Silka Luisa '11 and Jonathan Van Tulleken '10 Team Up for 'Blade Runner 2099'

Amazon Prime recently announced that Film alum Jonathan Van Tulleken '10 will direct and executive produce the first two episodes of the new high-profile limited series, Blade Runner 2099. Created and showrun by fellow Film alum Silka Luisa '11, the series’ production has been moved to Prague, Czech Republic after initially being planned for Belfast, Northern Ireland. Production is slated to begin in April of 2025.

The limited series is produced by Alcon Entertainment and Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions. Ridley Scott previously directed the original 1982 Blade Runner movie and is now executive producing Blade Runner 2099, a follow-up to the 2017 movie sequel Blade Runner 2049.

This new iteration will launch the Blade Runner story fifty years after the events of Blade Runner 2049, likely showing a vastly different version of the dystopian Earth setting and potentially even beyond. The series has already attracted significant talent, with Michelle Yeoh set to star as Olwen, a Blade Runner facing the end of her life, alongside Hunter Schafer in a co-leading role.

Most recently, Tulleken directed and executive produced the first two episodes of the hit FX series, Shōgun, which drew nine million views across Hulu, Disney+, and Star+ in just the first six days after release and has gone on to secure critical acclaim worldwide. 

"You think when you're working on big things, TV productions with tons of money, crew, and everything—you're going to be in over your head. And it's legitimately scary," Van Tulleken recently shared with Columbia Film students at a special speaking event. "But in the end it's just like you and your friends working on these films at Columbia—it's a bunch of people making something, figuring it out.

"The best preparation for a career in TV directing was just making things, making things all the time," he added. "I made a lot of mistakes, and if you don't allow yourself to roll over and die of embarrassment—you learn a ton!"

During this recent visit to campus, Van Tulleken offered students an in-depth look at his directing process, sharing scripts, sizzle reels, and camera tests from Shōgun. He even screened scenes he had to shoot twice, demonstrating how directing choices can significantly impact narrative understanding.

“I owe so much to Columbia Film for where I am now," said Van Tulleken. "Everything I do, a lot of my thinking right there on set, comes directly from the foundation I got in those Columbia classrooms."

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.

Silka Luisa, who serves as showrunner and executive producer, brings significant experience to the project, having previously created and showrun the acclaimed Apple TV+ series Shining Girls, starring Elizabeth Moss. Her scripts have earned numerous accolades, including the IFP-Marcie Bloom Fellowship and Columbia University's prestigious Arthur Krim Award. After graduating from Columbia's MFA Film Program in 2011, she completed Film Independent's Project Involve Fellowship and went on to write for series including Strange Angel and The Wilding.