Inside Job: What Netflix Creator Shion Takeuchi Brings From Gravity Falls

Very few animators switch from animation for all ages to animation for adults, but it doesn’t stop Gravity falls writer Shion Takeuchi. This year, she’s swapping the summer vacation adventures of the Pines twins for the hustle and bustle of adult working life with her new show. Interior work.

Takeuchi has some experience in entertaining adult audiences – she has also worked on Disillusioned – corn Interior work is his first time as a showrunner. Premiering October 22 on Netflix, the workplace comedy centers on a company that just happens to implement grandiose schemes on behalf of the secret shadow government, Cognito Inc .. Reagan Ridley (Lizzy Caplan) an anti-social genius – and daughter of Cognito Inc., co-founder Rand (Christian Slater) – just wants a chance to lead her own team and come out of her father’s shadow. However, due to her poor human skills, she’s been given a partner in the form of the incredibly generic but incredibly affable Brett Hand (Clark Duke), who is just happy to be here.

Shion first came up with the idea in college, listening to the late-night AM radio show. From coast to coast in the morning. It was the first time she had heard of the so-called ‘shadow government’, which had initially scared her – but after thinking about it a bit, she realized that even though a shadow government existed , real humans should run this.

“It just disproves the idea of ​​the shadow government because if there was one it would barely control anything, just by sheer luck and luck,” she said. “Most of the people who work there would be mainly engrossed in their trivial and insignificant personal lives and hardly do that work.”

On the heels of the show’s trailer, which premiered on Saturday at Netflix’s Tudum preview event, we spoke with Takeuchi about his approach to making comedy with the government of the world. shadow, the evolution of adult animation, what it means as a showrunner in a male-dominated space, and what it brings from animation for all ages to the adult space . (And check out two new exclusive images from the series below.)

[Ed. note: This interview has been edited for concision and clarity.]

Polygon: How does the idea of Interior work evolved from your college days, and what parts have survived in becoming a career animation writer?

Shion Takeuchi: The world was not yet fully developed, in terms of What is that? What is the Shadow Government Company? What does it do? This had to be understood because there is no model for it. If the show was about working in a restaurant, you know exactly what a restaurant does. But you don’t know what a shadow government is doing. This part came later. But the heart of it all – the relationships – was pretty much where I started. The father-daughter relationship, the relationship between Reagan and Brett was there from the very beginning and it’s the heart of the series.

Tell me more about Reagan as a character.

The most interesting thing about her for me was the idea that she really wanted to be a leader. She wants to be a leader because she wants to make the world a better place. But she doesn’t look, don’t act, don’t appear to be what you think a leader should be. She’s not good at gossip. She’s not good with charming people. It is intense, more frank. Pragmatic, not really idealistic. A cynical optimist is what I’ve described her as, and I’ve never seen someone with a leadership role like that, striving to be a leader. And that strange irony of being a pragmatic, cynical person who also always wants to save the world was funny to me. It’s kind of coming from how I feel about things. Like, I would love to see the world as it is with my eyes open, but I still think we have to care. We could be like, Yeah, wow, it’s all trash fire and shit. And I will always give my all for the best. These things sometimes seem contradictory.

Image: Netflix

How did you balance the weirdness?

I don’t really think there is anything too weird about the show as long as it still deals with the character having a relatable issue and conflict where everyone can kind of see themselves a little bit of themselves. .

You started your career in animation for all ages, what attracted you to adult animation? Why make the transition?

I am interested in telling stories that are close to my heart, that deal with things I go through, or examine or observe in the culture or in my daily life. The wonderful thing about content for all ages is that we’ve seen people stand out from the crowd in terms of creating content that works across the board. And we really tried to do it for Gravity falls, there was something for everyone. The themes were universal and the character stories were universal. And I like it. It gave me a lot of freedom to explore and perfect my craft. But in terms of adult animation, since there are some topics that are a bit too adult for all ages that people in my age group deal with, it feels good to be able to talk about it.

It’s a space that has historically been dominated by male showrunners creating specific types of shows – there’s been a lot of change in this area, especially recently, but has this space ever felt intimidating?

Ah yes, for sure. Luckily, just before all of that, there was so much content that is starting to reverse this trend for me. But certainly for a very long time adult animation has had a lot of …. it looks like you are following the format. I think everyone thinks it’s ripe for new kinds of formats and new kinds of stories. I like what’s going on right now. There are so many different shows available. It’s really intimidating to think of yourself trying to enter the ring on shows like The simpsons or whatever. I always just look at the next step, look at the little pieces. So that you don’t get overwhelmed. I would say I think the space is changing. And I think it’s exciting. It was intimidating, but I think we put on a show that everyone can enjoy.

Picture; Netflix

What shows do you think came out of this format?

I really appreciated Tuca and Bertie. Have you seen that one?

Yes! I really loved it.

It was so cartoonish in a really delicious way. But these were still adult problems. I felt like the animation was really fun and hopping, colorful and light, but it still felt like the characters were adults. And it speaks of deeper emotional issues. The emotional arc of that first season … watching it build over the episodes was like, Oh, that’s where they go with it. Oh my god, cool. It all leads to this thing that seems really meaningful. I really enjoyed that.

Big mouth is also one of my recent favorites. Everyone is so funny. I really admire this series because it feels like everyone is having fun writing it. It’s very improvised and built of bricks that like people come together in a room and see how far they can push an idea or concept. And it’s nice to see how free they can be.

What have you brought from animation for all ages to animation for adults?

When I think about what people have thought of adult animation over the past few decades, I think it can often be a bunch of people laughing at each other or being rude in humor. While this is hilarious, there is a definite sarcastic tone associated with adult animation sometimes. Where I come from, in my past professional experience, the heart was just as important. Without the heart, it descends like a glass of evaporating water. For me, at least. Having that heart is really important. I wanna love the characters and I wanna be like these are my friends. And for me, doing that can’t just be crap and sniping. They must also love each other. That tone, that heart, that I learned in content for all ages and classic Gravity falls – it’s the kind of sensibility that hasn’t always been in adult animation. This show definitely adheres to it.

Interior work arrives on Netflix on October 22.