Filmmaker Kathleen Robertson Talks Reimagining Swimming With Sharks for a New Generation

When it comes to reviving familiar properties, there are a number of approaches that can be taken, all of which are forced to find a balance between honoring the source material and injecting the concept with unexpected elements. For Kathleen Robertson, her take on the 1994 film Swimming with Sharks brought with it a number of new perspectives, not only with its setting and its characters, but also with the medium in which the story was delivered. The core components of the darker elements of Hollywood surely remain intact, but Robertson brings with it plenty of freshness. All six episodes of Swimming with Sharks premiere on The Roku Channel on April 15th.

“I saw the film when it first premiered, which was incredibly — I can’t believe I was just realizing it premiered 18 years ago at TIFF. And I think it was definitely a film for everybody in the film industry that was, when it came out, it was like, ‘Holy sh-t,’ it was really shocking. Everybody knew it was based on true-life experiences that the writer had had with his bosses, and so I think that the movie always stuck in my brain as … It’s definitely like a cult classic. It has, like, an iconic element to it,” Robertson shared with ComicBook.com when discussing her connections to the source material. “I was working with Lionsgate on another project and they brought it, they basically just brought it to me and said, ‘Is this something that you would ever be interested in exploring or adapting?’ And I thought, ‘I don’t really know if I really have anything to say in this space, especially it being a story about these two men.’ And I thought, ‘Well, if there was a way to sort of subvert it and have it be two women, maybe I would have something to say, given that I have been in the industry since I was 10.’” 

She continued, “I’ve had a lot of experiences along the way that really formed me, changed me, shaped me. And so I thought, ‘Oh, maybe there’s something interesting here. Maybe there’s a way to take the space and the world, but tell it from these two women. One just starting out in the business. And one who’s been sort of raised and grown up in the business.’ So that was the entry point.”

The new series is about the dark side of the Hollywood studio system and an assistant who turns the tables on an abusive boss. We’re all in the industry, and this entire series is one intense but intriguing situation you just can’t look away from. Filled with psychological twists and turns, the series’ gripping storylines paired with powerhouse performances will leave audiences on the edge of their seat.

At the time the original film came out, erotic thrillers were both praised by audiences and critics alike, only for that genre to die out by the end of the decade. While the source material might not explore those themes, Robertson found a way to inject those elements into her reimagining of the project.

“It feels to me exactly like what I want to watch right now. I’m so thrilled when I find something that feels a little bit like it’s dropping me into a world that I maybe don’t know a lot about,” Robertson explained of her approach. “Or I’m getting to indulge a little bit in a space that feels foreign to me. So I think that the reason why [erotic thrillers are] coming back seems pretty clear to me. I mean, I think we’re all burnt out. I think we’re all exhausted. I think we’re all sick of being spoon-fed our kale salad with our side order of dressing. I just was like, ‘F-ck it. I want to write something that’s crazy and that goes there and that’s fun and sexy and weird.’” 

She added, “I certainly don’t want to tell people how to feel or be message-y or heavy-handed. So that was my intention with it, and that’s what I think we were successful at doing. In terms of why those movies went away, I don’t know. I mean, I actually don’t know. I’m sure people just felt burnt out on them and now it does feel like people are ready for it again a little bit.”

As far as whether these first episodes are a complete journey or whether it’s just the start of something bigger, Robertson already has some ideas in mind.

“This was always something that, when I wrote this, when I engineered it in the beginning, it always was an ongoing series for me,” Robertson confirmed. “So the hope is yes, people are into it, people watch it, and we get to keep continuing on and doing it. I have ideas of what I want Season 2 to be, and Season 3 and Season 4, and it’s definitely early stages, but knock on wood, we’re going to be able to continue.”

As far as what future seasons could explore, however, in regards to continuing the journey of these characters, Robertson played things a bit coyer.

“Well, I’m reluctant to actually talk about it just because if it was just me deciding what it is, yes, I know exactly what I want it to be,” the filmmaker teased. “But we haven’t had those creative conversations yet with the studio and the network. So I think that it’s definitely a world, though, that I think, again, the idea of those relationships that are unconventional and there’s like a shift in power. That’s a territory and a world that, to me … I’ve always said the least interesting thing about this is the Hollywood component. That’s just me. I feel like the show could take place anywhere and it would still be — the core of what it is would still be really interesting. I think people just tend to be fascinated with the entertainment industry. It’s literally, like, if you’re on a plane and you ask somebody, ‘What do you do for a living?’ And they’re like, ‘I’m in finance.’ It’s like, ‘Oh, okay,’ and if it’s like, ‘What do you do?’ ‘I’m in the entertainment industry,’ everybody’s just like, ‘Oh, my God.’ So I think it’s a great place to center a series just because people are fascinated with it. Everybody wants a taste of it.”

All six episodes of Swimming with Sharks premiere on The Roku Channel on April 15th.

Are you looking forward to the series? Let us know in the comments below!