Teenager Zelda Barnz Provides Fresh, First-Hand Insight For New HBO Max Scripted Series GENERA+ION

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Each aging generation thinks that the next generation is lost or out of control. It’s a situation that has repeated itself over and over through the decades. But while the pattern is consistent, the specifics change. It’s true that every young generation faces challenges that are unique to the era, and TV shows and movies seek to zero in on those details, with a yearning to document and understand. The major factor that makes the new HBO Max drama series GENERA+ION particularly authentic is that a teenager is one of the creators, writers, and executive producers. Zelda Barnz, now 19, put GENERA+ION together with her dad Daniel Barnz, who also directs. With Lena Dunham as one of the executive producers as well, GENERA+ION (the “+” being a nod to the “+” in LGBTQ+) debuts Thursday, March 11, with the first three episodes dropping only on Crave. “This came from Zelda, this is her idea,” said Daniel Barnz, during a recent virtual panel session with the cast and producers. “She’s such a strong north star for all of us, and because she’s just out of high school, she can tell us where we’re getting it right, and where we’re getting it wrong.” Any specific examples? “I can’t tell you the fierce notes we’ve gotten about how texts are written in the show, and what it means if you put a capital letter, or a period, at the end of a text, how it’s a sign of aggression, and we better not do that,” Daniel Barnz said. “Thank God for Zelda for keeping us on track.” Joking aside, GENERA+ION tackles many subjects that are definitely more weighty, and at times far more jarring, than the wording of texts. The show is described as a dark yet playful dramedy following a group of high school students whose exploration of modern sexuality tests entrenched beliefs in their relatively conservative California community. “We drew a lot of inspiration from real-world influence,” Zelda Barnz said. “Something that’s real and authentic is intersectionality, and people who identify across the gender and sexuality spectrum, and with different races and ethnicities. It’s not just people who are straight and gay, there’s a whole spectrum, and all those identities deserve to be represented.” Daniel Barnz added that his daughter didn’t want to leave any of the casting to chance. “One thing Zelda felt very passionately about, even when we were writing our very first draft of the pilot, was she wanted to make sure the characters were identified in the script by race and ethnicity,” Daniel Barnz said. “Because I think she felt like – and sometimes this is true – that when people read scripts, they tend to read characters with unspecified race and ethnicities as ‘white.’ So it was important to her to make sure that these characters would ultimately be cast with, predominantly, people of colour, and that these stories would be about the ways that they identify across the gender and sexuality spectrums.” Comparisons have been made between GENERA+ION and another HBO series that focuses on young people, EUPHORIA. “I’m a huge fan of EUPHORIA, it’s an incredible show and the craftsmanship is amazing,” Daniel Barnz said. “On paper, I agree, there are some overlaps and similarities, but our show is really quite different, and honestly, I think when you watch the two of them, it’s just abundantly clear.” One of the most obvious differences, he said, is that EUPHORIA is an hour-long show, while GENERA+ION is a half-hour show. The shorter running time allows for a different philosophy. “The real beauty of that half-hour format is there’s less pressure on story, and you’re allowed to let your characters live and breathe and experience,” Daniel Barnz said. “One of the things that Zelda is always wanting us to do is to reflect the actual experiences of teenagers, which sometimes are kind of random or weird. They go off on tangents, and strange things happen.” Speaking of those “tangents” and “strange things,” did it ever feel weird for Zelda Barnz to be discussing some of this stuff with her father? “I definitely think at first it was a bit uncomfortable trying to figure out what I could talk about, and not talk about, with my dad,” Zelda Barnz admitted. “But I definitely got to a place where I was like, ‘I want this show to feel real, and I want this show to feel authentic, and in order to commit to that vision, I’m really going to have to be honest and open.’ ” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv