Bryan Cogman speaks at the University of Colorado
Photo by Nick BurnsThe University of Colorado at Colorado Springs recently welcomed Game of Thrones co-writer and co-producer Bryan Cogman to the Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theatre to speak to their students in a session entitled “Game of Thrones: Storytelling, Fans and Writing for TV”.
The school’s newspaper, The Scribe, has a great writeup on the event including quotes from Cogman on how he landed the job, the show’s appeal, and the hardest character to write.
Cogman was initially hired as an assistant to David Benioff, who discovered his writing talent after Cogman’s wife was hired as Nanny by Benioff’s wife Amanda Peet. “At the time, it only had a cult following. I needed to educate the various directors, departments. I would compile timelines, family trees, histories…by the time we started writing the first season, the guys said if we should give anyone a shot writing the fourth episode, it should be Bryan.”
When asked how the writers took a story who’s genre would normally only appeal to nerds and turned it into a cultural phenomenon Cogman stated, “It’s ultimately about families, universal themes and struggles, interpretations of history that could exist in any genre. The fantasy trappings are certainly a huge part of it, but at the beginning of the series, it’s largely peripheral – not overbearing. Then what ends up happening is the geek in that viewer is awakened and they get just as excited about the dragons and the White Walkers and the Red Priestess and all that stuff.”
Cogman revealed that he enjoys writing for the Stark sisters, and believes he has a good grasp on Jaime Lannister, but it’s Daenerys Targaryen that gives him the most trouble. “So much of Dany and what makes Dany work is kind of internal and not spoken. You have less scenes of her to make the point you want to make; you have to pack a lot, both narratively and character, so that’s a challenge.”
And although Daenerys has become a bit of a feminist icon, the writers do not approach it that way. “We don’t think about it as writing a feminist icon; if you start to do that, it gets to be preachy and you’re not writing human beings.”
Cogman also noted that George R.R. Martin does not let the show affect any of his writing. Although the television adaptation has become wildly successful, Martin has had “A Song of Ice and Fire” in mind for many years. “He has this thing, unpublished, about the history of the Targaryen reign. He’s creating an entire universe…got an entire 3,000 years of history, names and all, sketched out. I mean, the man’s a genius.”
Spoiler Alert!
Please take care to tag spoilers in your comments by wrapping them with <spoiler></spoiler>. Spoilers in comments are hidden by a gray overlay. To reveal, simply hover or tap on the text!