Brighton, N.Y.— When Cinemax’s new show “Banshee” airs on Friday, January 11, it will be the first time Brighton resident David Schickler will see his name in rolling credits.
Schickler is the co-creator and an executive producer for “Banshee”. The Gates native and McQuaid Jesuit graduate first started working on the screenplay for the show with Jonathan Tropper three years ago.
“It’s an hour-long show about a criminal (a jewel thief) who is pretending to be a cop in a town in Pennsylvania,” Schickler explains. “He’s trying to find the woman who he used to pull jobs with. She’s now living in this small town under an assumed identity. She’s married to the district attorney and has two kids. He finds out one of those kids just might be his.”
It’s a love story, but it’s an action drama too.
The main character, Lucas Hood, is hunted down by a team of gangsters.
Schickler says Hood’s action-filled, dramatic life has no reflection on his own life. However, writing screenplays like “Banshee” has always been a Schickler’s dream.
“Ever since I was a boy, that was the kind of thing I wanted to be able to write,” he explains. “Not that I live that way myself. I am a fairly straight-laced guy, but in books and movies, I like to throw a few punches and mix it up.”
While this is Schickler’s first producing credit, he is already an accomplished writer. Twelve years ago, his book “Kissing in Manhattan” was published and became a New York Times Bestseller.
Since then he has written several screenplays but “Banshee” is the first one to become a produced television show.
“The biggest thing that I am is grateful,” says Schickler. “It’s just an incredibly wild ride and a dream come true.”
Earlier in Schickler’s life, he wanted to be a priest. When he decided priesthood wasn’t right for him, Schickler became a high school English teacher. All the while, he never gave up his love of writing. It wasn’t until his fourth book that he became a published author.
“All the young writers out there who are writing their fairly freaky stories, keep at it,” Schickler says. “Sometimes it hits or comes through for you.”
The first season of “Banshee” will include ten episodes. The pilot will air at 10 p.m. on Friday.
Schickler is currently working on a new memoir to be released September 2013.
