Severance Creator’s Unique Strategy: Using His Own Blood to Pitch Apple TV Series

For Dan Erickson, the mastermind behind the acclaimed series Severance, the journey to persuade Apple TV to greenlight the show was one marked by extreme dedication—punctuated by a rather literal interpretation of “putting in blood, sweat, and tears.”

Fans of the show are bracing themselves as they await the eagerly anticipated release of Severance Season 2 on January 17, 2025. The nearly three-year gap between seasons is particularly excruciating for viewers, especially given the gripping cliffhanger that left audiences in suspense. What makes this delay even more noteworthy is the critical acclaim Season 1 garnered, further heightening expectations for the next installment.

Severance centers around Mark (played by Adam Scott), an employee at Lumon Industries who undergoes a radical procedure that ‘severs’ his work and personal life. In this setup, while his “outie”engages with the external world, his “innie”remains oblivious to everything beyond the office walls, leading to a starkly divided existence.

The Blood, Sweat, and Tears Behind the Pitch

In a recent episode of the new Severance podcast, Erickson shared insights into the painstaking effort that went into crafting both the script and the pitch to Apple and other potential distributors. He recalled, “We collaborated with Ben [Stiller] and Jackie [Cohn] to develop this pitch document. I envisioned needing a bloody coffee mug imprint, giving the impression that someone had pressed a bloody mug onto the page.”

His creative process was a labor of love, executed solo in the comfort of his home. “I experimented with several techniques, including food coloring, but ultimately, I concluded that it needed to be real blood for authenticity,” he revealed. To achieve this, Erickson resorted to using a lancing device to draw his own blood, which he then applied to finalize the document.

While he chose to keep this detail under wraps from key collaborators like Stiller and Scott—fearing they might deem him eccentric—Cohn remarked on the iterative process of refining their pitch. “We went through about 30 versions of the coffee stain. Just when we thought we were finished, Dan would come in with new circles of blood,” she added.

Though fans can’t access the original pitch document, rumored to contain spoilers about the series’ future, they can delve into one of the initial scripts of Severance to get a glimpse of what’s to come.

As we count down the days until the premiere of Season 2, enthusiasts can explore other intriguing series set to debut in 2025, alongside understanding the complications that extended the wait for Severance.

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