Vinyl on HBO is still in its freshman season, but already the 1970s rock ‘n roll drama is looking at a major shakeup for the second season. Today HBO announced that Terence Winter who has served as the co-creator, executive producer, and showrunner will be leaving the show. According to Deadline, Winter is leaving the series due to creative differences.
Replacing Winter as executive producer and showrunner is Scott Z. Burns (The Bourne Ultimatum), and Max Borenstein (Godzilla) will also serve as an executive producer for Vinyl.
The news of Winter’s departure comes as a shock considering his work with HBO spans two decades. He rose in the industry due to his work on The Sopranos, for which he eventually became an executive producer. He also created and executive produced Boardwalk Empire for HBO, and Vinyl was his most recent project for the network. Winter’s other work include The Wolf of Wall Street which was nominated for an Oscar.
In regards to Winter’s departure, HBO told Deadline, “As we head into the second season of Vinyl, we have decided it is an appropriate time to make a change in the creative direction of the show. We have enjoyed a longtime partnership with Terry Winter at HBO on projects from The Sopranos to Boardwalk Empire to Vinyl, and we look forward to our next collaboration with him. We are pleased to welcome Scott Z. Burns, executive producer and showrunner, and Max Borenstein, executive producer, as the new team helming the show.”
The statement HBO released makes it sound like the reasons for Winter’s departure from Vinyl will not prevent him from working with HBO, and we may be able to look forward to seeing more of his work on the network in the future.
The two hour premiere for Vinyl aired on February 14 and will end its 10-episode run on April 14. The series went through a long development process (20 years in fact) before it became a reality. Mick Jagger and Martin Scorsese, who serve as executive producers, initially envisioned Vinyl as a feature film. Years later the project was revisited at HBO in 2010, but the series had to wait on the back burner until Winter wrapped up Boardwalk Empire.
The show opened to decent ratings and has been well received by critics. After only one episode had aired HBO renewed it for a sophomore season.