Film alum Jonathan Van Tulleken '10 has co-executive produced the first two episodes of Shōgun, a new series set to premiere on FX on February 27, 2024. Van Tulleken also directed two episodes of the first season.
Shōgun, an adaptation of James Clavell’s bestselling novel, is an epic saga set in Feudal Japan in the year 1600 at the dawn of a century-defining civil war.
When a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village, its English pilot, John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), comes bearing secrets that could help Toranaga tip the scales of power and devastate the formidable influence of Blackthorne’s own enemies—the Jesuit priests and Portuguese merchants. Toranaga’s and Blackthorne’s fates become inextricably tied to their translator, Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai), a mysterious Christian noblewoman and the last of a disgraced line. While serving her lord amidst this fraught political landscape, Mariko must reconcile her newfound companionship with Blackthorne, her commitment to the faith that saved her and her duty to her late father.
Van Tulleken was named a ‘Star of Tomorrow’ by Screen International in 2010. While a student at Columbia, he was awarded the Steve Kessler Award for Best Director. Since then his work has been nominated for various awards, including the BBC Short Film Awards and Virgin Media Short Finals. In 2012 Jonathan helmed a number of episodes of E4’s BAFTA award winning series Misfits and in 2013 directed the entire second series of Channel 4’s BAFTA winning drama Top Boy. Now, he is set to direct the much anticipated Amazon Prime series Blade Runner 2099, which begins filming this April.
Watch a trailer for Shōgun below.
