Steven Conrad, who sold his first screenplay at 19 and later wrote Oscar-nominated films like "The Pursuit of Happyness" and created the acclaimed series "Patriot", has found a major milestone in his career with "DTF St. Louis", his exploration of friendship and sexuality in middle age. The HBO limited series, which explores the relationship between Floyd (David Harbour), his wife Carol (Linda Cardellini) and his new friend Clark (Jason Bateman), received 13 Emmy nominations, including nominations for Conrad as producer, writer and director.
"I think I had never been nominated for anything before", said Conrad. "I haven't done anything that had this kind of connection in our business. Everything is new and I don't know exactly what it means. But I'm happy that people are watching the series. That means a lot to me".
Conrad said that friendship between men is something that can disappear from a person's life without them noticing. He pointed out that "DTF St. Louis" used a murder case as an initial framework, but what really mattered between the characters of Clark and Floyd was "a means to organise their friendship around something mischievous they could share in private". He added that it was more about stimulating friendship than their sex lives.
Conrad explained that each character has a different sexuality. He said that allowing Clark to explore his desires allowed him to write about "that kind of individual sexuality, the person who has put off exploring the depths of their sexuality". Conrad added that the ability to direct his own writing, something that eluded him for most of his career, allowed him to discover new ways of telling stories.
When asked about his focus on television after being associated with films, Conrad said he has not committed to a film in several years and has no plans to do so. "It just seems to have disappeared from my future the idea that I would make films again", he noted. "My appetite is to continue making television for the longer engagement time".