This week on On Story, a conversation on Silicon Valley with its writer, director, and executive producer, Alec Berg, and one of its lead actors, Martin Starr. Silicon Valley stars Thomas Middleditch as Richard Hendricks, a programmer at a fictional tech mega-corporation who spends his spare time developing his data-compression startup, Pied Piper. Alongside his friends and colleagues, Richard struggles to get Pied Piper off the ground in the competitive landscape of the Silicon Valley tech industry. The cast also includes T.J. Miller, Josh Brener, Kumail Nanjiani, Zach Woods, and our guest, Martin Starr. Silicon Valley ran for six seasons on HBO and received 41 Emmy nominations. Silicon Valley was created by Mike Judge, creator of Beavis and Butt-head, and co-creator of King of the Hill, alongside his collaborators John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky. Alec Berg was brought on to give feedback on Silicon Valley's pilot episode, and stayed on as a writer, director, producer, and eventual co-showrunner. Berg's credit list as a writer, director, and producer of episodic comedy is extensive. Before Silicon Valley, Berg worked as a writer for Seinfeld, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Berg co-created the black comedy Barry alongside Bill Hader. Berg also co-wrote the screenplays for the films The Cat in the Hat, EuroTrip, and The Dictator. You may know Martin Starr from his roles as Bill Haverchuck on Freaks and Geeks, Roman DeBeers on Party Down, Bodhi (Bow-dee) on Tulsa King, or from his work in the films Knocked Up, Adventureland, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. In Silicon Valley, Starr plays Bertram Gilfoyle, a sardonic, Canadian Satanist and a founding member of Pied Piper. I sat down with Martin Starr and Alec Berg to talk all about their process diving into the competitive, slightly ridiculous world of tech on Silicon Valley. Clips of Silicon Valley courtesy of Home Box Office Inc.
