Exclusive: Mike Gauyo Talks ALLBLK’s New Series Send Help

Mike Gauyo is promoting his new series Send Help, and my name, of all things, proves to be an excellent entry point for our interview. “I’m reminded of Jericho from Marvel,” Gauyo says at the onset of our Zoom call. “He’s known as Brother Voodoo.” More than just a tidbit of Marvel Comics knowledge, Brother Voodoo is, in fact, a character about whom Gauyo wants to write in an MCU movie. As a Haitian-born writer, Gauyo cites Voodoo’s own Haitian roots, spirituality, and background in psychology and therapy — not to mention the franchise’s international appeal — as the main draw of the powerful Marvel magic-user.

Indeed, mental health, immigration, and Haitian culture are all themes that apply significantly to Gauyo’s series Send Help. Streaming on AMC Network’s ALLBLK platform, Send Help stars Jean Elie — from Insecure fame and also the series’ co-creator — as Fritz, an up-and-coming actor in Hollywood who balances building his career in Los Angeles while taking care of his family back home in Boston in the wake of a family tragedy. “I feel excited,” Gauyo says of the show’s premiere. “I want people to enjoy it and experience a little bit of Haitian culture, and see, from a Black, male point of view, what trauma could look like.”

This is a recurring theme as of late in TV programming. HBO’s Euphoria tackles mental health, for instance, in a way that opens conversations around the subject. Gauyo even cites Barry as another prime example of a series that successfully approaches mental health and PTSD. That said, a noticeable gap in TV’s catalog is an exploration of mental health from a Black male character’s perspective. As it turns out, Send Help is loosely based on Elie’s life. “As we were developing the show, we were really trying to find out what makes this show different. There are many shows out there about a young actor trying to make it in Hollywood, so we tried to focus on what sets [Send Help] apart,” says Gauyo. “We really tried to hone in on the important aspects that felt unique to Jean’s story, but would come across very universal because it would allow people to relate to it.”

Both Gauyo and Elie Worked on HBO’s Insecure

“We met through a mutual friend on Facebook, and then decided to meet up in downtown LA and hang out,” Gauyo says of the first time he met Elie, which was right before Insecure started production. On the hit HBO show, Elie played Issa’s brother Ahmal Dee. Gauyo, meanwhile, was working alongside Issa Rae on non-Insecure projects (which he mentions in a throwback thread on Twitter), and didn’t join the Insecure writing team until season five.

Gauyo credits his time as part of the writing staff of Insecure and Netflix’s Ginny & Georgia for shaping his approach to creating, running, and producing Send Help. “There was definitely a learning curve. It was [my] first time in a showrunner position, first time in an EP position, and that can be difficult,” he says, adding that he leaned on Insecure showrunner Prentice Penny for guidance. “It was particularly interesting for me navigating this space because, even as a writer, I hadn’t produced my own episode of TV yet. Send Help is my first produced anything, and I think that’s partly do with the way TV is structured right now.”

It’s here that Gauyo talks about the writers’ jobs now finishing before production begins, depriving them of the opportunity to not even visit a show’s set. “[It’s] a little dangerous and part of the reason why a lot of these articles are coming out about showrunners not being as experienced because they’re not going through the same way of doing things as past showrunners have.”

Related: Here’s 5 Reasons Why HBO’s Insecure is One of the Greatest TV Shows of All Time

Gauyo’s Pro-Writer Approach

When asked how his own approach to showrunning was informed by these present blindspots, especially when it comes to providing helpful opportunities to writers, Gauyo says there was a conscious effort to change certain, standard practices where he could. “In this business, [there’s] a trend of not hiring as many lower-level writers because you want to stack the room with upper-level, more experienced writers — sometimes, that’s dependent on the budget, too — [so] it was really important for me to have a bottom-heavy room, meaning I had a lot of lower-level writers who needed their shot.” In addition to having early-career writers, Gauyo also had consulting producer-level writers pop in to help guide and mold them. More than just giving young writers a chance to write, of course, Gauyo also invited them on-set to see first-hand how production really worked.

This pro-writer approach infused with a mentorship-style dynamic aligns with Gauyo’s other work. In addition to writing and running his own show, Gauyo founded the Black Boy Writes & Black Girl Writes Mentorship Initiative, teaming with training platform Stage 32, in an effort to provide industry access, knowledge, opportunities, and pathways to Black screenwriters. In its second year of operation, Deadline first reported on the program’s annual application process back in November 2021. “Part of the reason why I wanted to start the program was because there were so many diversity reports that had come out, talking about the lack of diversity that exists in Hollywood,” Gauyo says. “I wanted to find a way to combat that and fill that gap.”

Send Help premieres August 11 on ALLBLK, AMC Network’s streaming platform.