Big Little Lies Fans Outraged Over Report HBO Wrested Creative Control from the Show’s Director: ‘This Sounds BAD’
According to a new report, the showrunner of HBO’s hit show Big Little Lies wrested creative control from this season’s director and worked to re-edit the show with the director of the first season.
IndieWire reported that showrunner David E. Kelley and HBO had told director Andrea Arnold she would have creative control over the second season of the show.
However, after a majority of the season was produced, the show was reportedly taken away from Arnold and creative control was handed over to executive producer and Season 1 director Jean-Marc Vallée.
The plan was to re-edit Arnold’s work to make it look like Vallée’s work, as he was busy shooting Sharp Objects during the production of Big Little Lies’ second season.
HBO responded to IndieWire in a statement:
“There wouldn’t be a Season 2 of ‘Big Little Lies’ without Andrea Arnold. We at HBO and the producers are extremely proud of her work. As with any television project, the executive producers work collaboratively on the series and we think the final product speaks for itself.”
Sources close to Arnold, the director of acclaimed films like American Honey, told IndieWire she was “heartbroken” by the experience.
A number of film critics, creatives, and directors on Twitter spoke up following the report’s publication, mainly in support of Arnold.
I swear I have had more “How did Big Little Lies get taken way from Andrea Arnold?” conversations than about what’s happening in the show. Now we have answers! https://t.co/9X34LLPnd1
— kateyrich (@kateyrich) July 12, 2019
That’s messed up how they did Andrea Arnold.
— Matthew A. Cherry 🏁 (@MatthewACherry) July 12, 2019
The story explains a lot about how disjointed the current season has seemed. Great performances, no doubt, but everything else seemed off esp in eps 3-5. So depressing about how Andrea Arnold was apparently treated. https://t.co/k84rkiY2ah
— Mo Ryan (@moryan) July 12, 2019
Dear Andrea Arnold. Thank you for all of your beautiful work. Can’t wait to experience more and more. We are lucky to have you. Your fan, Ava pic.twitter.com/zg4VrVzsSe
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) July 12, 2019
Very upsetting.https://t.co/Zj8pLAjyCO via @indiewire
— Megan Abbott (@meganeabbott) July 12, 2019
looks like they told andrea arnold a lot of big little lies
— EMMAR Stefansky (@stefabsky) July 12, 2019
I would’ve LOVED to see Andrea Arnold’s version of Big Little Lies S2 with grace notes that “add another level to what’s not being said,” because David E Kelley’s words have been weird and bad from the beginning: https://t.co/CBJ60I6SDp pic.twitter.com/JSJRWENXtP
— Caroline Darya Framke (@carolineframke) July 12, 2019
w o w https://t.co/ouuvAlD5EQ
— sonia_saraiya (@soniasaraiya) July 12, 2019
“I wish this Andrea Arnold thing were more like this Jean-Marc Vallée thing” is not a thing a sane person thinks
— Sam Adams (@SamuelAAdams) July 12, 2019
I don’t watch Big Little Lies so I can’t comment on the quality of season 2, but this sounds BAD. They hired Andrea Arnold to direct, told her she had creative control, and then screwed her over once she’d finished filming. https://t.co/jj4o3wCiYm pic.twitter.com/Z3FMCsv8Ur
— Gavia Baker-Whitelaw (@Hello_Tailor) July 12, 2019
They didn’t want to wait for Vallee, so thought it’d be easier to lie to the director they hired because they’re impatient? https://t.co/ccHI1V1Ba2
— Kristen Lopez (@Journeys_Film) July 12, 2019
The # of editors credited on Big Little Lies S2 always looked bizarre (particularly w/ so many Vallées) but now we know why; justice for Andrea Arnold! Her season was taken from her to fit Vallée’s style is shameful; particularly w/ female producers https://t.co/9M8vm5Rn9U
— Brian Formo (@BrianFormo) July 12, 2019
Big Little Lies’ first season won critical acclaim and multiple awards for HBO, including an Emmy for Outstanding Limited Series.
[Image via Kevin Winters/Getty Images Entertainment]
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