Inside American Gods

By Emily Haynes and Neil Gaiman

  Foreword by Neil Gaiman: A companion to the Starz series, “packed with insight and anecdotes from the show’s creators and cast, plus plenty of photos” (A Site Called Fred).
 
Neil Gaiman’s Hugo, Nebula, and Stoker Award–winning New York Times bestseller American Gods is now a critically acclaimed Starz television series. In this official companion to the first season, fans can see behind the scenes of this compelling, surreal show in which Old Gods and New Gods battle for the hearts and minds of modern-day mortals. Inside American Gods dives deep into the show’s character development and world building—and features interviews with actors Gillian Anderson, Crispin Glover, and Ian McShane, revealing how they brought this cult favorite to the screen. Also included are previously unpublished set photos, concept art, and production designs.

©2018 FremantleMedia. All rights reserved. American Gods and related trademarks are the property of FremantleMedia.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Nov 27, 2018
• ISBN: 9781452156149

Emily Haynes

Emily Haynes is an author and editor with more than twenty years' experience in book publishing. As an editor she has worked for Penguin and Chronicle Books, and as a writer she has authored numerous titles for both children and adults. Her wordsmith superpowers are now available at her own agency, BluePen. Her clients include Airbnb and Netflix, as well as individual authors and producers. In her fleeting spare time, she also runs a ceramics studio out of her garage. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband (see above) and their two sons.

Book preview

EMILY HAYNES

WHEN AMERICAN GODS WAS first published in 2001, the book garnered immediate acclaim and an ardent fan base. But it would take almost fifteen years for the book to make the jump from page to screen. Other works by Neil Gaiman were adapted in the meantime, including Coraline and Stardust , and he collaborated on a variety of original and adapted screenplays. While Gaiman’s filmography grew over the years, American Gods languished in option limbo. Perhaps it was fate that it would take a decade and a half for this sprawling, cinematic, fantastical tale to come to life. It is surprisingly relevant for today’s viewers, perhaps even more so than when it was first published.

When the book hit bookstore shelves in June of 2001 the world was a very different place. George W. Bush was president, Google was only three years old, and the Twin Towers still reigned over New York. Understanding the state of the world when American Gods was written, and all the technological advances, wars, and political movements we’ve witnessed since then, underscores how ahead of its time it was. In a pre-9/11 world it examined topics—immigration, technology, religion and faith—that would only grow in prominence, and divisiveness, in American culture (and around the world) after that fateful day.

Neil really celebrates America, but he also taps us on the shoulder and says, ‘There’s a slight hypocrisy to this whole thing.’ Bryan and Michael wanted to put a spotlight on it. There’s a beautiful poetry between the little moments that make America great and the fact that we are blinded by our own hypocrisy.

—Craig Cegielski, executive producer

FROM BOOK TO SCREEN

FAST-FORWARD A DOZEN or so years, and executive producer Stefanie Berk, who had been attempting to get a series based on the book off the ground at HBO for several years, joined Fremantle. Upon her arrival, Craig Cegielski, another executive producer at the company, asked her what her passion project was. "American Gods, she said. After the rights reverted back to Gaiman from HBO, Berk, Cegielski, and Gaiman started the series development again from scratch. Their first challenge was finding the right showrunner for the project. One of the things that Stefanie and I talked about from the get-go, Cegielski explains, was to find somebody who was like-minded and had that lyrical, poetic storytelling voice." They interviewed dozens of filmmakers and writers, but were having a hard time finding a person that was not too literal in their approach, someone with ideas that would take the world that Gaiman had created and expand it, give it legs and see what it might become. Then they reached out to Bryan Fuller, who had developed a diverse filmography over the last decade, including Dead Like Me, Pushing Daisies, and Hannibal. It was clear from their first call that they had found their

Reviews for Inside American Gods

[thoroughlyme · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's a pretty good overview of the making of the first season of the show - although there isn't much new information here that wasn't already found on the DVD bonus features. There's a bit of a bittersweet feeling to the book, though, as much of it appears to have been written prior to Michael Green and Bryan Fuller being fired. There are several times they mention something they're wanting to explore in season two in quotes scattered throughout the book, and it's just a shame that we'll never get to see how they'd have continued the series. There's a brief interview with Gaiman at the end of the book that looks forward to season 2, but there's not much to glean from that that hasn't already been revealed in interviews and press materials (ie: no more exploration of the Easter/Media relationship as neither actress is returning for this season. Media has been recast to focus on more new Media, but it's different.)

Its a nice time capsule of the first season and the concept art makes it worth a read, even for those who have examined every bit of behind the scenes material available from the DVD.