Cory Stillman
For co-creators Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, the world of Industry has always been growing.
“We’ve always tried to expand the world of Industry spiritually,” says Down.
What began on HBO in 2020 as a tightly wound financial drama, set largely within the offices of Pierpoint in London’s Canary Wharf, has since grown increasingly global, culminating in the signature season 4 episode “Eyes Without a Face.” The episode sends Sweetpea Golightly (Miriam Petche) and series newcomer Kwabena Bannerman (Toheeb Jimoh) to Accra, Ghana in search of a whistleblower wrapped up in a large-scale scheme of financial fraud.
Even after previous detours to Mallorca and the southwest of the UK, “Eyes Without a Face” marks a notable evolution for Industry, Ghana not only geographically further from the show’s London homebase, but also a visual departure for the hit series. While the episode was not quite filmed in Accra – Durban, South Africa made for an appropriate stand-in – Down and Kay have always been aware of the ways in which on-location filming can properly enhance a final product, and that emphasis proved particularly crucial in this fourth season.
“We’re telling a story about secrecy, and secrecy based on geography. The reason Tender is able to operate is because people are not willing to go to sub-Saharan Africa and knock on doors that nobody has yet knocked on,” says Down. “It would have felt completely shoddy if we hadn’t actually gone to Africa for those scenes.”
In all fairness, Industry has found plenty of success approximating London via its primary filming location in Cardiff, but the Welsh capital was not going to cut it as a proxy for its Ghanian counterpart. Durban therefore lends “Eyes Without a Face” a unique texture worthy of the increased attention the entire series has earned this Emmy season. Pulling from the iconic corporate/legal thrillers of the ’90s and 2000s – Kwabena invokes Erin Brockovich as he watches Sweetpea work her magic, and Down/Kay acknowledged The Insider and Michael Clayton as key influences on S4 – Industry finds itself tapping into an elevated sense of tension and urgency that continues to make it one of the best shows on television.
But in reflecting on the series’ legacy amidst its newfound place in the awards landscape, Kay has just one wish:
“If we snuck a couple of Emmy noms – especially in the acting categories – I would be really, really happy,” says Kay.
And with career-best work in season 4 from Myha’la, Marisa Abela, Ken Leung, Kit Harrington, and so many more…Kay’s wish might just come true.
Listen to our full conversation with Mickey Down and Konrad Kay below, as well as a bonus conversation from earlier this year. We dive into the specter of sex trafficking in both Industry and the real world, and unpack the genre trappings that have made season 4 such a thrill ride from start to finish.
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