David Fincher is fresh off the critical/commercial success of his Gone Girl film adaptation, and has been actively developing a couple of televisions series for HBO in recent months. One such program is known as Videosyncrazy (previously titled Video Syncronicity and Living on Video) and was inspired in part by Fincher's own humble beginnings as a music video production assistant back in the 1980s.

The in-progress show is being headlined by Charlie Rowe (Pirate Radio, Red Band Society) as Robby, an idealistic neophyte-filmmaker in early 80's Los Angeles, who becomes swept up in the glamour and excitement of the burgeoning music video industry. Corbin Bernsen, Sam Page, Jason Flemyng, Kerry Condon, and Elizabeth Lail are onboard as costars, but now the future of the series has been called into question.

There was a pretty tight lid on the Videosyncrazy production from the beginning (as is usually Fincher's wont on set), but Deadline is reporting that filming on the show (which has a handful of episodes shot already) has been halted, while HBO reviews the first few episodes. The show is apparently not just undergoing some script retooling at the network's request; Fincher himself has asked for some time to make decisions on the creative direction of the series.

Fischer is directing these initial Videosyncrazy episodes, based on scripts penned by the show's creators, Bob Stephenson and Rich Wilkes. The Se7en and Social Network director's first foray into televised drama, Netflix's House of Cards, was a clear-cut success both critically and commercially, so a new Fincher-led television property (in theory) should have been a pretty easy slam dunk. That's especially the case here, seeing as Videosyncrazy examines a facet of entertainment that Fincher even facilitated in becoming a bigger industry, in real life.

David Fincher and Kevin Spacey filming House of Cards
David Fincher and Kevin Spacey filming a scene for 'House of Cards'

So what happened on the set that caused the whole thing to break down? That remains unclear for now, though Deadline's sources are reporting that certain Videosyncrazy cast members have already been told that the show's ten episode order from HBO has been rescinded and will not go further. Still, Fincher having asked for time to look at the direction of the show indicates that the final nail in the coffin has not yet been driven.

For related reasons, it seems unlikely that the opposition to the current creative state of the project is coming solely from Fincher's end. All that can be done now is to wait and hope that an agreeable compromise is reached and that Videosyncrazy goes forward as planned. The series'  subject matter is inherently interesting and period pieces set in the 1980s are always (at very worst) aesthetically and stylistically amusing, after all.

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We'll keep you updated on the status of Videosyncrazy as the story develops.

Source: Deadline