IT: WELCOME TO DERRY

About It: Welcome to Derry

Set in the world of Stephen King’s “IT” universe, IT: WELCOME TO DERRY is based on King’s “IT” novel and expands the vision established by filmmaker Andy Muschietti in the feature films “IT” and “IT Chapter Two.”

The series is developed for television by filmmakers Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti (“IT,” “IT Chapter Two,” “The Flash”) and Jason Fuchs (“IT Chapter Two,” “Wonder Woman,” “Argylle”). Andy Muschietti directs multiple episodes of the original series.

It: Welcome to Derry Season 1 Episode 1: "The Pilot" runs 54 minutes.
Directed by Andy Muschietti. Written for television by Jason Fuchs.

About the Guests

Andy Muschietti, Director and Executive Producer

Andy Muschietti has cemented himself as one of the most visionary filmmakers, known for breaking box o9ice records with hits IT and IT: CHAPTER TWO, the adaptation of the classic Stephen King novel. IT scored the biggest opening weekend ever for a horror film in more than 30 markets with $189.7M ultimately totaling $701.7M worldwide. IT: CHAPTER TWO grossed $473.1M worldwide taking the franchise’s combined total to $1.17 billion. Muschietti and his filmmaking partner/sister, Barbara, have expanded the franchise with their IT prequel series, titled WELCOME TO DERRY, for HBO. Set in the world of Stephen King’s IT universe, WELCOME TO DERRY is based on King’s IT novel and expands the story established in IT and IT CHAPTER TWO. The siblings have worked together for over two decades, collaborating on all their projects, across film, TV, and the commercial arena.

Prior to IT, Muschietti made his feature debut with the horror hit MAMA, based on his own short film of the same name. Muschietti directed the film from a screenplay he co-wrote with Barbara and Neil Gross. The film, which starred Jessica Chastain and was executive produced by Guillermo del Toro, became one of the top earners of 2013. It was honored with the awards for Best Film and Best Director at the Fantasporto Film Festival and won Best Film and the Audience Award at the Gérardmer Film Festival. Muschietti was also named the Director to Watch at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. His short film MAMA had also played at numerous film festivals.

In 2021, Andy and Barbara formed their production company, Double Dream. Upcoming projects under the Double Dream banner include THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD with DC Films, ATTACK ON TITAN with Heyday Films and set up at Warner Bros., THE DOUBTFUL GUEST, written and exec produced by Emily Gordon and Kumail Nainjiani, and FINAL GIRLS SUPPORT GROUP based on the novel by Grady Hendrix. In 2023, Andy directed THE FLASH for Warner Bros. and DC Films.

Most recently, in 2024, Andy and Barbara formed the genre label Nocturna alongside Skydance. The company will focus on high quality features in both theatrical and streaming. Their first film under the Nocturna banner will be THEY WILL KILL YOU, directed by Kirill Sokolov, which is currently in production.

Muschietti began his career as a commercial director in Buenos Aires with the iconic production company Cuatro Cabezas. Following a move to Europe, Muschietti, alongside Barbara, founded Toma 78, a commercial and film production company operating in Barcelona and Madrid. Muschietti directed hundreds of commercials for clients including Coca Cola, Mercedes, and Ford, and has received top advertising honors, including a Cannes Gold Lion for his work on the Buenos Aires Festival of International Cinema (BAFICI).

Muschietti studied at the prestigious FUC in Buenos Aires, where he directed three acclaimed shorts, “Rosendo,” “Fierro Chifle,” and “Nostalgia en la mesa 8,” that earned awards at festivals such as La Habana, Bilbao and Biarritz. He also worked in Argentina as a storyboard artist, a task he combined with script writing.

Barbara Muschietti, Executive Producer

Barbara Muschietti has a track record of creating global hits, producing the record-breaking box office juggernauts IT and IT: CHAPTER TWO, the adaptation of the classic Stephen King novel. IT scored the biggest opening weekend ever for a horror film in more than 30 markets with $189.7M, culminating in a box office total of $701.7M worldwide. IT: CHAPTER TWO grossed $473.1M worldwide, taking the franchise’s combined total to $1.17 billion. The sequel posted the second-best global opening ever for a horror film. Muschietti and her brother, Andy, expanded the franchise with the recently released IT prequel series, titled WELCOME TO DERRY, for HBO. Set in the world of Stephen King’s IT universe, WELCOME TO DERRY is based on King’s IT novel and expands on the story established in IT and IT CHAPTER TWO. The Muschietti siblings have worked together for over two decades, collaborating on all their projects across film, TV, and the commercial arena.

Prior to IT, Muschietti produced the smash hit MAMA, based on the short film of the same name. Muschietti also co-wrote the feature alongside Andy and Neil Gross. Starring Jessica Chastain, and with Guillermo del Toro as executive producer, the film was one of the top earners of 2013. It was honored with the awards for Best Film and Best Director at the Fantasporto Film Festival and won Best Film and the Audience Awards at the Gérardmer Film Festival. Andy also directed the short on which the film was based, which Barbara cowrote and produced.

In 2021, Barbara and Andy formed their production company, Double Dream. Upcoming projects under the Double Dream banner include THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD with DC Films, ATTACK ON TITAN with Heyday Films and set up at Warner Bros., THE DOUBTFUL GUEST, written and exec produced by Emily Gordon and Kumail Nainjiani, and FINAL GIRLS SUPPORT GROUP based on the novel by Grady Hendrix. In 2023, Muschietti produced THE FLASH, directed by Andy Muschietti, for Warner Bros. and DC Films.

Most recently, in 2024, Barbara and Andy formed the genre label Nocturna alongside Skydance. The company will focus on high quality features in both theatrical and streaming. Their first film under the Nocturna banner will be THEY WILL KILL YOU, directed by Kirill Sokolov, which is currently in production.

Barbara has a passion for documentaries, having previously produced DHALLYWOOD STORIES, THE FIFTH CHROMOSOME AND ANTIGONE AWAKE, under her Toma 78 banner in Spain. She recently produced the documentary NORITA, directed by Jayson McNamara.

She has produced hundreds of commercials for clients like Coca Cola, Mercedes, Pepsico, Ford, and the California Lottery.

Muschietti grew up in Argentina and attended UCLA. She resides in Los Angeles with her family.

About CTCS-467: Television Symposium

This Spring 2026 semester, the School of Cinematic Arts will offer a very special course called CTCS-467: Television Symposium, a four-unit elective class open for enrollment to ALL USC STUDENTS OF ANY MAJOR that brings you face-to-face with the leading television writers, producers, directors and actors working today.

Each week, students watch contemporary television programming selected from the best shows on the air, followed by an exclusive Q&A with the creative team behind the show. The class is taught by MARY MCNAMARA, Pulitzer Prize-winning television critic and cultural editor for the Los Angeles Times and meets in person every Monday night @ 7:00 P.M. in the Ray Stark Family Theatre, SCA 108.

Recent guests have included: Chris Storer (The Bear), Charles Yu (Interior Chinatown), Eric Ledgin (St. Denis Medical), Jenni Konner (Deli Boys), Greg Yaitanes (Presumed Innocent), Paul Simms (What We Do in the Shadows), Athena Wickham (Fallout), Lauren LeFranc (The Penguin), Ben Watkins (Cross), John Landgraf (FX Networks), Lulu Wang (Expats), Ron Moore (Battlestar Galactica, Outlander), Zal Batmanglij & Brit Marling (A Murder at the End of the World), Josh Schwartz & Stephanie Savage (The O.C.), Fred Golan (Silo), Nicholas Hatton & Jeremy Weinberg (Jury Duty), Syreeta Singleton (Rap Sh!t), Eric Kripke (The Boys, Gen V), Meera Menon (Ms Marvel),  David Goyer & Allan Heinberg (The Sandman), Craig Mazin (The Last of Us), Al Gough & Miles Millar (Wednesday), Bill Lawrence (Ted Lasso), Jen Statsky (Hacks), Julie Plec (Vampire Academy), Hiro Murai (Station Eleven, Atlanta), Tazbah Rose Chavez (Reservation Dogs), Danny Strong (Dopesick), Dong Hyuek (Squid Game), Tracy Oliver (Harlem), Brad Ingelsby (Mare of Easttown), Ilana Peña (Diary of a Future President), Jac Schaeffer (WandaVision), Scott Frank (The Queen's Gambit), Malcolm Spellman (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Susan Downey & Tim Van Patten (Perry Mason), Raamla Mohamed (Little Fires Everywhere), Joe Mantello (The Boys in the Band), Jay Roach & Sarah Paulson (Coastal Elites), Prentice Penny (Insecure), Jon Favreau (The Mandalorian), Adam McKay (Succession), Alena Smith (Dickinson), Stephen Williams (Watchmen), Steven Canals (Pose), Sam Levinson (Euphoria), Matt Duffer & Ross Duffer (Stranger Things), Liz Flahive & Carly Mensch (Glow), Noah Hawley (Fargo), and Kenya Barris (black-ish).

Find CTCS-467 on the USC Schedule of Classes:
https://classes.usc.edu/term/20261/catalogue/course/CTCS467