Industry draws on creators' banking experience, not a single true story

People reports that HBO's Industry, created by former bankers Konrad Kay and Mickey Down, draws on the creators' investment-banking experience rather than recounting a single true story; the series returned with season 4 on Jan. 11.

Kay and Down have said they used their time in banking to shape the show's textures — production design, jargon and the cadence of dialogue — blending early-2010s experience with more modern elements, Kay told the Radio Times. Down has said he once worked in the same department depicted in the first episode, "the quieter, nocturnal culture, mergers, and acquisitions part of the business," Newsweek reported. The creators also integrated three consultants into the writers' room and production to vet dialogue and storylines, and Kay told Newsweek they built an almost fully functional trading floor; critics and some bankers have praised the series' authenticity while others say elements, such as drug use, are heightened for dramatic effect, the Los Angeles Times and Newsweek noted.

The fictional Pierpoint & Co. is not modeled on a single real firm but serves as an amalgam of prestigious London banks, an inspiration the creators have intentionally left vague. Overall, the show aims to balance realism and dramatization by drawing on the creators' experiences and contemporary insight while keeping certain aspects heightened for television.

Key Topics

Culture, Konrad Kay, Mickey Down, Pierpoint & Co, Investment Banking, Trading Floor