INTERVIEW: Enter the ‘Valley of the Boom’
Photo: From left, Dakota Shapiro and Oliver Cooper star as TheGlobe.com co-founders Stephan Paternot and Todd Krizelman in National Geographic’s Valley of the Boom. Photo courtesy of National Geographic / Bettina Strauss / Provided by Nat Geo Press Room with permission.
Valley of the Boom, the new TV project from National Geographic, looks at the early days of Silicon Valley and the frontier spirit of many of its inventive entrepreneurs. The six-part limited series premieres Sunday, Jan. 13 at 9 p.m. with back-to-back episodes.
The show, which includes scripted drama and documentary footage, comes from executive producers Matthew Carnahan and Arianna Huffington. Amongst its stars are Bradley Whitford, Steve Zahn and Lamorne Morris.
The creators of TheGlobe.com, an early virtual community platform, are portrayed by Dakota Shapiro and Oliver Cooper. Shapiro takes the Stephan Paternot role, while Cooper plays Todd Krizelman.
Throughout the six episodes, TheGlobe.com team faces many challenges, including beating the competitors and securing financing, all while prepping a new IPO. Netscape and Microsoft hover in the shadows, and Paternot and Krizelman need to stay one step ahead of everyone.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox talked with Cooper and Shapiro about the new series. Cooper has acted in The Front Runner, Red Oaks and Californication. Shapiro appeared in The Affair and will be in the upcoming Eye Without a Face. Here’s what they had to say …
On why Cooper signed on the dotted line for the role …
Cooper: “I just care about the money. (laughs) I remember getting the script first before I auditioned, and I thought that it was so cool. I remember Netscape. I didn’t know TheGlobe. We play the guys who founded TheGlobe, but I remember reading the story. And I thought it was so original the way that it infused documentary style with the scripted with the flash mobs and stuff like that. So I just was really excited about it, and I knew Matthew’s work previously. So I just thought, wow, that would be amazing if I could get this.”
On why Shapiro was compelled to join the project …
Shapiro: “I felt very much the same way. I remember reading a script and being fascinated because I hadn’t read a script yet quite like it. … I thought that it was a really cool and unique idea to be able to take something like the dawn of the internet and business around the dawn of the internet, something that some would consider kind of a difficult story to tell, but telling it in a bombastic way that makes it really, really exciting. That’s what excited me about it, and to play somebody real, I was really excited about that.”
On the challenges and opportunities of playing a real person …
Cooper: “I was excited about the real aspect as well. It’s very exciting to play someone who is real. A lot of young actors don’t get that opportunity, and also I thought it was so relevant with where we are in today’s society. I thought it was really interesting to take a look back and see how similar the internet boom is to what’s going on right now with technology and everything.”
Shapiro: “The guy I play he has a book out about the whole thing, so I read his book. And I learned about TheGlobe, and I learned about the importance. Before the idea of social media was out, how groundbreaking of an idea that was, so I had to do a little bit of research. I had to learn about the time period. To me, it was so fascinating.”
On Cooper’s preparation for the series …
Cooper: “I also read Steph’s book, and Steph also sent Dakota a bunch of videos. It was probably five or six hours of interviews that Stephan and Todd had done over the years. … He had all this stuff in the files on Dropbox, so I watched all of them. And obviously just on YouTube there’s stuff and Google, and now with the internet you can basically find anything.”
On whether there’s hesitation about portraying a real person …
Cooper: “For me, I was scared. That’s always scary to play someone real, but I thought if you’re playing … someone who you know how they sound and they’re so in the public eye, then I think [that’s tough]. … Freddie Mercury, for example, you have to sort of play him and bring his voice to life. I thought with this it was more important that we bring the youthful energy, excitement and passion that these young guys had versus trying to mimic who this guy was. I didn’t think that was as important to this, but at the end of the day, I still wanted to respect them and respect Todd and do the best I could with bringing him to life.”
Shapiro: “I wasn’t sure whether I should meet Steph or not because there’s always the fine line that if you meet them then is it going to skew your interpretation of them in a sense. I really don’t think it did, and I absolutely agree with Oliver. My goal was to capture what was really going on for them and what were the defining characteristics that made them be able to have such an accomplishment at such a young age. So that’s what I was trying to bring to it, Steph’s ability to communicate, his enthusiasm. He’s kind of a unique guy. That’s what I was trying to bring to it, and also what was really important was Steph and Todd’s relationship. Luckily me and Oliver love each other very, very much, so that worked.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Valley of the Boom, a new six-part limited series, premieres Sunday, Jan. 13 at 9 p.m. on National Geographic. Click here for more information.
