“Black Mirror” creator Charlie Brooker and executive producer Annabel Jones’ “Bandersnatch” made history on Tuesday as the first “Choose Your Own Adventure”-style TV movie to receive an Emmy nomination. And while the two tell TheWrap they are thrilled over getting yet another nod for their dark, tech-centric Netflix anthology, they don’t know how “Bandersnatch’s” central character, Stefan, would feel about this honor.
“Well, first we’d have to explain to him what that was,” Brooker said. “I’d dare say in 1984 in Britain, would he know particularly what the Emmys were? I suppose he would, wouldn’t he? It would be another level of confusion for him certainly (laughs).”
“Black Mirror” fans will remember that “Bandersnatch,” which was released last December, has many a meta element packed inside the interactive film, including actual references to Netflix when you choose certain paths. But these plot points really freak out Stefan, so there’s a chance he’d be even more freaked out over his Emmy nod.
As for how Jones and Brooker feel about the honor of receiving an Outstanding Television Movie nomination for the 2019 award show, they see a fun twist when it comes to “Bandersnatch” being up for the second round of voting.
“It’s quite funny, the irony of now people having to go away and vote on whether ‘Bandersnatch’ wins or doesn’t win is quite amusing,” Jones told TheWrap. “So the interactivity, the choose your own ending, takes on a whole new level.”
“But we don’t get to choose that bit!” Brooker added.
The pair are also honored that their “hybrid” project is “up against illustrious company.”
“It was always our ambition to focus on ‘Bandersnatch’ being a thrill, first and foremost, and obviously the interactivity is absolutely essential to the story and part of it,” Brooker said. “But we wanted this to engage with the characters in the story. So hopefully that’s why it’s got this nod at the moment.”
Brooker and Jones aren’t opposed to doing another “Choose Your Own Adventure”-type “Black Mirror,” but they’d need to put a great deal of thought into it.
“As we’ve always said, it really depends on what the story is and what the idea is because the interactivity is a very strong flavor and you need to justify its presence in the story you are telling,” Brooker said. “So it’s always led by what the scenario is and the characters are.”
Oh, just in case you were wondering, they would tell us absolutely nothing about a possible sixth season of “Black Mirror.” Sorry.
See the complete list of 2019 Emmy nominees here.