In 2019, Max Winkler was an indie film director about to level up. Having cut his teeth directing sitcoms in the ’10s — including “New Girl,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “Fresh Off the Boat” — 2017’s dark comedy “Flower” was warmly received by audiences. His next film was the gritty boxing drama “Jungleland,” which starred Charlie Hunnam and Jack O’Connell.
Debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival, it got solid reviews, and seemed like it could be a commercial hit — maybe even get some awards consideration. It was part of a junk deal from the financier to sell to Paramount. It was so crushing, and I had no money and I had just bought a house and was completely broke.
My wife was pregnant at the time. At a certain point — I’m still an artist, but I stopped pretending I was someone else. I stopped pretending like I had to try and be Paul Thomas Anderson, which I’m never gonna be, because there’s only one Paul Thomas Anderson.
I became a craftsman in a way, and I was just like, ‘All right, fuck it. I need to make money.’” Winkler first entered the Ryan Murphy vast universe of television shows through directing episodes of both “American Horror Stories” and “American Horror Story” in 2021. What he admired about Murphy’s vision was how his fascinations aligned with populist ideas.
If I was left to my own devices, my interest is, ‘How do I make it feel like “The Last Detail,” which appeals to you and me and seven other people?’ With kids and the actual fire of ‘No, I have to work,’ I was able to say, ‘How can I take these ideas that are a little bigger than I’m comfortable doing? How can I still make it the way I made my movies, with a specificity and, God willing, a craftsmanship and a level of care?’” Ultimately, the pair kicked off a robust collaboration that grew and grew, with Winkler directing episodes of and executive producing nearly every Murphy project, from the “Monster” franchise to “Love Story,” “The Shards” to “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” “I think we both genuinely like to impress one another,” Winkler says.
Or he does the dramaturgy for it, and says, ‘Are you interested in this?’ If it’s something I feel like I connect to, I love working with him. I find his brain fascinating, and the fact that I happen to find him to be truly singular and brilliant is the first part of it. So when he turns over a script and says, ‘Are you interested?’ I’ll go and I’ll make it, and we’ll talk about it.
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