Creative Team Explains The Necessity Of Incorporating Specific Elements Into ‘The Continental: From The World Of John Wick’

 It all starts with a sketch. Or so says Albert Hughes about his work on the series The Continental: From the World of John Wick.

Set in New York City in the ‘70s, the series is a prequel to the John Wick films that explores the origin behind the iconic hotel-for-assassins. Following the young hotel proprietor Winston Scott, a role portrayed by Ian McShane in the films and Colin Woddell in this version, The Continental tells the origin story of a chain of hotels that serve as a neutral ground for an underworld of assassins.

While Winston rises to helm The Continental eventually, during the timeline of the series he is just a businessman who is not well connected. To move up the chain and gain more control, Winston puts together his own crew which includes a former Khmer Rouge soldier, Yen (Nhung Kate), and siblings with a martial arts background, Lou (Jessica Allain) and Miles (Hubert Point-Du Jour). The series also stars Mel Gibson, Mishel Prada and Ben Robson.

Hughes (The Book of Eli, Menace II Society), who served as executive producer and directed two episodes of the three-part series, explains that he started drawing when he was 12 and was, ‘the kind of kid who was always afraid to show up without doing the homework.’

So to prep for directing The Continental, Hughes says, “With film, I do a detailed shot list, not a traditional one with coloring coding etc, but I started with shorthand sketching, and then I write it and then I type that out into a longer document, which is usually longer than the script, and then I laminated for myself to have on set.”