Though the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is predominantly known for highlighting technology, there are times when Hollywood makes its mark. This year’s Variety Entertainment Summit provided a first look at AMC’s The Audacity.
The Jonathan Glatzer created The Audacity fits right in with the vibes of CES since the show revolves around Silicon Valley. Chief Content Officer of AMC Networks Dan McDermott described the show, “[T]his is about the men and women in Silicon Valley who are shaping the world that we live in today. They are literally laying the cement on the freeway that we are all driving down with things like A.I., data collection, social media, etc.”
The main character is Duncan Park, played by Billy Magnussen. He is a wannabe tech titan who serves as CEO of a data mining company. Simon Helberg described his Martin Phister as a “maladjusted genius” who became wealthy in tech. Now he spends his days as a recluse spending “every waking minute locked in his garage with an A.I. companion that he’s developing to help alienated teenagers.” Unfortunately, that’s at the expense of his own alienated teenaged daughter. Another character is Zach Galifianakis’s Carl Bardolph who is a Steve Wozniak type in some ways. Also, there are some fun guest stars set to appear the first season including Randall Park.
McDermott had high praise for Glatzer’s work on the series, considering it is the first he has created. “The beauty of [him] as a writer is he’s interested in the humanity of these people. He’s not interested in how rich they are. How successful they are. That’s the backdrop and that’s an interesting component, but what’s really interesting in real life and in our show, is that they are just people with all the same human flaws as every one of us. And yet, they are having a profoundly outsized impact on the lives of ourselves, our children, our schools, our institutions, our government, etc. But Jonathan leads with that level of humanity which is really special.”
As for the show’s title, executive producer Gina Mingacci described how Glatzer came up with the idea. “Jonathan says when he came up with the title, The Audacity, he said he thinks audacity is a superpower we all have that we don’t even know we have. Most people don’t move fast and break things but these people do. Our people do.”
The Audacity premieres April 12 on AMC.
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