The countdown is on for “Countdown,” Prime Video’s new special task force crime drama from Derek Haas premiering June 25.
The series stars Jensen Ackles, Jessica Camacho, Violett Beane, Uli Latukefu, Jonathan Togo and Elliot Knight as various law enforcement agents who are put together under leader Eric Dane to solve a murder … with much greater implications for Los Angeles.
“A lot of shows in this genre, for whatever reason, in the last 10 to 15 years, they’re really dark and cynical and super gritty and dirty. I remember the movies from the ’80s I grew up loving — ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark,’ ‘Crimson Tide,’ ‘Die Hard,’ ‘Lethal Weapon’ — which I don’t feel like you see in this genre too much anymore,” Haas told TheWrap at the premiere. “Thankfully, I got Jensen Ackles … he could have been in any of those movies.”
“The hardest thing is to come up with surprises. Even when people expect something in this genre, you always want to try to zig right when they think you’re going to zag,” he further explained. “I try to write to surprise, but that doesn’t just mean a twist at the end of the episode, just individual dialogue, you should try to keep the audience on their toes.”
Wednesday night’s premiere at Harmony Gold also marked Dane’s first red carpet since going public with his ALS diagnosis.
“When I first saw the cast all together, my heart started beating fast, because I thought we’ve got some magic going on here. Then it’s just my job to capture that. I was hoping the off-camera chemistry would translate — it’s in spades,” Haas added. “To make a show in Los Angeles is a little rarer these days, so it was really rewarding.”
“The genius of our creator, our showrunner Derek Haas — he’s so amazing at keeping you guessing. He doesn’t like easy, quick resolutions, he doesn’t like following a formula. Every time you think something’s going to be answered, it just digs deeper and takes another twist,” Camacho said of the “One Chicago” Universe boss. “Also, the chemistry of this particular cast is undeniable, it’s so real. The heart of this show really sets it apart.”
“Derek is the creator, co-creator of some of TV’s most successful franchises — hundreds and hundreds of episodes. We chased him for years,” Vernon Sanders, Amazon MGM Studios’ co-head of Television, told the crowd. “Jensen Ackles, who we also chased for years, and once we got him we introduced the two and together we’re here.”
“My Los Angeles-based crew. There’s not a lot of production going on and they crushed it,” Haas also noted before the screening. “This cast. I got to watch this cast meet for the first time ever and then watch them gel. The chemistry they shared off-screen, I get to be the beneficiary of, because it’s all on-screen.”
The afterparty at Horses featured a full buffet, passed apps, cocktails, wine and mocktails, a themed photo-op and a delightful piñata entryway. Other notable guests included Derek Luh, Guillermo Díaz, Gracie Gillam, Nat Zang, Briana Venskus, Loren Lott, Adam Tsekhman, Yi Zhou and Naomi Grossman, as well as series co-stars Merrick McCartha and Bogdan Yasinski.
“Countdown” premieres its first three episodes June 25 on Prime Video, followed by one new episode a week every Wednesday.
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