The Big Picture First premiering on Prime Video in 2020, Upload is creator Greg Daniel’s exploration of the afterlife in a future where technology allows us to upload our consciousness after death to a digital world known as Lakeview. After two successful seasons as Prime’s “number one most-viewed half-hour show,” the series was renewed for a Season 3 that’s now available to stream.
GREG DANIELS: Thank you so much. Yeah, I think it's a great season. I love Season 3’s in general. I just think that, especially for character comedy, getting the other members of the ensemble to have enough screen time over the first couple of years where you totally like everybody involved and you understand where they're funny and the cast fire on all cylinders. It's just a good season, I think.
One of the things that I really liked is that Season 3, to me, feels like it's wrapping up a lot of storylines that were set up in the first two and opening the door on a whole other thing. Is that the way you guys feel about it as well? Before the writers’ strike happened, had you guys been working on Season 4, or now you're working on it?
When the strike is over, I assure you that I will be asking to do interviews, but for now, I am very happy to be talking to you. You didn't direct any episodes in Season 3; did you think about directing? The thing is, it's because, I think, that article happened during the writers’ strike. For me, maybe that's something you and NBC have been talking about and waiting to announce after the strike, and so I think that's what people are wondering.
I was a judge in January at something called the AI in Filmmaking Hackathon at MIT. They did short films all using some aspect of AI like some used AI to write the music, and others wrote the script and all this stuff. And after it was done, I immediately wrote everybody I knew who worked at the Writers Guild to be like, “Guys, this is frightening. You gotta do something!” And that was, like, January of 2023. Then, in March, ChatGPT dropped, or whenever that happened.
DANIELS: Right. They'll be able to do that, and I think they'll also be able to say, “Wait, your favorite guy is Humphrey Bogart, and your second favorite guy is Bruce Lee? Let's sort of mush them together and do some kind of Humphrey Lee mashup character that only you will see in this movie, and you'll be so excited.” I don't know. It’s such a weird thing.