Inside Job Creator Shion Takeuchi Talks Conspiracies, Adult Animation, and Robot Arms

The first part of Inside Job, Netflix’s latest adult animation title and the first from the internal Netflix Animation Studio, was recently released on the streaming service. The show, which digs deep and pokes fun at conspiracy theories and the “deep state,” was created by Shion Takeuchi, and ComicBook.com had the opportunity to speak with her just before the first 10 episodes dropped about conspiracies, adult animation, and robot arms. Among other, totally normal things.

The show, if you’re not familiar, focuses on Reagan Ridley and her job at Cognito Inc., a company that essentially functions as part of the shadow government for the world at large. Reagan is a tech genius and the heir apparent, but only if she can put up long enough with her forcibly retired father, Rand, and ineffectual colleagues. Everything from the Earth being flat to lizard people ruling the world in secret is fair game for lampooning. Also, there’s a dolphin man with the name Glenn Dolphman, so there’s that.

As noted above, the first 10-episode part of Inside Job is now available to stream on Netflix. The show stars Lizzy Caplan as the voice of Reagan Ridley, Christian Slater as the voice of Rand Ridley, Clark Duke as the voice of Brett Hand, Andrew Daly as the voice of J.R. Scheimpough, Bobby Lee as the voice of Dr. Andre Lee, John DiMaggio as the voice of Glenn Dolphman, Brett Gelman as the voice of Magic Myc, and Tisha Campbell as the voice of Gigi Thompson.

Have you already watched Inside Job on Netflix? If so, what do you think? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to reach out and hit me up directly over on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk about all things animation! And keep reading to check out our full interview with Takeuchi!

On Why This Show

ComicBook.com: Out of all the possible shows, why this one, why Inside Job?

Shion Takeuchi: Well, I have been fascinated by paranormal and conspiracy stuff for a long time, and then it happened to be a beautiful vehicle by which to process my other emotions that I talk about in therapy. So it’s a marriage of just stuff that I like and then stuff that I’m dealing with.

As all creative endeavors must be, right?

Mm-hmm (affirmative). Definitely.

On the Politics of the Show

By its very nature, Inside Job is undeniably sort of an extremely political work by taking potshots at a number of different conspiracy theories that people genuinely believe to be true. Was there any subject that felt like maybe you were poking the bear too much or was everything fair game?

Oh, you know, I actually feel like the show isn’t super political, because it exists in this world that’s so high concept and absurd, that it doesn’t have much of a tie to the politics of our real world. But the conspiracies that we did explore that are recognizable kind of come from a golden age of conspiracy theories, like JFK, the moon landing, that are mainstream in the sense that everyone has heard about it. And we wanted to kind of do our funny, weird, creative take on the why and the how of those conspiracies to kind of revive them in a new light and make you question the premise of the conspiracy that you’ve always been told.

On Being a First-Time Showrunner

Makes sense. As a first-time showrunner, how are you feeling on the eve of release here more or less? How do you feel your previous work prepped you for Inside Job?

I’m very excited. I’m really nervous. I’m excited for everyone to see Inside Job. I would say that my previous work didn’t necessarily prep me to be in a leadership role, but I have been lucky to work with a lot of really fantastic people on great projects. And I take a little bit of that along the way.

I worked at Pixar, where a sense of cinematic storytelling was highly prized. And I learned that craft. I worked on Gravity Falls, where a creative “quirky abstract comedy and heart” marriage type of vibe was instilled in me. And I worked on Disenchantment with the animation king, Matt Groening, who also showed me an entire other style of comedy, which is just to follow the funny and not worry as much about structure and go on a harebrained adventure. And so, all those things I know were useful and a part of creating the creative person that I am today.

On the First Show From Netflix Animation Studio

On top of you being a first-time showrunner, this is billed as the first adult animation title from Netflix Animation Studio. What was that like, lots of growing pains, pressure to make sure every little thing was right? Or kind of just let you do your own thing?

I mean, it was an incredible honor. And so, that was really exciting. And it was also like, “Oh, wow.” So I can’t call up the showrunner on X, Y, Z, and be like, “How did you deal with this department? Or like, what’s the best strategy for this?” Because it didn’t exist. So part of the challenge was navigating the system as it was being created. And I got to say, there was trials and tribulations, of course, as with any first-time show. Everyone always knows Seasons 1s, where a lot of stuff gets figured out, is hard. Think about that on the scale of also, the first-time studio, and then imagine how pleased I am that we got it done. And it all came together.

Are you feeling prepared now, to be that person that you would’ve reached out to for the upcoming showrunners of things?

Yeah, I guess so. I always forget, because I think I still have like with the whiplash of the experience happening a million miles an hour, I’m like, “oh, I guess I’m a person that could have useful advice?” I just think of myself as an idiot. But yeah, I mean, hopefully.

On the Pitch for Inside Job

Fingers crossed, right? In my initial question, you talked about Inside Job being this marriage of things you’ve always been interested in plus things that you talk about at therapy, but what was the genesis of this project for you? What was the pitch for Inside Job?

The pitch for Inside Job was a comedy about the deep state, where everyone in it is just as human and vulnerable and selfish and petty as you or I would be. And what is it like in that office?

Ed. note: This question had to be recorded a second time because when Takeuchi began talking about it the first time, her mic had trouble after she mentioned Facebook and Google. Notably, her final answer did not mention either. The final recording, provided by the PR company, did not include the initial answer that got garbled. I mention this here because it is delightful to have a conspiracy theory about a show about conspiracy theories.

On What Inside Job Brings to the Table

As someone releasing a new adult animation project, there’s right now, admittedly, no shortage of adult animation out there. What do you feel Inside Job brings to the table? How does it fit in alongside the rest of what everyone else is making?

Well, that’s an interesting question. I mean, there’s so much content being made now. It’s almost hard to keep track of everything. I do think that what Inside Job brings to the table is a mixture of weirdness, darkness, and heart, which I think is probably like a strange combination, but hopefully in a good way.

On Casting Rand and Reagan

I think so. Lizzy Caplan and Christian Slater, there’s no other way to put this, they play assholes very well. Reagan and Rand are very much cut from the same cloth as much as Reagan hates it. What was the process like for casting Lizzy and Christian in these roles?

Oh, well, Lizzy was my dream choice. I’ve been a huge fan of her work throughout her career. And I think the roles that she chooses really resonate with me, I feel like we both kind of have a dark outsider vibe that also can be energetic and warm at times. She was in the very first pitch deck that I created back when I was coming up with the show in my shitty apartment. So she’s been my dream cast for a super long time.

And Christian, I love Christian. Rand was actually an interesting casting challenge, because it was like, you want someone that’s going to play off of Lizzy really well. And they kind of can keep toe-to-toe with each other, you know? They’re both smart, but not like austere and academic or bookish. And Christian also played a role that I really enjoyed in Mr. Robot. And he’s kind of burned into my brain as The Conspiracy Dad. So that was a fun, fun, little personal casting decision for me.

On Measuring Success

We talked a little bit about just the vast amount of content that’s coming out across streaming platforms, linear, everywhere, anywhere, social media. At this point in this stage of the world and the internet as it exists, how do you measure success for the show? What would be a good debut in your mind?

That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? From what I hear, Netflix has algorithms that will help assist in that metric. But I think for my personal measure of success would be if people end up, any number of people, even if it’s small, end up loving the characters and connecting with them in any way. Because over the course of the series, they’ve become real people to me, and I love them. And so, I just hope that people genuinely love these characters.

On Releasing Right Before Halloween

I have to ask since it’s releasing right before, are you expecting closet cosplay of your characters on Halloween? Are you looking forward to that?

That would be a very quick costume assembly, but I guess in the case of Reagan, it would not be too hard. You just need pants, a shirt, a lab coat, a messy ponytail. Hey, to anyone out there, I guess if you do decide to cosplay any of the Inside Job characters, tag the show so I can see it, is what I’d say.

Final Thoughts on Inside Job

Is there anything else you would like to talk about in terms of Inside Job, your hopes for what people take away from the show? Anything at all?

Yeah, I think it’s in the package of surreal, absurd comedy, high concept, it’s animated. But the thing that I hope resonates is, even if you feel like the world is a dumpster fire, if you can try to make it 1% better, that’s still 1% better. And then imagine if we all did that. And that kind of juggling, that kind of irony is the crux of Reagan’s character. So I think times are weird, times are scary, but we can do this.

If we all just do it 1% better.

Yeah. And if you have robot arms to assist you.

If only. I mean, I’ve only got these fleshy things here.