The Lesser Dead - The Lesser Dead - Bonus Episode - Behind the Scenes

Episode Date: August 1, 2023

A behind-the-scenes look at the making of The Lesser Dead, featuring the team of directors, producers, and writers who helped create the series.

If you want the behind-the-scenes details, but how we constructed the lesser-dead universe, give us a listen in our mini-futureettes after each episode. You'll get behind-the-scenes access to the juiciest audio track. If I were a vampire, it struck me that the subways in New York City, particularly the spaces under the subways where the mold people would famously develop communities in the 80s and 90s would be about as good as it would get. If you want to know how we did all these characters biting into flesh and sucking blood, the secret is cantaloupe.

You'll hear exclusive interviews from our cast members like Mini Driver. I was in when whoever it was that called me and went, you know, 1970s vampires in New York. I was like, oh, that's really cool. You'll hear tips from author Christopher Bielman about his process in making the world of the lesser dead a reality. I wrote this somewhere a lot and I absolutely loved looking seeing in this dark flashes of the window. You can sometimes see the old dead stations. They don't use anymore. And if you're using

your imagination, you do that. You might imagine you see something else. Chris Beelman, who created this rich texture of original mythology set in a gritty New York where the vampires are in eclectic mix of New Yorkers dealing with relatable problems like where to eat, where to sleep, and how to navigate the city and not get killed. And you believe in Chris' characters and hidden worlds within our world. And as the story unfolds, you hope our heroes can somehow survive just one more night. And you'll hear from the production team that made the lesser dead come to life, like executive producer Mark Stern. We actually tried to develop it as a TV property first when I was running a TV studio

and couldn't set it up as a TV series. And when we started Echoverse, it was one of the first projects that I brought into the company to develop as an audio drama director. Dan Blank. New York at that time felt like this dirty, dangerous place full of CD Underworlds and areas that should be avoided after dark at all costs. Where muggings or stabbings could occur on any street corner or subway platform

while nearby the Vichon famous for partying in nightclubs, like Studio 54. So yeah, the 1970s in the city that never sleeps seemed like a natural fit for a group of vampires. When I listen to this podcast, I close my eyes. I'm transported to another time, another place, another world. It takes me away. And I forget completely that there are no visuals, because it's so detailed and so rich that I'm seeing these details in my mind's eye. The lesser dead, they're more alive than those who are living.

It's irreverent, it's poignant, it's funny, it's brutal, it's gruesome, it's dark, it's heartwarming, it's the whole panoply of emotion and human experience. I love this.