Replay: Writer Danny Strong on his quest to make Hulus Dopesick

Published: Aug. 26, 2022, 9:30 p.m.

This week, The Business revisits a conversation with Danny Strong, writer, producer, and creator of \u201cDopesick,\u201d which has 14 Emmy nominations for the portrayal of the evils of Purdue Pharma.\xa0Before co-creating the hit show \u201cEmpire,\u201d Strong won accolades for writing two HBO movies based on real events: \u201cRecount\u201d and \u201cGame Change,\u201d as well as \u201cLee Daniels\u2019 The Butler.\u201d So when he decided to make a series about the opioid epidemic based on Beth Macy\u2019s book \u201cDopesick,\u201d he thought he\u2019d be met with open arms. \u201cI was going around to these pitches like, \u2018I\u2019m coming back to my nonfiction roots, like \u2018Recount\u2019 and \u2018Game Change,\u2019 and I\u2019ve got a bestselling book,\u201d he recalls. But the reaction he got was, \u201cNo one cares. \u2018Oh, \u2018Recount?\u2019 Cute. That was 14 years ago\u2019... if no one cares who you are, or what you've done\u2026 or if they don't want the project, they're not going to engage. It's not it's not an easy business. It's a tough racket.\u201d\xa0Hollywood can be cold, but \u201cDopesick\u201d eventually found a home on Hulu. Strong tells Kim Masters about falling down the Sackler family rabbit hole while researching Purdue Pharma and its deadly drug, OxyContin, and the many challenges he faced to get the show made.\xa0First, KCRW has fresh banter with guest-hosts Matt Belloni and Lucas Shaw about how two major theater chain operators AMC and Regal have recently made desperate financial moves to stay afloat.