Overlord and the Underwoods showrunner and producer Anthony Q Farrell got into writing for TV through theatre and has slowly figured out the rest over the years. During his time working in Canadian TV, he noticed accessibility and diversity issues, so he’s taking the lead in helping address it. 

Farrell invited up-and-coming writers in the guild to audit the writers' room for Overlord and the Underwoods. While incredibly rewarding, it didn’t feel like enough for Farrell. 

“There were 14 or 15 writers who could make it and they did not get enough in that; they didn't get enough information,” he says. “We needed to do something bigger.”

He decided to try and do something bigger when he had the time and the resources. In 2021, that moment came when Jinder Oujla-Chalmers, Farrell’s fellow WGC Diversity Committee member, approached him with support for the initiative. Together, they developed the first-ever Showrunner Training Bootcamp hosted by BIPOC TV & Film. 

Those who wanted to apply had to have a show in development and have a producer-level credit on at least one season of a Canadian series, or a story editor credit on an animated series. Farrell says 124 people applied and 53 were accepted into the first cohort of the program that ran in October and November of 2021. The program, led by Farrell, taught participants how to manage and staff a creative team, manage schedules, as well as everything that happens during production and post-production. 

“This shouldn't be secret information,” Farrell says. “We should get this to as many people as possible because I knew a lot of writers who are starting their journey as showrunners, it would be great if you could get them as much support as possible, as soon as possible, so they could use the tools to do the job.”

After the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor put pressure on institutions to support communities of color—especially the Black community—new initiatives to highlight and employ creatives of color began in the summer of 2020. However, Farrell noticed that providing people the opportunities wasn’t enough. 

“They were kind of giving creatives of color opportunities, but they weren't getting the resources or the backing necessary to really do the job super well,” he says, "and I started getting worried. For most marginalized writers, if you get an opportunity to do something and if you don't do well, there's a very slim chance you're going to get another opportunity.” 

Farrell aimed to provide everyone in his program with all the tools needed to be a productive and successful showrunner, but left space for them to figure out what works for them. 

“There's no one way to do this and everyone's gonna have a different style, different lenses,” he says. “It's a matter of figuring out what your style is and how it's going to make you do the best job possible for your cast, crew and everyone.”

Farrell's own industry break began as an actor doing improv, and eventually found his way to TV through a friend who introduced him to manager Sheree Guitar. He was part of programs like the Fox Diversity Initiative and the NBC Diversity Showcase, before joining The Office as a writer. 

“There are so many different paths in the industry,” he explains.  “I can tell you 100 different stories from other people that I know and how they got in. It’s about never giving up and just keep on writing—keep putting words onto paper—and then hopefully the right person comes around at the right time.” 

Now, Farrell is the proud showrunner of Overlord and the Underwoods, a Canadian sci-fi comedy breaking barriers in representation as it features a multicultural suburban family helping an evil overlord who's taking refuge with them. 

Farrell says they received funds to start writing before they received funds to produce it. This meant that they had to write without any knowledge of the cast’s demographics. 

“One of the questions that kept popping up was, who was his family?” he says. “We're gonna have to write it colorblind. We have to write it funny.”

He said the cultural implications would come later and adjustments could be made once the cast was final. For the most part, it was just a matter of keeping the comedy central to their writing. 

“The characters are the characters, and we just weren't thinking about what they look like—we're just thinking about who they were,” Farrell says. 

A moment like this happened when Darryl Hinds was cast as Jim Underwood. Hinds is from Jamaica and has a Black father and South Asian mother. He has a specific background that Farrell felt was important to be represented on screen, so he made Hinds' character have a similar background in the show. 

“That's one of those things where it's kind of like, when you have the opportunity to find those cultural specificities to include, then great, let's do it! Let’s break down some barriers!” 

Although Farrell has taken part in creating change in Canadian TV and film, he knows there is much more to be done. A recent study published by the Writers Guild of Canada reported that gaps in representation remain in the writers' room. The report took data from 280 live-action and animated series between 2016 and 2019, and identified changes in demographics. While there has been somewhat of a steady increase of diverse writers in TV, their representation continues to remain low and does not properly reflect Canada’s population. 

“Part of why the BIPOC Showrunners Bootcamp is important is because what we found in this is community support,” Farrell says. “Marginalized writers are more likely to hire other marginalized writers,  so the more writers we put in positions of power who are BIPOC, or LGBTQ+, or neurodiverse, or what have you, then there's a higher chance that those numbers are going to go up for the writers who are working on their shows.”

Since community support is important, Farrell advises growing writers to not be afraid to reach out to those in the industry they look up to. He also advises to get good at writing, taking notes, and learning from notes, “because when the opportunity arises, it’s super important to be ready.”

Photo: Ian Watson