’Riviera’
’Riviera’
’Riviera’

'Riviera'

What Paul McGuinness did next.

15 Jul 2017

It launched last month, the most popular premiere on Sky Atlantic this year. 
It's a ten-part thriller set in the dazzling playgrounds of the super-rich in the South of France.
It stars Julia Stiles, best known for the Bourne series.
And it's what Paul McGuinness did next... after stepping down, in 2013, following 35 years as manager of U2.

Paul, who was in the film business before he was in the rock business, has spent a lot of time on the Riviera over the last two decades and his original idea for the new series was sparked by the stunning backdrops of towns like Nice, Cannes and  Antibes dotted along the French south coast.
"It's extraordinary," he says. "You can point a camera in any direction and you'll find something that looks fantastic." 
But making a hit TV drama is different to making a hit with a rock'n'roll band.
"It's like rock ‘n' roll but different," he explains. "The buzz of producing a television drama is not the same as the buzz I used to get watching U2 play to massive audiences every night.
"The logic of a rock ‘n' roll tour is that everything that happens during the day is resolved by the performance. When the show is finished you move on. 
"It's visceral and instantly satisfying. Making television drama is a much slower burn.

"A different thrill from seeing Bono and the boys up on stage. But a thrill nevertheless."

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