Bruno Heller | |
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Born | London, England, UK | 13 January 1960
Occupation(s) | Screenwriter, producer, director |
Years active | 1994–present |
Notable work | |
Style | Urban drama Crime drama |
Spouse | Miranda Phillips Cowley (m. 1993) |
Parent(s) | Lukas Heller Caroline Carter |
Relatives |
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Bruno Heller (born 13 January 1960) is a British screenwriter, producer and director. He is known for creating the HBO television series Rome , the CBS television series The Mentalist , and the FOX television series Gotham , based on the Batman franchise, co-creating the Gotham prequel television series Pennyworth , based on the Batman and V for Vendetta franchises, for Epix and HBO Max.
Heller's father, Lukas, was a German Jewish emigre and screenwriter ( Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte , What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? ). His mother, Caroline (née Carter), was an English Quaker and instrumental in keeping up the Labour Party's "Save London Transport Campaign". He has three siblings, including Zoë, a columnist and writer who has published three novels, including Notes on a Scandal . [2]
Heller graduated from the University of Sussex. [1]
Heller was a union soundman working in England in the 1980s. While working as a soundman on a series of films about England's Miners' Strike, Heller met Portuguese director Eduardo Guedes. The two collaborated on what would become Heller's first writing credit, the 1994 film Pax starring Amanda Plummer.
He left England for New York, where he met his wife, Miranda Cowley. After five years in the city, Heller moved with his family to Los Angeles where he worked on various television dramas including two projects for the USA Network: Touching Evil and The Huntress . But his breakthrough came with Rome , which he co-created. After the cancellation of that series for its high costs, Heller created The Mentalist . In September 2012, Heller sold a legal drama named The Advocates to CBS, which was written and executive produced by him, [3] but the project finally did not go to series.[ clarification needed ] In 2014 Heller created a TV series based on the Batman character James Gordon called Gotham for Fox Broadcasting Company.
Along with John Milius and William J. Macdonald, Heller created the television series Rome, co-produced by HBO and the BBC. Heller was also an executive producer and head writer, writing 11 episodes for the series, including the pilot episode and the series finale.
The series primarily chronicles the lives and deeds of the rich, powerful, and "historically significant", yet it also focuses on the lives, fortunes, families, and acquaintances of two common men: Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo, two Roman soldiers mentioned historically in Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico . The fictionalised Vorenus and Pullo manage to witness and often influence many of the historical events presented in the series.
Season 1
Season 2
In 2008 Heller created the CBS television series, The Mentalist, with his production company Primrose Hill Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. On 7 January 2009, the show won the award for "Favorite New TV Drama" at the 35th People's Choice Awards and since then, the star, Simon Baker has received several nominations for his portrayal of the lead character, Patrick Jane. Heller served as showrunner from season 1 to season 6. He departed the show before season 7 to focus on Gotham.
The Mentalist follows Patrick Jane, an independent consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation (CBI) based in Sacramento, California. He has a remarkable track record for solving serious crimes by using his amazing skills of observation. Jane also makes frequent use of his mentalist abilities and his semi-celebrity past as a psychic medium using paranormal abilities he now admits he feigned. He abandoned his pretense out of remorse when his attention-seeking behaviour attracted the attention of a serial killer named Red John who killed his wife and daughter.
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
Season 6
Season 7
In 2013, Fox won a bidding war for a pilot set in Gotham written by Heller. [4] [5] [6]
As originally conceived, the series serves as a straightforward story of Jim Gordon's early days on the Gotham City Police force. The show includes not only the Bruce Wayne character, but also the origin stories of several Batman villains, including the Penguin, the Riddler, Catwoman, Two-Face, Poison Ivy and Scarecrow. The first season consisted of 22 episodes after being extended from sixteen. [7] [8] [9]
The show premiered on 22 September 2014, and concluded on 25 April 2019.
Season 1
Season 2
In 2018/19 Heller co-created Pennyworth . This series focuses on the early years of Alfred Pennyworth, friend, surrogate father, and butler to Bruce Wayne/Batman. A direct prequel to both Gotham [10] and V for Vendetta , [11] [12] [13] the series explores Alfred's origins as a former British soldier running a private security firm (and later a bar) in an alternate history 1960s England, as he goes to work with CIA agent Thomas Wayne – Batman's father, while coming into conflict with the fascist Raven Society/Union while in the throes of a British Civil War, in the years preceding the rise of the Norsefire regime, [14] with the third season introducing predecessors to the anarchist V. [15]
The show premiered on 28 July 2019, and concluded on 24 November 2022.
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
In 1993, Heller married Miranda Phillips Cowley, [1] then a senior vice president at HBO.[ citation needed ] The couple has two children. Miranda Cowley Heller is the New York Times No. 1 bestselling author of the novel, The Paper Palace. [16]
V for Vendetta is a British graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd. Initially published between 1982 and 1985 in black and white as an ongoing serial in the British anthology Warrior, its serialisation was completed in 1988–89 in a ten-issue colour limited series published by DC Comics in the United States. Subsequent collected editions were typically published under DC's specialised imprint, Vertigo, until that label was shut down in 2018. Since then it has been transferred to DC Black Label. The story depicts a dystopian and post-apocalyptic near-future history version of the United Kingdom in the 1990s, preceded by a nuclear war in the 1980s that devastated most of the rest of the world. The Nordic supremacist, neo-fascist, outwardly Christofascistic, and homophobic fictional Norsefire political party has exterminated its opponents in concentration camps, and now rules the country as a police state.
Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth, originally Alfred Beagle and commonly known simply as Alfred, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly in association with the superhero Batman.
Lucius Fox is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Bruce Wayne / Batman. He is Wayne's business manager at Wayne Enterprises who runs the business interests that supply his equipment needs as well as financing his operations, and is the father of Luke Fox / Batwing, Tiffany Fox / Batgirl, and Jace Fox / Batman.
James Brian Mark Purefoy is an English actor. He played Mark Antony in the HBO series Rome, Nick Jenkins in A Dance to the Music of Time, college professor turned serial killer Joe Carroll in the series The Following, Solomon Kane in the film of the same name, and Hap Collins in the Sundance series Hap and Leonard. Purefoy also played Lord Phillipe de Clermont in the second season of the hit AMC/Netflix series "A Discovery of Witches". In 2018, he starred as Laurens Bancroft in the first season of Altered Carbon, a Netflix original series. Following an uncredited role as V in the 2006 film V for Vendetta, he was cast in a main role as Captain Gulliver "Gully" Troy / Captain Blighty in the 2020–2021 second and 2022 third season of the television series Pennyworth, the prequel to both Gotham and V for Vendetta.
Rome is an American-British historical drama television series released in 2005–2007 and created by John Milius, William J. MacDonald, and Bruno Heller. The series is set in the 1st century BC, during Ancient Rome's transition from Republic to Empire. The series features a sprawling cast of characters, many based on real figures from historical records, but the lead protagonists are ultimately two soldiers named Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo, who find their lives intertwined with key historical events.
Daniel John Cannon is a British film and television producer, director and writer, known for executive producing the 15-season CSI: Crime Scene Investigation series franchise, and simultaneously executive producing the CSI: Miami and CSI: NY spin-offs.
Dr. Thomas Wayne, M.D. is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the father of Bruce Wayne (Batman), and husband of Martha Wayne as well as the paternal grandfather of Damian Wayne. Wayne was introduced in Detective Comics #33, the first exposition of Batman's origin story. A gifted surgeon and philanthropist to Gotham City, Wayne inherited the Wayne family fortune after Patrick Wayne. When Wayne and his wife are murdered in a street mugging, Bruce is inspired to fight crime in Gotham as the vigilante Batman.
Norsefire is the fictional white supremacist and neo-fascist political party ruling the United Kingdom in Alan Moore and David Lloyd's V for Vendetta comic book/graphic novel series, its 2005 film adaptation, and the 2019 television series Pennyworth.
Gotham is an American television series developed by Bruno Heller, produced by Warner Bros. Television and based on characters from the Batman mythos in comic books published by DC Comics. The series premiered on Fox on September 22, 2014, and ended on April 25, 2019, after five seasons consisting of 100 episodes. It features an ensemble cast that includes Ben McKenzie as James "Jim" Gordon, Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock, and David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne. The show follows Gordon's early days at the Gotham City Police Department following the murder of Bruce's parents, as well as the origin stories of Batman's infamous rogues gallery.
Robin Lord Taylor is an American actor and director. He is known for playing Oswald Cobblepot in the Fox series Gotham (2014–2019) and Will Bettelheim in the Netflix series You (2019). He also voices The Outsider in the video games Dishonored 2 (2016) and Dishonored: Death of the Outsider (2017). His film roles include the comedy Accepted (2006), the sci-fi drama Another Earth (2011), the horror Would You Rather (2012), and the thriller John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019).
Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska are characters and antagonists in the Fox crime drama television series Gotham and associated media. They are identical twin brothers portrayed by Cameron Monaghan.
"Pilot" is the first episode of the television series Gotham. It premiered on FOX on September 22, 2014 and was written by series developer Bruno Heller and directed by Danny Cannon. The episode, and the series as a whole, are based on characters appearing in and published by DC Comics in the Batman franchise, primarily those of James Gordon and Bruce Wayne. FOX gave the pilot a straight-to-series order with an order of 16 episodes.
Bruce Wayne is a fictional character appearing in the Fox series Gotham, based on the character of the same name who is the secret identity of DC Comics superhero Batman, created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, and developed for television by Bruno Heller. Gotham portrays Bruce's teenage years and transition into adapting his Batman persona in later years. The series marks the second time Batman was adapted for live-action television after the 1960 Batman series, though the lead character in Gotham is James Gordon. Bruce is portrayed by David Mazouz, while Mikhail Mudrik portrays him as an adult in the series finale. He is never referred to as "Batman" in the series.
Pennyworth, marketed as Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman's Butler for its third season, is an American television series that premiered on July 28, 2019, on Epix, based on DC Comics' Batman character of the same name. The series was developed for television and is executive produced by Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon, and stars Jack Bannon as Alfred Pennyworth, a younger version of the iteration of the character previously portrayed by Sean Pertwee in Heller's and Cannon's Fox series Gotham (2014–2019), with the series serving as a prequel to both Gotham, and V for Vendetta, by Alan Moore, David Lloyd, and Tony Weare. Ben Aldridge, Hainsley Lloyd Bennett, Ryan Fletcher, Dorothy Atkinson, Emma Paetz, Paloma Faith, Polly Walker, James Purefoy, and Jason Flemyng also star.
The fifth and final season of the American television series Gotham, based on characters from DC Comics related to the Batman franchise, revolves around the characters of James "Jim" Gordon and Bruce Wayne. The season is produced by Primrose Hill Productions, DC Entertainment, and Warner Bros. Television, with John Stephens serving as the showrunner. The season was inspired and adapted elements from the comic book storylines of Batman: No Man's Land and Batman: Zero Year. The subtitle for the season is Legend of the Dark Knight.
The first season of the American television series Gotham, based on characters from DC Comics related to the Batman franchise, revolves around the characters of James "Jim" Gordon and Bruce Wayne. The season is produced by Primrose Hill Productions, DC Entertainment, and Warner Bros. Television, with Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon serving as the showrunners.
Selina Kyle, nicknamed "Cat", is a fictional character on the Fox TV series Gotham. Based on the DC Comics character of the same name who goes on to become Catwoman, Selina is a morally ambiguous street thief who becomes an ally and later love interest to Bruce Wayne, the orphaned son of Thomas and Martha Wayne. Camren Bicondova portrays Selina Kyle for the majority of Gotham's run, but is replaced by Lili Simmons as an adult in the series finale.
"The Beginning..." is the series finale of the American television series Gotham, based on the DC Comics characters Jim Gordon and Bruce Wayne. It is the twelfth episode of the fifth season and the 100th overall episode of the series. The episode was written by showrunner John Stephens and directed by Rob Bailey.
Jack Bannon is an English actor, known for his role as Christopher Morcom in The Imitation Game, as Sam Thursday on the ITV drama series Endeavour and as Alfred Pennyworth on the Epix crime drama series Pennyworth (2019–2022).
Emma May Ruth Paetz is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as Martha Kane in the DC Universe series Pennyworth (2019–2022).
"The V for Vendetta world conceptually – it's [like] where this world may or may not end up. What [V for Vendetta creators Alan Moore, David Lloyd, and Tony Weare did so well was to create a Fascist version of England that felt like England. It wasn't Nazi Germany imposed on that world. It was very much the parochial, familiar world of England transformed into something dark. That's what we've tried to do, and what [Cannon] did so brilliantly with the visuals, particularly in this season. It's England with this shadow across its face". – Bruno Heller
"One of the few stories that have been told in this kind of world is V for Vendetta [and] conceptually, this [civil war is a] prequel to V for Vendetta. God, I wouldn't hold us up against Alan Moore, but with comic books you have to find a throughline, and that's very political [for Pennyworth]." – Bruno Heller
"The arcing story this season is about a civil war that is brewing, and that came from a conversation from myself and Bruno Heller where we were considering doing V for Vendetta , we were like "that is much a very 80's 90's kind of show, what would it be in the 60's?' What kind of world would be have to create, like in Gotham there would eventually be Batman in this there would eventually be V for Vendetta[ Norsefire and V ]. So we took that brewing civil war as a stepping stone". – Danny Cannon
"There's all sorts going on in this season", echoed Jack Bannon, who plays the suave Mr. Pennyworth, going on to tease a giant step toward a world inhabited by the Caped Crusader. "We visit Gotham, there's an early version of Clayface, and V for Vendetta is in there as well". That's right! V for Vendetta (the dystopian masterwork conceived by Alan Moore, David Lloyd, and Tony Weare) will somehow factor into the new season – perhaps in the same way Doomsday Clock brought the characters of Watchmen into the mainstream DC Universe a few years back. Fans immediately made the connection to V after the official Season 3 trailer showed off a number of individuals wearing Guy Fawkes masks. Co-creator, co-showrunner, and executive producer Bruno Heller was able to confirm the crossover to us, but refused to give up any further details. "I can't tell you what because then we'd be giving it away", he said.