In Apple TV+'s City on Fire, which comes from executive producers and showrunners Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, a suburban teen must unravel the mystery of her friend's murder after she is shot in Central Park on July 4, 2003.
The series, which will premiere on May 12, is based on the novel of the same name which takes place in 1970s New York, a time of dire financial crisis and widespread panic in the city due to a series of shootings.
“We feel that while it's a fascinating period, is well-trodden territory. We were really interested in that post-9/11, Occupy Wall Street in New York. Obviously the book culminates with the blackout of '77. There was a massive blackout in 2003. So creatively, that story lined up. But also thematically, 1977 was a time when people weren't sure our city was going to survive. After 9/11 in New York, people had the same concerns, the same fears," Schwartz said during the AppleTV+ Television Critics Association panel on Wednesday.
Despite the time difference, the story remains basically the same. Samantha (played by Chase Sui Wonders) is alone when she dies, with no witnesses and very little physical evidence. Her friends' band is playing at her favorite club downtown, but she leaves to meet someone and promises to come back. She never does. As the crime against Samantha is investigated, it is revealed that she is the crucial connection between a series of mysterious city-wide fires, the downtown music scene, and a wealthy uptown real estate family crumbles under the strain of the many secrets they hold.
Wyatt Oleff stars as Charlie, a friend of Samantha's struggling to cope with the death of her father on September 11 two years earlier. After he is shot, he will stop at nothing to uncover the mystery of what happened.
The punk scene in downtown New York plays a huge role in the novel, and thankfully the early years were another palpable time for music in the city, as Schwartz explained. “That's when rock and roll was reinvented or saved, however you want to say it, in the downtown New York music scene. Many of those artists appear on the show, and we have a fictional band on the show... that was an effort to create the best early years band you've ever heard before."
City on Fire is produced by Apple Studios for Apple TV+. Schwartz and Savage wrote all eight episodes and serve as showrunners and executive producers under Fake Empire. Jesse Peretz directs four episodes and serves as an executive producer. Fake Empire's Lis Rowinski serves as co-executive producer.
The series also stars Jemima Kirke, Nico Tortorella, Ashley Zukerman, Xavier Clyde, Max Milner, Alexandra Doke, Omid Abtahi, Kathleen Munroe, and John Cameron Mitchell. It will premiere on AppleTV+ on May 12.