmaking process. “We wanted to make a show about craft people who are trapped inside a dysfunctional machine rather than a crew of fuckups who can’t get anything right,” Brown added in the same interview.
Daniel Kumar’s Experiences Are Heavily Based on Real-Life Occurrences
Although Daniel Kumar is fictional, Jon Brown and his writers created his storyline by drawing inspiration from some of the outrageous incidents that happened in show business, especially in the world of superhero projects and franchises. During his research, the creator came across several accounts of last-minute changes, unreasonable script modifications, and unexpected cast additions that derailed an entire filming day’s schedule. All these atrocious developments affected and continue to affect assistant directors like Daniel the most. That’s why it is unsurprising that James Gunn, the co-CEO of DC Studios, one of the pillars of franchise filmmaking, described the profession as arguably the “hardest” job on a film set.
The pilot of ‘The Franchise’ ends with Daniel equating his responsibilities to a circus crew member’s dealings with the excrement of an elephant, the star attraction. Despite the menial job, the crew member finds pride in being part of the show business like the protagonist of the workplace comedy. Daniel accepts his profession’s lack of credit and recognition but still decides to continue working as an assistant director. This experience mirrors the reality behind several actual ADs working in the film and television industry worldwide. Innumerable assistant directors describe their profession as a “thankless job” and still continue to work hard for their projects.
Daniel is one of them. Brown describes him as a “hopeless romantic” who faces “insurmountable odds” without hesitation. That’s how ADs often work not only in Hollywood but in industries across the globe. Over the years, many assistant directors have come forward to expose the excruciating workload and lack of pay in industries like Bollywood, the second-largest film industry in the world. Even when they have raised their concerns, they haven’t decreased their commitment to their work, reminding us of Daniel’s dedication.
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