Bruno Heller

Bruno Heller (born 13 January 1960) is an English screenwriter, producer and director. He is known for creating the HBO television series Rome, the CBS television series The Mentalist, and the FOX television series Gotham, based on the Batman franchise, co-creating the Gotham prequel television series Pennyworth, based on the Batman and V for Vendetta franchises, for Epix and HBO Max.

Bruno Heller
Bruno Heller at the Hollywood Walk of Fame in February 2013.
Born	(1960-01-13) 13 January 1960 (age 64) London, England, UK
Occupation(s)	Screenwriter, producer, director
Years active	1994–present
Notable work	Rome The Mentalist Gotham Pennyworth
Style	Urban drama Crime drama
Spouse	Miranda Phillips Cowley ​ ​ (m. 1993)​ ^[1]
Children	2
Parent(s)	Lukas Heller Caroline Carter
Relatives	Zoë Heller (sister) Cordelia Edvardson (aunt) Hermann Heller (grandfather)

Early life and family

Heller's father, Lukas, was a German Jewish emigre and screenwriter (Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?). His mother, Caroline (née Carter), was an English Quaker and instrumental in keeping up the Labour Party's "Save London Transport Campaign". He has three siblings, including Zoë, a columnist and writer who has published three novels, including Notes on a Scandal.^[2]

Heller graduated from the University of Sussex^[1] near Brighton.

Career

Heller was a union soundman working in England in the 1980s when film sets were rigidly hierarchical. While working as a soundman on a series of films about England's infamous Miners' Strike, Heller met well-regarded Portuguese director Eduardo Guedes. The two collaborated on what would become Heller's first writing credit, the 1994 film Pax starring Amanda Plummer. ("Pax" is the Latin word for "Peace" used in the Portuguese epitaphs on gravestones.)

He left England for New York, where he met his wife, Miranda Cowley, granddaughter of the American poet and critic Malcolm Cowley, in a disco. After five years in the city, Heller moved with his family to Los Angeles where he worked on various television dramas including two projects for the USA Network: Touching Evil and The Huntress. But his breakthrough came with Rome, which he co-created. After the cancellation of that series for its high costs, Heller created The Mentalist. In September 2012, Heller sold a legal drama named The Advocates to CBS, which was written and executive produced by him,^[3] but the project finally did not go to series.^{[clarification needed]} In 2014 Heller created a TV series based on the Batman character James Gordon called Gotham for Fox Broadcasting Company.

Rome

Main article: Rome (TV series)

Along with John Milius and William J. MacDonald, Heller created the television series Rome, co-produced by HBO and the BBC. Heller was also an executive producer and head writer, penning a total of 11 episodes for the series, including the pilot episode and the series finale.

The series primarily chronicles the lives and deeds of the rich, powerful, and "historically significant", yet it also focuses on the lives, fortunes, families, and acquaintances of two common men: Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo, two Roman soldiers mentioned historically in Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico. The fictionalised Vorenus and Pullo manage to witness and often influence many of the historical events presented in the series.

Rome episodes written by Heller

Season 1

• "The Stolen Eagle" (pilot)
• "How Titus Pullo Brought Down the Republic"
• "An Owl in a Thornbush"
• "Stealing from Saturn"
• "The Ram has Touched the Wall"
• "Egeria" (with John Milius)
• "The Spoils"
• "Kalends of February" (season finale)

Season 2

• "Passover"
• "Son of Hades"
• "De Patre Vostro (About Your Father)" (series finale)

 

The intertitle for season 1.

The Mentalist

Main article: The Mentalist

In 2008, Heller created the CBS television series, The Mentalist, with his production company Primrose Hill Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. On 7 January 2009, the show won the award for "Favorite New TV Drama" at the 35th People's Choice Awards and since then, the star, Simon Baker has received several nominations for his portrayal of the lead character, Patrick Jane. Heller served as showrunner from season 1 to season 6. He departed the show before season 7 to focus on Gotham.

The Mentalist follows Patrick Jane, an independent consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation (CBI) based in Sacramento, California. He has a remarkable track record for solving serious crimes by using his amazing skills of observation. Jane also makes frequent use of his mentalist abilities and his semi-celebrity past as a psychic medium using paranormal abilities he now admits he feigned. He abandoned his pretense out of remorse when his attention-seeking behaviour attracted the attention of a serial killer named Red John who killed his wife and daughter.

The Mentalist episodes written by Heller

Season 1

• "Pilot"
• "Red Hair and Silver Tape"
• "Red John's Friends"
• "Carnelian, Inc."
• "Red John's Footsteps" (season finale)

Season 2

• "Redemption"
• "Black Gold and Red Blood"
• "Code Red"
• "Red Sky in the Morning" (season finale)

Season 3

• "Red Sky at Night"
• "Red Moon"
• ""Strawberries and Cream (Part 2)" (season finale)

Season 4

• "Scarlet Ribbons"
• "Cheap Burgundy" (writer/director)
• "The Crimson Hat" (season finale)

Season 5

• "The Crimson Ticket"
• "Red John's Rules" (season finale)

Season 6

• "The Desert Rose"
• "Red John"
• "Blue Bird" (season finale)

Season 7

• "White Orchids" (series finale) with Tom Szentgyorgyi & Jordan Harper

Gotham

Main article: Gotham (TV series)

In 2013, Fox won a bidding war for a pilot set in Gotham written by Heller.^[4][5][6]

As originally conceived, the series serves as a straightforward story of Jim Gordon's early days on the Gotham City Police force. The show includes not only the Bruce Wayne character, but also the origin stories of several Batman villains, including the Penguin, the Riddler, Catwoman, Two-Face, Poison Ivy and Scarecrow. The first season consisted of 22 episodes after being extended from sixteen.^[7][8][9]

The show premiered on 22 September 2014, and concluded on 25 April 2019.

Gotham episodes written by Heller

Season 1

• "Pilot"
• "Selina Kyle"
• "Penguin's Umbrella"
• "The Blind Fortune Teller"
• "All Happy Families Are Alike" (season finale)

Season 2

• "Damned If You Do..."
• "Worse Than a Crime"
• "Transference" (season finale)

Pennyworth

Main article: Pennyworth (TV series)

In 2018/19 Heller co-created Pennyworth. This series focuses on the early years of Alfred Pennyworth, friend, surrogate father, and butler to Bruce Wayne/Batman. A direct prequel to both Gotham^[10] and V for Vendetta,^[11][12][13] the series explores Alfred's origins as a former British soldier running a private security firm (and later a bar) in an alternate history 1960s England, as he goes to work with CIA agent Thomas Wayne – Batman's father, while coming into conflict with the fascist Raven Society/Union whilst in the throes of a British Civil War, in the years preceding the rise of the Norsefire regime,^[14] with the third season introducing predecessors to the anarchist V.^[15]

The show premiered on 28 July 2019, and concluded on 24 November 2022.

Pennyworth episodes written by Heller

Season 1

• "Pilot"
• "The Landlord's Daughter"
• "Martha Kane"
• "Lady Penelope"
• "Shirley Bassey"
• "Cilla Black"
• "Alma Cogan"
• "Marianne Faithfull" (season finale)

Season 2

• "The Heavy Crown"
• "The Burning Bridge"
• "The Rose and Thorn"
• "The Lion and Lamb" (season finale)

Season 3

• "Well to Do"
• "Highland Wedding" (series finale)

Personal life

In 1993, Heller married Miranda Phillips Cowley,^[1] then a senior vice president at HBO.^{[citation needed]} The couple has two children. Miranda Cowley Heller is the New York Times #1 bestselling author of the novel, The Paper Palace.^[16]

References

1. "WEDDINGS; Miranda Cowley And Bruno Heller". The New York Times. 20 June 1993. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
2. Heller, Zoë (23 July 2020). Notes on a Scandal.
3. Andreeva, Nellie (11 September 2012). "Bruno Heller Legal Drama Gets Pilot Production Commitment at CBS". Deadline.com. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
4. O'Connell, Michael (24 September 2013). "Batman Prequel Series Coming to Fox". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
5. Tanswell, Adam (22 September 2014). "Gotham: Bruno Heller on Batman's origins, the Joker and DC crossovers". Digital Spy. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
6. Hibberd, James. "Gotham showrunner breaks silence, answers burning questions on Batman prequel –– EXCLUSIVE". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
7. Kondolojy, Amanda (5 May 2014). . TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on 6 May 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
8. Rose, Lacey (12 May 2014). "TV Upfronts: Fox's Kevin Reilly on 'Idol' Changes, 'Gotham' Hype and a 'Tough' Season". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
9. Ross, Robyn (13 October 2014). "Fox Orders Full Season of Gotham". TV Guide. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
10. Heller, Bruno (12 October 2020). Pennyworth Season Two Cast & Producer Interview – EPIX. Popverse. from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020 – via YouTube.
11. Heller, Bruno (11 December 2020). (Video) Pennyworth: Bruno Heller Talks Season 2, V for Vendetta, & The War That Breaks London. CBR Presents. from the original on 14 December 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020 – via YouTube. "The V for Vendetta world conceptually – it's [like] where this world may or may not end up. What [V for Vendetta creators Alan Moore, David Lloyd, and Tony Weare did so well was to create a Fascist version of England that felt like England. It wasn't Nazi Germany imposed on that world. It was very much the parochial, familiar world of England transformed into something dark. That's what we've tried to do, and what [Cannon] did so brilliantly with the visuals, particularly in this season. It's England with this shadow across its face". – Bruno Heller
12. Zachary, Brandon (13 December 2020). "(Article) Pennyworth: Bruno Heller Talks Season 2, V for Vendetta, & The War That Breaks London". Comic Book Resources. from the original on 13 December 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
13. Harper, Rachael (5 February 2021). "Pennyworth Season Two Secrets: What's It All About, Alfie?". SciFiNow. from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2021. "One of the few stories that have been told in this kind of world is V for Vendetta [and] conceptually, this [civil war is a] prequel to V for Vendetta. God, I wouldn't hold us up against Alan Moore, but with comic books you have to find a throughline, and that's very political [for Pennyworth]." – Bruno Heller
14. Gomez, Manny (29 July 2019). "EPIX'S Pennyworth: Setting Up 60's DC London And The Road To V for Vendetta – SDCC2019". LRMonline. from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2019. "The arcing story this season is about a civil war that is brewing, and that came from a conversation from myself and Bruno Heller where we were considering doing V for Vendetta, we were like "that is much a very 80's 90's kind of show, what would it be in the 60's?' What kind of world would be have to create, like in Gotham there would eventually be Batman in this there would eventually be V for Vendetta [Norsefire and V]. So we took that brewing civil war as a stepping stone". – Danny Cannon
15. Weiss, Josh (6 October 2022). "NYCC: Season 3 Of 'Pennyworth' Actually Shared A Set With Matt Reeves' 'The Batman'". Syfy Wire. from the original on 7 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022. "There's all sorts going on in this season", echoed Jack Bannon, who plays the suave Mr. Pennyworth, going on to tease a giant step toward a world inhabited by the Caped Crusader. "We visit Gotham, there's an early version of Clayface, and V for Vendetta is in there as well". That's right! V for Vendetta (the dystopian masterwork conceived by Alan Moore, David Lloyd, and Tony Weare) will somehow factor into the new season – perhaps in the same way Doomsday Clock brought the characters of Watchmen into the mainstream DC Universe a few years back. Fans immediately made the connection to V after the official Season 3 trailer showed off a number of individuals wearing Guy Fawkes masks. Co-creator, co-showrunner, and executive producer Bruno Heller was able to confirm the crossover to us, but refused to give up any further details. "I can't tell you what because then we'd be giving it away", he said.
16. "Miranda Cowley Heller | Penguin Random House". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 20 October 2022.

External links

 

Wikiquote has quotations related to Bruno Heller.

• Bernhard, Lisa. "'Mentalist' Is a Hit, but Who Can See Into Its Future?", The New York Times, 28 November 2008
• Bruno Heller at IMDb