By RACHEL REEVES
From the outset, adapting Neil Gaiman’s sprawling, 75-issue comic series THE SANDMAN for television was a monumental undertaking. Deeply saturated with enigmatic characters, complex storylines, and wondrous dark fantasy landscapes, the series’ passionate fanbase is the only thing to rival its sheer size and scope. However, after years of false starts and broken fan hearts, Netflix finally delivered.
Universally well-received by fans and critics alike, THE SANDMAN has seemingly done justice to Gaiman’s source material. Powered by a strong performance from Tom Sturridge (VELVET BUZZSAW) as Dream, the series follows the mysterious lord of dreams as he escapes century-long imprisonment and seeks to recover precious and powerful items stolen from him. Confronted by the devastating effects of his absence, Dream becomes forced to reconnect with his unique family of Endless entities and deal with problems long left unchecked. Although THE SANDMAN succeeds on multiple levels, none would be possible without the show’s talented team of dedicated, talented writers.
One such writer on the show is Vanessa Benton. As a huge personal fan of THE SANDMAN series, as well as dark fantasy, horror, and genre storytelling, Benton was a pitch-perfect choice for the project. With years of writing and professional work experience under their belt for shows like FATE: THE WINX SAGA, HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER, and BET’s IN CONTEMPT, Benton’s distinctive voice and perspective in the writer’s room was a powerful asset. On top of contributing to the entire series, Benton was the lead writer for the show’s popular ninth episode, “Collectors.”
Recently, Rue Morgue had the privilege of chatting with Benton to learn more about their background and craft. On top of their experience with THE SANDMAN, we discuss their love of horror, finding their passion, dealing with IP, and the horror films that continue to inspire them on the daily.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you got your start writing.
Vanessa Benton: My mom was a pretty big influence on why I became a writer. She was a teacher and a musician. She had a funk band, and because she had a band, I grew up going to a lot of her gigs. But more importantly, she took me clothes shopping with her.
That introduced me to the early days of Hot Topic and latex. I got really into that aesthetic which kind of led into the creative. Since she was a teacher and a creative herself, it was kind of…not mandatory, but it was pretty much like, “I hope you’re doing something creative.” So, writing became one of my things. The best part about it was she was just like, “You can do whatever you want.” She was also a big horror fan. So while I was a kid, I wasn’t writing horror stuff, but I got a big influence from her with a bunch of different genres and bands.
Then in college (which was kind of when I solidified), I started at the University of Wisconsin. I was going to be a lawyer because I’m the oldest, and I was like, “Let me be the person that makes the money in the family.” Hated it. Absolutely hated it. I did Political Science, I did Business, I was going to switch to [Veterinary Science]. I didn’t know what the fuck I wanted to do. It wasn’t until I got pulled into this “You have switched into a bunch of different majors, let’s talk about it” seminar.
There they introduced us to a bunch of different majors, and there was one for Communication Arts, TV, Radio, and Film. Then it was like, “Oh, yeah. Cool.” Granted, I feel like a lot of Midwestern writers feel this way, but it was like, “I didn’t know that you can do this as a career.” Seeing that, I remember asking the counselor, “So…you can, like, do that as a job? Like, real TV?” And they were like, “Yeah.” So I started doing that major. And, University of Wisconsin is a heavy STEM-focused school. So I felt at the time that I wanted to go somewhere that was more creative arts-focused.
So I transferred to Tisch at NYU, and that’s where I got my training for real, for real. And, I always like to shout out one of my professors Susan Sandler who really taught me the art of writing for real. I did a bunch of internships there while working at a whack body waxing center on the side. And, when it was time to graduate, basically harassed my teachers and was like, “All these kids are rich. I am not. What do I do?” And I used them and people that I met at the internships to network out here and eventually get my first job.
My first job was as a showrunner’s assistant on the show IN CONTEMPT at BET. The showrunner was Terri Kopp, and she took a chance on me. Usually, you start off as a PA. In the realm of assistantships, it’s not usually an entry-level job. So I’m super grateful that she just took me in raw out of school. And that’s kind of how I started!
As a writer, your preference seems to be horror, dark fantasy, and dark fiction. And, you mentioned your mom was a fan of horror as well. So, what is it about these dark genres that you love?
I feel like a part of it is a weird comfort. Because she was a musician and gigging, [her] and my stepdad at the time would go to gigs and were both out a lot. So I was home, pretty young, by myself on the weekends. And because she introduced me to those things, I ended up starting to do this there where I was like, “Can I scare myself?” And I came up during the era of the SAW movies and the FINAL DESTINATION [films]. She also introduced me to THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE. It was all about, “Let me see how badly I can fuck myself up.”
As I’ve gotten older and dealing with my own mental health, I recognize that’s a cathartic thing, just experiencing these emotions. [It] has been a comforting place to have these emotions, but not in the way that real life has these emotions. And, especially growing up, we did a lot of protesting. My mom was an activist, so I have tried to continue doing that. But the main thing that she taught me was to have a POV and share that POV. That’s kind of where the writing came from. So dark fantasy and horror feel for me a very natural way to share my point of view on some of the worldly events and…not even just the world, but just being human and how disturbing it can be in a bunch of different ways.
Was writing for film and TV always your career goal?
In college, yes. Before that, when I was writing, no. It was just a fun hobby. But in college, I knew writing for film and TV was a thing, but I didn’t really know what that meant. So when I went to New York, and I was learning how to do that, TV was in a golden age with BREAKING BAD and all that stuff. So it was like, “Okay. I want to write and write really well. I want to do this.” It kind of just happened that way. I feel bad because I feel like people who are in TV have had these lifelong dreams, but I just always loved to write and kind of just found my place in a spot where people were doing really amazing work. Luckily, I guess I kind of fit in. Sort of. [Laughs]
Writer Vanessa Benton
You’ve recently worked on the new Netflix adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s THE SANDMAN. How did you become involved with that project?
After BET, I ended up taking on another assistant job on HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER. And, that showrunner, Pete Nowalk, kind of became a mentor figure for me. At the time, I had gone from writing more of what Hollywood wanted and that not working for me to writing a “fuck it” script. So showing him that script, which was a dark fantasy thing, he was like, “Well, this is not necessarily my wheelhouse.” But he was really open and helped me develop characters and stuff like that.
In the meantime, I was at Shondaland [an American TV production company founded by writer/producer Shonda Rhimes], and that’s a very small place. He was good friends with showrunner Allan Heinberg who runs THE SANDMAN. So when Allan was looking to staff his room, he was like, “Do you know anyone that does fantasy?” And Pete asked me, “Is this something you would want to go up for?” I was like, “No, not really.” Just kidding. [Laughs] It was like, “Yeah! Of course!” So he read one of my samples, and he really liked it, and I went through the process of talking and interviewing with Allan.
Before embarking on this journey, were you already familiar with the comics?
Yeah, I’ve been saying, “during my depression era,” but I mean…it never goes away. But in college, when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do, I had a super low point before transferring. You know how you can sometimes lose interest in all the things that you liked when you were a kid? Like, books and movies? That was kind of a time where I went back to that stuff. And in that time, I found THE SANDMAN. I was just trying to read novels and graphic novels, and that’s when I originally got introduced to it. Then from there, I hadn’t thought about it after that. So when it came back up, it’s like…I don’t know. It felt kind of full circle. That was the thing that I read before going to New York. And now it’s my first staff job.
That’s pretty incredible. As this series has famously been in the works for quite some time, were you and your fellow writers intimidated by the fan expectations built up over the years? How did you navigate or deal with that, if at all?
I’m lucky I was the lowest level writer during that time, so the pressure was not necessarily on my back but on the showrunner, Allan. I learned a lot about adaptation through him because all of us had different ideas about adaptation. Even me, I was like, “Well, we can just take this and make it extra heady. Or we can make it extra philosophical.” And he taught us how to honor the fans and the fandom while also trying to do it in a way that brought in new people. Which is very difficult! Especially for that comic. He really led us in doing that, which is…different. The other show I worked on wasn’t like that at all. It was like, “We’re going to do a brand new thing.” This taught me how to recognize big fan moments and ensure they stay in the story.
I know Neil Gaiman was involved, but I’m curious what that means in reality. Did you get to interact with him, work with him, or meet him? If so, what was that like?
I met him once, and he’s super nice. But he basically directly communicated with the showrunner, Allan, and the executive producer, David Goyer. The showrunner would tell him what was going on, if we were stuck, etc. And obviously, with 30 years of THE SANDMAN in his brain, he could yay or nay, pitch us, help us out of situations or give us insight on character stuff which was super helpful. So, his involvement was pretty thorough throughout every single episode. Not necessarily in the room every day because he does not have the time, but hearing every single thing. Nothing went past him.
This world has some incredible characters. Did you have a favorite character to work on? Or a favorite scene that you helped write?
It’s interesting because now, re-watching it, I have a different answer. My first answer is always the Death character. I feel like I was going through a time when we were writing it where I was dealing with existentialism and just the idea of, “What does it mean to die? How long do we have?” [Gaiman’s] interpretation of death is so kind and sweet, and I really like that. That kind of started me down my own journey of maybe pursuing death work.
Then now, re-watching it, there’s this character named Lyta Hall. Her dead husband is in The Dreaming, and she’s kind of going to The Dreaming and trying to connect with him. But that doesn’t really work. Dream is like, “Your ghost husband can’t stay here.” So, just the idea of grief. I really like her character and what that means to lose people. Just dealing with someone who’s dealing with grief in a way that I feel like we would all like to. I think we would all like to be able to experience the ghost of our person in our dreams. I think that’s a beautiful story, and, re-watching it, it hit me in a weird way.
I assume scripts were written before casting and filming was completed. When did you see the story and characters brought to life for the first time? What was that experience like?
Timelines are weird because this time period is weird, but we did see it during its early stages. We saw a few different iterations. The last thing I personally saw, the visual effects weren’t all the way done. So seeing it now, I was like, “Oh, shit.” It was like a movie, for real, for real. I felt super proud and kind of awestruck that I got to work on this. It was so beautiful, and it felt like re-watching it for the first time because I hadn’t seen all of the effects. I saw it when the little magical creatures were still puppets, or it just said, “Insert this character here.” [Laughs]
You wrote the ninth episode, “Collectors.” Chronologically, that’s a pretty rad episode to write — near the end where things are really building, but not the concluding episode where everything has to wrap up. When it comes to leading an episode like that, how does that work in the writer’s room? What was it like tackling that assignment?
Yeah, so…I have no way of knowing why I ended up getting that episode. Allan has his own method. And I feel lucky because we pretty much worked on all the episodes. Like, I was never alone when it came to writing episodes. I almost feel weird being like, “Yes, it’s mine,” because basically, it’s all of ours. The process was super collaborative. It had to be! Just because there was an unknown factor with, like, how these character sound and what is going on. “Is this okay to show? Is this okay to say?” There was just so much that it felt like a team for every episode. But I am super grateful to have my name on that episode. I was really excited. I was like, “Oh yes. Collectors. Serial killers.” I was low-key hoping to get that one. [Laughs]
You also worked on FATE: THE WINX SAGA. Tell us about your role on that show and what that adventure has been like.
Yeah, that’s crazy. That was my first room. That was the first room that was virtual. I came on for Season 2 of FATE, and I grew up reading the WINX SAGA books. So, I was really excited, and I think that’s why ultimately, the executive was like, “Oh! We didn’t know you read these things!” And I’m like, “Yes, that was my generation.”
So working on that show for Season 2 was really interesting. When Season 1 came out, we were in the middle of the room. We got fan reactions like, right away. It was kind of nice because, in between all the happy stuff, there was obviously criticism and things that people were worried about, wanted to see, or excited about seeing. So it was nice to be part of the room that could address some of the stuff that obviously Season 1 can’t because it’s over.
The writers of that room were some of my favorite writers ever. We got super close. We’re all still super close. I was really invested in the Aisha fairy character and giving her time to shine. It was just a really fun group of people. I think that we got the honor of being able to make adjustments, make changes, and lean into fan expectations. Or divert because we got the explosion. I don’t think any of us knew it was going to be number one when it came out, so it was just like, “Okay. We have to make it great this season.”
Interestingly, you’ve worked on two back-to-back fantasy projects with massive IPs that are both adaptations. You’ve very quickly become a pro in that arena.
Thank you! Man, I feel like there was definitely a time where IP felt like…I don’t want to say a safe choice because THE SANDMAN is not necessarily a safe choice, but when it came to the fantasy genre, I feel like networks were more open when the IP existed. So I’m super grateful that I got to be on some that just so happened to have really huge audiences.
Fate: The Winx Saga Cast
You are now working on your own project called GOD BLESS THE PROMISE LAND. Tell us a little bit about that.
So I got this grant from these folks called Starfish Accelerator. They’re a really awesome team, and we were their pilot or inaugural group of creatives. Off of that IP is king thing, they were like, “Okay. Four writers of different marginalizations. Let’s take whatever you have, make it into a podcast, make whatever you can. Then later you can say, ‘I have this IP that you can buy to make a show.’”
So years ago, I had written this climate anxiety pilot, which is interesting now because that’s becoming the zeitgeist. But, long story short, I had a group of amazing mentors who took what was going to be a graphic novel and turned it into this project. Basically, it’s telling the story of a character during…not the climate apocalypse, but pretty much what’s happening now turned up a little bit where shit’s going wrong. It’s her dealing with the idea of purpose; Does it matter to do anything when shit’s hitting the fan? Do we have to be a hero? Can we just chill and die in peace?
The audience [participates] through this game-ified aspect where you are part of the government that’s surveilling her. So, we’re watching her story through her tapped phone, her iPhone videos, photos, and voice messages. It’s game-ified in that you log in and you play as if you are the government official.
So I’m combining my favorite things, which are immersive theatre, ARGs, video games, and storytelling. And that is coming out in late September this year. I’m also working with the developer to make this website feel very immersive but not intimidating for people who are not into that and just want to come for the story. That’s the hard line.
Are you at all interested in writing features? And since I know you love horror, if you could write a horror film based on anything — a franchise, a book, a song, etc. — have you thought about what your horror feature would look like?
Oh my God, yes. I want to write features, and I’m beginning that process now. I don’t know where that’s going to take me, but I’m kind of inspired by TikTok, where you can just make short-form stuff. I kind of just want to practice making little horror shorts for myself before being like, “Ok! Let me direct a whole movie.”
And, as far as adapting…I’m reading a lot of horror books right now. There’s one that has stuck with me lately called THE TROOP by Nick Cutter. I’m also into body horror more than I’ve ever been lately. I don’t know what’s come over me, but there’s something that’s really fucking me up. So anything that deals with the parasitic decomposition of the body.
Or, and I know people don’t always like this genre, but I find value in the torture porn time period just because I know what it was stemming from. So those two elements combined is what I want to play with. Also, my all-time biggest inspirations are THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE and the South Korean film, THE WAILING. I love that film. So, things like that.
THE SANDMAN is currently available to stream via Netflix.
