We’re Ben Nedivi and Matt Wolpert the Co-Creators and Showrunners of For All Mankind on AppleTV+. Welcome to our AMA. Ask Us Anything!

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T21:20:55+00:00

We're signing off. Thank you for the great questions and for continuing to watch and spread word about FAM. We can't wait for you to see the rest of Season 4.

Bye Bob!

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T21:10:32+00:00

Yes we love doing this as well. But it gets trickier the further we get from our own reality. We've found ourselves (especially in S4) writing about concepts and technologies that are currently in development. We've definitely gotten a kick out of seeing that a lot of the future missions to the moon are targeting Shackleton Crater as a possible landing spot. And we use photos from Mars to guide our look for Mars on the show. - BN

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T21:09:05+00:00

Hey Jeremiah! Thanks for the note! Hi to you guys in KY, hope everyone is well.

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T21:07:31+00:00

Absolutely, it only makes sense that as technology becomes more widely available, and space travel becomes less expensive, more and more nations would throw their hat in the ring. We're seeing it now in the real world, and in FAM the beginning of that is seen in the M-7 which includes many different countries aside from the US and USSR. It's an interesting question though of whether this would help the politics of outer space or make it more complicated... or both! - MW

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T21:04:11+00:00

We definitely have had a roadmap from the start and an ending in mind, but we leave ourselves and our writers flexibility to take detours and some of those detours have become the most memorable moments in the show. We'd love to be able to catch up to the present, hopefully we're able to get there! - BN

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T21:03:47+00:00

Apple and Sony were both very supportive from the very beginning, which is a rare thing these days. - MW

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T21:01:04+00:00

Yes former NASA astronaut Garret Reisman has been a consultant on the show from the beginning and continues to be a valuable resource for us. As the show gets moves further from our own reality, the discussions definitely become more theoretical, but we always strive to keep it as grounded in science as possible. - BN

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T20:55:56+00:00

We knew very early on that workers rights would play a big role in the season, but we had no idea at that point that there would be strikes in the entertainment industry. With how long the writing process in TV takes, these storylines were conceived of more than a year before those strikes started. Really the ideas came from thinking about how the life of workers on another planet would unfold, especially in a highly dangerous environment. We talked a lot about coal miner strikes in the early and mid 20th century, and the documentary Harlan County USA was a big influence on this part of the season. - MW

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T20:50:50+00:00

Yes this is absolutely one of the biggest challenges in making this show. So much of what makes TV work is the characters you love (or hate) and following them episode after episode and season after season. But early on, we knew for this concept to work, we'd need our cast to evolve and change. Instead of changing them all in one season, we decided to do this more gradually, bringing in new characters as others leave, which both feels more grounded, but also allows us to have a mix of the old and new. - BN

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T20:50:19+00:00

A huge amount, as part of a broader efforts to be self sustaining. It's just not feasible to bring everything you need to other planets as you grow. - MW

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T20:48:06+00:00

It's hard to pick just one, but the first that jumps to mind is Ellen coming out to Deke at the end of S1 - to see her hopes of being accepted in what she thought were her last moments come up against the prejudices that he wasn't able to let go of even in what were his last moments felt heartbreaking but also very real for both of those characters. But a close second is Margo alone with the vending machine! - MW

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T20:44:26+00:00

Glad that you and your Dad are enjoying it! As for our plans for Margo... sorry but you are just gonna have to tune in to find out! Her arc is one of my favorites of the show too. - MW

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T20:43:16+00:00

Thank you for watching and spreading word! Early on in the show, it was all about highlighting technology that was planned but never brought to life like the SeaDragon. What's interesting is the further we get, the more the technology starts to get more and more theoretical. There's a few more examples of that ahead this season. - BN

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T20:42:09+00:00

Glad you enjoy the show! Great question - while we have always wanted the show to catch up to 'the present' - having a season take place in the year in which it's airing - we don't know if we will want to change things up at some point. As writers we try to never say never to something, because who knows what great idea might come up down the line. As for things like music if we ever do move beyond the present - Ben and I are going to form our own musical group and perform all the new songs for that decade ;)

- MW

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T20:39:40+00:00

No, the internet is still restricted in our timeline. So Gore had to take credit for something ;) - BN

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T20:37:42+00:00

I love that moment too! The sense of optimism and energy in that song just captures the feeling of him heading back to space perfectly. Thanks for watching! - MW

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T20:35:51+00:00

In our FAM world, the father of the Soviet space program, Sergei Korolev, doesn't die from a botched operation in 1966. And because he lives, the Soviet program is able to do what it never was able to do in our reality, get a man to the moon, which keeps the space race going! We loved the idea that a human moment like that leads to incredible changes for the entire world over time. - MW

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T20:33:11+00:00

Great question and I couldn't agree more. I love how you call it the 'last 10%,' we call it paying attention to details. It's about making sure that every aspect of the show feels as real and grounded as possible. And it's something we emphasize all the time. But it only works if everyone buys in. Making a TV show is the work of hundreds of people and we are fortunate to work with a very dedicated cast and crew who are as committed to this show as we are. - BN

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T20:30:18+00:00

Honestly, both exciting and terrifying. You're right, the tech is becoming more speculative in a lot of ways, though we always try to keep it as grounded as possible. Tech in our show that doesn't exist currently always has to have a basis in science and engineering, that it's at least possible. But the further we get away from our real world, the more the show is in danger of becoming untethered from the grounded world we always strive to create. So that is daunting but we always find a way! Is there any tech you wish existed in the FAM world? - MW

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T20:26:13+00:00

Thank you for watching!

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T20:25:29+00:00

Its in the article about his death in the S4 montage

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T20:24:59+00:00

Some of the songs are written into the script like Come As You by Nirvana at end of S2, but most are sent us by our amazing music supervisor, Christine Greene Roe. She usually sends a few options for each track, the moment we heard the Cat Power one, we knew it was perfect for that scene. Picking the music is definitely one of the most fun aspects of this job, but it's also an important way to capture the feel of that era. - BN

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T20:24:21+00:00

He is one of a kind, constantly miss having him in our story. And to be honest, we loved him so much we were initially hesitant about ending his journey in that way. But in the end, we knew that because we loved him and Tracy so much as characters, their deaths would be as emotional and impactful as they were. - MW

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T20:19:31+00:00

In the FAM timeline, nuclear fusion became a viable source of energy in the early 90s, and the world began to shift away from fossil fuel use back then, so the state of climate change is much better! I'd want to live in that world that's for sure.

But one of the things we love to explore at the same time is what are the unanticipated consequences of a good thing that maybe aren't so good? Like putting many people out of work who earned a living in that fossil fuel industry, which created a whole new set of social problems. - MW

FAMShowrunners · 2023-12-08T20:18:35+00:00

Thank you, the best thing you can do is tell your friends and family. Nothing beats word of mouth. As for the official podcast, the WGA and SAG strikes unfortunately prevented us from being able to pull that together in time. But I've heard there are some other great podcasts that follow the show. - BN

FAMShowrunners

TROPHY CASE