Encore: 'Yellowjackets' creators on collaborating to make their hit Showtime series

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“We definitely use the phrase, time to shut it down, but I will not claim that's always successful,” says Ashley Lyle. “Your brain is always writing, and more often than not, I feel like the breakthroughs will come as you're falling asleep, or when you're in the shower, or just some random time of the day.” Lyle and Bart Nickerson arrive at the 27th Annual Critics Choice Awards held at The Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles, on March 13, 2022.

“We definitely use the phrase, time to shut it down, but I will not claim that's always successful,” says Ashley Lyle. “Your brain is always writing, and more often than not, I feel like the breakthroughs will come as you're falling asleep, or when you're in the shower, or just some random time of the day.” Lyle and Bart Nickerson arrive at the 27th Annual Critics Choice Awards held at The Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles, on March 13, 2022. Photo By Sthanlee B. Mirador/REUTERS.

This week, The Business revisits a conversation with Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, co-creators and co-executive producers of the series “Yellowjackets,” just out with its second season on Showtime. 

The married team say they bonded over a revision class and have been collaborating ever since, but they write the series from the retreat of their own spaces. “We definitely cannot be in the same room when we're working,” Lyle quips. 

Writing this complex show is a joint effort where they pick a different starting point, and repeatedly review each other’s work. But their thinking is not always fully aligned, so Nickerson explains that with the back and forth process, “we kind of find a shared point of view.” 

The duo join The Business to discuss the show’s conceptualization, their hit-and-miss pitches, and how Showtime proved to be the right home for their vision.  

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From this Episode:

Credits

Hosts:

Kim Masters, Matt Belloni

Producer:

Joshua Farnham