40 - Jessica Rhoades (Utopia)

Executive Producer Jessica Rhoades joins host Jenny Curtis to
talk about the new Amazon Original series UTOPIA, her career,
supporting the writer’s vision, mentoring, and advice for
creatives. Through the conversation they discuss:


0:59 - The experience of putting two series out during
quarantine, DIRTY JOHN: THE BETTY BRODERICK STORY and
UTOPIA. 


2:54 - The title of ‘non-writing executive producer’ and what
Jessica does in production. 


4:34 - Discovering that she could be a producer when seeing Marti
Noxon’s name in the BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER credits


5:52 - Jessica’s fan-girl moment when beginning to work with
Marti Noxon. 


7:29 - The friction on the set of SHARP OBJECTS making the
project better. 


8:26 - Working with first time showrunners and supporting Gillian
Flynn in her first experience as showrunner. 


10:39 - Having Dennis Kelly, the creator of the British UTOPIA,
involved in this version. 


11:45 - How UTOPIA began and Jessica’s first impression of the
scripts. 


13:58 - Hiding the violence of the show while working from home
with children. 


14:56 - The fun of making the show and the experience of creating
‘FringeCon’. 


16:28 - Getting John Cusack on board, when he doesn’t normally
work on series. 


17:13 - Casting the rest of the actors, including Sasha
Lane. 


18:01 - Sharing a name with the main character. 


19:08 - Sasha’s fight training. 


19:29 - The actors’ knowledge of who makes it through the show
and who doesn’t. 


20:04 - Growing up through her career, from Disney to Blumhouse
to Pacesetter Productions


23:29 - What Jason Blum saw in Jessica to know that she would be
a good fit for the Head of Television. 


24:47 - Her upcoming series STATION ELEVEN being another project
about a virus. 


27:21 - The UTOPIA team’s reaction when the pandemic first
hit. 


27:57 - The mentorship program #StartWith8Hollywood and advice
that can be given to upcoming creatives. 


30:06 - Why to shoot an independent feature rather than a spec
pilot. 


31:22 - Joining an established show


31:53 - Taking new lessons, even personal ones, from each
set. 


32:30 - Not having official mentors of her own, but what she has
instead. 


33:07 - Advice would be to her young self.  


34:00 - A life in storytelling


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Hosted and Produced by: Jenny Curtis


Co-Produced and Edited by: J Whiting


Executive Producer: Stuart Halperin


Theme Music by: Celleste and Eric Dick


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