After a gap of almost two years between two waves of episodes due to the pandemic of the new coronavirus, the team of witchcraft Already managed to deliver a better job in the second season Netflix, With more emotional and darker characters, the series’ second year bets on a more spectacular path and with more elements of the anime universe. However, all of this work required a lot of teams and was coordinated by a single person: the showrunner. lauren schmidt hissrich,
Lauren has an extensive resume in executive production of fantasy series and/or adaptation of comic book pages. The titles he holds are highly acclaimed the destroyer, The Witcher: Lenda do Lobos, witchcraft, Umbrella Academy — all from Netflix — and more. Omelette About Geralt de Rivia had the opportunity to talk with the producers about the second season of the series. Apart from the current season, Lauren also gave some details about the next year, which should be filmed in 2022. Watch the full chat below without fear of spoilers:
Omelette: What were the biggest challenges to producing this season?
Lauren: The biggest challenge so far this season has been Kovid. I’m sure it’s the same answer for anyone working or making television this year. You know, in production we always have to adapt, part of our job is to adapt to new things that are unpredictable and change at some point. And it wasn’t something we knew how to adapt, obviously. We took about five months off in the middle of our season, giving us a chance to revisit the scripts and make sure we were happy with them. But we went back and made sure our team felt safe and we could still scope out the size of the show we wanted, even when we couldn’t travel, and we had 10 to 10 rooms in one room. There couldn’t be more people. , It was a big challenge, but I am really proud that we did it and I think we did it well.
Omelette: The Witcher has several strong female characters. Is this a production concern?
Lauren: Is it a concern of production with strong women? I mean I think it’s an amazing part of our show that we have strong characters who are masculine, strong characters who are women, strong characters who are all kinds of races and cultures, our main goal is to make sure was that everyone could meet somewhere in The Witcher. , And as a woman, that was very important to me. I felt like I couldn’t always watch fantasy shows and see someone who could realistically relate to me. And I think the Witcher has it for a lot of people.
How is work going for season three?
The work never stops. And someone asked me before if I was just on vacation and I was like, ‘What? No’. We just wrote season three, I’m so proud of that. I am very excited to adopt the next novel. And we’re going to start shooting next year hopefully, someday, you know, if the world allows it?
Do you already know how many seasons you plan to do?
Oh, you know, I said it all, from seven seasons to 20 seasons. My goal is to follow the books. I think in season two, we’re always adding plots or omitting things that can’t be easily translated on screen. but i think [Andrzej] Sapkowski, the author knew where he wanted the stories to end. So this is something that we will keep in mind while writing.
Is there anything you wish you could have done in season two but couldn’t?
Yes, always, I think it’s very normal to end a series and think, ‘Oh, there are things I like to put in there’. And even now, as we’re writing season three, there are some things that make me think, ‘Oh, I wish we could do that.’ My biggest sadness in season two, however, is again related to Covid. One of the things I’ve always loved to do is go and shoot in Poland, where the book series comes from, and we couldn’t, couldn’t leave the UK. And for me it was very sad. It was really sad that I couldn’t film all over the world and respect the books, the Polish heritage, and go back there again. I hope we can travel a little bit more in season three.
What do you like most about The Witcher?
Well, I’ll give you some answers. I like the heart of this story. Like, if you take away magic and monsters and medieval battles of all kinds, you have this trio of characters who are really a family. And this is something that first attracted me to the books. The entire series doesn’t rely on these big fantasy tropes, it relies on the relationship between Geralt, Siri, and Yen, these three people. And it’s like I could write something all day. I love writing about family. But the other thing that I think I love about The Witcher, and what makes it different from a lot of fantasy is that it’s a lot of fun. This season is very serious, I think the stakes are definitely higher. But the show is self-aware, it can make fun of itself, it’s a little weird. In the future, we will introduce a unicorn. I mean, she lets herself be who she is, always tries not to be too serious. And I think that’s what really makes it special.
What can fans expect this season?
Oh, I guess fans can really expect some crazy monsters. I’m really proud of the monsters this season, they have a lot more screen time and more characterization. They have their own kind of stories. I think fans can see they’ll have a new side to Geralta [Henry Cavill], he’s a little more open this season. He is a bit soft in his relationship with Siri. [Freya Allan], which I think is a whole new side to this character. And I think some pretty epic battles over the course of a relationship type.
What would you say to convince someone to watch The Witcher?
I’d say it’s unlike anything you’ve seen before. I think a lot of people think, ‘Oh, it’s going to be Game of Thrones, or oh, it’s going to be like a video game’ or whatever comparisons. And my favorite review from season one is when people say it’s a little wild. It’s a wild ride. But it’s a lot of fun. That’s what I want people to know. It certainly has its own fantasy flavor.
