‘True Detective’ Creator Nic Pizzolatto Remembers “Peaceful Warrior” Steve Golin
Hailed as a trailblazer, film and TV producer Steve Golin, who died late Sunday night after a battle with cancer, helped start the careers of a slew of writers and directors through the two companies he launched, Anonymous Content and Propaganda Films.
One of them was Nic Pizzolatto. He was a novelist who had just left academia in 2010 to pursue writing full-time when he was signed by Anonymous Content. The company, run by Golin, encouraged him to write backup scripts for a noir drama spec he had penned titled True Detective. They helped bring on board Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as stars and Cary Fukunaga to direct, and the project landed at HBO with a straight-to-series order. True Detective became an instant pop culture phenom, catapulted Pizzolatto into the top showrunner echelon and ushered in a wave of limited/anthology series headlined by movie stars.
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Golin executive produced True Detective, which recently wrapped its acclaimed third season. He shared with Pizzolatto and the rest of the producing team a best drama series Emmy nomination in 2014 for the show’s first installment and is likely to share another nomination posthumously this year.
Here is a remembrance Pizzolatto wrote for Deadline about Golin:
I met Steve Golin about eight years ago, and in the time between then and now I was the recipient of his generosity more times than I can relate in mere anecdote, and knowing him as a producer and a man has been one of the great blessings of my career.
He was a person of tremendous intelligence, impeccable taste, and a truly gentle humanity which informed but never diminished his drive. His amiability and calm, his lack of self-pity, his sympathy for others and ability to understand people were such rare and foundational qualities, I know that myself and many others will continue to learn from his example long into the future. Steve to me embodied the notion of the peaceful warrior, someone who lived authentically and with compassion, and I can imagine no better business partner, ally to artists, or model for producers.
What he accomplished in the entertainment industry was monumental. He was a singular example of grace, decorum, business acumen, innovation and perseverance, and his absence will be felt for a long time to come, by both those who knew him, and those who know only his work. I am so saddened by his passing. Steve was a giant. It was a privilege to know him.
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