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Konrad Kay (left) and A Mickey Down (right) wear our new Wythe Suits at the Season 3 premiere party for Industry. Photographed at the Nine Orchard hotel in New York City.
F or fans of sex, drugs and full-frontal capitalism between consenting adults, Industry has been a guilty pleasure ever since the series debuted in 2020. Back then, co-creators Konrad Kay and Mickey Down introduced us to a viper’s nest of recent university grads competing for full-time jobs in the London office of Pierpoint, a fictional investment bank. Now, in its third season, HBO is pulling out all the stops, adding Kit Harrington (Game of Thrones) to the cast and putting the show in the coveted Sunday 9 P.M. ET time slot.
True to form, the season premiere featured a coke bender on the eve of a crucial IPO (Initial Public Offering), a banker having sex with a client and even a scene in a Fives Court, an obscure form of handball played at Britain’s poshest boarding schools. So, when Kay and Down were in New York earlier this month, we were keen to chat with the two thirtysomethings about how they turned their time in finance into dramatic gold.
How did a Theology and English Literature major end up working in finance?
Mickey: You mean what was my thought process going from studying Theories of Atonement to Private Wealth Management? I had no intention of going into finance whatsoever, until the second year of university when everyone started getting internships. All of a sudden, a job at one of these prestigious investment banks felt like some sort of North Star. And the culture of Oxford is such that people from the banks are coming up to the university, taking you out for these lavish dinners and making you feel as if finance is actually a very important thing to do with your life.
How long before you realized finance wasn’t for you?
Konrad: I worked in equities for a number of years, and then got unceremoniously kicked out the door. In the end, I just wasn’t that interested in covering Dutch pension fund managers.
M: Five months for me, but I stayed for a year and a bit. Leaving was a combination of my being really, really bad at my job and realizing I didn’t want to give up my life for this kind of thing.
There’s a trait I noticed on real trading floors, a toxic mix of alpha male behavior and a kind of real insecurity.
Finance has long been the setting for dramas with toxic masculinity on parade, but you chose to create a series with strong female characters, like Harper (played by Myha'la) and Yasmin (Marisa Abela). What was your thought process with that?
K: We were very conscious of how many of these Wall Street stories are through the lens of people in power, and we wanted to break from that. Tell a story from the ground up, not the top down. We thought that exploring the different performative versions of femininity that women have to play into — either being tougher than the guys or hyper feminine — would feel really fresh; we were fortunate to have two great actresses in Myha’la and Marisa.
What elements from your careers in finance did you adapt to create Industry?
K: There’s a trait that I noticed a lot on trading floors, a toxic mix of alpha male behavior and a kind of real insecurity…
Have you encountered anyone like Eric Tao (Ken Leung) in real life? He’s terrifying, intimidating and iconic all at the same time. The guy gets himself psyched up by reciting, “I’m a man. And I’m relentless.” over and over.
M: He’s a mix of different people we worked with. The institutions mold these people. And so we have these characters whose entire personality is built on being a trader at Pierpoint. And they use their power, their position in the industry, their money, their bombast, as a sort of buttress against all the vulnerabilities they might have.
K: From the looks of it, a trading floor feels quite democratic. It’s just a row of desks, but there’s this hazing that reinforces the hierarchy. Season One may have been plot light, but the one thing we really captured was the feeling of what it’s like to sit on top of someone for twelve hours a day, eat lunch at your desk, and have mentors to your left and right. The monotony of Excel and the soul-crushing hours…and all you want is to be seen and acknowledged by your bosses, but they won’t even make eye contact.
Did your time in finance affect your personal style?
M: I change every few years. Right now, I like things that are dressy but relaxed. When I worked in finance, I actually dressed like I was Jordan Belfort [The Wolf of Wall Street]: Double-breasted suits from Crombie, shoes from Church’s and socks that went up to my knees. To be clear, the way I dressed did not match my talent for finance.
K: One of my friends said, “You dress like a luxury hooligan.” I’m into bigger, looser silhouettes, more like the Todd Snyder suit I wore to the premiere. I love linen. I love things that are flowy. Big pants. Big shirts. We’re both into clothes, but not that into labels. You know, it's pretty basic.
And what’s next?
M: We directed the last two episodes of Season Three. So, more of that.
K: And another series for HBO.Photographs by Phillip Gutman
Interviewed by John Brodie
