How It All Began

Eric Kripke was already working for Warner Bros when he pitched the idea for Supernatural. Some of the oral history shows that Eric Kripke had pitched before and gotten knocked back for it. Finally landing a meeting in 2004, he got the green light for a pitch he hadn’t prepared for because who knew when another meeting would present itself. In 2014, Kripke met with Variety and shared some of his memories from The WB meeting; 

So in this moment, when they were basically passing on my idea, as you often do in these kinds of rooms, you start tap dancing. And I said, “Forget the reporter, we should do this show as ‘Route 66,’ two cool guys in a classic car cruising the country, chasing down these urban legends,” and literally right on the spot, I said, “and they’re brothers,” because it popped in my head. “And they’re dealing with their family stuff and fighting evil.” You just start making it up as you go.They were like, “Brothers, wow, that’s a relationship we haven’t seen on TV before.” And from there, “Supernatural” was born… out of a piece of improvisation. 

Smallville paved the way for a successful TV show with WB; other shows with similar ties included The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

For the milestone of episode 300, Entertainment Weekly ran a story on the steps of getting approval and pushing the show forward. The EW story includes the excerpt for Kripke’s pitch that he would have to hand into administration for contractual purposes. It is worth a read.

The YouTube clip above looks at the first season. The CW was the production company for Supernatural, but Warner Bros owned it. The CW was sold in October 2022, with Warner Bros Discovery owning 12.5% of the company, therefore still maintaining some control.

This Wasn’t The First Rodeo

As mentioned, Eric Kripke had been with Warner Bros for a while. Before the pitch of Supernatural, he had worked on their 2003 release of Tarzan for TV, short films including Battle of the Sexes (1997) and had experimented with making home movies go up.

Making home movies is a common theme among many successful people in the industry. What begins as a hobby or interest often pans out into a career. That type of story arch is explored in Spielberg’s/JJ Abrams’s Super 8 film (2011).

The AAFT link gives a brief outline of what is a short film and an overview to what is available to study for film students. You don’t have to attend AAFT but it is their link that is useful.

Early Beginnings

Before landing at Warner Bros., Kripke attended University to study film, and details are available on Wikipedia and IMDb. Growing up, reading was an enjoyable pastime, something he shared later in life after requiring the rights to The House with a Clock in its Walls, a book he had enjoyed in childhood, then turning it into a film with Universal. He also grew up at a time when movies were readily available to hire for a weekend from local Blockbusters. B-grade sci-fi and horror seemed to be an interest given his strong knowledge of those genres and using them in Supernatural.

In conclusion, this gives you an idea of his background, experience, and knowledge going into the TV show Supernatural. The other personal quality he has, which he has shared a lot in interviews, is that he will ask people what they think of ideas and take on board their feedback.

Eric Kripke is on social media, sharing his life and thoughts on his Instagram and X accounts.