Showrunner Misha Green had much to say at HBO’s panel session at the virtual TCA press tour about Lovecraft Country, she said especially with films like Get Out and shows like Lost being key inspirations according to Deadline.
“I think,” Green said, “this would have been incredibly hard to get on screen if Get Out hadn’t come out. I think that paved the way for people to really open up to the idea of seeing more black people in genre spaces.”
Adding to that, she said executive producer J.J. Abrams also helped pave the way. “It’s an epic journey that wouldn’t have been possible if we weren’t making TV at the level that started with Lost and that pilot.”
Based on the novel of the same name by Matt Ruff, Lovecraft Country take place during the Jim Crow era of the United States and follows the cross county trip of Atticus Freeman who travels with his friend Letitia and Uncle George as they search for Freeman’s father who has gone missing. Survival in the story is both of prejudice of 1950’s America and morbid creatures like the ones in the stories of author Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
The 10-episode series will launch August 16 on HBO.
