ISM 005: Inside the Mind of Screenwriter Daniel Knauf (Carnivàle, Black List)

Today we go inside the mind of screenwriter and showrunner Daniel Knauf (Carnivàle, Black List). This is re-broadcast from the Bulletproof Screenwriting Podcast.

Daniel Knauf had a couple of small credits to his name—a TV movie here, a stint on Wolf Lake there—when he managed to sell the intricate Great Depression-era genre show Carnivale to HBO. The series, an intricate blend of meticulously researched period detail and secret-history fantasy, purported to tell the tale of what happened when the last two “Avatars”—superpowered beings of light and darkness—met in the United States on the eve of World War II.

The series attracted a cult audience that remains devoted to this day, but a mass audience wasn’t sure what to make of the program, and HBO canceled it after two seasons, saying the show’s story was finished, in spite of Knauf’s plan for a six-season run.

Enjoy your journey into the mind of Daniel Knauf.

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