The Buccaneers is an Apple TV+ series about a group of fun-loving young American girls, who take over London in the 1870s, kicking off an Anglo-American culture clash. In Season 2, which debuted on June 18th, the Buccaneers now call England their home and must wrestle with romance, lust, jealousy, births and deaths.
The show was written by series creator Katherine Jakeways, and Season 2 was directed by BAFTA Award winner William McGregor, DGA Award winner Rachel Leiterman, John Hardwick and Charlie Manton. The Buccaneers is produced for Apple TV+ by The Forge Entertainment, a Banijay UK company.
William McGregor recently shared details on his involvement in the series, including his preparation process and the thinking behind some of the creative decisions he made during production and post.
How did you get involved directing episodes of Season 2?
"I was out in Istanbul, filming a commercial for Cartier. When I received the script for the lead block of Season 2, the scripts felt so bold and refreshing - they just grabbed my attention. I love period drama and escapist world-building, so The Buccaneers hugely appealed to me. I asked my agent to set up a meeting with the producers. At this point, all I had seen of Season 1 was the trailer as the first season wasn’t even out yet on Apple TV+.
"On talking with the producers about their ambition for the show and then on seeing Charlotte Regan's (Scrapper) amazing work when the Season 1 finale aired, I felt incredibly excited for the new season. I enthusiastically put together a visual pitch for the new season based on the scripts. Essentially, my vision for how I wanted to bring Season 2 to life. This included references to films like Joe Wright’s Pride and Prejudice, and Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, alongside references from fashion photographers, like Tim Walker. Fortunately, my vision of where to take Season 2 aligned with the producers, so I was very excited to join the new season as the lead director.:"
What was your process for Episode 1 and establishing the look for Season 2?
"We find our Buccaneers much changed from Season 1. Nan is now a Duchess, and her sister is on the run. They are all dealing with the reality of their choices, and find themselves in a high stakes, and sometimes dangerous, world. They have all matured, and therefore the style of storytelling and the aesthetic of the show needed to mature with them. We didn’t want to lose the color and pop of Season 1, but we wanted to bring more depth and shade into the mix.
"I love to prep. I very much work with shot lists, storyboards and visual references. In the case of The Buccaneers, I used Google Slides to create a blueprint for all of my scenes. This could be a few key images, including GIFs, location images and anything that helped convey the feeling of a scene. This document was accessible to everyone on the project so we had a talking point and something to refer to. In a way, it was like a scrapbook version of the show that helped everyone to be on the same page.
"I know Jimmy Knowles, our VFX producer, appreciated this greatly as it enabled him to budget for the VFX elements accurately. It also meant our DoP Simona Susnea and I were able to talk in detail about the feel for a scene with actual imagery to refer to - a great springboard to further the conversation and build the look of the show together."
What were some of the challenges you faced as a director?
"The stakes are high in the world of The Buccaneers. The writers take big swings and really push the characters emotionally, which is brilliant and creates this dynamic show with powerful twists and turns. The challenge, and joy, of this type of storytelling is bringing the story to life in a visual and expressive way whilst also remaining authentic to the characters. Navigating those big dramatic story turns with style and authenticity.
"Myself and the cast spent some time in rehearsals before filming began. But most of this time was spent working on back story and character relationships. This gave us a great foundation and shorthand so when we were on-set, we had this shared knowledge that would help inform our decisions on set. Essentially we are talking about the unique challenges of melodrama, where the stakes and emotions are high, but it is also essential to keep the authenticity of the characters' decision making so that the audience stays connected with the characters and their choices.
"One specific challenge was the Italian wedding sequence in Episode 4. For a start, we already had the fantastic Season 1 finale with the build-up to a spectacular wedding. And of course, Season 2 began with a bang with the fallout from that wedding. So the last thing we wanted halfway through Season 2 was a similar wedding sequence. You can get so caught up in having to shoot various eye lines and points of view in wedding scenes that it can be a challenge to give the story life and dynamism. Fortunately, this particular wedding scene...is all about Nan and Guy breaking free from their worries. It’s one of the few times we see them let loose as characters, and just be in love and enjoy each other.
"In order to capture this experience on-screen, I decided to shoot the scene in a unique way. Borrowing from British masters like Ken Loach and Mike Leigh. We spent the morning rehearsing with the actors playing the wedding guests, Kristine (Nan) and Matt (Guy) were kept away from the location so they couldn't see the scene. We effectively created a live scenario where the actors playing the guests had objectives and motivations to play throughout the scene. We then filmed the scene in the afternoon. Kristine and Matt are led into the wedding by the father of the bride. We filmed on long lenses to let the scene play out without the camera in the way. Ending with the wedding dance. Naturally after the first take, the element of surprise has been lost, but the experience and memory remains. We also filmed the subsequent scenes at the wedding in a more traditional way - but by this point we had set the tone and energy of the sequence."
"Approaching the scene this way gave the wedding sequence a vibrant joy and spontaneity. It was also a departure for myself as a director, as I tend to shot-list and storyboard everything, so allowing the scene to unfold and surprise us all was a wonderful experience and a technique I will certainly use again when it’s appropriate for the story.
"Another challenge was very much a personal one, as I had to leave filming partway through Episode 1 for a couple of weeks for the birth of my son. Apple and the producers were incredibly supportive, and it was wonderful to spend this time at home welcoming our baby into the world. Rachel Leiterman stepped in to continue directing Episode 1. It was very much a case of, one team, one dream. All the directors on the
show working together to make the best series possible. Looking back at it now, I am very grateful to everyone involved. Balancing our careers and our personal lives can be hard in this industry, so I am incredibly thankful for the positive experience."
Can you talk about your collaboration with the DP and other department heads on the last sequence in Episode 1, with Nan appearing in red on the black & white ball?
"In our initial tone meeting with Apple, we spent a lot of time talking about the big set piece of Season 2’s opening episode - the black & white ball. It is such an important moment for Nan’s character. She makes the decision that will shape her character across the season to come. She decides she will not conform - she rebels. And in doing so, helps take attention away from her fleeing sister and begins her
journey of pushing back against the patriarchy.
"In the initial script, the dress Nan wears was actually written as purple, but we ultimately changed the line and the script to a red dress. Red being a statement color of passion and danger, synonymous with storytelling from fairy tales to classic cinema. Kate Carin, our brilliant costume designer, created a truly wonderful costume that is more than just a dress, it’s a genuine statement piece. I treated the entire sequence like I would do an action sequence or high-end fashion advert - each moment storyboarded and designed to tell the story of Nan’s decision and the reaction to it. It was such a joy to film. Visually I wanted to echo Nan’s decision to make a big change and be bold. So with Simona Susnea, our incredibly talented DoP, we opted to film this scene on a different lens to the rest of the show. This special lens was the Hawk MHX, a lens with an anamorphic feel, giving the scene a subtle difference to the rest of the show. Something that the audience shouldn't notice directly, but should feel. The aim always being to use the various technical tools we have at our disposal to heighten the emotion of a scene.
"I am incredibly proud of this sequence and the statement Nan makes as a character. Hopefully, we did the scene justice. It is probably my favorite scene as it is such a visual piece of storytelling which will echo across the season as Nan’s journey continues."
Who were the editors that you were working with on your episodes?
"I had the pleasure of working with two fantastic editors, Hazel Bailie, the series editor, who returned from Season 1, and Miguel Rebagliato. Miguel was actually an assistant editor on the show to begin with, but with Hazel taking more of a bird's eye view across the series, Miguel stepped up and earned his first full editing credit with Episode 4.
"I always love it when you see someone step up, their hard work being
recognized. Apple were incredibly supportive in the edit and gave great feedback. It’s wonderful to see a creative environment where people are given the opportunity to rise. I have to say I am as equally proud of Episode 4 as I am of the opening Episode 1. There are some music sequences in Episode 4 that were a treat to film and play with in the edit."
Can you mention any of the gear used for the shoot and edit?
"We filmed on the (Arri) Alexa LF, which is my go-to camera across all my projects. The open-gate format allows for some wiggle room in the edit if you do need to slightly pan and scan. We cut on the industry standard Avid. But what I really enjoyed was the support from Apple to experiment, using the anamorphic style Hawk lenses mentioned previously for the red-dress sequence, but also old lenses like the Petzvels, which we used for some specific close-ups. Their vintage aesthetic and dreamy bokeh highlighting specific romantic moments in an almost fairy-tale way."
Talk a bit about the importance of music on this show.
"Apple gave us this great gift of a folder full of marvelous, unreleased demo tracks. A treasure trove to dive into. We found some awesome tracks in there that are now in the show and will be released in the official album. What was great about this is, from my point of view, is that I am able to design sequences with music in mind, following the rhythm and pacing of a track to highlight the emotion of a scene.
"In some cases, we even played music on-set to help us get into the scene. There is one particular dance sequence that opens Episode 4 with Theo in the castle that I am incredibly excited to share. It was our very own 'Risky Business' scene. It’s the first time in Theo’s life that he hasn’t had a Dowager or a Duchess sharing the castle with him. Without giving too many spoilers away, he is in an anarchic ‘rock and roll’ mood. So we worked with our fantastic choreographer Sammy Murray to design a dance sequence that reflected this emotion. Guy Remmers also brought so many of his own brilliant ideas to the scene - that man can dance. It’s definitely an impactful way to start an episode, and gives us an insight into the psychology of the Duke at the point in time. He’s a canon ball and he’s coming in hot!
"My hope is that the music feels like a part of the DNA of the show, as integrated and intentional as the costume and makeup. Avawaves, our brilliant composers, also did an incredible job of weaving the contemporary needle drops into the score of the series. The music feels like a very fresh and invigorating approach to scoring a period drama."