Breaking Bad: Vince Gilligan interview
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- čas přidán 26. 07. 2017
- Vince Gilligan is one of the world’s most sought after showrunners, having created the ground breaking series Breaking Bad and co-created its equally successful ‘spin off’ Better Call Saul.
It is undeniable Breaking Bad was a game changer in the premium television drama stakes, scoring no less than two Golden Globes, five Primetime Emmy Awards and countless other wins and nominations. Gilligan’s ability to create a world where characters leading ordinary lives find themselves in extraordinary situations, with each episode deftly crafted with moral complexity ensured audiences around the globe were lured back season after season.
A master craftsman Gilligan then teamed with fellow writer Peter Gould in 2014 to create ‘Jimmy McGill’, aka Saul Goodman from an earlier life, for the prequel Better Call Saul which again surprised and delighted audiences, receiving further critical acclaim for both the show and its creators.
Vince shares his insights into what it takes to create compelling drama for the international market.
Moderator
Stephanie Van Shilt
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Event Notes
1:14 How Breaking Bad began
4:09 Creating a character designed to change
7:52 From 2 seasons to 6 seasons
14:58 How Bryan Cranston strung Vince along
16:50 Why humour was important
20:35 How Jesse survived the writers chopping block
24:20 The final episode
28:16 The music and spotting sessions
30:55 Better Call Saul and how it came about
36:30 Nuclear family and Jimmy’s relationship with his brother
40:50 How Vince deals with fan reactions
45:00 Colour use and palette meetings
48:00 Learnings from the X files
50:20 What a show runner does
53:10 When he knew his show was a winner?
55:57 How Vince approaches casting
58:26 Making characters good
#breakingbad #vincegilligan #bettercallsaul - Krátké a kreslené filmy
The first time Vince responded to an audience question with "Good question" I thought it must have been a really good question. Three questions later I realized that Vince is just a really nice guy
Fr I thought the same thing he seems like such a good guy
Not to be contrarian, they really were good questions. And yes he’s a nice guy, humble and open to listening which is probably why he’s so great at what he does
Media training 101
I realized he's a nice guy even earlier when he said AMC is a wonderful network.
I wish I could personally thank this man. He created 2 of the best shows on television. Period. He really set the bar high in terms of masterful storytelling and masterful writing. It’s very hard to write such a perfect show like Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul.
I never got into Better Call Saul. Maybe I should give it a go
@@stevenponte6655 you definitely should. I watched all seasons in a few days and am anxiously waiting for the last Season 6
He also did X files
He’s great. The one thing that I regret about watching BB is that I can’t really get into other shows because there’s nothing nearly as good as BB. It’s set the bar so high
@@limjahey8316 100% agree. I honestly feel like any person going to school to be a television writer should be required to watch Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul. They're both excellent ways to teach an up and coming writer.
"the train has to keep rolling"-Vince 14:01
"Nothing stops this train" -Walter White 504
505
Kim Wexler's feet.
listening to vince gilligan is therapeutic. something about how he speaks, his cadence and what he talks about is just extremely comforting
Kinda like how Nacho talks. Seemingly calm and comforting
He also doesn’t speak badly or criticise people, which is refreshing
I wish the GoT writers had seen this before going forth with their "subverting expectations" rampage
What I think though really gets to be what's at the heart of why/how things went wrong to the degree they did in Game Of Thrones is the timing of each of the series. That they did this show with a yet unfinished book series. If Martin had indeed had the whole thing out by as late as, say, the TV debut of season 3 (possibly even season 4), I think it could've gone differently. And in my argument's case, Martin at least speaking in some depth with D&D once it was obvious they'd finish theirs first about ways he was planning on wrapping it all up doesn't really matter, at least not enough. I really believe that it helped cultivate a mindset in those two writers' minds and general attitude on how they felt about the show later in the game that it was no longer strictly off this globally beloved, cleanly and fully completed set of novels. I mean hell look at Martin himself, especially after the recent announcement of his HBO deal, I have zero doubt he never finishes & releases the end before he's dead, he obviously doesn't care enough about THAT specific story. He just wants to keep building that broader universe, keep "discovering" new characters and elements about it. Especially with how grueling and unorthodox the actual production was on the show (despite HBO having made it clear they were fine with a couple more years), it's so easy to see D&D themselves as then just running out of steam on it. So they took a number of things that would still likely have the same ending place as what Martin planned, but skipping over way too much to allow much of it to have organic sense within the TV show.
@@kevinw712 I've heard vince giligan say in so many interviews that the way he progressed the story was always based around the mindset of the characters 'what does walter think while he is doing that' and so on, which lead to everything feel like the natural progression of things. And I believe the lack of this is what hurt GoT the most. after a certain point, much earlier than the last season, character actions stopped making sense. and sure they didnt have the source material, but they had worked with these characters for years. If the ending they wrote was based on whatever GRR Martin told them, then it was obviously a mistake to listen. since they couldn't have written out his story anyway, they should have tried to write their own, and own up to it. like this is OUR ending. the way WE want the characters to move from that point. and they shouldnt have thought of an ending and simply try to get there, but try and analize what their pieces were and how they could use them. how they would logically react to the situation in front of them and where would their choices take them. because at the end of the day, the brilliance of the early seasons was just that, the way every single character's choice played such a big part in the final picture. they didnt have to expand the world anymore than martin already had, they should have simply moved around the pieces in a more logical way. and maybe thats not what they signed up for, but when you have something so big, why not try to make it good, and go down as 'the writers who tried and made something decent' instead of 'the writers who gave up and ran away'
Exactly. GoT did evening best but ruined finale
Imagine Vince Gillian directing GOT I would actually watch it then
Well, Vince and his mates invented all the characters in BB but George Martin invented GoT - when they ran out of source material they were shown up as good cinematographers but crappy writers .
Terrific creative writer. Love how all the places (until he got to AMC) not only turned his pitch down but told him it would never be made - too depressing!
These retards are always afraid of risks. Just imagine how many other Breaking Bad level shows we don’t get because of some stuck up douchebag producer.
@@alexman378 exactly
Happened to the Beatles.
@@alexman378 Gotta admit this gets to the heart of the emotion with a proper bite. Well put, lol.
Don Ohlmeyer v. Norm Macdonald
Intelligent man. ANd a master of his craft.
I would bully him.
@@Gemmarose9012 Plus X Files. Plus Better call Saul.
@@Gemmarose9012 Two..he wrote Better Call Saul
E 8 n n. N
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N@@Gemmarose9012 p8p8p plus upper u 0 90. U. 8 up8. P8 p8. U8. 8 79u . 0⁵
@@Gemmarose9012 which happens to be the greatest show of all time 🤣
What a fucking humble great guy!
Anyone: **asks Vince a question**
Vince: "Good question"
Youve got to love him
He’s a bloody legend
Vince seems like the sort of person you could speak to for hours and feel like its been 5 minutes.
every question that he was asked he would always be passionate about giving the best possible answer and have good things to say to about everyone.
Have so much respect for Vince G. How he is really careful about how he sends his message, how he crafts his stories and such a gentle person. Have been a fan of X-files and now of Breaking Bad and will be watching Better Call Saul. He is one of those few producers and directors that i purely believe that whatever they touch turns to gold.
No one wants your respect.
@Aslan T Vorlon Your respect matters to your pet. No one else.
@Aslan T Vorlon Lol did mommy forget to take away the internet
@@speci8745 what the fuck is your problem? Breaking bad is a fucking masterpiece. What? Is daddy drinking and abusing you again? Shut the fuck up
@@speci8745 stfu
When Vince talks it sounds like he 's doing ASMR with popping candy
He needs a sip of water.
Yeah sometimes predictable endings can be the best ending.
I wish the game of thrones writers adhered to that
“But what about muh SuBvUrsIoN”?
Give the audience what they want, just not in the way they expect it
@@billy413 that's what I love about breaking bad, it's SO unpredictable, but in retrospect everything plays out so organically and makes you wonder how you didn't predict everything
@@billy413 basically an ending that we probably didn't ask for but an ending that we didn't know that we needed
Fascinating interview. His description of the television process sounded to me like he was saying that it's a more democratic art form than film making. The fact that the cast and crew impact the direction of the story is something that never occurred to me.
Man I just said this exact thing almost word for word. Such a new way to think about TV
Watching breaking bad all the way through for the 3rd time. There’s something absolutely masterful about how it’s put together, the characters the conflicts, the morality of it
Just finished watching BB for the 5th time. I would watch it again if I could forget some of it. I waited a few years to watch it for the 5th time.
May be in a few years, I'll watch it again.
@@s.akhtarjoomun263 I watched the show firstly in 2014 then in 2018 and now in 2022
It's not about meth it's about pride. That's what makes it universal.
I’ve seen seemingly dozens of these BB Q&As-this moderator was absolutely fantastic. Very minimal, very comfortable but funny as well. Great job!
Yeah she did a brilliant job...
I have seen his most interviews, and in all of those he answers to all the repetitive questions in a most humble and nice way.
Yeah he's an awesome guy
anyone wanting to become a writer listen to this man, his brain is one of a kind such complex no wasted episodes such deep effort and integrity for the writing, a legend in our time
The level of intellect this man has followed by his talk I can just listen him for 24 hours.
The fact that he went for the ending that makes sense over a subversion of expectations is why Vince Gilligan is the best writer in recent TV history, bar none. Modern Hollywood would do well to learn from that alone.
While talking about the X-Files spin-off he perfectly described what's wrong with Peaky Blinders and many other current shows and why they'll never even come close to Breaking Bad's level. They all take themselves _way_ too seriously.
Edgy for edgy's sake with no real humanity grounding it
I felt the same about Ozark
Vince Gilligan is truly amazing! He is humble and kind. And he has made history! Yet he is so kind.
Seems like such a good guy
The question about taking a bad guy and turning him good… that’s exactly how better call Saul ends. It was also very Christmas Carol-esque
17:24 FWIW: Skinny Pete and Badger aiming lasers at Schwartzes was pure comedy.
Interviewer approaced Vince very intelligently , I liked the way Vince answers a question on the point 💗
The interviewer is whole coquettish and superficial, and vulgar also (I don't mean in curse way). At least that is one of my main impressions.
God Level Complex Writer
Too complex..."fulminated mercury" ...LOL
To think that he would end BCS in the exact fashion that he mentions in 58:46 in a talk 5 years ago is outstanding. Many have compared the three flashback appearances of the final episode to this exact point.
That's the way. Seems like it's a charm to work with this guy. He has great ideas but seems always open to critique and isn't afraid to make something even bigger out of these Ideas by working as a team. And the product is one of the greatest shows of all time
He is an absolute genius! Period.
Thanks for putting timestamps in the video's description.
Nice interview as well.
I cannot believe this well-spoken, polite, grateful bloke made a super violent show about drugs
When Vince talks, I listen.
when he talked about which one scene the producers had a bit of a hard time swallowing, I immediately knew that it was gonna be Walt watching Jesse's girlfriend die. It's pretty dark, but at the same time the scene perfectly fits into context and the way it was shot, the way Bryan C. played it with a moment of confusion and being overwhelmed by the situation, not knowing what to do and all of a sudden leading to hearing this dark voice, that is only just beginning to build up inside of him, and after having watched her die, leading to the realization of the absence of his actions - it's perfectly portrayed on his facial expressions and shockingly convincing.
12:00 And that is exactly why live theater still exists today.
Lmao not for much longer with how things are going :/.
Imagine being able to say "I created Breaking Bad." Damn!
Who's still watching in 2019? I can totally relate on what he's saying regarding shows that you love but ended up having an unsatisfying final episode @27:23 ..like fuckin Game of Thrones!
House and Californication, two of my favourite shows of all time, fell into this trap. Infuriating, and something as a new writer I'm challenging myself to avoid. Don't overcook the Goose.
I think he was talking about dexter
@@jithwheels Lol! Surprise Surprise!!!
tejasvi krishna wtf!! How are you here !!
@29.47 - Thank you Vince on speaking on Music and elaborating further. The reason I like this show and become my favourite show ever primarily because of silence which is in music itself. Silence has its own music. I have watched many great shows ruined by unwanted music in background but this is one of the best USP of BB and BCS where music only comes where its required. I hope other producers and directors take note because many times music dilutes intensity and seriousness of scene.
33:46 Most hilarious point in the interview. Interviewer: "It was a slippin' Jimmy approach!"
*VG: "It was very much a Slippin' Jimmy way of doing it - you're right."*
Whats amazing. Vince took a Character and made us change our opinions on em .... then did that with EVERYONE!
Super Fan of X-Files, and Super Fan of Breaking Bad! This guy is a Genius and a Legend!
Does x files have an interesting starting?
Is it consistent?
Thank you for this interview. Really enjoyed it !
Sounds exactly like Budger sometimes
same accent
Badger*
Callum no it’s not that, they just have a similar voice.
What a great interview! He seems like such an interesting dude, I could listen to his stories all day long!
59:59 This makes me want to write a show just to prove that this isn't the case. VG: *"But it takes more work sometimes to make the good men and women, the good guys"*
Thanks for the name of people who could help any project nice my g
Damn 2017 was 5 years ago I’m getting old.
tell me about it 😭😭 seems like tomorrow
62 episodes of Breaking Bad. 63 episodes of Better Call Saul. Right on the money with the prediction in terms of length.
Hey watsa'p Vince?
Vince: good question (:
By all accounts Vince Gilligan is the coolest, nicest guy to run a TV show.
The complete opposite of a guy like David Chase. 😅
wtf is a David Chase
@@ehnoicedayforabriishperson8359
He created The Sopranos! 😂
30:44 I love how both of these great ideas started off as jokes.
30:00 such a talented director 👏
Really looking forward to the "Los Pollos Hermanos" prequel spinoff.
great interview!
Vince is a really nice person and he is legend of making tv shows tbh
I remember also speculating about the ending before it was released of Breaking Bad. I was so happy, a good whiel before the ending, I called out how I thought it would end. And I was right. Made me really happy to foreseethe ending. You made it the best ending to a tv show, I've ever seen. (What I called out was Jesse surviving, "driving into the sunset" type of deal, but not in a good/happy way.) You know, like Old Western movies, with them being from Texas. I thought that was fitting, and I called it pretty much spot on.
Schmidteren your so proud of nailing the ending. Pat on the back buddy. Hahahahahahaha.
That’s because it was predictable.
@@Gemmarose9012 you expected him to get a "good" ending surrounded by loved ones?
@@randomness5281 I don’t understand your question.
@@Gemmarose9012 walt never deserved a "good" ending which would be a way to defy expectations but Butcher the story
Really good moderator!
Breaking bad stays forever
GENIUS!!!!
Master Mind and a master at his craft!
Vince is a great " showrunner" and BB has great actors
Better call saul is at least as good as if not better than breaking bad. He could spin off every named character in Albuquerque and I'd watch it.
This ability to both be able to adapt and think long term is why this show will be remembered and Dexter which ended at almost the same time won't. That time where breaking bad was starting to get passed the setup and we were in the good parts of Dexter was a really interesting time of tv. But it became so clear after season 4 that Dexter was making too much money for Showtime wanting it to have a beginning middle and end. Hell, they didn't even get to do the original ending that was planned out.
Does anyone know if he is still working on 'Raven'? I can't find any news anywhere :(
Great interviewer!
I love the ending Vince is the best !
Name me another show runner that gets that much appreciatetion and attention for making a hit show. I'll wait
I consider BB the best show ever made, so it's deserved :)
areveivo Little drunk rn but unless it was Larry King that made Seinfeld, then Seinfeld
Maybe more of a cult following but certainly as dedicated: Bryan Fuller
Oh also Dan Harmon.
name me another guy who made Breaking fucking Bad and Better Call saul
Is Gilligan related to the skipper's helper in 'Gilligan's Island'?
The best show ever made and the best show there ever will be
Why is there a crash zoom at 45:32 lmao
Bro she is so nervous
Bravo Vince
Vince Gilligan: **coughs**
Audience: "You see this cough is to symbolize the dangers of smoking in public, as the second hand smoke could cause an innocent bystander to prematurely develop lung cancer leading to a possible meth empire
27:43 he warned writers back in 2018 how to ruin a show and game of thrones still said ‘F you’ to long time fans
It’s interesting how genuinely kind he seems, I guess it’s what you want to see from somebody whose work is about morality 🤣
What does he mean six seasons ?
Season 5 was divided in 2 parts A and B
Has anyone noticed that she looks like Velma from Scooby Doo.
kinda
I remember watching The X-Files episode"drive" when it originally aired. It opens like a local news report interrupting your regular programming about a car chase- I thought it was real at first! I was pissed; why are they showing some random car chase on new X-Files night at the exact moment the new episode is supposed to air? I was extremely and pleasantly surprised when it became apparent this WAS the new episode. The later seasons of The X Files were riddled with problems but I would defiantly argue that episodes like "Drive" make even the later seasons worth a watch
Humor? It's when a pizza miraculously gets thrown on the roof!
Can we start calling "Show Runners" Executive Directors please? That's what they're doing! The title fits the job description a lot better.
25:00 where I left off low I’m a come back ha ha ha ha
The only flaw in Breaking Bad: Jesse’s teeth are too perfect for a methhead.
Vince has said that is the one thing he would change if he could go back and do it again.
I love how vince is trying to have fun with answers but all the people asking questions are being more wordy and deep with their questions and some i feel are unnecessarily pretentious, its like their trying to have the creator praise their analysis.
That's how the English are.
Tv show and film using music to sway your mind into the music rather then context 1 0 ab 1 2 Colom a Colom b
what's a showrunner? we don't have those in Australia.. he should have just said it means i'm the boss.
Can you Imagine a world where Brian chose Nurses over Breaking Bad hahaha
Ive always said numbers and english don’t go together. You can never make amazing art with a minimum or maximum, you just write until your satisfied.
not caravan
This got closer than anything so far to the point, but still never got there.
All this talk of good and especially bad, but nobody ever asks; what is good? what is bad?
40:00
50:11 Interviewer: "On that, how much did you exactly do with Breaking Bad? So, a showrunner does what exactly?" ...glad this didn't turn into:
Bob Slydell in "Office Space": *"What would you say ...ya do here?"* czcams.com/video/m4OvQIGDg4I/video.html
24:38
When did having a poor interviewer become the standard?
Turns out Littlefinger was a Virginian TV producer before he broke bad.
Psychoanalysis/Philosophical
---
Walter White: Walt is a prime example of Nietzsche’s idea that many people are only good out of cowardice. Many would choose the darker path if there was little chance of consequence and Walt is right there. He was a bad man playing a good man’s role. He had multiple opportunities to leave the life, even when he realized he wasn’t dying he realized who he was and stayed in it.
Jimmy McGill (Saul Goodman): Jimmy is a lot harder. Jimmy seems to be an ever changing story the more you know about him or his past. He saw Chuck as the Golden child and denied his parents playing any role in the development of his super ego. His parents got played as fools and he knew it so he never saw them as figures to be emulated. With this, he never developed discipline and grew up maladjusted, in constant denial of his actions causing his family (the suckers) to lose their business. He tries to justify all he does wrong, even as an adult. (I’ve not seen season 5 so I may end up being proven wrong there form this point on). There is a point Jimmy realizes Chuck was not the Golden Child, he was the Golden Standard. He wants the love and respect that he ends up seeing Chuck receiving (and is so rightfully deserved). Chuck is now the archetypal “father”, the one to be emulated. The decline of Chuck’s mental health shakes Jimmy, as his role model is mentally deficient and refuses to acknowledge that he is sick (as seen when he refuses to commit Chuck). In their feud over the tape, he is angry but assumes after some time has passed they will patch it up. Chuck has his lights on and seems to be in full capacity of his mental wellness (he’s not btw, but that’s a different case). Then he tells Jimmy, appearing in full mental health that he “never really cared about (him) that much.” Jimmy’s archetypal father has permanently disowned him, and his suicide prevents Jimmy from redeeming himself. He returns to his denial from when he was the young man without a superego. This is his decent into Saul Goodman, the lawyer who’s conscience is just as small and just as affective as Jiminy Cricket in the beginning of Pinocchio.
Keep trying.
@@JakeWitmer Tbh I always do. This is always fun for me. Do you have an alternate take?
@@ddelarosa96 Yes. I'm disgusted by Americans who now "by default" side _against_ property rights. (Drugs are property. Guns are property. Gold is property. Gambling chips are property. One's own body and its use is one's property...)
As someone who believes in his own right to own and trade private property, Walter White has "broken good" ...the joke is the premise of the entire series. Hank Schrader, whom Bryan "abject idiot" Cranston has called "the moral center of the show" is actually the most malevolent antagonist of the show...far more evil than Gus Fring or the Mexican cartel.
...Every character in the entire show, minus Gale Boetticher and Jessie Pinkman are warped and twisted by the dominance of sociopaths in our degraded culture. Of course, that "moral center" of the show (revealed by his Ron Paul campaign stickers in his notebook and on his car), gets killed.
In this, the show resembles "a system that destroys the good." (Like Ayn Rand's "We, The Living," "Anthem," Orwell's "1984," or Zamyatin's "We".) It's actually a story about America "Breaking Bad."
...Saul himself is not particularly evil or twisted, in comparison to the greatest moral evil of the show, Hank Schrader and the other drug cops. In contrast to them, his greatest evil is "doing business in a corrupted system" while insisting on making a buck in any scheming way he can. By comparison, his bar-licensed brother who wishes to restrict the practice of law to "an elite" is a grotesque moral evil, as uncovered by abolitionist Lysander Spooner.
So, there's my "alternative" take...which was once the most commonplace view in the USA, pre-1913 and pre-government-run-schooling (pre-"Prussian model" schooling).
@@JakeWitmer wtf is this baboon take. Go outside lmao holy shit
British girls talk so sexily
She's Australian, mate.
@@joeratchford8782 oh yeah them too they both talk soooo sexily
Lol I know Better Call Saul is only in the top 90 percentile of shows instead of the top 1 percentile. Thanks.
Vince's teeth are pristine
22
They need a filter on that mic. i can hear Vince's saliva lol
BB was so much better than BCS Javi.