#TuneInThursday: Interview With The Brains Behind "Sunset Ppl"

It's an exciting time for Adriano Valentini and Aaron Colom as their pilot Sunset Ppl is set to air on NBC this weekend. How did this opportunity come about?

Adriano and Aaron were named one of two winners of the first NBC nation groundbreaking comedy initiative, NBC Playground. They were kind enough to answer a few of my questions. Check it out below:

What separates Sunset Ppl from other pilots/shows this season? 

Aaron: It is part of the NBC Playground initiative to find up and coming content creators and help them start their careers.  So we went through a different process than most shows. 

Adriano: Exactly. Usually a network won’t air just a pilot (without additional episodes ordered), but because this was part of the NBC Playground, that’s what they’re doing. Maybe if enough people watch it, like it, and it gets enough good feedback, NBC will ask us to make more.

Is there a story behind the title, or will that give away too much?

Aaron: We wanted something that would really speak to the millennial generation trying to make it in Hollywood.

Adriano: Originally we had a different title, but we couldn’t get it cleared. We then decided on Sunset Ppl. There’s an 80s song called Sunset People (Donna Summers) basically about people on the Sunset Strip. Our characters are supposed to live just off of Sunset, so we thought it sounded cool.  We spelled people “ppl” because that’s probably how you’d spell it in a text.

Why should people watch your show?

Aaron: I think it is a really fun look at friendship and how we all function growing up in the digital age.  

Adriano: I think the issues/themes are relevant and relatable. It’s got a great cast and it’s funny (at least I think).  And it was made by a lot of amazing people!

Did you learn anything new about yourselves and/or each other through the process of putting this together? 

Aaron: I really learned how fun it is to work as a team.  You get to build on each other’s thoughts and ideas.  It really helps expand the world and create unique voices for the characters.  

Adriano: As a director, it was the biggest thing I’ve ever worked on. It was the first time that I had to answer creatively to other people and not just to myself.  So I learned a lot about how to manage that collaboration.  It was also the first time Aaron and I co-wrote something together, so we had to figure out what our process would be.  So we kinda figured it out as we went.  All in all, it was an amazing experience. We got to work alongside a lot of very incredible people who are the very best at what they do, so we were constantly learning as we went.

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Now that's a team I'd love to be a part of! They compliment each other pretty well and it seems like we're all in for a good time when Sunset Ppl hits the small screen.

Stay up late  or set your DVRs to catch the pilot on Saturday, September 3 at 1:30am on NBC.