Zero Day is the first leading role in a television series for living legend Robert De Niro. De Niro needs no introduction. This new thriller series debuted earlier this year to solid numbers for Netflix. It is a political thriller miniseries about a former President investigating a devastating zero-day cyberattack in the US.
Award-winning Director Lesli Linka Glatter directed all six episodes and is best known for her work on modern classic shows like Mad Men and Homeland; she was a natural choice to lead this project. She has decades of directing credits, including episodes of timeless favorites like Twin Peaks, Freaks And Geeks, The West Wing, ER, True Blood, The Walking Dead, Justified, and many more. Her work ethic is impressive, and she firmly believes in giving back to the film and television community as a two-term President of The Directors Guild Of America (DGA). Immersive was lucky to catch up with Glatter via Zoom one day before she started another show.
[This conversation was edited for clarity and length.]
Talk a little bit about how you got involved with Zero Day.
I was sent the script for the pilot written by Noah Oppenheim. He has an interesting background: He was the President of NBC News and wrote the screenplay for Jackie. He teamed with Eric Newman, who created Narcos. The story was by Noah and Michael Schmidt, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the New York Times. Coming off years of doing Homeland, I love realistically real stories.
It’s a paranoid conspiracy thriller. What is truth in a post-truth world? It hit the sweet spot for me, but it didn’t feel like anything I had done. I had no idea what would happen next, which I always loved. So I jumped in and developed it with Eric, Noah, and Mike for the subsequent five hours and directed all of them.
That’s phenomenal. The Paranoid Conspiracy Thriller genre pops up in many of my conversations, particularly the films of Alan Pakula. Were they a touchpoint?
My go-to film is All The President’s Men, where it’s a true story. You know how it’s gonna end, but every step of the way, you’re on the edge of your seat thinking, oh my God, what’s gonna happen next? It’s as if the ending could change since it’s true. Also, there’s Three Days Of The Condor, Seven Days in May, The Parallax View, and The Manchurian Candidate.
What was it like working with Robert De Niro? Such an iconic legend, in a class of his own…
At first, I’ll admit I was a little bit nervous. He is a legend. But once I met him and started working on the initial development, he was just so amazing to work with, both as a collaborator developing the script and on set as an actor. He works so hard and is so committed to this material. I would love to work with him again and again. The whole cast was sublime. I was in director heaven.
Jesse Plemons, Joan Allen, Matthew Modine, Lizzy Kaplan, Angela Bassett – It’s a really good cast.
Amazing cast. We shot for 103 days. I couldn’t wait to get to work in the morning, I have to say. We had an extraordinary crew.
Gabby Hoffman, as well. She figures in so prominently towards the end.
I worked with Gabby when she was 12 years old. I directed a movie called Now and Then. We reconnected because we are both friends with Claire Danes. I was thrilled to be able to work with her again.
What were some of the challenges of doing this? Does anything in particular stick out in your mind?
We cross-boarded all six hours, and keeping the plot and characters always at the forefront was challenging. I’m very neurotic about where people have been, where we were in episode one, and where we are now. Sometimes, we shot something for the first hour and then the fourth hour. So, to be sure that we were all on the same page regarding what had happened, That was a huge challenge but also exciting. It was like doing a six-hour movie.
Let’s talk about cinematographer John Conroy, who did a great job here…
The best. I absolutely loved collaborating with him. We spent a huge amount of time together to be on the same page, to move through the story, and again, to keep it realistic. It’s very dramatic-looking, but there’s also a level of anxiety underneath everything.
What were the logistics of shooting The Zero Day Commission scenes? It looks like an elaborate set…
It was our main set, literally six layers of glass. Shooting in that can be a nightmare because you’re constantly dodging windows, so you don’t see your own reflection. Our key grip—who is a rockstar—came up with a system to shoot in there that was innovative and allowed us to move quickly without catching our reflections. Not to mention, the whole crew had to wear black all the time, so we looked very dressed up.
In addition to this massive project and your numerous credits, you are also the President of the DGA—what’s that like?
It’s a lot more work than I ever imagined. But, you know, my dad was a labor organizer, and I grew up with the idea that it’s good to give back to your community. I have to say, our board and our leadership are astounding because they are some of the busiest directors in the industry. We also represent UPMs, ADs, Second ADs, Stage Managers, and News Directors.
What have you learned, and what can you pass on to the next DGA President? Given the current state of the industry and the world, we are living in challenging times.
I have learned so much. The DGA is very research-driven, and we really feel like we can have our hands on the pulse of what’s going on in the industry. We have incredibly smart people involved. Our board is incredible. The people in leadership who very generously give up their time amidst their very busy careers are inspiring. It’s been everything you could imagine.
What’s it like being on the other end of this? You worked with an amazing cast, and the show was shot in New York City. It looks amazing, and it’s a timely piece, too. We can sadly picture something like this happening.
The biggest fear of the intelligence community is that there will be a zero-day event that affects all industries simultaneously. We wanted to look at what happens when thrown into a place of fear. You know, do we try to get to the truth? Look at 9/11, which, God forbid, we hope nothing like that happens again to our country or anyone. To look at how we humans behave in the face of fear. Do we try to find out who’s really at the bottom of this? These are fascinating things to be looking at. I mean, we humans are complicated creatures. I love exploring these things and juxtaposing them with interesting, complex characters. This was just one of those projects that I felt blessed to be on.
Zero Day is now streaming on Netflix.
