Apple TV+’s “Franklin,” which stars Michael Douglas, has its world premiere at series festival Canneseries on April 10 in Cannes, France. The show is produced by ITV Studios America and Apple Studios. Variety spoke to Philippe Maigret, president and managing director, ITV Studios America, who is an executive producer on the period drama.
“Franklin’s” journey to the screen began when producer Tony Krantz optioned Stacy Schiff’s book “A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America.” Starting in December 1776, “A Great Improvisation” follows Benjamin Franklin, best known as an inventor, as he travels from Britain’s colonies in America on a secret mission to enlist France’s support in the War of Independence, which the Americans are losing.
In 2017, Krantz, who had a first-look deal with ITV Studios America through his company Flame Ventures, suggested that Maigret read the book. “We immediately realized we shared the same passion for the story of this period of history and also realized that this was a book that was uniquely set to be adapted into an event premium limited series,” Maigret says.
What attracted him to Schiff’s book was that it has characters that are “intriguing and multifaceted” and a story that has “elements of a spy thriller,” but is also “a relationship driven drama,” containing “a game of seduction.”
Kirk Ellis, who received two Emmys for “John Adams,” came on board to adapt the book, but a number of years passed while the project was developed.
“It took quite a bit of time because we needed to assemble the right creative team, find the right network or streaming service, overall, the right partners who would share not only our passion to tell the story, but also our ambition in the way to tell the story,” Maigret adds.
“So, as always, you take a step forward, you take a step backward. You go through things realizing that you may have gone down the wrong path, you course correct, again, in the spirit of collaboration and passion for the story.”
Then the project’s core team started to assemble. Former HBO chief Richard Plepler, who had set up Eden Productions in January 2020 and signed an exclusive multi-year deal with AppleTV+, joined “Franklin” as executive producer. Tim Van Patten, who had worked on HBO shows such as “The Sopranos,” “Boardwalk Empire” and “Game of Thrones,” signed on as director and executive producer, shortly followed by Douglas as the lead actor and executive producer.
As the project went from development with AppleTV+ into pre-production, the rest of the creative team was enlisted, including director of photography David Franco and writer Howard Korder, who both worked with Van Patten on “Boardwalk Empire.” Dan Weil joined as production designer and Olivier Bériot as costume designer.
Next came the decision of where to shoot the show. Maigret says: “We looked at several options and obviously you need to factor in the economic element, as well as the creative element, and France came out on top.”
“What made France so appealing was, number one, the possibility to bring an incredible group of French actors, for whom the opportunity to work on ‘Franklin’ would be a lot easier, but also to shoot in some of the most incredible locations.” These included the Palace of Versailles, 11 chateaux and 20 locations in Paris. These brought “authenticity,” he says. “As talented Tim is as a director or Dan is as production designer you can’t easily replicate Versailles.”
“Franklin”
Courtesy of Apple TV+
He adds: “This is the most ambitious series, I believe, that ITV Studios has produced. The scale, the complexity of developing the right costumes and the right makeup, the size of the cast, and the scope of some of the scenes… that makes the shooting complex. But we also have to remember that we started shooting when COVID was still raging around the world in 2022.
“I need to credit Tim and David as well as the production team for making the production of the series as smooth as I could have hoped.
“There’s always things that happen that will surprise you. I was actually on set in the summer of 2022 when Paris was going through a heatwave. And the night before we shot a pretty big scene on Place des Vosges, in the center of historic Paris, we found out that there was no way the horses would be let out of the stables, it was just too hot. So obviously, we had to make some adjustments. We didn’t take the horses out of the stables, but the actors and extras actually worked that day, in layers of beautiful costumes, and the makeup had to be done. And Tim and the team found a way to still shoot the scene.
“Cut to six months later, toward the end of making ‘Franklin,’ and now it is too cold for the horses to come out of the stable. So, I mean, look, these are two examples of challenges that we faced. I consider myself very lucky to have a team that was able to make to show without anything worse to face and to respond to than the weather.
“But we had a couple of interruptions due to COVID. But again, the team did an amazing job in building the necessary safety protocols. And, as you can imagine, on a set where you have hundreds of people, people tested positive, but the production of the series never, never stopped.”
Despite talk of a downturn in demand for scripted television, Maigret remains optimistic that shows like “Franklin” will find buyers.
“We continue to see demand for strong IP, for great stories, with the right talent, produced under the right economics. That may sound obvious but that’s really what we’re focusing on. And that’s what, I think, ‘Frankin’ also reflects. We optioned a book, we developed a project into a limited series that we believed could resonate with what the streaming services were looking for.
“The team brought incredibly talented, creative partners into the making of the show. We built the right production schedule, in the right location, to deliver the right show, for an investment that does not compare with some of the crazy numbers that you hear about other television shows. We had a very, very robust budget to make the show and we made it under budget, and within schedule.”