Love, Death + Robotshas been a hot topic since it first aired on Netflix in 2019. Over its last two seasons, the acclaimed animated anthology series has accumulated 11 Emmy Awards for character design, animation, producing, and more. Bringing together a diverse mix of animators – beginners and established – and animation studios, the series will return to the streamer May 20 with nine new episodes.
Ahead of the third volume release,Game Rantspoke with executive producer Tim Miller (Deadpool,Terminator: Dark Fate) and supervising director Jennifer Yuh Nelson (Kung Fu Panda) about the series’ first direct sequel (to thefan-favorite episode “Three Robots” by John Scalzi), creating a cohesive season, and pulling together the creative teams.
Related:Season Three of Love, Death & Robots Features Polygon Pictures
Expertly intertwining a variety of genres – from fantasy to horror – andanimation styles, along with different animation studios, writers, and directors, is a challenge that is left to Yuh Nelson who expertly balances responsibilities as both an episodic director and asupervising directorto the rest of the series. She says, “It is quite a challenge. But it is really down to the directors and studios that we end up having on the show. They’re all experts in something, and so the challenge is making sure that they can do the thing that they do so well to their fullest because the only thing that carries through all these episodes is a level of quality of the art.”
Miller adds, “And because Jennifer is an expert in everything, she’s able to support where necessary, across all the episodes. Even though it is disparate styles and tones, and directors and types of animation, there’s a level of quality that we have to hit. And you can imagine, with all those variables, it is difficult.”
He continues to give an example of a prime challenge: showcasing directors of different experience levels. “You may have a director like Emily Dean, this was her first big work. And you may have someone likeDavid Fincher, who is one of the most experienced directors in the world. How do you create a show that feels of an equal quality? That is not to say that Emily is not a good director because she is young. She is really good, but it is about evening it out.” Yuh Nelson echoed the sentiment. “They all have different backgrounds, so they all need different levels of support.”
As discussed, the series is an anthology at heart, but the forthcoming season features the first sequel to a previous episode and the return of writer John Scalzi, who Miller teases “pretty much demanded to be part of every season.”
The executive producer shares, “John Scalzi is such an amazing, funny talent and author. His characters are ones that people love so much. So, it was always going to be a thing. If we were going to bring any of those shows back, it would be the “Three Robots,” and John had an idea.” But beyond Scalzi, what do the duo look for when it comes to building their team of excellent writers and directors? Yuh Nelson says passion is the most important feature. “They have to be passionate about their story, and they have to have a real clear point-of-view on how that story is going to be made. And then they would have the perseverance to carry it through.”
She adds, “Because none of these shorts are easy. People think because they are short, they must be easy. They are not easy. It is basically doing a feature film crunched down into 15 minutes, and it is really hard. You have to build entire worlds and someone has to have the perseverance to carry through the whole process.”
Miller says that “the sky’s the limit.” He says, “you may tell passion counts for a lot, but it has to be backed up by the work. A lot of people want to do it, but they have to show that theycando it. You get trusted with decently sized budgets, and you are put in charge of hundreds of people who are going to execute your vision. You have to be prepared for it.”
Love, Death and RobotsVol. 3 premieres May 20 on Netflix.
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