ROSARIO DAWSON, AVA DUVERNAY, ERNEST R. DICKERSON AND ROBERTO PATINO TALK ABOUT THEIR NEW SERIES 'DMZ' ON HBO MAX

 

L to R: Rosario Dawson, Ernest R. Dickerson, Roberto Patino, and Ava DuVernay 

 THE PANEL, HOSTED BY FYC@WB AT WARNER BROS. STUDIOS, INCLUDED 'DMZ'S DIRECTOR ERNEST R. DICKERSON AND CREATOR/EXECUTIVE PRODUCER ROBERTO PATINO, BESIDES STAR DAWSON, AND DUVERNAY (WHO ALSO EXEC PRODUCED AND DIRECTED THE PILOT)

The FYC@WB Panel Series at Warner Bros. Studios for the month of May kicked off with the spotlight on the new HBO Max limited series, DMZ.

Gracing the discussion about the series was the show's star, Rosario Dawson, creator/executive producer Roberto Patino, and the show's directors, Ernest R. Dickerson, and Ava DuVernay - who is also an executive producer on the series via her production company ARRAY Filmworks. 

In a near-future, civil-war-torn America, DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) centers around fearless medic Alma (Dawson), who sets out on a harrowing quest to find her missing son, and into the demilitarized zone of Manhattan where a ruthless battle for control rages between rival gang leaders. 

 

Talking about her character Alma - in the midst of a future,  dystopian and war-torn Manhattan - Rosario Dawson gave context to Alma's inner resolve and mission to find her  missing son by relating to her own circumstances growing up as a child: "Where I grew up there were only poor people helping poor people, and so I recognized no matter what you think you have or don't have, there is always something you can give, there's always some sort of collaboration that can  be done, and so I think that spirit is very much in Alma. She really has nothing and she just has her wits and her heart to guide her and is bluffing half the time. But she's strong - not because she's aggressive and dominating - but because she's resilient and tenacious. Those are the type of people I grew up around and that's what I wanted to embody in the story, for her to show people a different kind of strength, and a different way forward." 

Ernest R. Dickerson gave a lot of love to the talented cast on the show including Benjamin Bratt, who besides Rosario Dawson, also stars as one of the leads. "Ninety percent of directing is great casting, and so if you have a great cast, you fall right into it. I have been a big admirer of Rosario and always wanted to work with her and when I finally did (on this show), it was amazing. You have shows where you are not sure if people coming to work, want to come to work every day but Rosario - she was our best cheerleader. I'm glad we worked together. And Ben showed something he's never been able to show before. I just had the most fun time on this show watching these amazing actors go at it." 

                                                                                  

Ava DuVernay, who directed the series pilot, when asked about "tapping" Ernest R. Dickerson for the rest of the three episodes said, "Tapping? More like begged! Ernest is a legend. Before becoming a director, he was a cinematographer on some of your favorite films. Has anyone seen Malcolm X? He shot that film. As you know, DMZ is set in the near future, after a war. So what you saw is the current day and then after she (Alma) loses her son, it jumps into a crazy future. Benjamin Bratt plays the bad guy and Rosario is the hero. We needed someone to take these big ideas (the premise of the show) and make them emotional and beautiful, and Ernest was the one to do it."

Roberto Patino elaborated on collaborating with set designer Scott Dougan to recreate a dystopian New York City in the middle of Atlanta, Georgia: "Our set designer/production designer, Scott Dougan, is incredible. The books of research he put together (of Manhattan) were beautiful but the truth was ultimately we didn't need Manhattan, we needed our version of Manhattan - the Manhattan that had turned inside out. We needed space and latitude to bring that vision to it - an open area that could fill in with CG for this version of Manhattan, and detail with elements of, for example, Central Park, and have a scene. That's what we got in Atlanta - the latitude and the space to transform these areas into what a crumbling Manhattan may look like."

Ava DuVernay concluded about community versus politics related to DMZ, "The show is about trying to have a community without politics, but it creeps back in because people want power. So you have to think about what would our community or world be like if it was more about collaboration than power? If one person didn't have to be in charge all the time? So, that's what we have in the story, Rosario's character, Alma, starts to see there's another way to be powerful as a community, by not putting all the power in one place. But she's in the midst of a war between two men who want power. So it's about these power grabs, and she (Alma) is trying to grab power to give it back to the people, and that's what it's really about. It's about a mother searching for her son and it's about community. It's a good little show. We hope you check the show out." 

DMZ is now streaming on HBO Max.

ABOUT FYC@WB
The FYC@WB Panel Series features conversations with the casts, producers, and creative teams of many of Warner Bros. Television Group’s latest hit series including The Flight Attendant, The Voice, Abbott Elementary, and more. FYC@WB is running now until June on the Warner Bros. lot in conjunction with the Warner Bros. Studio Tour and the Motion Picture & Television Fund. The events are open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis. To see a full schedule visit www.WBStudioTour.com/FYC

Photos Credit: Sunil Sadarangani