Writer Craig Mazin began researching for the project in 2014, by reading books and government reports from inside and outside of the Soviet Union. Mazin also interviewed nuclear scientists to learn how a reactor works, and former Soviet citizens to gain a better idea of the culture in 1986. Furthermore, Mazin read several first-person accounts in order to bring additional authenticity to the story. He explained, "When you're reading the personal stories of people who were there — people who lived near the plant, people who worked at the plant, people who were sent to Chernobyl as part of the effort to clean it up — in those individual accounts, that's really where the story came alive".
In preparation for the miniseries, Mazin visited the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Mazin also did not cast any American actors, as that could potentially pull the audience out of the story.
On July 26, 2017, it was announced that HBO and Sky will produce a series named "Chernobyl". It was HBO's first co-production with Sky UK. The five-episode miniseries was written by Craig Mazin and directed by Johan Renck. Mazin was the executive producer together with Carolyn Strauss and Jane Featherstone. Chris Fry and Renck acted as co-executive producers. On March 11, 2019, it was announced that the miniseries would premiere on May 6, 2019. On June 4, 2019, Craig Mazin made the original scripts of all episodes available for downloading in PDF format (see External links below).
Simultaneously with the initial series announcement, it was confirmed that Jared Harris would star in the series. On March 19, 2018, it was announced that Stellan Skarsgård and Emily Watson had joined the main cast. In May 2018, it was announced that Paul Ritter, Jessie Buckley, Adrian Rawlins, and Con O'Neill also joined the cast.
Principal photography began in April 2018 in Lithuania. Initial filming started on May 13, 2018. The majority of the filmings took place in Fabijoniškės, a residential district in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Fabijoniskes has maintained an authentic Soviet atmosphere. Accordingly, it was used to portray the Ukrainian city of Pripyat. An area of densely built panel housing apartments served as a location for the evacuation scenes. Director Johan Renck heavily criticised the amount of diverse and eye-catching modern windows in the houses, but was not concerned about removing them in post-production. At the end of March, production moved to Visaginas, Lithuania, to shoot the exterior and interior of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, a decommissioned nuclear power station, also known as "Chernobyl's sister" due to its visual resemblance and the nuclear reactor design used at both Chernobyl and Ignalina (RBMK nuclear power reactor). In early June 2018, production moved to Ukraine to shoot minor final scenes. The filming of "Chernobyl" took 16 weeks.
Josl Rieder
Josef "Josl" Rieder (3 December 1932 – 15 June 2019) was an Austrian alpine skier. He competed at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo. At the event, he was disqualified in the downhill event and the slalom. He won three medals (one gold and two silvers) at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in 1958. He lit the Olympic flame at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.
Rieder was born in Lermoos, Tyrol. He died on 15 June 2019, at the age of 86.
Roary the Racing Car
Roary the Racing Car is a British stop-motion children's television series produced by Cosgrove Hall Films, Chapman Entertainment and HiT Entertainment. It follows the adventures of Roary and his racing car friends at Silver Hatch race track.
Bubba Green
Anthony Wayne "Bubba" Green (September 30, 1957 – June 21, 2019) was an American football player. He played as a defensive lineman. He played one season for the Baltimore Colts in the National Football League (NFL) in 1981. After playing 15 games for the Colts, he injured his knee and never played another NFL game. Green was born in Cape May, New Jersey and grew up in Woodbine.
Green died of cancer on June 21, 2019 in Randallstown, Maryland. He was 62.
Multiple system atrophy
Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder which causes autonomic dysfunction, tremors, slow movement, muscle rigidity, and postural instability due to dysfunction of the basal ganglia, and ataxia.
This is caused by progressive degeneration of neurons in several parts of the brain including the basal ganglia, inferior olivary nucleus, and cerebellum.
The symptoms are closely related to Parkinson's disease.
Reol
In late 2012, Reol began uploading original songs and cover songs to video sharing sites Nico Nico Douga and YouTube. On August 17, 2014 Reol co-released the compilation album titled "No Title+" with music arranger GigaP, video director Okiku, and art producer Key, under the group name "Anyosupenyosuyaya". The album contains vocals by Vocaloid virtual singers such as Hatsune Miku, GUMI and Megurine Luka, the album was released through Japanese label Celo Project. Reol has since released a version with her own vocals, titled "No Title-".
On July 29, 2015 Reol independently released her first studio album titled "Gokusaishiki", which reached the top ten on the Oricon Albums Chart. Later that year Reol, along with GigaP & Okiku, signed to Toy's Factory under the unit name REOL. On August 18, REOL made their first public appearance in the music video for their single "Give Me a Break Stop Now". They released their debut studio album titled 'Sigma' on October 19, 2016, which reached number 8 on the Oricon weekly Albums Chart.
On October 11, 2017, REOL released the "Endless EP" prior to their announced disbandment. The EP features their 2014 single "LUVORATORRRRRY!" featuring utaite rapper nqrse. The music video for the song has amassed over 43 million views on YouTube, making it the unit's most commercially successful release.
In January 2018, Reol signed to Victor Entertainment. On March 5 she released a music video for the song titled "エンド" as the single for her solo debut EP. Reol released her first EP titled "Kyokoushu" on March 14.
Reol released the singles "Saisaki" and "Sairen" in July and August respectively before the announcement of her first studio album "Jijitsujo" (事実上). "Jijitsujo" was released on October 17, and a music video for the third single "Gekihaku" was released on December 19.
Studio albums
Extended plays
RΞOL
Anyosupenyosuyaya
Leevi Lehto
Leevi Lehto (23 February 1951 – 22 June 2019) was a Finnish poet, translator, and programmer. His best known work was theFinnish translation of "Ulysses" by James Joyce.
He translated the works of Louis Althusser, Gilles Deleuze, George Orwell, Stephen King, Ian McEwan, Josef Skvorecky, Walter Benjamin, John Keats, John Ashbery, Mickey Spillane and Charles Bernstein.
Lehto died of multiple system atrophy in Helsinki on 22 June 2019, aged 68.
Mickey Spillane
Frank Morrison Spillane (; March 9, 1918July 17, 2006), better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American crime novelist and actor. He was best known for his Mike Hammer novels. More than 225 million copies of his books have sold internationally. He was born in New York City.
Spillane died on July 17, 2006 in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina of pancreatic cancer, aged 88.
Murrells Inlet, South Carolina
Murrells Inlet is an unincorporated area and census-designated place between Horry and Georgetown Counties in South Carolina, United States. The population was 7,547 at the 2010 census.
It is most known for the Murrells Inlet Marshwalk, a boardwalk overlooking a salt marsh and which houses many restaurants.
Charles Bernstein
Charles Bernstein (born April 4, 1950) is an American poet, essayist, editor, and literary scholar. Bernstein is the Donald T. Regan Chair in the Department of English at the University of Pennsylvania.
He is one of the most known members of the Language poets (or L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poets).
In 2006 he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.