【DMCA】

LOS ANGELES -- Showrunners and DMCAproducers David E. Kelley and Jonathan Shapiro are no strangers to the law.

The duo, who have backgrounds in both the legal field and in the entertainment industry, have been making successful courtroom shows for over a decade.

Now, they are reuniting for a new drama -- this time for streaming giant Amazon.

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Goliath, which launches its eight-episode first season on Friday, follows Billy (Billy Bob Thornton) and Donald Cooperman (William Hurt) who play former law partners turned courtroom opponents.

SEE ALSO: Amazon gives greenlight to 'I Love Dick,' 'Jean-Claude Van Johnson' and 'The Tick'

Mashablerecently chatted with the creators over the phone about their new show.

Mashable: You both have backgrounds in law and, of course, creating and working on shows that take place in the courtroom. What inspired you to do another one?

Kelley: I think we both at our cores are lawyers. Both of us still love the law and have a fascination with it. When we were doing Practiceand Boston Legal, I think we were always envious of the idea or the opportunity others had in the more serialized format of getting to explore cases over a longer period of time and getting to develop characters in maybe a more fundamental level.

Shapiro: I agree with all of that. We had been thinking about doing this case really since 2000. But we could never compress it and tell the story in the time we’d have on a network. Secondly, we always talked about the fact that -- in a way -- we were doing highlights of a trial, and not going deeper with how every trial is sort of like a hurricane it impacts people in all kinds of different and unexpected ways. The streaming platform allowed us to go deeper and follow these people and understand their lives so by the time we do get to trial the viewers can empathize or be cheering or rooting against almost everyone involved.

It was interesting that Amazon kind of let Goliathbypass its traditional pilot process by green lighting it rather than going through the viewers rate the pilot to determine whether it becomes a series. That’s a big vote of confidence in the show. What’s it been like working with Amazon rather than traditional TV?

Kelley: The freedom of of just being able to tell the story over 10 episodes as opposed that burden of self contained one hours. Then the hour itself you have a full 60 minutes versus the 41 minutes we were used to in broadcast. You’re just allowed to go further and deeper in this form than you could in traditional broadcast. The very first meeting with had with Amazon, before we even got to pitching what the show, was us talking in generalities. I think I threw out the question 'what kind of shows are you interested in making?' and Morgan Wandell [Head of Drama Series at Amazon Studios] said ‘the shows which creators are passionate about.’

That was a very very good genesis for our relationship with Amazon and also the best genesis of any show. Because if writers and creators don’t start with that passion, you’re not going to get very far. We loved that. That really spoke to us. We never ended up pitching the show anywhere else. Amazon was the first on our list, the meeting went very well, they responded to the subject matter and stories and characters we wanted to talk about. The process has been pretty true to that. The budgets have been good, the freedom has been good. It’s been a palette to tell stories on. Right now we are sitting here nervous about the launch but fingers crossed we get to do it for a second year.

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Why do you think people love these kinds of type of character-driven longer form dramas?

Kelley: I have been doing for this for 30 years and I’m still trying to figure out what makes people watch. Just when you think you know the equation changes. I do think it goes back to the core of what we spoke of. It first has to work for storytellers.It has to be vaguely vivid.

What we lucked out for us the law franchise even though it’s been around a long time it’s still one audience seems to have an appetite for. The challenge for us is finding new and richer ways to explore storytelling within that franchise. What this one offered us was the opportunity to show the corrosive and malignant affect that litigation can have on the players.

Yes this a law show but it’s really more of a series about characters where we use the law as a device to explore the nobility and lack there of of the people who inhabit the franchise. There’s a lot of complicated stuff going on and a lot of contempt in our lead characters' respective hearts. Some of that contempt is born out of what the practice of law can do to them, and other of it is born out of love the two once had for each other best friends and co-partners.

This new slate of storytelling that exists in both cable and streaming world has provided for opportunities for us as writers that weren't there for us before.

When did Billy Bob Thorntonget on board? Did you guys think of the show with him in mind?

Kelley: We didn’t have him in mind when we first wrote the role because we didn’t want to presume that any given actor would take the part. But like in any show, once you do cast the role, there’s a certain collaboration that goes on with the actor who is going to interpret that character. For us it was a home run when Billy got attached. He’s so perfect for this persona, this down-and-out broken sort of fractured shell of a guy who you believe has the cognitive acumen to be a good trial attorney and he’s certainly one who has a real emotional core which was key to Billy McBride.

He just satisfied everything we were looking for in this character.

Shapiro: It’s pretty amazing because it’s hard to imagine anyone else in the role now. We were worried we wouldn’t be able to find someone who was believably smart enough to be that level of lawyer and crazy enough to take the case and go up against goliath.

Why set Goliathin L.A?

Kelley: I am third generation Angeleno — my grandparents were steel workers...my grandmother was a riveter like Rosie. I don’t think you could do this case any other place but L.A. or SoCal. In terms of Venice…you can sort of tell if a guy’s law profession is going badly depending on how far west he is moving. A great career starts in Downtown L.A. and as it goes in decline it ends up in the valley and then eventually westside in Venice. Billy is based on a number of lawyers i used to practice law against in us attorneys office. My favorite one — he has since passed away — lived out of a car and he had one eye he had an eyepatch. He would always say he was keeping an eye on the case.

Do you guys think a David can take on a Goliath in 2016?

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Kelley: We both may have different answers to that one. That's really at the heart of the series. That question is in every single episode. It used to be that litigators, if they could tell a good story and relate to those 12 people in the box, there would be justice. But today, we talk about the disparity of power and wealth in this country, it’s never been more prevalent in corporations and it’s so true in law now. I think less than 6% of federal cases get to jury.

The idea that that if you have a righteous case and justice is on your side you will carry the day … that’s definitely more of a pipe dream than it used to be. Does that mean the dream can’t come true? No -- and in fact that’s what we hold out in the body of the series. Ifwe can just claw our way to the 12 people in a box, that’s the one last place where truth and democracy still has its best chance. But getting there is a tough tough climb. I guess my answer to that question is yes, I believe it’s possible but a lot less bankable.

Shapiro: Corporate power doesn’t want David to have a shot at Goliath. We ought to be worried about that because the jury system was built to be the great leveler and to give the average person a shot at justice. The fact that they get less opportunities now than they did before ought to worry us. There’s a favorite Robert Graves poem that ends with Goliath killing David. Goliath always beats David in real life. I don’t think it’s always true, but i think the odds have been stacked against David.

Topics Amazon