The Wire and Borgen as Auteur Series: Danish Adam Price and American David Simon Created TV Dramas that Became Classics

Abstract

TV/VOD-productions are built on collaboration. Which distinctive features can be found in the working processes behind acknowledged “auteur series”? My study researches the processes behind David Simon’s HBO drama series The Wire (2002-2008) and Adam Price’s Borgen (2010-2013) produced by Danish pubcaster DR. My research method is a literature review. Martha Nochimson’s and Eva Novrup Redvall’s analyses gave me American and Danish industry perspectives, also on how film directors David Lynch and Lars von Trier built bridges between the two countries’ film and series industries. As an upcoming writer-director, I especially value the series maker’s experience as conveyed in Simon’s and Price’s digital master classes and in books written by their co-workers. The Wire and Borgen have been called early auteur works in the “golden age” of drama series. Since US streaming services reached global audiences, there has been a significant increase in series production and international co-production. Writers’ rooms have been imported from the USA to Europe together with new working titles such as showrunner and creator, which I have defined. To better understand the auteur series concept, I studied the early film auteur theory, current writings on auteur TV and Danish pubcaster DR:s one vision strategy. In film, the auteur concept has long been criticized for focusing on the director in a collaborative process. In multi-seasonal quality series with many directors, the main writer usually keeps the vision intact during the production. Simon did this as a showrunner and Price as part of his and producer Camilla Hammerich’s showrunner duo. When compared, Simon’s and Price’s processes displayed interesting similarities. Both creators have rich professional backgrounds, but no formal film or TV education. They showed a deep theme engagement, did in-depth research and shared vision ownership with teams. Their relationships with commissioners (HBO, DR) and core co-workers were trustful and long-lasting. My study gave vital knowledge on series writing, and recognized a need for more research on the creation of unique series, regardless of whether they are called one vision series, auteur works or something else.