Latest in Paul W. Downs

Season 3 of HBO comedy series Hacks will have a surprising pause in the action, the shows’ creators revealed on the Emmys red carpet Monday. Downs, who also stars as agent Jimmy LuSaque in the show, told Deadline, “We’re in the middle of Season 3 right now, writing it, so we’re still really figuring it out. We do…

Hacks was first born on a road trip to a Monster Jam rally back in 2015. It was during the drive that couple Paul W. Downs and Lucia Aniello and their close friend Jen Statsky discussed the relative invisibility of female comedians compared to their male counterparts. Having bonded as co-writers, producers, and in the…

Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky scored their second Emmy nomination on Tuesday in the Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series category for their work on Hacks. The series netted 17 Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Comedy Series and an Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series nomination for…

As Hacks‘ Paul W. Downs set out with co-creators Lucia Aniello and Jen Statsky to produce the HBO Max series’ first season, music weighed heavily on his mind. The multi-hyphenate has found the work of the music supervisor specifically to be “integral to the fabric” of each show he’s worked on, given its power to…

HBO Max’s Hacks earned 15 Emmy nominations and three wins in its debut season including Outstanding Lead Actress for Jean Smart and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for its creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky. In Season 2, the comedy starring Smart and Hannah Einbinder took the show on the…

EXCLUSIVE: Hacks co-creators Paul W. Downs and Lucia Aniello are taking to market the first project following their multiple Emmy wins for the HBO Max comedy series. Hot Robot, a half-hour genre comedy written by Genevieve Aniello (The Other Two, Gayme Show), is being developed through Downs and Lucia Aniello’s Warner…

Warner Bros. Television Group has signed an overall deal with Emmy-nominated Hacks co-creators Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs and their production company Paulilu Productions after a competitive situation. This marks the first overall deal for Paulilu with WBTVG. Terms were not disclosed, but WBTVG reports that…

A total of 15 Emmy nominations including for Outstanding Comedy Series would be an impressive achievement for any first-season series, but in the case of HBO Max’s Hacks it is particularly noteworthy as the show didn’t even premiere until the end of the season and was still unveiling new episodes even after the Emmys…

The Emmy comedy categories were looking like a walk in the park for Ted Lasso until HBO Max and Universal Television swept in late in the season with its acclaimed new series Hacks, sweeping up 15 nominations and now giving ol’ Ted a run for his money after just 10 episodes. The series focuses on a veteran Vegas…

Netting 15 Emmy nominations including for Outstanding Comedy Series, HBO Max's Hacks has been a hit since its premiere in May. The show centers on the relationship between legendary Las Vegas comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and struggling and entitled young comedy writer Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder). Both Smart…

It all began in a Honda Pilot en route to Portland, ME. Amici Lucia Aniello, Jen Statsky and Paul W. Downs were headed to tape a segment for the latter’s Netflix comedy special, and a discussion broke out about legendary female comedians, who never got their due, and for one reason or another, might have tripped in…

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains details from the entire first season of HBO Max's Hacks. On Saturday, the creators and stars of HBO Max's hit comedy Hacks appeared virtually at the ATX TV Festival to unpack Season 1 and tease Season 2. Given the fact that the conversation was pre-recorded prior to news that the show…