INTERVIEW: In Conversation With Paul Epstein

You’re an Emmy-nominated Executive Producer, Writer, and Director. Can you give us a brief overview of your career?

I’ve worked in the TV and Film industry for over 20 years on a diverse range of productions, including scripted fictional shows, factual dramas and documentaries, for a variety of networks and streamers such as Peacock, MSNBC, History, NatGeo, and the Discovery Channel. I’m also a member of the Director's Guild of America and represented by the Agency for the Performing Arts (APA).

I began my career as an Assistant Director, working on over 30 indie feature films, before making my first major TV breakthrough as a Field Producer on the second season of The Apprentice in 2004. While not a highlight of my career, it provided me with a stepping stone into television, where I have predominantly worked since.

I’ve also directed my own feature film, The Last Harbor, which won the Grand Prize at the Liege International Film Festival in 2011. My focus has since shifted toward historical and investigative projects. While I love historical topics of from all times and places, I’m particularly passionate about westerns, which offer so many opportunities for rich drama and relevance today.

Some of my most notable credits include Emmy-nominated series, on which I worked in various producer and/or director roles, such as We Are New York, Gunslingers, The Men Who Built America, and A Crime to Remember.

My recent work includes Who Killed Robert Wone?, an investigative crime docudrama streaming on Peacock, and Into the Wild Frontier, a western factual drama that’s currently in its third season on INSP. I’ve also started as the showrunner of a new historical drama series that will be announced this fall.

What do you think was your most successful project to date and why?

I would say that my most successful project to date would be Into the Wild Frontier. It’s a factual drama series about a lesser-known period of American history, the early frontier era, that abounds with legendary characters and incredibly dramatic stories. The show has run for three seasons so far, and first season broke INSP’s ratings records for an original series. I think the show’s popularity is a testament to the fact that western productions are easy to follow, while still telling compelling and uniquely American stories.

What is your approach to creating TV content, and what sets your work apart?

I seek to create longer-format, high-quality programming that offers engaging stories and characters for viewers – the type of shows that are gripping and dramatic and, above all, feel real. Recreating historical periods and people is basically “world building,” to use TV parlance, and not entirely unlike what you’d do for a sci-fi or fantasy series, so an eye for detail and realism is critical for any historical project.

I believe factual historical dramas are an excellent vehicle for creating such content. They're great for viewers and TV commissioners because of the endless source of rich and, most importantly, ‘free IP.’

With historical productions, you have an endless bank of familiar characters to entice audiences with, such as Henry VIII, Jesse James, and even Adolf Hitler. Most importantly, these shows not only offer entertainment value but a window into a different period, and an opportunity to learn something new.

Take Jesse James, for instance, a historical figure who has almost become legendary in numerous film and TV adaptations. Yet, if a show about Jesse James was to come out tomorrow, I guarantee people would still watch it.

The success of period dramas ranging from Deadwood to The Crown to Chernobyl demonstrates just how irresistible historical TV can be. And I believe factual drama can serve exactly the same ends without the massive production costs or the need for budget-bloating lead characters to adapt.

How do you believe the TV landscape is changing?

The TV landscape is becoming more fragmented. User-generated content (TikTok, YouTube, etc.) is now a major competitor for viewing attention. Streaming platforms such as Netflix Amazon, Apple TV, Disney+, and so on, have to compete with that mass production of user-generated content. “Peak TV” was supposed to be the answer, but we’ve seen in recent months how the big players are stumbling after over-saturating the TV landscape with too much content.

I think it’s become risky to make shows people actually want to watch. Lots of TV is content following previously-successful IP (hence the endless reboots and so-called sequels) or trying to catch the wave of some breakout show. Showrunners are less likely to feel encouraged to try anything really new, and as a result, television has become kind of homogenous, particularly in the true crime space. I think viewers are fatigued, which is a huge problem if TV networks and streamers hope to retain their viewership.

How do you think the industry needs to move forward?

The answer to adapting to the current TV landscape is for TV to take a step backward. We need to go back to the period when the majority of shows’ episodes were released weekly.

For viewers, I guess it’s nice in a way that television has become so accessible and convenient for us to watch what we want, when we want. But I think with that, television has lost its charm along the way – the suspense, anticipation, and the conversation among friends and family about what’s going to happen next.

The success of weekly episodics like The White Lotus or Succession has reminded us what that model can do. It drove social media into a frenzy, everyone was talking about what would come next, and these shows, as a result, have some of the highest viewership HBO has seen. I think television must learn from this, and if it does, we’ll start to get some much greater content back on screens.

How can upcoming TV producers and directors compete with bigger-budget productions?

I think producers and directors really need to be both realistic and strategic if they want to stand a good chance of competing with the bigger budgets.

Firstly, I think smaller-scale productions should look to the recent emergence of FAST channels — free channels for viewers to access, which are funded by ads – since they can provide revenue to produce high-quality, captivating television, that would otherwise be overlooked by major streaming platforms that now prioritize celebrity casts and gigantic budgets. These channels are perfect for a return to traditional TV formats, which, as I mentioned, spark interesting discussions and boost viewership.

I’d also say that certain genres will prosper more than others, and this is something that producers and directors must consider. Take the western, for instance, the perfect genre for low-cost programming. You can do any type of story you can imagine but on a low-cost model, since the production elements that you need are fairly minimal. Just as Europe has plenty of castles and chateaus appropriate for certain periods of history, the US has a vast supply of authentic natural landscape that does much of the “world building” a western series needs. You don't need a state-of-the-art studio, or excessive CGI, meaning you can save a considerable amount of time and money.

What advice would you give to aspiring TV producers and directors?

Figure out what you want to do in the industry and start doing it ASAP. Whether it's filmmaking, writing, producing, or any other creative endeavour, create a piece of content that showcases your talent, no matter how small.

Don't worry about not having the perfect resources or budget. You can start creating content with whatever you have available, even if it's just in your backyard, basement, or dorm room. The important thing is to start practicing and honing your skills, so that you can improve and become better at what you do. Don't wait for the perfect opportunity; just start with what you have and keep improving.

Hustle to get your content seen by others. Showcase your work at festivals, online showcases, or any other means available. Networking is crucial to this, so put yourself out there and make connections. With hard work and dedication, anyone can succeed in this industry. Don't wait for the perfect moment or the perfect resources; just start and keep going.

Paul Epstein is an Emmy-nominated Executive Producer, Writer, and Director with over 20 years of experience in TV and film content creation.