Severance creator discusses the evil Lumon Industry

Dan Erickson and Ben Stiller are the creators and directors of the science fiction thriller TV show Severance, which is available on Apple TV+. The program centers on Lumon Industries workers who go through a medical procedure known as "severance."

Employees at Severance can't recall their lives outside of work. The protagonist, Mark S., works in the secretive Macrodata Refinement department. The program delves into topics of identity, control, and corporate power in a straightforward yet effective manner. Its plot, performances, and imagery have all won accolades. January 2025 saw the start of Season 2.

Through Lumon Industries, a business that manipulates workers by dividing work and personal memories, Severance creator Dan Erickson examines the worst aspects of corporate life. In an interview with Variety, Erickson emphasizes the need for personal connection in the face of corporate demands while pointing out how manicured offices conceal control.

“Severance,” isn’t meant to just satirize corporate culture. If you do really find people who understand what you’ve been through, there is a real bonding there, and there’s a salvation in that,” he says. I don’t think I could have gotten through this current job I have, or any previous job, without that.”

More about the Severance creators and the Lumon Industry

Dan Erickson created Severance, a popular psychological thriller series for Apple TV+. He was raised in Olympia, Washington, and attended Western Washington University, where he studied English.

Later, he received a Master of Fine Arts in Dramatic Writing for Television from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Erickson's narrative experience and curiosity in human behavior influenced the creation of Severance, a show that investigates the psychological impacts of employment.

Lumon Industries, a fictitious biotech business that symbolizes the worst aspects of corporate life, is at the center of Severance. Employees at Lumon, a large organization with a rigid culture, go through a process known as "severance" in which their personal and professional memories are split apart.

This establishes a distinct yet unsettling form of control over employees, emphasizing how some occupations may cause people to become estranged from who they really are.

In a recent Variety interview, Erickson talked about Lumon and particularly saw a genuine office building called Lumen during the interview, which made him think of the fictional campus of Lumon. Erickson saw some similarities, but Lumen was more agreeable with its greenery, gym, and leisure spaces like pickleball courts.

Both spaces seemed designed to keep people busy and amicable while yet keeping them under observation and control. Erickson was able to illustrate through this comparison how some contemporary businesses attempt to hide their authoritarian nature behind perks and aesthetically pleasing furnishings.

He also discussed Lumon's corporate culture, which revolves around the founder, Kier Eagan, and his stringent values. Lumon's CEOs are all members of the Eagan family, which has created a heritage that employees are expected to venerate almost like a religion. According to Erickson, this type of loyalty and veneration is frequent in large corporations that are deeply committed to their past and leaders.

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