True Detective Creator Explains Why He Quit The Killing Writing Staff

By Josh Hill | Oct 27, 2014

True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto hasn’t always followed the well traveled path, but the risks he took led to one of the best shows on television.

Being a success in the cutthroat world of Hollywood is all about taking risks. Think about the best roles and films in the history of entertainment and all of them contain some element of major risk. From Hell’s Angels and Howard Hughes, to Star Wars and all the way up to Guardians of the Galaxy, Hollywood is all about risk.

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That’s why it’s of no surprise that True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto is one of the most successful men in the industry at the moment. He didn’t get there without risking it all early on in his career though.

Nic Pizzolatto told The Hollywood Reporter that he quit the first season of AMC’s The Killing because he wanted to branch out and do his own thing.

"“I had this feeling of needing to make up for lost time, and I just felt like I needed to go off on my own,” he says. “I know that wasn’t the traditional wisdom, but, I mean, rarely have I taken traditional wisdom.”"

It’s easy to get into a rut while in Hollywood as the industry is full of sharks who will eat anyone alive to stay relevant for another hour. Quitting a staff writing job on a cable show is always risky but it’s not always a rewarding job. No one goes to Hollywood to be another cog in they machine, and Pizzolatto took full control of his future by taking risks that brought about an Emmy winning series on HBO.

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