Deli Boys is a new comedy series recently premiered on Hulu to a positive reception. Created by Abdullah Saeed, it is the story of two Pakistani-American brothers whose world is turned upside down after their wealthy father dies, and it is revealed that he was a criminal mastermind.
Jenni Konner, a TV veteran as a writer, producer, and director best known for HBO’s Girls, helped shepherd this project to fruition. She recently spoke to Immersive via Zoom about discovering new talent and highlighting voices from different cultures.
[This conversation has been edited for clarity and length]
How did you get involved with Deli Boys?
The script was submitted to my producing partner, Nora Silver, and me. It was a sample, and we read it and were like, “Why is no one making this? It’s so good.” So we started the process, and five years later, it finally happened.
What happened over those five years?
It took a long time for a bunch of reasons. One was Covid, then the strike and the third was the Disney merger. We sold it to Fox 21. That became TriStar, and then it became 20th. So we waited through all that. We took it all over town, but no one wanted it until we got to Onyx. It was our last meeting, and it was a great pitch; Abdullah killed it. Tara Duncan, who runs Onyx, really understood it. She saw it in a way that no one else ever did.
What was it like just being a producer on this one?
Relaxing, you know what I mean? Like, we would pitch and sit and talk, change stuff, story meetings, and then he went and wrote them. So, what a delight for me.
People always joke, “What does a producer do?” A million things, including shepherding a project for five years.
My responsibility in script and development is intense. I also have a big responsibility to teach people how to do a job. Abdullah’s experience as a narcotics reporter for Vice shouldn’t translate to the studio system.
It’s a very collaborative business. We’re all selling soap together, and learning how to work with other people is really important. Sometimes, they don’t set up new creators for success, so that’s another thing that becomes a big part of Nora and the process.
What was it specifically about the show that spoke to you?
Here’s why I loved it. It’s a sweet and emotional family story, so we can only go so far with the violence and the crime. It can be hard comedy because we always have this place to return to. The Sopranos was a family story.
Why aren’t people doing more of this? I love watching a show about a deli.
In some ways, it’s a love letter to Philly. Abdullah lived there for a long time. Michelle Nader was from there. Our excellent props guy was from there. Everyone got the assignment. Even though we shot in Chicago, it felt very, very, very fulfilling.
Do you have any favorite moments of the series?
I love the pilot when Lucky (Poorna Jagannathan) shoots a guy to protect them, and the blood splatters on them. Then she’s like a mom wiping the blood off their face with a tissue as if it’s chocolate. That’s my favorite moment in the whole show. They are boys who grew up rich and don’t know how to be people.
What were some unique challenges besides the five years of bringing this to reality?
Casting was challenging because you wanted to find the chemistry between the boys. It was terrific when they met, and now they love each other and are everywhere all the time, just like actual brothers. We got this gift because there weren’t a lot of famous Pakistani, Indian, or South Asian actors, so we had to make discoveries, which is rare. Most studios want celebrities because they have a better chance of getting the show recognized. That wasn’t an opportunity for us, so we got to discover actors. We have Poorna, who’s played a mother and best friend a lot, plays this badass mob boss in a leather suit. It felt exciting. She is one of the best actors I’ve ever worked with.
So, talk a bit about the show being about a Pakistani family and how that was rare until now…
It was exciting. Abdullah said, “It’s time for brown people to play bad guys who aren’t terrorists. They don’t have to be like the nerdy straight-A students. They don’t have to be a doctor. They can do bad things because we’ve established they can also be good.” I think it’s also an immigrant story without being about the immigrant experience; it’s through an immigrant lens and that felt very new to me.
What was it like being involved with this project as a whole…
It was just a privilege. It’s very satisfying to work so hard for five years and have it finally happen and come out and to have the world really responding very positively. We feel lucky and it was worth the wait.
Deli Boys Season One is now streaming at Hulu.
