For Ashley Jones, slow Sundays with the family aren’t made of movie nights or brunch with bespectacled grandparents; instead, they’re spent between the bare blue walls of San Quentin State Prison’s visitation cabin.
The protagonist of Starz’ hit dramedy “Blindspotting,” Ashley (Jasmine Cephas Jones) must learn to navigate the world on her own when her partner of 12 years, Miles (Rafael Casal), is suddenly incarcerated. Juggling her work, her in-laws and her ever-curious 7-year-old son, Sean (Atticus Woodward), Ashley’s life is a constant minefield of comedy and chaos.
First made into a film and later adapted for television, “Blindspotting” has been the decade-long passion project of accomplished writer-producer Jess Wu Calder. After making her directorial debut with episodes three and four of the show’s sophomore season this spring, Calder sat down with Character Media to discuss her inspiration and experience telling this beloved story.
CM: Before making your directorial debut, you had years of experience in both screenwriting and producing. As you made this transition, did your history in each of these roles influence the way you approached directing?
JWC: The fact that I had studied screenwriting in college really helped me out as a producer because it gave me a chance to empathize with the writing process. On top of helping me understand [the] story really well, it allowed me to connect with writers on a more human level. There’s a misconception in this industry that it’s easy to replace a writer — that they’re not an essential part of the process. But I can say that in my entire 20-year career of making film and TV, that’s not something we’ve ever done. We have the writers on set the entire time, from the writer’s room to…
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