Cinematography, Creating, & Fandom with Michael Nie

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Episode of the Needless Things Podcast. I'm your
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host, Dave West, and I'll go ahead and say right
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now, since this is a companion episode, go check
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out last week's episode, my interview with Kyle
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Higgins. who is the writer on G .I. Joe Tomb
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Raider, but also I'm a huge fan of going all
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the way back to Gates of Gotham. We talk about
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it on the show. We talk about his career. And
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we also talk about his cinematographer, Michael
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Nye, who is the guest on this week's show. We
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had a sort of serendipitous connection. that
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made it possible to record these in proximity
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to each other. As soon as Kyle mentioned Michael,
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I made a note like, oh, I want to talk to that
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guy. And that is this week's episode. We talk
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a little bit about Tomb Raider G .I. Joe. Actually,
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as you'll discover in the interview, we talk
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about Michael's career because I always like
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to establish a base. Like, what's your background?
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How did you get to where you are now? What's
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your history? How did you end up? becoming a
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creator, because that's what's fascinating to
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me. Uh, just in everyone that I talked to is
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what was your journey? Uh, how'd you get here?
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What, what was the process? Uh, so in, over the
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course of talking to Michael in my head, it kind
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of just became the Michael Nye episode. Like
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it was just this great conversation as I have
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with creators. And then towards the end, uh,
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when I, when I, Felt like, okay, we probably
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need to, because I always try and be respectful
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of, you know, not only of my guests' time, but
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of your time. And so towards the end when I'm
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thinking, okay, time to wrap it up, he's like,
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well, we still haven't talked about G .I. Joe
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Tomb Raider. And I had completely, like, lost
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that thread that that was the, kind of the...
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instigation of why this all happened in the first
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place. But it's because Michael has had a very
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interesting career and we just had a great time
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talking about that. So we do have G .I. Joe Tomb
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Raider stuff towards the end of the interview.
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But in the process of getting there, we get to
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know Michael and hear just, again, how he got
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where he is. So great conversation. I thoroughly
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enjoyed it. And I'm just excited that, again,
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these two companion interviews were able to happen
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back to back because things don't, usually don't
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work out that way. Before we get to that interview,
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of course, there are a few other things I want
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to talk about. One, and look, I'm not going to
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get deeply political here. I just have to mention
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this because it's driving me crazy. This Pete
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Hegseth is the biggest fucking bozo I have ever
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seen in my life. Like, obviously, Trump is horrible,
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but Hegseth is just such a All of the worst people,
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all the most pathetic people I've known in my
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life have talked exactly like Hegseth talks.
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Like the way that, the level of fronting that's
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going on, of presenting this false image. that
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you can just immediately see through. If you
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have any intelligence whatsoever, you immediately
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see this person has no self -esteem whatsoever.
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They have no confidence in the things that they're
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saying. They are 100 % projection of an idea
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that they've had since they were 12 years old
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and have never evolved beyond it. That's who
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that guy is. And his speech, look, in general,
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I don't hold it against anybody if they're not.
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following things too closely. You have to get
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out and vote. You have to vote. You have to put
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a stop to this. You have to get these people
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out of office. I think part of making sure what's
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happened over the past two years never happens
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again is prosecuting. I've heard some politicians
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lately talk about how the same thing has been
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done before. No, no, we need to focus on moving
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forward. No. We need to focus on making sure
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this shit never happens again, and part of that
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is prosecuting every single one of these complicit
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Republican motherfuckers to the fullest extent
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of the law, put as many of them behind bars for
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as long as you possibly can. That's how you set
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a precedent that nobody ever wants to try this
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again, is you prosecute, prosecute, prosecute.
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every single one of them. And if you want to
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set up a special separate department for that,
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because of course, no, that prosecution is not
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deserving of the efforts of a new president,
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a new legislation or a new legislative body or
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whatever. No, that shouldn't be the focus, but
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it has to be a part of the process. It must be.
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Because all of these ill -intentioned buffoons
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must be held accountable for the crimes that
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they have committed. All right. Oh, but what
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I was going to say is I totally get it if you're
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not like day by day caught up with what's going
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on with these horrible people, because there's
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so much, it is difficult and disheartening to
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keep up with all of it. So the only thing I'll
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say is you have to get out and vote these criminals
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out of office. Do that. Don't worry about any
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of the rest of it. Do that. Just get out and
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vote and remove these people. Show them we do
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not want this for our country. But I will say
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this. Watch Hegseth's fucking clown show speech
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that he just gave about no beardos, no weirdos.
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Watch the clips of that that are out there. Because
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honestly, on the one hand, yes, it's horrible
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that somebody that much of a clown... is in charge
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of this illegal war that we're in right now.
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But also, seeing their stupidity is terrifying,
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but in a way makes you feel better. Because if
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they were these geniuses, if they were these
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megalomaniacal master planners, it would be scarier.
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For me. For me. But seeing how dumb they truly
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are, without wisdom without the knowledge that
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a lifetime earns you completely devoid of that
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they are it does make me feel a little better
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like we've got hope of like okay they're just
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fumbling around being the worst people they can
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be with no skill whatsoever and it makes me feel
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a little better and gives me a little hope like
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yes we actually will be able to take the the
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pry bar of of justice and move them out of their
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positions. I believe that. So let's get on to
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some lighter stuff. I didn't even intend for
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that to be a thing, but I just can't stop thinking
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about how hilarious that fucking guy is. I need
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to see if SNL, if there's a new Colin Jost, because
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I bet he just ate that up. Okay, lighter news.
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October is underway. If you followed, I think
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I did it on the Needless Things channel Instagram,
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which you should be following. I think I did
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it on Needless Things last year, but I might
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have done it on Phantom Troublemaker. I'm always
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adjusting my approach to social media because
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it sucks and nothing works. So you may as well
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keep trying new things. But this year, Needless
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Things channel, I am playing along with Toy DeJure,
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which Toy DeJure is a phenomenal toy store in
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Chicago. I've never... had the pleasure of being
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there. It's on my bucket list. Uh, Noel got to
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go there a few weeks ago and said it was great.
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Uh, I follow him on Instagram. They, I love the
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personality of Toy DeJure, if that makes sense.
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They just had like, if, if I ever get to the
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point where I'm able to open this, the store
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that I want to open, their tone is, is very similar
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to what I would want. the Needless Things physical
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store to have. They're fun. They have a deep
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knowledge of toys. It's just, it's a great follow.
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And they don't, again, to go back to what I said
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earlier, they don't front. There's no, there's
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this hilarious, like, tough guy, expert, gatekeeper
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mentality that seems to be very common in the
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toy fandom, business, whatever. And it's, it
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is as hilarious as Hegseth's. They don't have
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any of that. They just seem very fun and genuine
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and they're a great follow on Instagram. So October
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is a concept that I discovered last year where
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they put up prompts for every day of the month,
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similar to what I did in Yojo June with Audible
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Interlude. But they put up prompts and you put
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up a picture every day. And if you do it in advance,
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it's easy enough to keep up with. I'm not over
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here taking a picture every morning when I get
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up. I took a batch of... I think 15 pictures
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the first day I sat down and did it. And now
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I'm going through because I got to one that was
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a little tricky and I had to take some time to
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think about how I was going to do it. And then
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I'm working on the rest of them probably today.
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But anyway, it's a photo prompt. It's a lot of
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fun. Needless Things channel on Instagram is
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going to be following along. I highly recommend
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you follow Needless Things channel, follow Toy
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DeJure, and follow anybody who's taken part in
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this because it's just fun. So check that out.
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Another project I am, and I realize we're a few
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days into October now. It's a little late to
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be thinking about projects for October. But another
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thing I'm kind of thinking about doing is for
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my horror viewing this month. Because last year...
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If you recall, halfway through October last year
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is when I became self -employed. So I had a lot
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more free time on my hands. And last year I watched
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like every horror movie. Not really, obviously.
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But this year as I'm watching stuff to kind of
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get in the spooky mood, I'm realizing, oh my
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gosh, I watched so much last year. And I think
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it's because at the time I was so delighted to
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have this month. Because actually, they let us
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stop reporting like two weeks before the final
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date. My last day was October 17th. But really,
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I don't think I went into work in October. So
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I had, for the first time since I was a child,
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I had all of October just open. And I watched
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so... much. This year is, I've gotten into a
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routine. Again, I am self -employed, so I am
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working on things. I don't have quite as much
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time as I had last year, but I do have time to
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take in some spooky stuff. But the problem is
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I don't want to just re -watch all this stuff
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that I watched last year. So what I think I'm
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going to do is, it's not going to be daily, but
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it's going to be something that I will keep up
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with. I am going to go through my own personal
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history of horror. And it's all going to be just
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recollection based. I'm not going to try and
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source documents or anything. Uh, I am going
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to rewatch my history of horror in the order
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that I think that it happened. So what I'm saying
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is I'm going to start with. what i think is the
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first movie that felt to me like a horror movie
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because we all have gateways right we all have
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gateways to horror uh and it's not always an
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actual movie that can be defined as horror that
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is that first one and for me i think andiana
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jones and the temple of doom was the first movie
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i would attribute to my horror to growing my
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horror fascination? I think so. So I would start
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with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and
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then I would try to think. Now, I will kind of
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look at when things came out, but I'm going to
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try and think through what was next, or at least
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significant horror, like the first time I saw
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Hellraiser. When was that? What else did I see
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prior to that? What prepared me for that? Uh,
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and, and it's going to be tough because look,
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my memory sucks. It is terrible. Uh, and, and
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potentially all trauma related as I have discovered
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over the last, you know, since I've been doing
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therapy. Uh, but yeah, my memory is terrible.
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So it'll be an interesting exercise, but look,
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if I can get at least, you know, six or 10 reels.
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out of it i think it'll be fun and and that's
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the big thing is i i know what i should be doing
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on social media but the problem as with everything
00:14:03.179 --> 00:14:04.919
else in my life is i don't want to do what i
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should be doing i want to do what i want to do
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uh so we'll see how that goes and those i don't
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know if those will be needless things or phantom
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troublemaker because phantom troublemaker is
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my highest pro for whatever reason is my highest
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profile instagram uh and i probably need to do
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more work with Needless Things since that's the
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one where all the stuff is. That's where I promote
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everything that I do. So I really do need to
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switch over to there for more. So that's probably
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going to happen. It's easy enough. Do a little
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reel talking about a movie. And then finally...
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Anything that you think would be cool for spooky
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content. I've already got a couple of episodes
00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:50.679
lined up for October. I would not be opposed
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to bonus episodes if there's a great idea. Shoot
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me a message. Phantom Troublemaker on Instagram
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or Needless Things Channel on Instagram. Either
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one. Just if you're hearing this and you think,
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oh, this would be fun to hear Dave and the gang
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talk about. Or, you know, somebody I could track
00:15:08.919 --> 00:15:10.740
down and talk to, do an interview, whatever.
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shoot me a message. Let me know if you've got
00:15:13.879 --> 00:15:17.500
a good idea and we'll get on it. Because I'm
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always open to, look, I don't think that I have
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like a be all end all of ideas. I love input
00:15:27.490 --> 00:15:29.090
from other people. It's one of the reasons I
00:15:29.090 --> 00:15:31.169
love doing the game show so much is that collaborative
00:15:31.169 --> 00:15:34.990
creative effort, which to bring it back is one
00:15:34.990 --> 00:15:37.169
of the things that we talk about with Michael
00:15:37.169 --> 00:15:42.009
Nye. So let's just get on down to business. Enjoy.
00:15:44.460 --> 00:15:47.779
We've got a very cool occurrence happening tonight.
00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:50.480
First of all, welcome to the show, Michael Nye.
00:15:50.799 --> 00:15:54.059
Thank you so much, Dave. Good to be here. So
00:15:54.059 --> 00:15:56.279
how this happened is, everybody should check
00:15:56.279 --> 00:15:58.620
out the recent interview with Kyle Higgins, where
00:15:58.620 --> 00:16:00.940
we talk about the G .I. Joe Tomb Raider crossover,
00:16:01.179 --> 00:16:03.440
but also about lots of other things as well.
00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:07.600
And during that interview, the name Michael Nye
00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:10.820
came up, and I made a note, all right, I want
00:16:10.820 --> 00:16:14.950
to talk to Michael. Things happened. We connected.
00:16:15.049 --> 00:16:18.570
And now we're talking. So while this is an interview
00:16:18.570 --> 00:16:20.809
unto itself, I love that it's also connected
00:16:20.809 --> 00:16:24.230
to the last episode. It's not a follow -up. It's
00:16:24.230 --> 00:16:28.090
a side -by -side. Well, I probably wouldn't be
00:16:28.090 --> 00:16:30.529
there. If it wasn't for Kyle, I wouldn't be having
00:16:30.529 --> 00:16:35.509
this episode chat. So, yeah, definitely it all
00:16:35.509 --> 00:16:40.450
begins and ends with him. So just to set the
00:16:40.450 --> 00:16:43.139
table for the listeners. We're going to be talking
00:16:43.139 --> 00:16:45.220
about G .I. Joe. We're going to be talking about
00:16:45.220 --> 00:16:47.740
cinematography and filmmaking. And we're going
00:16:47.740 --> 00:16:50.600
to talk about whatever else comes up in between
00:16:50.600 --> 00:16:55.460
those two things. But let's start with tell me
00:16:55.460 --> 00:16:57.179
a little bit about how you got to where you are
00:16:57.179 --> 00:16:59.940
now, which I realize is a long story. But just
00:16:59.940 --> 00:17:02.500
as a cinematographer, where did the creative
00:17:02.500 --> 00:17:08.150
urge start for you? I think. I'm like the youngest
00:17:08.150 --> 00:17:11.230
of three kids. And my brother and I, we were
00:17:11.230 --> 00:17:13.750
GI Joe, you know, the whole reason I'm into GI
00:17:13.750 --> 00:17:15.670
Joe is because my brother is a little older than
00:17:15.670 --> 00:17:18.789
I am. And, you know, he went off and, you know,
00:17:18.789 --> 00:17:20.849
very respectful profession, you know, got into
00:17:20.849 --> 00:17:22.970
teaching high schoolers. And my sister went off
00:17:22.970 --> 00:17:26.150
to nursing school. And, you know, sometimes as
00:17:26.150 --> 00:17:29.150
the favorite child right now, as the youngest,
00:17:29.250 --> 00:17:31.349
you know, you come along and you're like, let's
00:17:31.349 --> 00:17:34.900
see. What's something I can do? And there were
00:17:34.900 --> 00:17:36.740
some behind the scenes featurettes somewhere
00:17:36.740 --> 00:17:39.599
along the line that I just caught on a DVD that,
00:17:39.619 --> 00:17:41.900
you know, I saw these people working behind the
00:17:41.900 --> 00:17:44.180
scenes and it's nothing I grew up with. I did
00:17:44.180 --> 00:17:46.460
not grow up in Hollywood, you know, in and around
00:17:46.460 --> 00:17:48.640
Madison, Wisconsin. Like it was not something
00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:51.259
I had access to. Our home videos were the extent
00:17:51.259 --> 00:17:53.920
of my filmmaking as a kid. But I always loved
00:17:53.920 --> 00:17:57.720
cameras. I'm a very visual person. And basically
00:17:57.720 --> 00:18:00.579
the... when I started to scratch the itch of
00:18:00.579 --> 00:18:02.799
what do these filmmakers do and where does that
00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:06.579
happen? And how does that work? I, I, I just
00:18:06.579 --> 00:18:10.279
like, it was a whole new world and ended up going
00:18:10.279 --> 00:18:12.160
back to school in the Midwest and then ultimately
00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:15.960
moving to California because there was an alumni
00:18:15.960 --> 00:18:18.960
of the college I went to that was out here and
00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:20.579
kind of took me under his wing and was really
00:18:20.579 --> 00:18:23.619
good to me and just kind of got me started. And
00:18:23.619 --> 00:18:28.299
I'm very thankful that I've never had a job that,
00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:31.339
it's not tied to entertainment lighting and cameras
00:18:31.339 --> 00:18:33.980
in the last 22 years since i you know made the
00:18:33.980 --> 00:18:37.500
move and uh you know the midwest still is very
00:18:37.500 --> 00:18:39.640
much my home i get back all my families there
00:18:39.640 --> 00:18:44.099
and whatnot and uh but uh yeah i've made a go
00:18:44.099 --> 00:18:46.849
of it out here and you know As with any industry,
00:18:46.990 --> 00:18:49.789
it's had its ups and downs and, you know, pandemics
00:18:49.789 --> 00:18:52.190
and, you know, strikes and all of that good stuff.
00:18:52.349 --> 00:18:55.410
But I'm still here. And I figured, you know,
00:18:55.450 --> 00:18:58.029
in the spirit of like being a survivor, you know,
00:18:58.069 --> 00:19:00.390
this T -shirt was appropriate, you know. And
00:19:00.390 --> 00:19:03.029
as a kid, Tiger Force, you know, some people
00:19:03.029 --> 00:19:05.589
don't, can't stand Tiger Force because of how
00:19:05.589 --> 00:19:08.529
garish they think it is. But for me, as like
00:19:08.529 --> 00:19:10.349
a very impressionable five -year -old in the
00:19:10.349 --> 00:19:14.009
80s, like I was all about it. Um, and completely
00:19:14.009 --> 00:19:16.230
my first like real trauma in life was when my
00:19:16.230 --> 00:19:18.670
dog chewed up my tiger force lifeline figure
00:19:18.670 --> 00:19:23.009
mortified. And, and those were the days when
00:19:23.009 --> 00:19:25.630
couldn't find another one. Didn't know how to,
00:19:25.670 --> 00:19:29.029
you know, it was just, he was gone. Um, but made
00:19:29.029 --> 00:19:31.750
it through that trauma, adulthood, film school,
00:19:32.009 --> 00:19:36.109
uh, California. And, uh, you know, it's, uh,
00:19:36.150 --> 00:19:39.970
yeah, it's been, it's been an adventure. So I
00:19:40.289 --> 00:19:42.579
love that you bring up the, uh, the behind the
00:19:42.579 --> 00:19:45.099
scenes or DVD special features, because those
00:19:45.099 --> 00:19:49.700
were such a huge part of my development. You
00:19:49.700 --> 00:19:51.539
know, when I was a kid, I don't know if you remember,
00:19:51.640 --> 00:19:55.019
there was a show that Leonard Nimoy hosted called,
00:19:55.200 --> 00:19:57.180
I believe it was called three, two, one lights,
00:19:57.200 --> 00:20:01.460
camera action, clunky title. Sure. But it was
00:20:01.460 --> 00:20:04.819
DVD bonus features before they existed. He would
00:20:04.819 --> 00:20:07.339
do these behind the scenes, each episode focused
00:20:07.339 --> 00:20:11.250
on a different movie. One of them was one of
00:20:11.250 --> 00:20:15.049
the Star Trek movies, of course. One was a James
00:20:15.049 --> 00:20:17.829
Bond movie. And there were I don't know how many
00:20:17.829 --> 00:20:20.549
episodes, but it came on Nickelodeon. So it was
00:20:20.549 --> 00:20:25.029
this geared at showing kids how the film industry
00:20:25.029 --> 00:20:28.289
worked. And it was kind of a short lived series.
00:20:28.430 --> 00:20:31.890
But then years later, we start to get the special
00:20:31.890 --> 00:20:36.460
features and stuff. And it was just I ate that
00:20:36.460 --> 00:20:38.400
stuff up. In some instances, I dug them more
00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:41.700
than I dug the movies. Yeah. yeah yeah in in
00:20:41.700 --> 00:20:45.180
college you know i was i was totally enamored
00:20:45.180 --> 00:20:47.220
with the movie michael bay's the rock in the
00:20:47.220 --> 00:20:51.940
mid 90s um it's like to this day like i'm not
00:20:51.940 --> 00:20:54.619
like a huge michael bay you know aficionado or
00:20:54.619 --> 00:20:57.099
anything but but that movie is just like you
00:20:57.099 --> 00:20:59.299
know it pulls on all kinds of strings for me
00:20:59.299 --> 00:21:01.779
and to the extent that in college i did like
00:21:01.779 --> 00:21:04.619
a full breakdown of like the whole opening sequence
00:21:04.619 --> 00:21:07.470
you know where ed harris you know is has this
00:21:07.470 --> 00:21:09.470
narration and the funeral and all that and i
00:21:09.470 --> 00:21:11.089
did you know i was like this is why they cut
00:21:11.089 --> 00:21:12.789
to this angle and this is what this is saying
00:21:12.789 --> 00:21:16.089
and you know i you know i broke it down and and
00:21:16.089 --> 00:21:18.369
then that soundtrack by hans zimmer i had just
00:21:18.369 --> 00:21:22.450
like in my car for the next decade at least um
00:21:22.450 --> 00:21:26.289
so i feel like that was yeah uh and just fit
00:21:26.289 --> 00:21:28.549
the world of like gee i was like this is what
00:21:28.549 --> 00:21:31.490
a gi joe movie should be and anytime we've all
00:21:31.490 --> 00:21:33.869
seen a few gi joe movies in our day and i see
00:21:33.869 --> 00:21:37.289
one away from it thinking uh yeah maybe maybe
00:21:37.289 --> 00:21:39.430
next time i always think of the rock in the context
00:21:39.430 --> 00:21:42.970
like just just make a movie like this and and
00:21:42.970 --> 00:21:47.359
we'll lead it up but anyway that's well that's
00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:49.819
the tone we've we've talked about tons and tons
00:21:49.819 --> 00:21:51.619
of times on audible interlude we've talked about
00:21:51.619 --> 00:21:55.140
like what a live -action gi joe movie you know
00:21:55.140 --> 00:21:58.599
should be and granted that's that's up to you
00:21:58.599 --> 00:22:01.579
know lots of different interpretations but i
00:22:01.579 --> 00:22:04.720
totally agree that the tone And the level of
00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:06.599
action and character and everything in The Rock,
00:22:06.779 --> 00:22:09.440
perfect. Absolutely perfect. Which is one of
00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:12.059
the reasons why I think so many of us on that
00:22:12.059 --> 00:22:14.039
first Transformers movie, regardless of what
00:22:14.039 --> 00:22:16.319
we thought of the Transformers movie, thought
00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:19.839
this is where G .I. Joe could come in because
00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:26.470
this level of spectacle, yes, this is how it
00:22:26.470 --> 00:22:28.289
would work. This is what it would look like.
00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:32.599
For sure. So I haven't worked on one yet, and
00:22:32.599 --> 00:22:35.519
I'm actually glad that I haven't because we haven't
00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:39.440
quite gotten it right, in my opinion. So if I
00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:41.460
ever do work on a G .I. Joe film, I'm like, it's
00:22:41.460 --> 00:22:47.470
going to be a good one. We haven't done reviews.
00:22:48.089 --> 00:22:50.930
Well, we reviewed The Snake Eyes when they came
00:22:50.930 --> 00:22:54.269
out during the pandemic. We have not done reviews
00:22:54.269 --> 00:22:57.240
of the first two live action movies yet. But
00:22:57.240 --> 00:22:59.559
we have discussed, and I'll always say this,
00:22:59.660 --> 00:23:03.359
I find things to enjoy about all of them. I don't
00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:07.940
hate any of them because I can look and I can
00:23:07.940 --> 00:23:11.400
see this would have happened in Sunbow. This
00:23:11.400 --> 00:23:17.740
was a very Sunbow cartoon plot device. I can
00:23:17.740 --> 00:23:22.579
appreciate them while still feeling like this
00:23:22.579 --> 00:23:27.710
isn't it. Yeah, absolutely. I will say my ideal
00:23:27.710 --> 00:23:30.069
G .I. Joe movie, Shipwreck, has to be in it.
00:23:30.109 --> 00:23:34.009
He is one of my favorite characters. Obviously,
00:23:35.009 --> 00:23:37.910
Snake Eyes. I wouldn't love Snake Eyes, but if
00:23:37.910 --> 00:23:41.369
it's not Snake Eyes, Shipwreck is my guy. Look,
00:23:41.970 --> 00:23:43.690
I think you need both because I think you want
00:23:43.690 --> 00:23:46.230
Snake Eyes for the action component, for the
00:23:46.230 --> 00:23:48.650
visual, for the flair, for the style, for the
00:23:48.650 --> 00:23:53.049
fight, but Shipwreck's the talker. I think Shipwreck
00:23:53.049 --> 00:23:56.240
is not only needs to be in it i think shipwreck
00:23:56.240 --> 00:24:01.170
is the guy because you've got duke or flint or
00:24:01.170 --> 00:24:03.210
hawk or whoever they choose to be kind of the
00:24:03.210 --> 00:24:07.809
commander type but that's to me that's not your
00:24:07.809 --> 00:24:09.990
main character that's not the character the audience
00:24:09.990 --> 00:24:13.430
is following sure of course well you never know
00:24:13.430 --> 00:24:15.289
maybe they can do it in a comic book series that
00:24:15.289 --> 00:24:17.109
might be coming out you know in the near future
00:24:18.869 --> 00:24:22.190
entirely possible the movie sounds like a reasonable
00:24:22.190 --> 00:24:26.970
reasonable idea um so you mentioned also the
00:24:26.970 --> 00:24:29.390
soundtrack to the rock being very important to
00:24:29.390 --> 00:24:33.450
you hans zimmer's score and i love talking about
00:24:33.450 --> 00:24:35.309
movie scores as much as i love talking about
00:24:35.309 --> 00:24:38.930
bonus features because i remember uh in 1989
00:24:38.930 --> 00:24:43.069
when batman came out uh i wanted the batman soundtrack
00:24:43.069 --> 00:24:49.000
more than anything sure and mom knew this so
00:24:49.000 --> 00:24:52.940
she went to the local mom and pop record store
00:24:52.940 --> 00:24:56.299
back when those were common and she brought home
00:24:56.299 --> 00:25:00.779
not prince's soundtrack but danny elfman's score
00:25:00.779 --> 00:25:06.750
yeah and initially i was very disappointed because
00:25:06.750 --> 00:25:08.849
i just i wanted to hear prince i didn't want
00:25:08.849 --> 00:25:12.349
to hear this orchestral stuff sure but because
00:25:12.349 --> 00:25:15.990
it was batman and every single thing related
00:25:15.990 --> 00:25:20.440
to that movie was inherently awesome i put that
00:25:20.440 --> 00:25:23.519
tape in my little walkman tape deck and listened
00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:25.880
to it and that's how i ended up loving movie
00:25:25.880 --> 00:25:28.160
scores and and learning what movie scores even
00:25:28.160 --> 00:25:31.589
were versus you know, just the collection of
00:25:31.589 --> 00:25:33.490
songs that were typically, you know, released
00:25:33.490 --> 00:25:35.789
as albums or whatever. But that, that was where
00:25:35.789 --> 00:25:38.650
I got my appreciation for scores was, was that
00:25:38.650 --> 00:25:40.690
Hans Zimmer score? Was that kind of where it
00:25:40.690 --> 00:25:45.250
clicked for you? Yeah. I mean, in a, yeah, in
00:25:45.250 --> 00:25:47.670
a, in a very basic, like instinctual level. Yes.
00:25:48.569 --> 00:25:51.970
And then as I delved into filmmaking as a, you
00:25:51.970 --> 00:25:54.509
know, as in my college years and then, you know,
00:25:54.509 --> 00:25:57.269
got out to LA and, you know. Got on the professional
00:25:57.269 --> 00:26:00.289
sets and then actually, you know, I met it was
00:26:00.289 --> 00:26:03.789
where I met Kyle Higgins was on his student film
00:26:03.789 --> 00:26:07.390
thesis project down at Chapman University. I'm
00:26:07.390 --> 00:26:10.710
a couple of years older than he is. And I one
00:26:10.710 --> 00:26:12.789
of his crew members was working on one of my
00:26:12.789 --> 00:26:15.609
music videos up in L .A. and just got to talking
00:26:15.609 --> 00:26:17.990
and he was helping Kyle out on this thing. And
00:26:17.990 --> 00:26:19.730
next thing I was helping Kyle out on this thing.
00:26:20.029 --> 00:26:22.569
And, you know, he was directing. He wrote and
00:26:22.569 --> 00:26:25.869
co -wrote and directed that. film but also sound
00:26:25.869 --> 00:26:29.230
was sort of like his his jam if he wasn't going
00:26:29.230 --> 00:26:33.349
to be directing or writing and um and part of
00:26:33.349 --> 00:26:34.990
the reason you know i knew him when he was a
00:26:34.990 --> 00:26:37.210
comic book fan before he was a comic book creator
00:26:37.210 --> 00:26:41.049
and it was he bent the ear of composer barry
00:26:41.049 --> 00:26:44.289
mccreary at San Diego Comic -Con as part of his
00:26:44.289 --> 00:26:46.569
saga of like breaking into the comic industry.
00:26:47.049 --> 00:26:51.650
And so kind of befriended Bear. And before I
00:26:51.650 --> 00:26:53.650
knew it, I was over at Bear's house, you know,
00:26:53.670 --> 00:26:56.349
doing some behind the scenes thing for this project
00:26:56.349 --> 00:26:59.329
or that project and shot a short film with Kyle
00:26:59.329 --> 00:27:03.190
in which Bear McCurry did the score. So I say
00:27:03.190 --> 00:27:05.970
all of that to simply say that it was really.
00:27:06.650 --> 00:27:08.609
you know, fulfilling for me to kind of get a
00:27:08.609 --> 00:27:10.670
peek behind the curtain, even though I don't
00:27:10.670 --> 00:27:13.470
work in the world of sound design or, you know,
00:27:13.470 --> 00:27:16.869
working in an orchestra or as a composer in the
00:27:16.869 --> 00:27:19.589
film business, I've gotten to experience, you
00:27:19.589 --> 00:27:21.569
know, what that is and sort of that creative
00:27:21.569 --> 00:27:25.289
process. And it's fascinating. And it really
00:27:25.289 --> 00:27:28.710
is for me, half of a movie is the soundtrack.
00:27:29.130 --> 00:27:33.750
Oh, yeah. And so so, yeah. Anyway, again, it's
00:27:33.750 --> 00:27:35.430
funny how these things all kind of tie. I know
00:27:35.430 --> 00:27:37.849
I'm dancing around a lot, but I'm basically just
00:27:37.849 --> 00:27:41.349
pointing out like somehow everything is related
00:27:41.349 --> 00:27:43.529
in one way or another. And it's not a straight
00:27:43.529 --> 00:27:47.569
line. But but yes, I've developed an incredible
00:27:47.569 --> 00:27:51.670
appreciation for for film scores. And well, and
00:27:51.670 --> 00:27:54.309
what you what you just described is my absolute
00:27:54.309 --> 00:27:57.650
favorite thing in the world is creative people.
00:27:58.700 --> 00:28:02.220
Getting together, like kind of almost just running
00:28:02.220 --> 00:28:06.579
into each other and deciding, well, we have to
00:28:06.579 --> 00:28:09.519
make a thing and we're going to bring in other
00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:12.480
creative people and we're going to make this
00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:16.220
thing like this process of here are your talents,
00:28:16.299 --> 00:28:20.819
here are my talents. Here's a vision that we
00:28:20.819 --> 00:28:24.279
we share or work together on in some way, like
00:28:24.279 --> 00:28:27.000
it's the best thing in the world. It's completely
00:28:27.000 --> 00:28:30.400
a team sport. And, you know, I grew up playing
00:28:30.400 --> 00:28:33.579
soccer. I was a goalkeeper. Like I've done some
00:28:33.579 --> 00:28:36.200
solo sports in my life, but I've never been attracted
00:28:36.200 --> 00:28:40.539
to them the way that I am team sports. And filmmaking
00:28:40.539 --> 00:28:43.700
is very much, you know, it takes a village. And
00:28:43.700 --> 00:28:47.720
I love that aspect of it. You know, no knock
00:28:47.720 --> 00:28:49.359
on a painter who wants to go set up an easel
00:28:49.359 --> 00:28:52.140
and paint a landscape on their own because that's
00:28:52.140 --> 00:28:55.579
easier to do in some ways. but um but the challenge
00:28:55.579 --> 00:28:59.420
that is you know the team efforts and any movie
00:28:59.420 --> 00:29:01.819
that ultimately gets finished and then released
00:29:01.819 --> 00:29:03.880
to the world is a minor miracle in my opinion
00:29:03.880 --> 00:29:08.579
um i agree with you it's uh it's why i am in
00:29:08.579 --> 00:29:11.140
this world it's why you know i'm crazy enough
00:29:11.140 --> 00:29:15.220
to have a job that is very erratic in in some
00:29:15.220 --> 00:29:17.799
ways as far as like my schedule and year to year
00:29:17.799 --> 00:29:21.609
and and uh you know i'm I'm all over the place
00:29:21.609 --> 00:29:23.869
in some ways, doing a little bit of this, that,
00:29:23.890 --> 00:29:27.349
and the other thing. But it's incredibly fulfilling
00:29:27.349 --> 00:29:30.390
when you find your home away from home or your
00:29:30.390 --> 00:29:33.170
family away from your family, your creative family.
00:29:33.609 --> 00:29:37.369
And yeah, it's great. I mean, it's, you know,
00:29:37.410 --> 00:29:40.789
I wouldn't. if I wasn't doing this maybe I'd
00:29:40.789 --> 00:29:43.230
like go try and become a helicopter pilot or
00:29:43.230 --> 00:29:45.509
something but but that's highly dangerous and
00:29:45.509 --> 00:29:47.109
I feel like it might shorten my life expectancy
00:29:47.109 --> 00:29:50.250
so for now this is uh this is the world that
00:29:50.250 --> 00:29:53.630
I'm I'm in and I'm not going anywhere so for
00:29:53.630 --> 00:29:56.329
the very reason that you know that you call out
00:29:56.329 --> 00:30:00.220
so so let's talk a little bit about before we
00:30:00.220 --> 00:30:03.279
get too far into the the actual filmmaking uh
00:30:03.279 --> 00:30:05.039
let's go back to Jill a little bit you mentioned
00:30:05.039 --> 00:30:09.599
Tiger Force which I uh when i became aware of
00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:11.799
tiger force because it was my my prime time in
00:30:11.799 --> 00:30:16.160
joe was 82 to 87 yeah a little bit into 88 but
00:30:16.160 --> 00:30:18.940
tiger force was not really a part of my first
00:30:18.940 --> 00:30:23.180
uh round of joe and then later on when i found
00:30:23.180 --> 00:30:25.119
out about it exactly what you said i was like
00:30:25.119 --> 00:30:28.380
this is too garish this is this is not for me
00:30:28.380 --> 00:30:30.539
i don't care for this now it's like my favorite
00:30:30.539 --> 00:30:33.859
thing in joe i love the designs of the vehicles
00:30:33.859 --> 00:30:38.980
i love how the the color palettes of the figures
00:30:38.980 --> 00:30:43.039
are all different there's not really there may
00:30:43.039 --> 00:30:45.319
be a couple of unifying factors but it's not
00:30:45.319 --> 00:30:49.839
like they share a look necessarily yeah and none
00:30:49.839 --> 00:30:55.319
of those looks are tiger like except for the
00:30:55.319 --> 00:30:58.000
literal tiger on the that european outback which
00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:00.319
nobody had i mean come on let's be right right
00:31:00.319 --> 00:31:03.750
exactly But see, I love Tiger Force now. But
00:31:03.750 --> 00:31:05.670
what are some other aspects of Joe? Like when
00:31:05.670 --> 00:31:08.569
you were first discovering Joe, what were some
00:31:08.569 --> 00:31:10.009
of the things that really appealed to you or
00:31:10.009 --> 00:31:12.349
some of your favorite stuff? You know, I think
00:31:12.349 --> 00:31:15.130
so. And my brother, by the way, is more like
00:31:15.130 --> 00:31:18.009
he had the original Colonel Hawk with the MMS.
00:31:18.269 --> 00:31:21.630
And, you know, he wrote, you know, destroyed
00:31:21.630 --> 00:31:24.089
it one day riding over it with his bike and was
00:31:24.089 --> 00:31:27.609
mortified. But he, you know, he had a very small
00:31:27.609 --> 00:31:31.140
collection and I got into it. right around 86
00:31:31.140 --> 00:31:36.299
kind of 86 to 90 was sort of my my yeah yes and
00:31:36.299 --> 00:31:42.119
um uh i remember well okay there were there were
00:31:42.119 --> 00:31:44.640
a couple i think my first action figure was either
00:31:44.640 --> 00:31:48.740
it was either battle um the uh cover commander
00:31:48.740 --> 00:31:52.099
1987 cover commander you know okay you know got
00:31:52.099 --> 00:31:54.160
the ridiculous outfit but to me it was like it
00:31:54.160 --> 00:31:57.799
yeah commander so um well that one when that
00:31:57.799 --> 00:32:01.400
one came out that replaced mine. Like I loved
00:32:01.400 --> 00:32:03.559
that battle armor look. I thought it was the
00:32:03.559 --> 00:32:05.980
coolest thing in the world. And, and it's funny
00:32:05.980 --> 00:32:09.079
cause you grow up and this is, it's about how
00:32:09.079 --> 00:32:13.140
your perceptions should shift as you get older
00:32:13.140 --> 00:32:15.700
and discover new things. Cause like the original
00:32:15.700 --> 00:32:17.980
Cobra commander seemed so cool when we got him
00:32:17.980 --> 00:32:22.140
like that silver face plate, just cool. But then
00:32:22.140 --> 00:32:23.720
the battle armor comes out and you're like, well,
00:32:23.759 --> 00:32:27.519
no, this one, look, he's ready to fight. This
00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:30.740
is great. I love that one. A little like Shredder
00:32:30.740 --> 00:32:32.839
-esque, you know, of the Ninja Turtles. He got
00:32:32.839 --> 00:32:35.680
all that, you know, silver. But I basically,
00:32:35.759 --> 00:32:38.200
I coupled him with the buzz boar. Some people
00:32:38.200 --> 00:32:40.700
just rip on the buzz boar, but I love, I just,
00:32:40.779 --> 00:32:42.599
I love this. I was like, this is Cobra Commander's
00:32:42.599 --> 00:32:44.380
vehicle and he can go anywhere and he can go
00:32:44.380 --> 00:32:46.440
underground and he can like, you know, he can
00:32:46.440 --> 00:32:48.160
pop up anywhere. He can escape from anything.
00:32:48.299 --> 00:32:51.000
And like, so I paired that Battle Archer Primer
00:32:51.000 --> 00:32:54.240
Cobra Commander with that buzz boar. And then,
00:32:54.400 --> 00:32:56.880
you know, I think I had more. joe vehicles than
00:32:56.880 --> 00:32:59.339
i did cobra and so you know because the joe's
00:32:59.339 --> 00:33:02.660
had i had the mobile command center and that
00:33:02.660 --> 00:33:06.019
was my that was my base right um did not have
00:33:06.019 --> 00:33:08.660
the defiant never had the flag by the way the
00:33:08.660 --> 00:33:10.319
fact that kyle had the flag and i didn't have
00:33:10.319 --> 00:33:13.740
the flag and he was like so you know a borderline
00:33:13.740 --> 00:33:16.059
you know kind of missed out on joe i'm like what
00:33:16.059 --> 00:33:18.279
what the universe i don't understand sometimes
00:33:18.279 --> 00:33:23.759
but uh yeah i i had a modest collection But,
00:33:23.799 --> 00:33:26.319
like, I had that Tiger Force snowcat and that
00:33:26.319 --> 00:33:28.759
Rattler that my grandma gave me. And, like, that
00:33:28.759 --> 00:33:31.539
was my Rattler, you know, with Sky Striker. And,
00:33:31.619 --> 00:33:34.339
you know, even though I hung it up and it came
00:33:34.339 --> 00:33:36.539
crashing down and it broke into three pieces,
00:33:36.660 --> 00:33:38.960
I, like, super glued it back together, like,
00:33:39.000 --> 00:33:42.539
multiple times. Like, I was determined that,
00:33:42.720 --> 00:33:44.900
you know, I was going to, you know, nothing was
00:33:44.900 --> 00:33:47.279
going to be gone forever until my dog ate that
00:33:47.279 --> 00:33:51.140
one Lifeline figure. But, yeah, I guess I just,
00:33:51.240 --> 00:33:56.900
I remember. The movie was huge for me, the G
00:33:56.900 --> 00:33:58.400
.I. Joe movie. And I couldn't quite figure out
00:33:58.400 --> 00:33:59.960
why there weren't any Tiger Force guys in it.
00:34:00.039 --> 00:34:03.799
But I think my brother found it maybe on clearance
00:34:03.799 --> 00:34:08.239
at KB Toys for my birthday, right around like
00:34:08.239 --> 00:34:11.179
my fifth, you know, I was like five years old.
00:34:11.219 --> 00:34:13.260
So it's like that five, six, seven years old,
00:34:13.320 --> 00:34:17.599
like super impressionable. Oh, yeah. And I mean,
00:34:17.599 --> 00:34:20.059
the whole thing was just like the opening sequence,
00:34:20.199 --> 00:34:23.599
you know. phenomenal. And it's like the opening
00:34:23.599 --> 00:34:25.199
sequence of The Rock, the opening sequence of
00:34:25.199 --> 00:34:27.280
G .I. Joe the movie, like these, you know, these
00:34:27.280 --> 00:34:32.159
are good experiences. And the VHS tape that I
00:34:32.159 --> 00:34:34.059
had of G .I. Joe the movie, the animated film,
00:34:34.199 --> 00:34:38.219
I wore it to death. I mean, I watched that thing
00:34:38.219 --> 00:34:43.369
so many times. And so that was... That was, and
00:34:43.369 --> 00:34:45.269
of course the cartoon, I would catch an episode
00:34:45.269 --> 00:34:47.710
here or there, but really like the movie I could
00:34:47.710 --> 00:34:50.969
always put in the machine. And I never got bored.
00:34:51.710 --> 00:34:55.070
And, you know, like Gunpo Alpine and Bazooka
00:34:55.070 --> 00:34:58.269
and Keep Splicing. Like, I just, I love, I love,
00:34:58.369 --> 00:35:03.190
I love that movie. And, and no, Coburn Law was
00:35:03.190 --> 00:35:05.050
not the reason I loved that movie, but I also
00:35:05.050 --> 00:35:06.889
didn't really mind it because, you know, there
00:35:06.889 --> 00:35:09.030
was all this other stuff going on. And I've always
00:35:09.030 --> 00:35:12.110
loved Arctic, you know, as an environment. And
00:35:12.110 --> 00:35:14.329
the fact that, you know, we're slowly starting
00:35:14.329 --> 00:35:17.650
to, like, see some figures that, you know, represent
00:35:17.650 --> 00:35:20.030
the Arctic sequence from the movie as we had
00:35:20.030 --> 00:35:21.710
as kids. Like, I don't know why we didn't have
00:35:21.710 --> 00:35:24.909
those as kids, but those would have been amazing.
00:35:25.929 --> 00:35:28.530
And then also had a comic book subscription,
00:35:28.730 --> 00:35:31.070
thanks to my brother, really. You know, at some
00:35:31.070 --> 00:35:33.409
point, you know, we look in the back of whatever
00:35:33.409 --> 00:35:35.690
Spider -Man comic. Oh, you can order G .I. Joe.
00:35:35.769 --> 00:35:38.329
Yeah, let's do that. And so for a period of like
00:35:38.329 --> 00:35:41.170
three years or so, you know, had the monthly
00:35:41.170 --> 00:35:43.849
comic come to the mailbox and get crushed and,
00:35:43.889 --> 00:35:45.690
you know, whatever. But of course, you know,
00:35:45.710 --> 00:35:48.250
we weren't we weren't on, you know, we weren't
00:35:48.250 --> 00:35:50.869
bagging any comic books in those days. But yeah.
00:35:50.869 --> 00:35:56.159
Oh, yeah. Yeah. But I just remember like, yeah,
00:35:56.300 --> 00:35:58.320
like Storm Shadow getting stabbed in the back.
00:35:58.380 --> 00:36:01.539
Like it was it was it was. It was just, I feel
00:36:01.539 --> 00:36:04.059
like I just missed out on the Cobra Civil War.
00:36:04.980 --> 00:36:07.179
I might have caught a little bit of it, but it
00:36:07.179 --> 00:36:09.599
was like just after that. So, you know, my Destro
00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:12.900
was gold -headed, you know. The Iron Grenadiers,
00:36:13.079 --> 00:36:16.519
Tiger Force, I was all about all that stuff when
00:36:16.519 --> 00:36:18.920
it came to the toys and the comics. And then
00:36:18.920 --> 00:36:21.400
the movie was like, it took me back to the characters
00:36:21.400 --> 00:36:25.219
that I had missed in toy form. But I just was
00:36:25.219 --> 00:36:27.860
like, you know, some of them obviously resurfaced.
00:36:28.539 --> 00:36:32.260
as they they got recolored or whatever and um
00:36:32.260 --> 00:36:36.000
yeah i don't know it's just the file cards like
00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:38.219
i had my file card collection and in whatever
00:36:38.219 --> 00:36:41.179
you know shoebox or whatever container and um
00:36:41.179 --> 00:36:44.179
just like poured over that stuff you know had
00:36:44.179 --> 00:36:46.360
the had the briefcase full of blue blueprints
00:36:46.360 --> 00:36:49.639
and and uh and then of course did like live action
00:36:49.639 --> 00:36:51.900
joe stuff meaning my brother and i going out
00:36:51.900 --> 00:36:54.539
in the woods and building forts and like oh yeah
00:36:54.539 --> 00:36:58.860
all that all that stuff so um Yeah, it was just
00:36:58.860 --> 00:37:02.400
like, what a time, what a time to be a kid and
00:37:02.400 --> 00:37:04.980
just like have access to all this fun stuff.
00:37:05.239 --> 00:37:08.340
I mean, I just, what was it about it that captured
00:37:08.340 --> 00:37:10.880
my imagination? I just think that there was so
00:37:10.880 --> 00:37:12.780
much storytelling, whether it was, you know,
00:37:12.780 --> 00:37:14.699
the cartoon or whether it was the comic. And
00:37:14.699 --> 00:37:17.900
I didn't really have any real sense of, you know,
00:37:17.900 --> 00:37:20.099
what it took to make a comic book and really
00:37:20.099 --> 00:37:23.900
who Larry Hama was or any of that. But you can
00:37:23.900 --> 00:37:26.110
be darn sure that I appreciated it. the efforts
00:37:26.110 --> 00:37:28.590
that, you know, all of these people were putting
00:37:28.590 --> 00:37:32.489
in behind the scenes. And so as an adult, it's
00:37:32.489 --> 00:37:34.230
been, it's been a pleasure and kind of the joke
00:37:34.230 --> 00:37:36.289
on days, my brother and I went to the convention
00:37:36.289 --> 00:37:39.429
in Springfield, Illinois. And then we also got
00:37:39.429 --> 00:37:42.050
out to Denver and both times Larry was there.
00:37:42.110 --> 00:37:44.530
And when they had like the casino night and just
00:37:44.530 --> 00:37:46.289
sitting next to Larry at dinner and just like,
00:37:46.329 --> 00:37:48.429
that was like my introduction to him as a real
00:37:48.429 --> 00:37:51.210
person. And it was just, you know, that was really
00:37:51.210 --> 00:37:54.599
cool. And the fact that he's still. doing it
00:37:54.599 --> 00:37:57.659
and and he's you know kind of has a new lease
00:37:57.659 --> 00:38:01.199
you know on on the series yeah it's just that's
00:38:01.199 --> 00:38:04.199
that's just awesome and and and and the fact
00:38:04.199 --> 00:38:06.679
that they kind of just let him do his thing is
00:38:06.679 --> 00:38:09.699
is great and uh i hope he's having fun with it
00:38:09.699 --> 00:38:16.420
so um but i think so we we've said we've said
00:38:16.420 --> 00:38:18.980
a bunch of times like is as long as larry wants
00:38:18.980 --> 00:38:23.230
to write gi joe comics let him keep going That
00:38:23.230 --> 00:38:26.369
wasn't the case. Remember the mid -90s? Oh, yeah.
00:38:27.210 --> 00:38:30.070
They re -released Star Wars, which was cool.
00:38:30.289 --> 00:38:34.929
We had no G .I. Joe. I appreciate the efforts
00:38:34.929 --> 00:38:36.769
of Josh Blaylock and Devil's Due and what he
00:38:36.769 --> 00:38:39.710
was trying to do. I loved it at the time. I have
00:38:39.710 --> 00:38:44.150
not revisited it, but I loved the... What was
00:38:44.150 --> 00:38:48.010
it? It was Image, then Devil's Due. Was there
00:38:48.010 --> 00:38:51.519
an in -between? was it there was an image before
00:38:51.519 --> 00:38:53.760
devils do they're marvel right and then devils
00:38:53.760 --> 00:38:56.500
do was there anything in between i guess you're
00:38:56.500 --> 00:38:58.260
right devils do started out an image you are
00:38:58.260 --> 00:39:00.559
right as an image imprint right kind of like
00:39:00.559 --> 00:39:02.980
skybound is now but i feel like there was well
00:39:02.980 --> 00:39:05.199
anyway that's neither here nor there but yeah
00:39:05.199 --> 00:39:08.800
you're right there was a dry spell where we until
00:39:08.800 --> 00:39:13.840
idw got the comic license yeah uh larry hamill
00:39:13.840 --> 00:39:17.159
was not writing joe comics and now like At the
00:39:17.159 --> 00:39:20.199
time, it didn't seem that strange because it
00:39:20.199 --> 00:39:22.519
just felt like, well, people write comics for
00:39:22.519 --> 00:39:25.800
a certain amount of time, most of them not 12
00:39:25.800 --> 00:39:32.489
years. Sure. And then they move on to other things.
00:39:32.849 --> 00:39:37.989
And IDW, I enjoy a lot of what they put out,
00:39:38.010 --> 00:39:40.210
but specifically I remember when they announced
00:39:40.210 --> 00:39:43.510
that they were continuing Real American Hero,
00:39:43.750 --> 00:39:48.590
it was mind -blowing. the the world was different
00:39:48.590 --> 00:39:54.119
things like that uh being more respectful of
00:39:54.119 --> 00:39:56.719
create now look it's nowhere near where it needs
00:39:56.719 --> 00:40:03.820
to be but acknowledging creators is in a better
00:40:03.820 --> 00:40:08.440
place now than it was in the mid to late 90s
00:40:08.440 --> 00:40:13.599
yeah yeah but there's also less of a just the
00:40:14.349 --> 00:40:17.230
the comic book business or industry is much more,
00:40:17.309 --> 00:40:22.530
it's, it's more fragile than it was. It's not
00:40:22.530 --> 00:40:25.670
as robust as far as, you know, what these companies
00:40:25.670 --> 00:40:27.769
are churning out at the volume that they're churning
00:40:27.769 --> 00:40:31.449
out. And, and so I think, you know, that idea
00:40:31.449 --> 00:40:33.960
that I mean, even like when the film industry,
00:40:34.099 --> 00:40:36.280
because in California, I mean, Los Angeles has,
00:40:36.559 --> 00:40:39.219
you know, really struggled in the last, let's
00:40:39.219 --> 00:40:41.980
say, five or so years with runaway production
00:40:41.980 --> 00:40:44.980
and all this stuff. But like, there's still the
00:40:44.980 --> 00:40:47.539
people here that are here and doing it and working
00:40:47.539 --> 00:40:50.940
like they are. It's they are determined. They
00:40:50.940 --> 00:40:54.480
are hellbent to to do their thing. And I feel
00:40:54.480 --> 00:41:02.590
like. In some ways, the industry at large is
00:41:02.590 --> 00:41:04.889
more fragile, the comic business. But at the
00:41:04.889 --> 00:41:07.769
same time, the people that are getting the opportunities
00:41:07.769 --> 00:41:10.650
to do the things are really some of the best
00:41:10.650 --> 00:41:14.909
of the best. And I really do feel that. If you
00:41:14.909 --> 00:41:17.190
just want to phone it in and work in the comic
00:41:17.190 --> 00:41:19.230
business, I don't think you're going to have
00:41:19.230 --> 00:41:24.199
a job for very long. And yet, like, what Larry
00:41:24.199 --> 00:41:26.179
Hama is doing or is being afforded to do, like,
00:41:26.260 --> 00:41:29.099
it's really a unique space that I don't think
00:41:29.099 --> 00:41:32.780
there's a story like his. And, you know, I am
00:41:32.780 --> 00:41:36.300
a comic book fan, but really, I'm a G .I. Joe
00:41:36.300 --> 00:41:39.650
comic book fan. um that's like the one thing
00:41:39.650 --> 00:41:42.789
that i've collected my entire life and you know
00:41:42.789 --> 00:41:45.630
i've never i think every comic i've ever purchased
00:41:45.630 --> 00:41:49.409
i still have uh you know and with space constraints
00:41:49.409 --> 00:41:51.530
if i really collected anything else that would
00:41:51.530 --> 00:41:54.230
be a problem so uh maybe that's part of the reasoning
00:41:54.230 --> 00:41:59.250
but um uh yeah and and a large part of that is
00:41:59.250 --> 00:42:02.429
is because i know that there's kind of one And,
00:42:02.469 --> 00:42:04.989
and by the way, this is, I love what, what Josh
00:42:04.989 --> 00:42:07.070
is doing with Joshua Williamson is doing with
00:42:07.070 --> 00:42:09.389
the energy. Oh yeah. Yeah. And his new spin on
00:42:09.389 --> 00:42:11.570
Coca -Cola and all that stuff. I want to make
00:42:11.570 --> 00:42:14.289
very clear. Well, that's part of what's so exciting
00:42:14.289 --> 00:42:17.510
about it is that, you know, Skybound made the
00:42:17.510 --> 00:42:19.909
decision of, yes, we're, we're going to continue
00:42:19.909 --> 00:42:23.889
what Larry Hama has been doing, but also let's,
00:42:23.889 --> 00:42:26.849
let's do a new story. Let's completely new universe.
00:42:27.789 --> 00:42:33.360
And if. I don't think I would believe that it
00:42:33.360 --> 00:42:36.179
would be working as well as it is if somebody
00:42:36.179 --> 00:42:39.400
had described it to me before it happened. Because
00:42:39.400 --> 00:42:42.239
we have failed examples, I think. Yeah, yeah,
00:42:42.239 --> 00:42:44.920
yeah. You know, whether it was Devil's Due, like
00:42:44.920 --> 00:42:47.280
Larry not writing at Devil's Due, or with IDW,
00:42:47.340 --> 00:42:50.480
you know, the attempts to do, you know, series
00:42:50.480 --> 00:42:52.760
outside of what Larry was doing, you know, just
00:42:52.760 --> 00:42:54.820
didn't have, you know, it got rebooted a lot.
00:42:55.519 --> 00:43:00.239
Yes, yes. it's not that it hasn't been tried
00:43:00.239 --> 00:43:04.199
i just think the whether it's the timing or the
00:43:04.199 --> 00:43:08.219
rep like the the desire for it or or just i i
00:43:08.219 --> 00:43:10.539
also think you know what kirkman is doing at
00:43:10.539 --> 00:43:12.500
skybound and everyone that works at that company
00:43:12.500 --> 00:43:15.980
like i think they i think they get it and and
00:43:15.980 --> 00:43:18.900
sometimes they say you know be wary of fans like
00:43:18.900 --> 00:43:21.440
writing something that you love you know but
00:43:21.440 --> 00:43:24.039
but i really do think like a good mixture of
00:43:24.039 --> 00:43:27.139
that is it can be a really good thing uh you
00:43:27.139 --> 00:43:29.719
know uh and i think like kirkman is a huge gi
00:43:29.719 --> 00:43:32.400
joe fan right so that's the secret and joshua
00:43:32.400 --> 00:43:35.159
williamson is a huge gi joe fan they also are
00:43:35.159 --> 00:43:37.320
you know great at all these other things that
00:43:37.320 --> 00:43:40.579
they do so it's just a great pairing and we've
00:43:40.579 --> 00:43:42.440
arrived at a point in time and i don't know that
00:43:42.440 --> 00:43:44.360
this will last forever because at some point
00:43:44.360 --> 00:43:46.059
maybe we'll age out of this you know what i mean
00:43:46.059 --> 00:43:50.159
but but at least at this Moment in time, it's
00:43:50.159 --> 00:43:52.760
an embarrassment of riches. I feel like for G
00:43:52.760 --> 00:43:56.079
.I. Joe fans where you have, you know, the five,
00:43:56.260 --> 00:43:58.579
10 year old kids from the 80s are getting to
00:43:58.579 --> 00:44:03.019
actually do it while also, you know, still enjoying,
00:44:03.199 --> 00:44:06.400
you know, stories from the guy that started it
00:44:06.400 --> 00:44:09.579
all, you know, which is just like that. It just
00:44:09.579 --> 00:44:12.820
doesn't happen, frankly, I don't think. And so
00:44:12.820 --> 00:44:16.719
the fact that we're like just if anyone is like
00:44:16.719 --> 00:44:19.920
has. naysayers about anything that's going on
00:44:19.920 --> 00:44:21.940
with like the gi joe property and the store like
00:44:21.940 --> 00:44:24.820
just like this is a really special time and i
00:44:24.820 --> 00:44:26.820
just want everybody out there just to like take
00:44:26.820 --> 00:44:29.360
a minute to take a breath and just appreciate
00:44:29.360 --> 00:44:33.159
like wow look at like look at everything that
00:44:33.159 --> 00:44:36.980
like it i never would have guessed you know 15
00:44:36.980 --> 00:44:40.340
20 years ago that we would ever see as much fuel
00:44:40.340 --> 00:44:43.739
in the fire that is you know driving you know
00:44:43.739 --> 00:44:45.699
and look we might have a new cartoon coming and
00:44:45.699 --> 00:44:50.010
like just like Hey, just enjoy it because, wow,
00:44:50.170 --> 00:44:53.449
there's something for everybody, I think, if
00:44:53.449 --> 00:44:55.409
you are a fan and you want to kind of revisit,
00:44:55.590 --> 00:44:59.590
you know. Oh, yeah. Well, even just six years
00:44:59.590 --> 00:45:02.809
ago when we started the show, we couldn't have
00:45:02.809 --> 00:45:06.030
guessed where things would be right now, that
00:45:06.030 --> 00:45:10.050
Joe would be having a second golden age because,
00:45:10.150 --> 00:45:13.210
I mean, obviously nothing will ever top the excess
00:45:13.210 --> 00:45:16.199
of 80s G .I. Joe. They're not making another
00:45:16.199 --> 00:45:22.099
flag. Yeah, I get it. No, but we're, we're as
00:45:22.099 --> 00:45:24.960
close as we're going to get to that right now.
00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:26.800
And you're absolutely right that it's a golden
00:45:26.800 --> 00:45:30.800
age and that whether it's the toys that are representing
00:45:30.800 --> 00:45:32.880
the comics, the cartoons, and then of course
00:45:32.880 --> 00:45:36.940
classified or that, you know, within classified,
00:45:37.019 --> 00:45:40.360
you've got the stuff that. looks like the originals
00:45:40.360 --> 00:45:42.780
but you also have new ideas and new takes on
00:45:42.780 --> 00:45:45.119
things and with the comics you've got larry's
00:45:45.119 --> 00:45:46.780
and you've got the inner john universe like you
00:45:46.780 --> 00:45:48.760
can take all of it in or you can pick and choose
00:45:48.760 --> 00:45:53.559
and and what a what a luxury as a fan to have
00:45:53.559 --> 00:45:58.739
so much available that you can choose like whether
00:45:58.739 --> 00:45:59.960
or not to buy it because i'll tell you right
00:45:59.960 --> 00:46:02.219
now i've been in some fan as a doctor who fan
00:46:02.219 --> 00:46:06.820
yeah my entire life there have been times where
00:46:06.820 --> 00:46:10.090
i would have bought anything regardless of quality
00:46:10.090 --> 00:46:14.050
just because it said doctor who now fortunately
00:46:14.050 --> 00:46:16.670
we got that resurgence in 2005 but there were
00:46:16.670 --> 00:46:18.889
some years where as an american doctor who fan
00:46:18.889 --> 00:46:22.730
i would have bought anything so yeah to have
00:46:22.730 --> 00:46:26.420
the pick and choose is amazing My low point in
00:46:26.420 --> 00:46:28.300
collecting, like, nothing against Star Trek,
00:46:28.360 --> 00:46:30.400
but at some point when there were no G .I. Joe
00:46:30.400 --> 00:46:33.340
figures on the shelves in the 90s, and I, like,
00:46:33.360 --> 00:46:35.519
transitioned or pivoted to, like, Star Trek figures,
00:46:35.659 --> 00:46:39.239
and the Deep Space Nine, like, Morn figure, you
00:46:39.239 --> 00:46:42.480
know, this alien who's a super drab and is in,
00:46:42.519 --> 00:46:45.039
like, one scene in one episode. That was the
00:46:45.039 --> 00:46:49.059
low point, for sure. So I'm glad that that is
00:46:49.059 --> 00:46:56.889
long in my past. um but yeah i mean the snow
00:46:56.889 --> 00:46:59.610
cat is like this big now like like what oh my
00:46:59.610 --> 00:47:04.449
gosh it's yeah it's and it's gorgeous and i you
00:47:04.449 --> 00:47:08.829
know when i started seeing uh unboxings and images
00:47:08.829 --> 00:47:11.409
before mine arrived i was like it's too big i
00:47:11.409 --> 00:47:13.090
i don't want to deal with this it's just too
00:47:13.090 --> 00:47:14.989
big and then it got here and i was like well
00:47:14.989 --> 00:47:19.949
i have to find out and it's yes it's too big
00:47:19.949 --> 00:47:23.380
but no it's not because it's awesome And that's
00:47:23.380 --> 00:47:26.219
where we are now. We're just nonstop getting
00:47:26.219 --> 00:47:32.199
awesome Joe stuff. I know. So to go back to the
00:47:32.199 --> 00:47:34.360
filmmaking, let's talk about those early projects
00:47:34.360 --> 00:47:38.409
that you get opportunities to... practice and
00:47:38.409 --> 00:47:40.409
learn the craft what were some of the early short
00:47:40.409 --> 00:47:42.090
films you worked on or what kind of stuff were
00:47:42.090 --> 00:47:44.489
you doing well well so okay i sort of lived so
00:47:44.489 --> 00:47:47.230
so as a cinematographer you know shooting you
00:47:47.230 --> 00:47:49.469
know small projects to start and then you know
00:47:49.469 --> 00:47:51.690
trying to grow that over time at the same time
00:47:51.690 --> 00:47:54.409
wanting to have a foot in like the studio filmmaking
00:47:54.409 --> 00:47:57.489
world just to learn from some of you know the
00:47:57.489 --> 00:47:59.889
masters and that kind of thing and so one of
00:47:59.889 --> 00:48:01.889
my very first jobs in holland because you know
00:48:02.650 --> 00:48:04.989
L .A. is very expensive and you have to pay the
00:48:04.989 --> 00:48:06.909
rent. And I think I came out here, you know,
00:48:06.929 --> 00:48:09.650
all my earthly possessions in one small car and
00:48:09.650 --> 00:48:11.769
like five thousand dollars in the bank wasn't
00:48:11.769 --> 00:48:14.690
going to last me very long. So so in order to
00:48:14.690 --> 00:48:16.949
afford to work on the short films that didn't,
00:48:16.949 --> 00:48:18.690
you know, they were passion projects, essentially.
00:48:19.309 --> 00:48:21.869
One of my first jobs professionally was I was
00:48:21.869 --> 00:48:24.289
working as a camera production assistant, production
00:48:24.289 --> 00:48:27.250
assistant assigned to the camera department for
00:48:27.250 --> 00:48:33.130
Michael Bay's The Island, that action film. 2005
00:48:33.130 --> 00:48:37.469
um was when i had this job for 80 days and uh
00:48:37.469 --> 00:48:41.710
and you know it wasn't the rock but You know,
00:48:41.730 --> 00:48:43.909
Scarlett Johansson was 19 years old when I met
00:48:43.909 --> 00:48:46.190
her. And, you know, there's a photo of like me
00:48:46.190 --> 00:48:48.269
and Scarlett Johansson and Ewan McGregor. And
00:48:48.269 --> 00:48:49.869
like, of course, you know, since he was now part
00:48:49.869 --> 00:48:52.090
of Star Wars, like it was just, it was a surreal
00:48:52.090 --> 00:48:55.369
time. And the cinematographer on that project,
00:48:55.510 --> 00:48:58.309
Mauro Fiore, he's from Southern Italy originally.
00:48:58.650 --> 00:49:01.550
He was roommates with Janusz Kaminski at Columbia
00:49:01.550 --> 00:49:05.610
in Chicago in college. Janusz, of course, is
00:49:05.610 --> 00:49:10.090
Steven Spielberg's cinematographer. And he, just
00:49:10.090 --> 00:49:13.929
one of the nicest class acts uh incredibly kind
00:49:13.929 --> 00:49:16.230
human beings you will ever meet and incredibly
00:49:16.230 --> 00:49:19.889
good at his job uh my mentor like one of my first
00:49:19.889 --> 00:49:23.550
real mentors as you know as an aspiring cinematographer.
00:49:23.789 --> 00:49:26.369
So I really lucked out. And the only reason I
00:49:26.369 --> 00:49:29.230
had got that job was the gaffer, who's the head
00:49:29.230 --> 00:49:30.949
of the lighting department. His name is Michael
00:49:30.949 --> 00:49:33.730
Bauman, who is now a cinematographer in his own
00:49:33.730 --> 00:49:35.789
right, shooting Paul Thomas Anderson's movies,
00:49:36.070 --> 00:49:39.110
a small movie, one battle after another. He shot
00:49:39.110 --> 00:49:42.610
and was up for an Oscar last year. I think I've
00:49:42.610 --> 00:49:46.710
heard of it. Yeah. Anyway, so Bauman, like that's
00:49:46.710 --> 00:49:49.570
my, he and I both from Wisconsin. We both went
00:49:49.570 --> 00:49:51.389
to the same school. He's of course old. than
00:49:51.389 --> 00:49:54.829
I am. But, you know, I reached out to him and
00:49:54.829 --> 00:49:57.610
he got me my first real job and then introduced
00:49:57.610 --> 00:50:00.150
me to, you know, his colleagues and including
00:50:00.150 --> 00:50:02.550
the cinematographer, Mara Fiore, who, again,
00:50:02.610 --> 00:50:07.170
just incredible human being. So Michael Bay is
00:50:07.170 --> 00:50:10.750
challenging to work for. He's he's a little wily
00:50:10.750 --> 00:50:13.670
and crazy. And, you know, that movie was like
00:50:13.670 --> 00:50:15.130
one hundred and thirty million dollar budget
00:50:15.130 --> 00:50:17.389
and was just, you know, we're I mean, if you've
00:50:17.389 --> 00:50:21.340
seen the film, like it's yeah, I have. So as
00:50:21.340 --> 00:50:24.659
like a wide -eyed, you know, young filmmaker,
00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:28.000
you know, I was sort of thrown into the chaos
00:50:28.000 --> 00:50:32.059
of like this huge movie. But that was a good
00:50:32.059 --> 00:50:34.320
place to start because after that, I felt like
00:50:34.320 --> 00:50:36.719
I could do anything. Like I could survive anything,
00:50:36.920 --> 00:50:42.199
literally. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so, yeah. So
00:50:42.199 --> 00:50:45.699
a couple of years later, I joined the International
00:50:45.699 --> 00:50:49.070
Cinematographers Guild. which is this great organization.
00:50:49.289 --> 00:50:53.030
It's one of the guilds, part of the Greater International
00:50:53.030 --> 00:50:55.289
Association of Theatrical and Stage Employees,
00:50:55.309 --> 00:50:59.590
basically the camera union. And that opened up
00:50:59.590 --> 00:51:02.289
some more doors as far as now I can work on non
00:51:02.289 --> 00:51:07.150
-union jobs as well as union jobs. I'm at a point
00:51:07.150 --> 00:51:10.329
where I've done both and I continue to do both.
00:51:10.489 --> 00:51:13.170
And I enjoy working on a shoestring on a small
00:51:13.170 --> 00:51:15.989
passion project still to this day. If the script
00:51:15.989 --> 00:51:18.329
is really good and the performers are incredible
00:51:18.329 --> 00:51:22.170
because it's one way I can give back. And it's
00:51:22.170 --> 00:51:25.269
also, you never know where an amazing idea is
00:51:25.269 --> 00:51:28.090
going to come from. And I learned a long time
00:51:28.090 --> 00:51:30.170
ago, it's a really small business in some ways.
00:51:30.269 --> 00:51:34.900
And I like working with... like new people that
00:51:34.900 --> 00:51:36.639
are new to the industry as well as people that
00:51:36.639 --> 00:51:38.139
have been doing it a long time for different
00:51:38.139 --> 00:51:40.619
reasons um but you kind of when you can blend
00:51:40.619 --> 00:51:44.199
those things together um just magic starts to
00:51:44.199 --> 00:51:46.519
happen like when i met kyle like literally he
00:51:46.519 --> 00:51:48.820
was in film school so he was just getting started
00:51:48.820 --> 00:51:51.840
and then you know a couple years on we do you
00:51:51.840 --> 00:51:53.639
know short film outside of film school together
00:51:53.639 --> 00:51:55.840
um there was this project called the shadow hours
00:51:55.840 --> 00:51:58.099
that he directed it's a short it's a proof of
00:51:58.099 --> 00:52:01.420
concept for a feature but like you know Really,
00:52:01.480 --> 00:52:05.760
like he he he definitely is like, I'm not going
00:52:05.760 --> 00:52:08.300
to do this unless it's going to like we can be
00:52:08.300 --> 00:52:10.420
proud of what we're doing. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:52:10.519 --> 00:52:12.159
And we're going to really pull the resources
00:52:12.159 --> 00:52:15.019
to do this right. And I very much appreciate
00:52:15.019 --> 00:52:17.699
that about his approach to to everything, you
00:52:17.699 --> 00:52:20.119
know, and that obviously in comics, but also
00:52:20.119 --> 00:52:25.420
in his filmmaking as well. So, yeah, I mean,
00:52:25.420 --> 00:52:28.219
the only reason we ended up rooming together.
00:52:28.280 --> 00:52:31.579
So Kyle was my roommate for eight years. um i
00:52:31.579 --> 00:52:34.500
again knew him before he wrote a comic book ever
00:52:34.500 --> 00:52:37.679
um like when i think you talked to him about
00:52:37.679 --> 00:52:39.659
gates of gotham and that kind of thing like when
00:52:39.659 --> 00:52:43.059
he first got that phone call and he gets off
00:52:43.059 --> 00:52:45.719
the call and like you know it's like i got to
00:52:45.719 --> 00:52:48.260
see that transition um which was really cool
00:52:48.260 --> 00:52:51.000
and at the same time he was you know continuing
00:52:51.000 --> 00:52:54.030
to do you know and still is to this day you know
00:52:54.030 --> 00:52:57.349
pushing various film projects and so his plate
00:52:57.349 --> 00:53:00.070
is very full as i mentioned off off the stream
00:53:00.070 --> 00:53:04.949
here but um he's one of those filmmakers and
00:53:04.949 --> 00:53:07.710
and artists you know comic writers that i met
00:53:07.710 --> 00:53:11.030
that um i just when you find the good ones that
00:53:11.030 --> 00:53:13.610
you just you just you either click or or you
00:53:13.610 --> 00:53:15.590
kind of you know butt heads a little bit and
00:53:15.590 --> 00:53:18.210
yeah yeah the ones that you click with you you
00:53:18.210 --> 00:53:20.929
stick with and um Because, you know, working
00:53:20.929 --> 00:53:23.349
on a film set, hours can be long. You know, it's
00:53:23.349 --> 00:53:25.070
not an eight -hour workday. It's like a minimum
00:53:25.070 --> 00:53:28.510
12 -hour workday usually. And so if you're going
00:53:28.510 --> 00:53:30.010
to be putting in that kind of time, you know,
00:53:30.010 --> 00:53:32.130
long hours, shooting overnight sometimes, that
00:53:32.130 --> 00:53:33.869
kind of thing, you know, you want to like the
00:53:33.869 --> 00:53:37.170
people you work with. So it's multifactorial
00:53:37.170 --> 00:53:39.590
as to why you get involved with any project.
00:53:39.630 --> 00:53:42.510
I'm fairly selective and picky with what I do
00:53:42.510 --> 00:53:44.289
these days. But like I said, it has nothing to
00:53:44.289 --> 00:53:47.449
do with the budget so much as it does who's involved.
00:53:48.159 --> 00:53:50.920
And how passionate they are about what they're
00:53:50.920 --> 00:53:53.639
doing. And, you know, because where there's a
00:53:53.639 --> 00:53:55.239
will, there's a way. I really do believe that.
00:53:55.739 --> 00:54:01.940
And so I guess in a convoluted way, I worked
00:54:01.940 --> 00:54:04.960
on this $130 million movie, you know, as a camera
00:54:04.960 --> 00:54:07.460
production assistant. But then, you know, just
00:54:07.460 --> 00:54:09.460
a few years later, I'm doing this passion project
00:54:09.460 --> 00:54:11.780
short film with Kyle that I'm really proud of
00:54:11.780 --> 00:54:13.599
to this day. And I think, you know, it's kind
00:54:13.599 --> 00:54:18.269
of been a David Fincher -esque style. which I
00:54:18.269 --> 00:54:23.989
appreciate. Cause you know, he's no slouch as
00:54:23.989 --> 00:54:27.090
filmmakers go. He's okay. He's all right. He's
00:54:27.090 --> 00:54:30.409
all right. And again, from Bear McCreary and
00:54:30.409 --> 00:54:34.250
all this stuff, but, but really the one thing
00:54:34.250 --> 00:54:36.789
I will say about, so I'm, I love the whole team
00:54:36.789 --> 00:54:39.869
approach to everything that I do. And Kyle is
00:54:39.869 --> 00:54:42.349
one of those people, like he really can lead
00:54:42.349 --> 00:54:44.670
a charge. Cause at some point somebody has to
00:54:44.670 --> 00:54:47.909
like, someone has to make like, the final decision
00:54:47.909 --> 00:54:50.130
or have, you know, the ultimate vision. You have
00:54:50.130 --> 00:54:53.989
to have somebody who's willing to like take the
00:54:53.989 --> 00:54:57.289
responsibility for, look, this, this is what
00:54:57.289 --> 00:55:00.090
we're doing. Yeah. And, and I'm, I'm capable
00:55:00.090 --> 00:55:03.929
of that, but I enjoy like helping achieve that.
00:55:04.389 --> 00:55:08.409
And, um, I really do like not being, you know,
00:55:08.429 --> 00:55:10.190
the fact that I'm not in the limelight really
00:55:10.190 --> 00:55:12.550
is, is kind of great because you get to be involved
00:55:12.550 --> 00:55:14.110
in some really interesting and creative things,
00:55:14.170 --> 00:55:16.090
but then you get to go home and people kind of
00:55:16.090 --> 00:55:19.050
leave you alone. But if you're in Kyle's position,
00:55:19.190 --> 00:55:21.170
you know, kind of more of the world sort of knows
00:55:21.170 --> 00:55:23.949
who you are and there's, there's good things
00:55:23.949 --> 00:55:25.530
of course that come with that, but you know,
00:55:25.530 --> 00:55:28.309
then you also have to, you know, deal with a
00:55:28.309 --> 00:55:30.289
little bit of your name being a little bit more
00:55:30.289 --> 00:55:34.809
well -known. But, but Behind the scenes, I'm
00:55:34.809 --> 00:55:38.150
just I want to make it very like the reason,
00:55:38.230 --> 00:55:40.090
you know, Kyle and I are friends and we stay
00:55:40.090 --> 00:55:42.050
friends and we continue to work together is because
00:55:42.050 --> 00:55:45.590
he's one of those people that if given the opportunity,
00:55:45.989 --> 00:55:50.110
like he will make it happen. And he just really
00:55:50.110 --> 00:55:53.730
puts everything into like not leaving anything,
00:55:53.829 --> 00:55:57.489
you know, every ounce of energy that he can throw
00:55:57.489 --> 00:56:00.150
at something he does. And I really appreciate
00:56:00.150 --> 00:56:05.679
that level of passion and commitment. Isn't it
00:56:05.679 --> 00:56:08.900
interesting how completely different types of
00:56:08.900 --> 00:56:12.280
creative relationships can be fulfilling? Because
00:56:12.280 --> 00:56:16.519
I'm thinking about, I've been doing a game show
00:56:16.519 --> 00:56:19.980
for about 12 years now. We do it at conventions
00:56:19.980 --> 00:56:22.900
and stuff. And I started off with one partner
00:56:22.900 --> 00:56:29.239
who challenged me in a good way every single
00:56:29.239 --> 00:56:32.679
time. Everything we worked on, she was very...
00:56:33.480 --> 00:56:36.519
uh and we respected each other which is why the
00:56:36.519 --> 00:56:38.900
you know you mentioned butting heads and i wouldn't
00:56:38.900 --> 00:56:41.039
quite call it butting heads but it was always
00:56:41.039 --> 00:56:46.230
here's my idea okay well maybe not that but what
00:56:46.230 --> 00:56:48.929
about this and her maybe not that what about
00:56:48.929 --> 00:56:51.809
this is we're always on point and that's where
00:56:51.809 --> 00:56:54.050
we would click and be like yes that's it okay
00:56:54.050 --> 00:56:59.800
now from there we so it was a very uh like i
00:56:59.800 --> 00:57:04.710
said she she challenged me to be better than
00:57:04.710 --> 00:57:08.110
than i was like it was always like our combination
00:57:08.110 --> 00:57:12.130
always led to great things and now the the people
00:57:12.130 --> 00:57:15.909
that i'm working with we have a tendency to all
00:57:15.909 --> 00:57:20.679
be on the same page but the creative process
00:57:20.679 --> 00:57:22.880
is just completely different where everybody
00:57:22.880 --> 00:57:26.500
just can there there is it isn't as much no not
00:57:26.500 --> 00:57:29.920
that but how about this as oh that's great and
00:57:29.920 --> 00:57:34.260
also we can this So in your creative relationships,
00:57:34.400 --> 00:57:37.679
have you found that that like everybody you mix
00:57:37.679 --> 00:57:41.389
with is a little bit different and that it's
00:57:41.389 --> 00:57:47.099
it's it's interesting how malleable the process
00:57:47.099 --> 00:57:50.980
can be with the right person? Yeah, I mean, look,
00:57:51.099 --> 00:57:53.900
it takes all kinds and you encounter all kinds
00:57:53.900 --> 00:57:56.820
of personalities, particularly in the entertainment
00:57:56.820 --> 00:58:02.829
world. And I think the key is. You know, really
00:58:02.829 --> 00:58:05.750
just because everyone's communication style is
00:58:05.750 --> 00:58:07.050
a little different and that kind of thing. But,
00:58:07.070 --> 00:58:09.829
you know, you just you go in with an open mind.
00:58:10.210 --> 00:58:13.190
And my approach, like if I'm bringing on collaborators
00:58:13.190 --> 00:58:16.710
to something and, you know, I genuinely I don't
00:58:16.710 --> 00:58:18.849
want to just manage people and tell them what
00:58:18.849 --> 00:58:21.909
to do. That's not at all my approach. It's like,
00:58:22.050 --> 00:58:25.530
hey, there's no idea that's a bad idea as far
00:58:25.530 --> 00:58:28.789
as I'm concerned. But timing is important. So
00:58:28.789 --> 00:58:31.500
like. you know the the pre -production phase
00:58:31.500 --> 00:58:34.380
or the prep phase before we get on set and before
00:58:34.380 --> 00:58:36.400
the clock is really ticking before the gun's
00:58:36.400 --> 00:58:38.320
gone off and the game is happening or what have
00:58:38.320 --> 00:58:41.300
you like that's the time like the game planning
00:58:41.300 --> 00:58:44.440
that goes on like yeah let's let's you know let's
00:58:44.440 --> 00:58:46.659
just open the floor and and you know a good idea
00:58:46.659 --> 00:58:50.000
is a good idea and and this is a team sport and
00:58:50.809 --> 00:58:53.349
I don't, you know, ultimately we should all own
00:58:53.349 --> 00:58:57.389
this, you know, as best we can. And that's sort
00:58:57.389 --> 00:59:00.769
of that attitude because everyone has an ego,
00:59:00.889 --> 00:59:03.710
right? And, and, but I have found like, it's
00:59:03.710 --> 00:59:05.989
best if I leave my ego at home and then when
00:59:05.989 --> 00:59:07.949
I get to work, I just need to bring it with me.
00:59:08.010 --> 00:59:10.210
And, and if I encounter someone with a really
00:59:10.210 --> 00:59:12.909
strong ego or personality that, you know, has
00:59:12.909 --> 00:59:17.550
it at work, then you just. you know you you absorb
00:59:17.550 --> 00:59:19.969
you observe it and then you you figure out how
00:59:19.969 --> 00:59:22.269
to navigate it it's important to listen before
00:59:22.269 --> 00:59:25.329
you say anything and um and you know sometimes
00:59:25.329 --> 00:59:27.630
certain personalities are bigger than others
00:59:27.630 --> 00:59:29.610
or certain people are more vocal than others
00:59:29.610 --> 00:59:34.190
and so um it's that's that's its own like equation
00:59:34.190 --> 00:59:36.789
you know given whatever creative team and whatever
00:59:36.789 --> 00:59:39.750
project like just figuring out what the different
00:59:39.750 --> 00:59:41.869
personalities are and then you know what are
00:59:41.869 --> 00:59:44.670
people's strengths and how can you navigate the
00:59:44.670 --> 00:59:47.590
situation to, you know, to really lean into those
00:59:47.590 --> 00:59:51.409
strengths and, and not, you know, not, you know,
00:59:51.429 --> 00:59:54.190
nobody's perfect, but at the same, and no project
00:59:54.190 --> 00:59:57.050
is, you know, perfectly efficient, you know you
00:59:57.050 --> 01:00:00.570
know, I, I, I don't need an AI collaborator.
01:00:00.590 --> 01:00:03.050
I want a human collaborator because I enjoy the
01:00:03.050 --> 01:00:05.670
somewhat, you know, stumbling through something
01:00:05.670 --> 01:00:08.130
a little bit to get to an idea because there's
01:00:08.130 --> 01:00:10.869
definitely sometimes where you. you're not on
01:00:10.869 --> 01:00:12.909
the same page. But the nice thing about a visual
01:00:12.909 --> 01:00:15.269
medium, like, you know, if I show you this image,
01:00:15.550 --> 01:00:18.469
there we go, this image, and we can talk about
01:00:18.469 --> 01:00:20.329
what's in this image and the composition, like
01:00:20.329 --> 01:00:24.250
we're looking at the same thing. So as opposed
01:00:24.250 --> 01:00:26.030
to just trying to describe it out of thin air.
01:00:26.289 --> 01:00:28.429
So when I say I'm a visual person, the nice thing
01:00:28.429 --> 01:00:30.590
about what I do is there's a lot of references,
01:00:30.630 --> 01:00:33.090
you know, that I can pull in my conversations
01:00:33.090 --> 01:00:37.130
that I'm having. And those references allow us
01:00:37.130 --> 01:00:41.030
to get on the same page more quickly so we can
01:00:41.030 --> 01:00:43.889
get to the good stuff if that makes sense well
01:00:43.960 --> 01:00:45.920
and and also to go back to what you said before
01:00:45.920 --> 01:00:48.480
about uh working you know whether it's working
01:00:48.480 --> 01:00:52.480
with a pro on a big budget movie or working with
01:00:52.480 --> 01:00:55.000
maybe some some new blood on a short film or
01:00:55.000 --> 01:00:59.360
whatever i love the idea kyle and i discussed
01:00:59.360 --> 01:01:05.059
this a bit as well getting fresh eyes is can
01:01:05.059 --> 01:01:08.280
be such a rewarding experience and whether it's
01:01:08.280 --> 01:01:10.199
to go back to, you know, Robert Kirkman being
01:01:10.199 --> 01:01:13.139
a big fan of GI Joe, but he has brought in a
01:01:13.139 --> 01:01:16.420
lot of talent that aren't necessarily lifelong
01:01:16.420 --> 01:01:19.360
Joe fans or don't have as much knowledge of Joe.
01:01:19.440 --> 01:01:22.219
And to me, that's how you freshen things up.
01:01:22.260 --> 01:01:25.199
That's how you keep things exciting and get different
01:01:25.199 --> 01:01:27.539
perspectives on things. If you had a specific
01:01:27.539 --> 01:01:30.900
experience where somebody who was maybe, uh,
01:01:31.719 --> 01:01:35.420
a little less seasoned than you or was new to
01:01:35.420 --> 01:01:38.679
the game, maybe like opened your eyes up or maybe
01:01:38.679 --> 01:01:41.360
just reinvigorated you a little bit? Yeah, I
01:01:41.360 --> 01:01:43.900
think it's more tied to like life experience.
01:01:44.780 --> 01:01:48.539
I say that because, you know, for me, what makes
01:01:48.539 --> 01:01:50.980
a good story is that there's something about
01:01:50.980 --> 01:01:52.820
it that, you know, has something to say about
01:01:52.820 --> 01:01:55.320
the human condition or, you know, there's some
01:01:55.320 --> 01:01:57.920
relatability factor, you know, just to like the
01:01:57.920 --> 01:02:01.289
human experience. and and whether someone has
01:02:01.289 --> 01:02:04.210
a strong filmmaking background or not you know
01:02:04.210 --> 01:02:07.070
if they've had certain experiences that they
01:02:07.070 --> 01:02:10.969
can be like pseudo experts in this particular
01:02:10.969 --> 01:02:14.630
topic but like they can speak truthfully to whatever
01:02:14.630 --> 01:02:17.809
it is that you know the subject is um they can
01:02:17.809 --> 01:02:22.159
bring a lot to the table um And then I can, it's
01:02:22.159 --> 01:02:24.320
like running it through a filter. So as a camera
01:02:24.320 --> 01:02:25.980
person, you know, I make decisions about like,
01:02:26.019 --> 01:02:27.780
what camera are we going to use? What lens choice
01:02:27.780 --> 01:02:29.320
are we going to make? Where are we going to put
01:02:29.320 --> 01:02:31.539
the camera? Low angle, high angle, stuff like
01:02:31.539 --> 01:02:33.679
that. But someone can talk to, like, you can
01:02:33.679 --> 01:02:35.719
talk to me about the emotion of this moment,
01:02:35.820 --> 01:02:38.280
you know, between these two characters, like
01:02:38.280 --> 01:02:40.139
what you're feeling or what you want to convey,
01:02:40.340 --> 01:02:43.619
just like as an emotion. And I can say, okay,
01:02:43.699 --> 01:02:46.239
well, here's three things that subconsciously
01:02:46.239 --> 01:02:51.920
will get you there. You know, so so, you know,
01:02:51.920 --> 01:02:55.920
I have certain directors are and I'm not calling
01:02:55.920 --> 01:02:58.440
out names, obviously, but like some are more
01:02:58.440 --> 01:03:01.039
we call them actors, directors where they're
01:03:01.039 --> 01:03:04.340
very performance driven. You know, they'd like
01:03:04.340 --> 01:03:06.059
to spend most of their time with working with
01:03:06.059 --> 01:03:09.039
the actors and not a lot on the technical side.
01:03:09.739 --> 01:03:11.840
But then you have other directors who are like,
01:03:11.960 --> 01:03:14.599
you know, I very much want to have, you know.
01:03:15.389 --> 01:03:18.030
give my input and my say about like technically
01:03:18.030 --> 01:03:20.429
how this is going to work, how this camera is
01:03:20.429 --> 01:03:23.530
going to move and that sort of thing. And most
01:03:23.530 --> 01:03:25.929
directors leave the lighting alone. So like I
01:03:25.929 --> 01:03:28.030
can always play around in that sandbox, you know,
01:03:28.030 --> 01:03:32.610
pretty freely. But I, you know, both have their
01:03:32.610 --> 01:03:35.429
advantages. You know, if someone is more technically
01:03:35.429 --> 01:03:37.349
oriented and wants to have that conversation,
01:03:37.550 --> 01:03:39.090
we're sort of speaking the same language a little
01:03:39.090 --> 01:03:43.070
bit. On the other hand. You know, if you have
01:03:43.070 --> 01:03:44.849
a director that really just wants to work with
01:03:44.849 --> 01:03:47.150
their actor and rehearse while I sort of make
01:03:47.150 --> 01:03:49.570
all these micro decisions like that, we can work
01:03:49.570 --> 01:03:52.710
in parallel as well. And that can really work
01:03:52.710 --> 01:03:57.449
well. So, yeah, there definitely have been situations
01:03:57.449 --> 01:04:00.230
where I feel like I've encountered someone who
01:04:00.230 --> 01:04:03.250
doesn't speak the language quite the way that
01:04:03.250 --> 01:04:05.949
I do and definitely has a different life experience.
01:04:06.789 --> 01:04:09.110
I mean, I have a, I've worked a little bit in
01:04:09.110 --> 01:04:10.949
the documentary space. I have a very good friend.
01:04:11.050 --> 01:04:13.250
He's back in the Midwest. He's based in Milwaukee
01:04:13.250 --> 01:04:17.150
and like sitting down to an interview, like watching
01:04:17.150 --> 01:04:19.349
him interview somebody or listening to him interview
01:04:19.349 --> 01:04:21.289
somebody, of course, you know, I'm focused on
01:04:21.289 --> 01:04:23.869
the camera a little bit, but I'm also like, it's
01:04:23.869 --> 01:04:27.219
just fascinating how he'll go in with like. He
01:04:27.219 --> 01:04:29.159
has a list of questions, but it's just kind of
01:04:29.159 --> 01:04:31.539
an outline and it really turns into a conversation
01:04:31.539 --> 01:04:34.000
really quickly. And he doesn't necessarily know
01:04:34.000 --> 01:04:35.500
what he's going to get out of a subject. But
01:04:35.500 --> 01:04:38.500
but very quickly, like it's just such a fascinating
01:04:38.500 --> 01:04:41.639
listen. And I'm like, how do you do this? Like
01:04:41.639 --> 01:04:44.159
every time like he gains the subject's trust
01:04:44.159 --> 01:04:47.699
very quickly in an interview. And, you know,
01:04:47.739 --> 01:04:51.539
that's not always easy to do. And, you know,
01:04:51.559 --> 01:04:53.579
if he's losing someone or they're losing focus
01:04:53.579 --> 01:04:56.079
and that kind of thing, he definitely leans into,
01:04:56.199 --> 01:05:01.599
like, engaging them. And I'm just so impressed
01:05:01.599 --> 01:05:04.260
by, like, that's a skill that I do not have.
01:05:04.840 --> 01:05:07.500
And I just, it's like, he's like a magician.
01:05:07.940 --> 01:05:11.559
He's like, to the extent, like, you know, I have
01:05:11.559 --> 01:05:13.219
a 101 -year -old grandmother who I'm like, we
01:05:13.219 --> 01:05:14.940
got to get this woman on camera. We got to interview
01:05:14.940 --> 01:05:16.900
her. But, like, I don't want to interview her.
01:05:16.960 --> 01:05:18.400
I want my friend to do it because he's like.
01:05:18.460 --> 01:05:21.340
Yeah, yeah. he's everyone has their strengths
01:05:21.340 --> 01:05:24.880
and i just i really think that yeah playing to
01:05:24.880 --> 01:05:28.219
people's strengths is is it's the way to go um
01:05:28.219 --> 01:05:30.920
and you know if there's a piece that you need
01:05:30.920 --> 01:05:34.360
to implement that nobody really is in an expert
01:05:34.360 --> 01:05:36.280
in you know then you guys you know as a team
01:05:36.280 --> 01:05:38.800
you kind of got to figure it out but you either
01:05:38.800 --> 01:05:41.619
hash it out or you delegate yeah yeah exactly
01:05:41.619 --> 01:05:45.059
or you will hire somebody else you expand your
01:05:45.059 --> 01:05:49.500
team well yeah yeah um you know to talk about
01:05:49.500 --> 01:05:53.039
directors a bit more as i was learning you know
01:05:53.039 --> 01:05:55.719
just in my own taking in how filmmaking works
01:05:55.719 --> 01:05:57.420
when i was learning about filmmaking years and
01:05:57.420 --> 01:06:02.860
years ago and the discovery of how much or how
01:06:02.860 --> 01:06:06.519
little a director can affect a film was mind
01:06:06.519 --> 01:06:09.460
-blowing to me because for years director was
01:06:09.460 --> 01:06:12.199
like that that it was the director it was the
01:06:12.199 --> 01:06:16.000
main that was the main driving force of the film
01:06:16.920 --> 01:06:19.639
That was it. And then to go on to learn about,
01:06:19.679 --> 01:06:22.099
as you said, you know, you've got your, your
01:06:22.099 --> 01:06:27.019
Kubrick's who were involved in all of it. And
01:06:27.019 --> 01:06:29.679
then you've got others who maybe didn't even
01:06:29.679 --> 01:06:34.159
show up on set some days. It's a, it's a wild
01:06:34.159 --> 01:06:39.869
range. Yeah. What that job title can mean. Yeah.
01:06:40.050 --> 01:06:42.489
Yeah. And, you know, if you have, you know, a
01:06:42.489 --> 01:06:44.349
director who's a little less engaged with the
01:06:44.349 --> 01:06:46.650
actors, you know, the actors then sort of have
01:06:46.650 --> 01:06:49.110
to step up their game based on their own experience
01:06:49.110 --> 01:06:52.289
to really kind of bring the strength to that
01:06:52.289 --> 01:06:53.909
performance. You know, they're sort of directing
01:06:53.909 --> 01:06:56.449
themselves a little bit or, you know, or they're
01:06:56.449 --> 01:06:58.869
working off of their co -star. And, you know,
01:06:58.869 --> 01:07:01.409
if they're not getting it from the director that
01:07:01.409 --> 01:07:04.710
I have seen it where it's like the director's
01:07:04.710 --> 01:07:07.630
notes are very minimal or they're sort of like.
01:07:08.840 --> 01:07:12.239
It's more they're not engaging on like an emotional
01:07:12.239 --> 01:07:14.719
level. They're sort of like making a technical
01:07:14.719 --> 01:07:18.079
note. But then I know other directors that will
01:07:18.079 --> 01:07:19.920
never give a technical note ever because they
01:07:19.920 --> 01:07:22.280
feel like it will take an actor out of a performance.
01:07:22.719 --> 01:07:24.980
And, you know, the director and I will have a
01:07:24.980 --> 01:07:27.119
discussion and we'll deal with it on our end.
01:07:28.219 --> 01:07:31.340
But usually like. something happens on a take
01:07:31.340 --> 01:07:33.340
i don't know the shot gets you know it's supposed
01:07:33.340 --> 01:07:35.300
to be in focus and it's not or we have to do
01:07:35.300 --> 01:07:37.679
it again you know there's not usually much discussion
01:07:37.679 --> 01:07:40.059
about like what happened and why we have to go
01:07:40.059 --> 01:07:41.900
again it's just like okay we need to go again
01:07:41.900 --> 01:07:45.639
period because we don't want to like we don't
01:07:45.639 --> 01:07:48.380
want to break out of you know the focus everyone
01:07:48.380 --> 01:07:51.320
has their own focus and uh and you want to keep
01:07:51.320 --> 01:07:58.710
everyone focused so um so you know uh yeah Having
01:07:58.710 --> 01:08:05.219
been on one movie set my entire life, I was an
01:08:05.219 --> 01:08:09.139
extra, not on film, or not shown in the film,
01:08:09.199 --> 01:08:15.019
on Rob Zombie's Halloween 2. Right. Which was
01:08:15.019 --> 01:08:20.489
shot locally, just outside of Atlanta. And I
01:08:20.489 --> 01:08:23.390
had never as much behind the scenes stuff as
01:08:23.390 --> 01:08:25.270
I'd taken in as much as I'd kind of looked into
01:08:25.270 --> 01:08:27.590
filmmaking. You know, seeing it happen in person
01:08:27.590 --> 01:08:30.590
was a very, very different experience on all
01:08:30.590 --> 01:08:34.979
the starting and stopping. And I just I just
01:08:34.979 --> 01:08:37.600
felt because I've heard Mark Maron talk about
01:08:37.600 --> 01:08:41.720
his as an actor, his position in the filmmaking
01:08:41.720 --> 01:08:45.029
of. sitting in his room for hours and hours and
01:08:45.029 --> 01:08:47.050
hours and then going to shoot for five minutes
01:08:47.050 --> 01:08:48.829
and then going back to his room, like that kind
01:08:48.829 --> 01:08:51.170
of thing. And seeing that in person, what you
01:08:51.170 --> 01:08:55.510
just said totally makes sense of like, if you're
01:08:55.569 --> 01:08:59.890
in the zone and you have momentum in your aspect
01:08:59.890 --> 01:09:03.869
of the process, if it's possible to keep that
01:09:03.869 --> 01:09:06.810
momentum going, whether it's the acting or the
01:09:06.810 --> 01:09:11.170
filming or whatever, there's an energy. that's
01:09:11.170 --> 01:09:15.609
almost accumulates yeah yeah of of like all right
01:09:15.609 --> 01:09:18.270
we're on it we're getting this we're good and
01:09:18.270 --> 01:09:21.850
then whatever the random thing is that stops
01:09:21.850 --> 01:09:25.869
the shooting okay stop for and you lose you lose
01:09:25.869 --> 01:09:29.310
that energy it seems like yeah i mean and the
01:09:29.310 --> 01:09:31.550
thing is like the scheduling of the movie is
01:09:31.550 --> 01:09:34.810
hugely important in in how efficient or not it
01:09:34.810 --> 01:09:38.390
is uh and sometimes you know some people will
01:09:38.390 --> 01:09:40.390
think, okay, well, this is a short film. This
01:09:40.390 --> 01:09:43.489
is only 10 minutes. So it should be easy or simpler.
01:09:43.630 --> 01:09:46.930
Well, maybe. Is this short film, does it take
01:09:46.930 --> 01:09:49.529
place in one location? Is it, you know, one scene
01:09:49.529 --> 01:09:52.949
with two actors? Or are there like four different
01:09:52.949 --> 01:09:55.590
locations, you know, where we have to move the
01:09:55.590 --> 01:09:57.649
company, the film, you know, we got to shoot
01:09:57.649 --> 01:09:59.750
this and then we got to go here and do this.
01:09:59.789 --> 01:10:03.789
And anytime it's a sign of a young, maybe inexperienced.
01:10:04.159 --> 01:10:06.060
producer or filmmaker when they're like, well,
01:10:06.119 --> 01:10:07.800
it's only going to be on screen for two seconds.
01:10:07.899 --> 01:10:11.000
Well, it does not matter how long a shot is.
01:10:11.159 --> 01:10:15.119
It matters what it takes to like. paint that
01:10:15.119 --> 01:10:17.760
canvas and you know if you want the most bang
01:10:17.760 --> 01:10:20.119
for your buck you do like a phone booth that
01:10:20.119 --> 01:10:22.520
movie with colin farrell where you know it's
01:10:22.520 --> 01:10:25.279
a feature film that was shot in nine days which
01:10:25.279 --> 01:10:27.819
normally is insane but it's possible because
01:10:27.819 --> 01:10:30.260
it's one city block and it's like you have one
01:10:30.260 --> 01:10:32.859
phone booth and it's you know a limited cast
01:10:32.859 --> 01:10:35.140
and you're not moving you know literally you
01:10:35.140 --> 01:10:37.260
know the company shows up you start shooting
01:10:37.260 --> 01:10:40.630
nine days later you leave that location um you
01:10:40.630 --> 01:10:43.729
save a lot of time doing that as opposed to moving
01:10:43.729 --> 01:10:47.109
around every day and that sort of thing. So I'm
01:10:47.109 --> 01:10:48.750
always, yeah, I'm just always fascinated. It's
01:10:48.750 --> 01:10:52.859
like short, like duration is not indicative of
01:10:52.859 --> 01:10:58.020
simplicity. Right. So in filmmaking and that's,
01:10:58.020 --> 01:11:00.140
that's if, if anything I could crack, you know,
01:11:00.140 --> 01:11:02.060
you know, filmmaking one -on -one, you know,
01:11:02.060 --> 01:11:04.520
freshman college class, like just so everybody
01:11:04.520 --> 01:11:07.399
knows, like, it's not about how long this shot
01:11:07.399 --> 01:11:09.220
is going to be or this movie is going to be.
01:11:09.439 --> 01:11:12.640
It's about, how many, you know, elements there
01:11:12.640 --> 01:11:16.800
are to it. That really has a much greater effect
01:11:16.800 --> 01:11:19.340
on, you know, whether you're going to make your
01:11:19.340 --> 01:11:20.979
day, meaning, you know, actually shoot everything
01:11:20.979 --> 01:11:23.100
that you've scheduled to shoot in that day or
01:11:23.100 --> 01:11:29.539
not. And so, yeah, I mean, it's, it's, it's honestly,
01:11:29.720 --> 01:11:31.880
there's like the traveling circus, which I know
01:11:31.880 --> 01:11:34.079
is not in vogue these days, you know, but historically,
01:11:34.180 --> 01:11:36.220
and then there's, you know, working on a movie
01:11:36.220 --> 01:11:39.569
crew and they are very similar. Where, you know,
01:11:39.590 --> 01:11:41.710
you go to a place, you set something up, you
01:11:41.710 --> 01:11:43.550
do the thing and then you tear it down and you
01:11:43.550 --> 01:11:49.359
go to the next place. Yeah. Yeah. So what goes
01:11:49.359 --> 01:11:50.840
back to what you were saying earlier about the
01:11:50.840 --> 01:11:53.239
planning process and how important that is to
01:11:53.239 --> 01:11:57.840
to, you know, before you start work, lay out
01:11:57.840 --> 01:12:01.800
your. Now, I would guess in most cases you're
01:12:01.800 --> 01:12:04.500
laying out your best case scenario and you'll
01:12:04.500 --> 01:12:08.800
stick to that as the best you can. Sure. But
01:12:08.800 --> 01:12:11.159
if you can plan, we're shooting this on these
01:12:11.159 --> 01:12:13.960
days, we're doing this here, which is an essential
01:12:13.960 --> 01:12:17.859
part of the filmmaking process, but one that
01:12:17.859 --> 01:12:21.359
certainly does get overlooked sometimes, it seems
01:12:21.359 --> 01:12:24.310
like. Yeah. And I mean, if you want to save money,
01:12:24.529 --> 01:12:26.869
you know, pre -production, you know, before you're
01:12:26.869 --> 01:12:29.449
on set, that is absolutely the time to do it.
01:12:29.489 --> 01:12:32.010
When you're a group of five or six people in
01:12:32.010 --> 01:12:34.229
a room, you know, heads of departments, you know,
01:12:34.250 --> 01:12:36.609
kind of planning this thing out as opposed to
01:12:36.609 --> 01:12:41.350
having the whole army. If you're just, you know,
01:12:41.390 --> 01:12:44.210
scheming, you know, before the battle, it's a
01:12:44.210 --> 01:12:47.800
lot easier to like. pivot and to make changes
01:12:47.800 --> 01:12:50.939
than it is if you're the whole iron grenader
01:12:50.939 --> 01:12:54.020
army that is out on the battlefield and you've
01:12:54.020 --> 01:12:56.720
got you know this many tanks and that many you
01:12:56.720 --> 01:12:59.880
know pods in the air and all this stuff so you'd
01:12:59.880 --> 01:13:02.460
rather not make critical decisions when you've
01:13:02.460 --> 01:13:05.119
got hundreds of people on the clock yes yeah
01:13:05.119 --> 01:13:09.920
like do it before then yeah yeah that's that's
01:13:09.920 --> 01:13:15.119
yeah simple way to put it for sure um So before
01:13:15.119 --> 01:13:18.640
we wrap up, what would you say, just for your
01:13:18.640 --> 01:13:22.159
personal taste, not as a, if you want to understand
01:13:22.159 --> 01:13:24.779
cinema, you must do these things. Just from your
01:13:24.779 --> 01:13:27.859
own personal taste, what are some films that
01:13:27.859 --> 01:13:34.300
you would recommend as a, this is a good look
01:13:34.300 --> 01:13:38.560
at, I don't want to say, because I don't want
01:13:38.560 --> 01:13:42.420
to get into fine cinema, but this is a well -constructed
01:13:42.420 --> 01:13:45.140
movie. Things that would fit that description.
01:13:45.720 --> 01:13:53.550
Oh, man. Yeah. How much time do you have? I mean,
01:13:53.569 --> 01:13:58.189
I think of I mean, I did work on it. So maybe
01:13:58.189 --> 01:14:00.170
that's why it's popping into my head. But a film
01:14:00.170 --> 01:14:02.689
like Shutter Island, Martin Scorsese's Shutter
01:14:02.689 --> 01:14:09.819
Island is fascinating and well crafted. You know,
01:14:09.920 --> 01:14:16.359
you've seen it. Have you? Yeah. I do enjoy films
01:14:16.359 --> 01:14:19.579
that kind of play with the psychology of the
01:14:19.579 --> 01:14:21.520
situation and what is real and what isn't real.
01:14:23.340 --> 01:14:31.520
So that's one that comes to mind. Maybe we'll
01:14:35.109 --> 01:14:36.529
make it a little easier. What are some of your
01:14:36.529 --> 01:14:38.630
go -to films? We've all got those films that
01:14:38.630 --> 01:14:41.409
we can just pop in anytime. What are some of
01:14:41.409 --> 01:14:45.359
your go -tos? Yeah, I mean, I guess for nostalgic
01:14:45.359 --> 01:14:47.619
reasons, you know, Raiders of the Lost Ark and
01:14:47.619 --> 01:14:49.880
The Empire Strikes Back, you know, are very much
01:14:49.880 --> 01:14:54.039
movies that I just, you know, the Dark Knight,
01:14:54.159 --> 01:14:57.159
the second film in the Christopher Nolan Batman
01:14:57.159 --> 01:15:00.520
series. Oh, yeah. It's just one of those movies,
01:15:00.560 --> 01:15:04.899
just like the scale of it. And just like that's
01:15:04.899 --> 01:15:09.380
that's phenomenal. I real quick about the Dark
01:15:09.380 --> 01:15:13.750
Knight. So, yeah. I hold that movie in very high
01:15:13.750 --> 01:15:17.130
regard. Hadn't watched it in a few years and
01:15:17.130 --> 01:15:19.210
was on a plane trip recently, and that was one
01:15:19.210 --> 01:15:22.369
of the movies available to watch on the plane.
01:15:22.649 --> 01:15:24.289
I was like, oh, cool, I'll watch this again.
01:15:24.470 --> 01:15:27.250
And I put it on, and it's in the headrest, and
01:15:27.250 --> 01:15:28.729
I watched it for like five minutes, and I was
01:15:28.729 --> 01:15:30.649
like, I can't do this to this movie. I can't
01:15:30.649 --> 01:15:35.430
watch it in a headrest. We've got a projector
01:15:35.430 --> 01:15:41.079
here, so I came home. Took care of my business
01:15:41.079 --> 01:15:43.180
at home, sat down, watched the movie on the projector.
01:15:43.380 --> 01:15:47.750
I was like, I can't do that. The first movie
01:15:47.750 --> 01:15:49.909
I ever saw in a theater with Kyle Higgins was
01:15:49.909 --> 01:15:54.029
the IMAX presentation of The Dark Knight. Nice.
01:15:55.109 --> 01:15:59.149
2008. I'll always remember we literally moved
01:15:59.149 --> 01:16:01.029
him in and then went to the movie kind of thing.
01:16:01.770 --> 01:16:06.630
Nice. Yeah, that was a good one. He's a huge
01:16:06.630 --> 01:16:09.170
Batman fan, and so we geeked out on that one,
01:16:09.250 --> 01:16:13.390
for sure. And then this, much more recent, but
01:16:13.390 --> 01:16:15.250
this year, if you haven't seen, you probably
01:16:15.250 --> 01:16:19.210
have, Project Hail Mary. Oh, yeah. And I knew
01:16:19.210 --> 01:16:21.510
nothing about it going in, which is my favorite
01:16:21.510 --> 01:16:26.449
way to see a movie. Yeah. And lately, I've kind
01:16:26.449 --> 01:16:30.449
of pulled back a lot from media and internet
01:16:30.449 --> 01:16:32.909
stuff, which is a weird thing to say as we're
01:16:32.909 --> 01:16:36.699
recording a podcast, but I kind of try to avoid
01:16:36.699 --> 01:16:39.420
trailers. I certainly don't go to websites that
01:16:39.420 --> 01:16:42.960
talk about like plot details and things. So lately
01:16:42.960 --> 01:16:45.859
I've been seeing movies without really knowing
01:16:45.859 --> 01:16:48.020
anything like Backrooms. Didn't know anything
01:16:48.020 --> 01:16:51.060
about it. Went in blind. Project Hail Mary. Same
01:16:51.060 --> 01:16:52.840
thing. Didn't know anything about the book. Didn't
01:16:52.840 --> 01:16:55.079
know anything about the movie. And what a freaking
01:16:55.079 --> 01:16:58.840
delight that movie is from beginning to end.
01:16:59.100 --> 01:17:01.720
Everything about it. Just delightful. That's
01:17:01.720 --> 01:17:04.819
my that's my review. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
01:17:05.199 --> 01:17:06.899
I mean, it's, and it's, it's a feel good movie,
01:17:07.020 --> 01:17:12.680
I think, despite, despite the stakes, but yeah,
01:17:12.859 --> 01:17:14.760
that's a good one too. So that, that's a good
01:17:14.760 --> 01:17:17.060
start. You know, that's a, that's a good weekend
01:17:17.060 --> 01:17:19.920
right there. Oh yeah, absolutely. Well, and,
01:17:20.000 --> 01:17:24.289
and to, I think what you said, it's a feel good
01:17:24.289 --> 01:17:27.689
movie and it's because it's showing this, this
01:17:27.689 --> 01:17:31.170
unbeatable hope in the face of utter hopelessness.
01:17:31.430 --> 01:17:34.189
Yeah. And I think that's, That's something we
01:17:34.189 --> 01:17:38.810
all needed a shot of. It was the right movie
01:17:38.810 --> 01:17:41.109
at the right time. And the protagonist is a high
01:17:41.109 --> 01:17:45.130
school teacher. Yeah, which is awesome. My brother,
01:17:45.229 --> 01:17:46.750
who's a high school teacher, he's like, this
01:17:46.750 --> 01:17:49.909
is amazing. You think I ride this bike for exercise?
01:17:51.109 --> 01:18:00.810
The movie was so pro -science. It was all about...
01:18:01.720 --> 01:18:04.699
learning is the key to everything like that.
01:18:05.359 --> 01:18:08.460
And that's a message we need now too. So like,
01:18:08.539 --> 01:18:10.239
yeah, ma 'am, what a great movie. You made me
01:18:10.239 --> 01:18:12.119
want to watch. I'm like, as soon as we're done,
01:18:12.180 --> 01:18:13.880
I might just sit down and watch it again. It's
01:18:13.880 --> 01:18:18.260
so good. Amazing. Well, before we wrap up anything
01:18:18.260 --> 01:18:20.939
else on your mind, you want to put out there
01:18:20.939 --> 01:18:23.520
for the audience? Well, you know, we didn't really
01:18:23.520 --> 01:18:27.220
delve too much into the, the, the Kyle Higgins
01:18:27.220 --> 01:18:30.279
project that he has coming up, I guess. You're
01:18:30.279 --> 01:18:32.760
right. we've got it so you're right we've got
01:18:32.760 --> 01:18:35.000
to talk about well we've been you can edit out
01:18:35.000 --> 01:18:36.720
some of the earlier stuff if you need to chunk
01:18:36.720 --> 01:18:38.840
it no no no we'll go as long as we need to go
01:18:38.840 --> 01:18:41.399
um because this was all this has been fantastic
01:18:41.399 --> 01:18:44.239
so far and that's exactly we got our joe talk
01:18:44.239 --> 01:18:46.260
we got our movie talk but we've got to have a
01:18:46.260 --> 01:18:48.779
little gi joe tomb raider talk because that's
01:18:48.779 --> 01:18:52.520
how we got to where we're sitting right now when
01:18:52.909 --> 01:18:56.250
you first because to me this project 100 made
01:18:56.250 --> 01:19:00.199
sense uh I really enjoyed the G .I. Joe Danger
01:19:00.199 --> 01:19:03.539
Girl crossover that was done years ago. I was
01:19:03.539 --> 01:19:08.180
shocked. Yeah, yeah. I was shocked at how well
01:19:08.180 --> 01:19:10.560
it worked. Not that I didn't think the brands
01:19:10.560 --> 01:19:13.420
worked together, but just it came together really
01:19:13.420 --> 01:19:16.760
well. So with Tomb Raider, immediately I was
01:19:16.760 --> 01:19:19.479
like, yes, this makes sense. They're both adventure
01:19:19.479 --> 01:19:25.079
franchises. This is great. And I've had the good
01:19:25.079 --> 01:19:28.250
fortune of reading the first issue. which we
01:19:28.250 --> 01:19:30.550
talked about a little bit. You and I both. And
01:19:30.550 --> 01:19:36.090
just everything just hits just right. It is very
01:19:36.090 --> 01:19:40.010
cinematic. The blend of Joe with Lara Croft's
01:19:40.010 --> 01:19:44.029
world 100 % makes sense. What were your feelings
01:19:44.029 --> 01:19:46.609
when you first heard that this was happening?
01:19:47.449 --> 01:19:50.649
Well, so the thing that surprised me the most,
01:19:50.729 --> 01:19:52.550
and I've sort of dug into it a little bit, I
01:19:52.550 --> 01:19:54.810
was very interested in the origins of this whole
01:19:54.810 --> 01:19:57.470
thing. And it's taken me a little bit of time,
01:19:57.529 --> 01:19:59.430
including going to San Diego Comic -Con this
01:19:59.430 --> 01:20:02.090
summer to talk to like the people in Hasbro.
01:20:02.149 --> 01:20:05.310
I wanted to know what, you know, Ben McCray or
01:20:05.310 --> 01:20:08.949
AKA B -Mac had to say about the toy side of all
01:20:08.949 --> 01:20:11.510
of this. I guess we'll get to that in a minute,
01:20:11.529 --> 01:20:14.630
but basically it was November. So right before
01:20:14.630 --> 01:20:16.710
the holidays last year, I get a message from
01:20:16.710 --> 01:20:18.850
Kyle and he's basically saying, you know, I've
01:20:18.850 --> 01:20:20.529
been approached by Alex Antone, who he knows
01:20:20.529 --> 01:20:25.550
from the past. They obviously crossed paths before,
01:20:25.750 --> 01:20:30.409
but do I want to pitch for this G .I. Joe Tomb
01:20:30.409 --> 01:20:33.529
Raider crossover? And the very first question
01:20:33.529 --> 01:20:37.970
I had, I said, well, is it its own thing? Is
01:20:37.970 --> 01:20:41.659
it in the Energon universe? and i was because
01:20:41.659 --> 01:20:43.840
we're not talking to joshua williamson here so
01:20:43.840 --> 01:20:47.220
that that confused me a little bit um and so
01:20:47.220 --> 01:20:49.399
i was thinking it was its own thing like like
01:20:49.399 --> 01:20:51.680
the danger girl crossover it was right right
01:20:51.680 --> 01:20:55.020
right so yeah its own separate little bubble
01:20:55.020 --> 01:20:57.819
kind of yeah so i'm thinking okay you have the
01:20:57.819 --> 01:20:59.579
energon universe over here you got larry doing
01:20:59.579 --> 01:21:01.659
his thing here and they want to do this you know
01:21:01.659 --> 01:21:06.020
um you know but that was not the case it was
01:21:06.020 --> 01:21:08.699
set in the real american hero larry homoverse
01:21:08.699 --> 01:21:13.930
which really surprised me because I, it's, you
01:21:13.930 --> 01:21:16.270
know, the more I thought about it, it is, it's
01:21:16.270 --> 01:21:18.369
a phenomenal fit. I mean, her character is, it
01:21:18.369 --> 01:21:20.229
makes sense for all kinds of reasons, but it
01:21:20.229 --> 01:21:24.529
surprised me because there's just so much lore
01:21:24.529 --> 01:21:29.029
in, in a real American hero. And, and, but I
01:21:29.029 --> 01:21:30.970
came to find out later that essentially they,
01:21:31.109 --> 01:21:33.590
Skybound had approached Larry about doing this.
01:21:33.750 --> 01:21:36.350
So, so, so the backstory that I found out later
01:21:36.350 --> 01:21:40.010
at Comic -Con, basically BMAC said to me, you
01:21:40.010 --> 01:21:42.170
know i said where did the idea for this toy come
01:21:42.170 --> 01:21:45.770
from and he said to me it was my idea uh based
01:21:45.770 --> 01:21:47.909
on some of the other crossovers they've done
01:21:47.909 --> 01:21:50.310
on some of their other lines right um at hasbro
01:21:50.310 --> 01:21:55.069
and uh and he said based on that we got to talking
01:21:55.069 --> 01:21:56.970
to crystal dynamics and we decided we were going
01:21:56.970 --> 01:22:01.250
to do an action figure um which was awesome and
01:22:01.250 --> 01:22:05.659
but the the synergy to me of like the time Shortly
01:22:05.659 --> 01:22:08.600
thereafter, once they made the decision, or Crystal
01:22:08.600 --> 01:22:10.840
Dynamics was on board to make this action figure,
01:22:11.060 --> 01:22:13.560
very quickly Hasbro reaches out to Skybound,
01:22:13.720 --> 01:22:16.479
would you like to do a comic series to support
01:22:16.479 --> 01:22:19.699
this whole idea? And from what I understand,
01:22:20.000 --> 01:22:23.840
this is secondhand, but purportedly, Sean Mankiewicz
01:22:23.840 --> 01:22:27.380
at Skybound said that they offered it to Larry,
01:22:27.520 --> 01:22:31.060
and Larry gave them their blessing to do it,
01:22:31.079 --> 01:22:34.659
but he wasn't interested in writing it. So he
01:22:34.659 --> 01:22:37.520
was obviously he has a lot on his plate. He's
01:22:37.520 --> 01:22:39.779
doing his own thing. And, you know, he wanted
01:22:39.779 --> 01:22:42.380
to stick, you know, that's my best guess. Right.
01:22:42.619 --> 01:22:47.680
And so so had Larry not said, you know, you know,
01:22:47.680 --> 01:22:49.500
good luck. You know, you can have some, you know,
01:22:49.500 --> 01:22:51.560
because they've dabbled with other writers with
01:22:51.560 --> 01:22:53.579
some of the silent issues, what not and what
01:22:53.579 --> 01:22:56.479
not under the Roman hero banner. So they're obviously
01:22:56.479 --> 01:22:59.500
open to the idea, which, you know, is relatively
01:22:59.500 --> 01:23:01.500
new. Right. Having a writer that's not Larry.
01:23:02.109 --> 01:23:04.130
doing anything in the real american hero universe
01:23:04.130 --> 01:23:07.770
yeah yeah um so larry passing on it essentially
01:23:07.770 --> 01:23:11.550
um is the only reason that kyle higgins gets
01:23:11.550 --> 01:23:13.569
or that skybound decides they're going to go
01:23:13.569 --> 01:23:17.460
out and solicit pitches a little bit and so thank
01:23:17.460 --> 01:23:19.479
you larry because i would not have heard about
01:23:19.479 --> 01:23:21.920
this project from my good friend kyle if you
01:23:21.920 --> 01:23:23.699
know if you hadn't passed on it i mean it would
01:23:23.699 --> 01:23:25.140
have been a big secret it would have been amazing
01:23:25.140 --> 01:23:28.960
and and uh you know when when that teaser came
01:23:28.960 --> 01:23:32.039
out in in 330 a real working hero issue 330.
01:23:32.500 --> 01:23:34.760
um it was a bummer the day before my birthday
01:23:34.760 --> 01:23:38.579
bleeding cool news spoiled it right um and and
01:23:38.579 --> 01:23:42.520
and they didn't so so very quickly i reached
01:23:42.520 --> 01:23:45.220
out to paul pelletier who drew those pages and
01:23:45.220 --> 01:23:49.310
i i had to I don't own any original art except
01:23:49.310 --> 01:23:52.550
for this. Wow. Wow. This is the page that Bleeding
01:23:52.550 --> 01:23:58.869
Cool did not put up. But and Paul, Paul's great.
01:23:59.029 --> 01:24:02.770
I love. And again, Chris Mooneyham, another Wisconsinite,
01:24:02.850 --> 01:24:05.529
like all of these, like I just there's so much
01:24:05.529 --> 01:24:07.949
going on these days I'm excited about. But they
01:24:07.949 --> 01:24:10.729
put up this page. Right. But they didn't put
01:24:10.729 --> 01:24:14.489
up this page. So it's like there's a little bit
01:24:14.489 --> 01:24:16.829
of dialogue. no i guess there's no dialogue but
01:24:16.829 --> 01:24:19.149
there's some storytelling on the first page that
01:24:19.149 --> 01:24:21.390
you know is clearly important you know before
01:24:21.390 --> 01:24:24.729
the reveal and so yeah anything cool you know
01:24:24.729 --> 01:24:26.449
you couldn't have just waited like two days because
01:24:26.449 --> 01:24:29.130
because the surprise i i thought was just awesome
01:24:29.130 --> 01:24:35.149
and um anyway i couldn't wait for the day that
01:24:35.149 --> 01:24:37.510
that was going to happen because obviously you
01:24:37.510 --> 01:24:39.770
know i was excited about this whole thing but
01:24:39.770 --> 01:24:43.770
basically bmack he he came up with this idea
01:24:43.770 --> 01:24:46.149
to do an action figure skybound then made the
01:24:46.149 --> 01:24:48.550
decision they were going to do a series kyle
01:24:48.640 --> 01:24:51.800
made his pitch kyle's pitch got chosen so he
01:24:51.800 --> 01:24:55.779
got chosen to write on the series and um you
01:24:55.779 --> 01:24:59.140
know it's it's like what alex anton i think in
01:24:59.140 --> 01:25:00.819
one of his very first letters on a real american
01:25:00.819 --> 01:25:03.279
hero wrote like hey guys you know guilty admission
01:25:03.279 --> 01:25:06.199
i didn't grow up with gi joe so i'm gonna go
01:25:06.199 --> 01:25:10.979
along uh very similar situation with kyle um
01:25:11.770 --> 01:25:15.210
But as Kyle mentioned, you know, he's like, well,
01:25:15.289 --> 01:25:17.550
I'm not steeped in this world, but I have a good
01:25:17.550 --> 01:25:19.090
friend who knows a thing or two about it. So
01:25:19.090 --> 01:25:20.989
maybe, you know, we can just, you know, as you
01:25:20.989 --> 01:25:23.130
do, you bounce ideas off of friends and, you
01:25:23.130 --> 01:25:27.109
know, you get to keep going. And I'm like, Kyle
01:25:27.109 --> 01:25:29.090
basically is saying to me, like, should I should
01:25:29.090 --> 01:25:32.270
I pursue this? And I said. yes, you should pursue
01:25:32.270 --> 01:25:34.750
this. If it was me, I would totally pursue this.
01:25:34.869 --> 01:25:37.670
So if nothing else, like, cheerleader, you know,
01:25:37.670 --> 01:25:40.890
very excited about this prospect. But what surprised
01:25:40.890 --> 01:25:42.430
me most was studying it in the Real American
01:25:42.430 --> 01:25:46.430
Hero universe. And I was like, really? Because,
01:25:46.510 --> 01:25:49.890
like, okay, well, that means that I get to do
01:25:49.890 --> 01:25:53.529
some research with books that are this size.
01:25:53.989 --> 01:25:56.590
And literally, this is, you know, this is research
01:25:56.590 --> 01:25:58.899
for me. Where I get to, you know, stories, of
01:25:58.899 --> 01:26:00.600
course, that I've read, but like going back and
01:26:00.600 --> 01:26:02.520
just revisiting, you know, things and really
01:26:02.520 --> 01:26:07.989
wanting to, because Kyle talked about this being
01:26:07.989 --> 01:26:11.449
an evergreen project and something that, you
01:26:11.449 --> 01:26:14.010
know, a new reader can delve into and they can
01:26:14.010 --> 01:26:18.210
pick up. And he's really good at, as you mentioned,
01:26:18.250 --> 01:26:21.609
capturing a new audience. And in some ways he
01:26:21.609 --> 01:26:24.239
was a new audience. and so if he could make sense
01:26:24.239 --> 01:26:28.140
of it um and then you know he obviously can bring
01:26:28.140 --> 01:26:32.020
in new readers i am standing here just saying
01:26:32.020 --> 01:26:34.560
okay but you just have to make sure that you
01:26:34.560 --> 01:26:37.060
know you don't do something that is going to
01:26:37.060 --> 01:26:40.500
counter you know this 40 years of larry ahama
01:26:40.500 --> 01:26:43.699
history right and uh and so it was just very
01:26:43.699 --> 01:26:47.039
fun for me to delve into the mythos and like
01:26:47.039 --> 01:26:50.960
the history of the ARCO star and like what, like
01:26:50.960 --> 01:26:53.159
literally pulling every panel that the ARCO star
01:26:53.159 --> 01:26:56.739
has ever existed in. What have we seen? What
01:26:56.739 --> 01:27:00.380
have we not seen? You know, if you read far enough
01:27:00.380 --> 01:27:03.060
into the Marvel run, you know, beyond the Cobra
01:27:03.060 --> 01:27:05.199
Civil War, like obviously that's where you see
01:27:05.199 --> 01:27:09.399
a lot of it. But even after it's long inside
01:27:09.399 --> 01:27:11.739
the volcano and it's been buried, there's even
01:27:11.739 --> 01:27:14.220
a sequence where you have. if you really dig
01:27:14.220 --> 01:27:17.619
in, like, Ninja Force Sartan and Destro and General
01:27:17.619 --> 01:27:21.079
Hawk are having a conversation. I'm referencing
01:27:21.079 --> 01:27:23.880
the last time the Arbicostar was ever referenced
01:27:23.880 --> 01:27:27.479
in the original Marvel run. But that conversation
01:27:27.479 --> 01:27:30.800
and what they say, and maybe something you see
01:27:30.800 --> 01:27:33.970
in the background, like, as a fan, you have to
01:27:33.970 --> 01:27:36.710
address, like, you can't have an event, to me,
01:27:36.789 --> 01:27:39.930
that happens, you know, and then pretend like
01:27:39.930 --> 01:27:44.489
it never happened. And so even with like in the
01:27:44.489 --> 01:27:46.930
preview where you get to see some deceased Cobra
01:27:46.930 --> 01:27:48.909
characters in the freighter, it's like, okay,
01:27:48.970 --> 01:27:51.789
so it's very important that, you know, anything
01:27:51.789 --> 01:27:54.029
you see here, you know, these are characters,
01:27:54.130 --> 01:27:56.149
if they're corpses, you know, they really are
01:27:56.149 --> 01:27:58.310
corpses. So it's like, you know, you can't have
01:27:58.310 --> 01:28:02.090
Firefly, right? You can't have the clone of Serpentor
01:28:02.090 --> 01:28:05.310
who was taken out, you know, and, you know, so,
01:28:06.010 --> 01:28:09.510
so just, it's been fun for me to basically, you
01:28:09.510 --> 01:28:13.000
know, just say. Because when you're first delving
01:28:13.000 --> 01:28:16.979
into a property and you're learning, it's a big
01:28:16.979 --> 01:28:19.920
learning curve. And with 40 years worth of comic
01:28:19.920 --> 01:28:25.680
books or more, there's a lot to consider and
01:28:25.680 --> 01:28:30.880
think about. And so it started as an action figure,
01:28:31.000 --> 01:28:33.720
as Kyle mentioned, which I thought was so cool.
01:28:34.000 --> 01:28:36.500
But the fact that they announced the action figure
01:28:36.500 --> 01:28:39.869
at Yo -Yo June this year, and then... The comic
01:28:39.869 --> 01:28:43.869
book was previewed in July. It was great. That
01:28:43.869 --> 01:28:47.489
is not easy to do. And given the timelines of
01:28:47.489 --> 01:28:50.170
the toys and how they're planning six months
01:28:50.170 --> 01:28:54.310
to a year. That nothing leaked. That's wild.
01:28:54.810 --> 01:28:56.750
But yeah, the timing of it was perfect because
01:28:56.750 --> 01:29:00.430
the figure got announced. And my reaction anyway,
01:29:00.590 --> 01:29:02.989
and most of the folks that we run in the same
01:29:02.989 --> 01:29:05.449
circles, everybody thought the figure, oh, very
01:29:05.449 --> 01:29:07.989
cool idea. What a great crossover for G .I. Joe.
01:29:08.270 --> 01:29:11.829
Cool. And that was that. And then to turn around
01:29:11.829 --> 01:29:14.430
and be like, Oh, but that's not all just going
01:29:14.430 --> 01:29:18.069
to get a story. I mean, that was, it was such
01:29:18.069 --> 01:29:21.510
an exciting way to present this. Yeah. And it's
01:29:21.510 --> 01:29:23.149
like, it's not like you can make the toy announcement
01:29:23.149 --> 01:29:24.810
and then say, okay, quick, let's figure out,
01:29:24.810 --> 01:29:27.670
you know, it's like, you know, clearly the lead
01:29:27.670 --> 01:29:31.189
times involved and just like, I love, you know,
01:29:31.189 --> 01:29:33.729
different companies clearly, you know, but, and,
01:29:33.729 --> 01:29:39.069
and yeah, just like. And I think that has something
01:29:39.069 --> 01:29:43.590
to do with, I mean, yeah, just the conversations
01:29:43.590 --> 01:29:46.130
like that that happen. It's almost like the water
01:29:46.130 --> 01:29:48.390
cooler conversations that happen at conventions
01:29:48.390 --> 01:29:51.609
and amongst creatives and that kind of thing
01:29:51.609 --> 01:29:55.390
just opens up the possibility for that to happen
01:29:55.390 --> 01:30:01.260
more because there isn't some. giant tower in
01:30:01.260 --> 01:30:03.779
the sky where it's like the war room where these
01:30:03.779 --> 01:30:05.800
decisions are all made and everything is synced
01:30:05.800 --> 01:30:08.060
up perfectly. So when something does sync up
01:30:08.060 --> 01:30:10.939
like that, I just think it's very exciting. And
01:30:10.939 --> 01:30:15.520
it speaks to just that idea that it's just such
01:30:15.520 --> 01:30:21.079
a fun time. And how great is it to have a story
01:30:21.079 --> 01:30:24.420
in which you have And I remember I had the very
01:30:24.420 --> 01:30:26.920
first PlayStation 1 Tomb Raider game as I was
01:30:26.920 --> 01:30:29.880
going off to college, and that was so much fun.
01:30:30.100 --> 01:30:34.300
But to have Lara Croft the Tomb Raider now basically
01:30:34.300 --> 01:30:37.699
going into a story with one of the original Tomb
01:30:37.699 --> 01:30:40.859
Raiders in G .I. Joe, and by that I mean Destro,
01:30:40.939 --> 01:30:43.600
and as you know, Dr. Mindbender, we're like the
01:30:43.600 --> 01:30:46.619
OG Tomb Raiders, right? Right. Before Lara Croft
01:30:46.619 --> 01:30:50.579
existed as a concept. Yeah. I just think, I don't
01:30:50.579 --> 01:30:53.300
know. I mean, I geek out on this stuff. and uh
01:30:53.300 --> 01:30:58.680
it's just it's a lot of fun and um to me you've
01:30:58.680 --> 01:31:00.399
heard the phrase a little bit like oh it's the
01:31:00.399 --> 01:31:02.500
crossover that you didn't know you wanted and
01:31:02.500 --> 01:31:05.939
that kind of thing and then that is true like
01:31:05.939 --> 01:31:07.960
in the beginning i was like really it's set in
01:31:07.960 --> 01:31:10.399
the real american hero universe interesting and
01:31:10.399 --> 01:31:12.680
then the more i thought about it i was like this
01:31:12.680 --> 01:31:17.399
really works you know and uh so anyway it's uh
01:31:18.199 --> 01:31:20.779
I'm very, very happy that my good friend Kyle
01:31:20.779 --> 01:31:23.319
got this opportunity and really is making the
01:31:23.319 --> 01:31:26.970
most of it. And how many variant covers are there
01:31:26.970 --> 01:31:30.170
for New York Comic Con? Oh, I don't even know.
01:31:30.350 --> 01:31:34.229
20 plus? Clearly, this is a little bit more than
01:31:34.229 --> 01:31:36.229
a blip on the radar, just from the publishing
01:31:36.229 --> 01:31:39.270
side of things. So it's just exciting to see.
01:31:39.770 --> 01:31:44.350
It's like how a small idea, one action figure
01:31:44.350 --> 01:31:48.010
turns into a comic series. which then just gets
01:31:48.010 --> 01:31:54.489
promoted like you wouldn't believe. And in a
01:31:54.489 --> 01:31:57.270
crossover situation where you have a Hasbro and
01:31:57.270 --> 01:32:00.449
a Crystal Dynamics and a Skybet, there's just
01:32:00.449 --> 01:32:05.670
a lot to coordinate. And I can just imagine Alex
01:32:05.670 --> 01:32:09.670
Anton's head spinning is trying to keep the engine
01:32:09.670 --> 01:32:13.310
running and all that. But yeah, just kudos to
01:32:13.310 --> 01:32:17.039
everybody who is working really hard on it. And
01:32:17.039 --> 01:32:21.920
I'm super excited. Well, one of the things that's
01:32:21.920 --> 01:32:25.390
really exciting about it is, one, it's gotten
01:32:25.390 --> 01:32:27.090
a lot of positive attention. It's got a lot of
01:32:27.090 --> 01:32:31.329
coverage. It feels like an event. And that's
01:32:31.329 --> 01:32:35.170
a good thing because we're seeing Hasbro and
01:32:35.170 --> 01:32:37.970
Crystal Dynamics working together for these properties.
01:32:38.789 --> 01:32:42.939
And so Hasbro is seeing... okay, this is a cool
01:32:42.939 --> 01:32:45.199
concept that can work for us, this partnership,
01:32:45.439 --> 01:32:49.039
this bringing in other properties into G .I.
01:32:49.060 --> 01:32:53.840
Joe for a visit. And other companies are seeing
01:32:53.840 --> 01:32:57.380
the success of it and how it's being received
01:32:57.380 --> 01:33:00.399
and thinking, ooh, we'd like a piece of that
01:33:00.399 --> 01:33:04.359
G .I. Joe pie. But the really exciting part is
01:33:04.359 --> 01:33:09.020
that between Robert Kirkman and, of course, Hasbro,
01:33:09.039 --> 01:33:12.680
who has the ultimate say on all of this, I feel
01:33:12.680 --> 01:33:17.850
like G .I. Joe, the people running it now, are
01:33:17.850 --> 01:33:21.010
going to curate that stuff very carefully. We're
01:33:21.010 --> 01:33:24.890
not going to see characters or properties or
01:33:24.890 --> 01:33:27.489
ideas brought in that don't make sense with Joe.
01:33:27.670 --> 01:33:31.729
I really do think right now it's in hands that
01:33:31.729 --> 01:33:33.409
are going to be careful about how that's handled.
01:33:33.510 --> 01:33:36.350
So we're not going to see weird stuff that doesn't
01:33:36.350 --> 01:33:39.750
make any sense. G .I. Joe, and look, nothing
01:33:39.750 --> 01:33:42.710
against Cowboys of Moo Mesa, but I don't think
01:33:42.710 --> 01:33:44.289
we're going to see something like G .I. Joe,
01:33:44.529 --> 01:33:49.710
Cowboys of Moo Mesa team up. And if we do, though,
01:33:49.810 --> 01:33:52.829
then it'll feature that new character Sundown,
01:33:52.890 --> 01:33:54.989
and it'll end up being awesome, so who knows.
01:33:56.729 --> 01:33:59.649
Yeah, that is a really cool design, and I do
01:33:59.649 --> 01:34:01.789
look forward to seeing that character in some
01:34:01.789 --> 01:34:08.140
form before too long, hopefully. Sorry, I think
01:34:08.140 --> 01:34:11.819
you can probably hear all this chiming. But yeah,
01:34:13.210 --> 01:34:16.810
sometimes I'll see a comment like, oh, is this
01:34:16.810 --> 01:34:19.069
just a cash grab or something like that? And
01:34:19.069 --> 01:34:22.890
I do not represent Hasbro or Skybound or any
01:34:22.890 --> 01:34:25.029
of those entities. But just from my perspective,
01:34:25.270 --> 01:34:28.609
I think this is something that a lot of time,
01:34:28.729 --> 01:34:34.710
energy, and thought has gone into. And you can't
01:34:34.710 --> 01:34:39.090
ask for more than that. And so we're, we're,
01:34:39.090 --> 01:34:43.850
we're in America in 2026. Everything is a cash
01:34:43.850 --> 01:34:49.329
grab, but cash grabs can be fun. When the creative,
01:34:49.510 --> 01:34:52.670
when the creative people involved with the cash
01:34:52.670 --> 01:34:55.090
grab have passion for what they're doing, have
01:34:55.090 --> 01:34:58.189
good ideas and have a vision, then cash grabs
01:34:58.189 --> 01:35:01.430
can be awesome. So like that, that term is almost
01:35:01.430 --> 01:35:03.729
meaningless now, you know, because that's everything,
01:35:03.930 --> 01:35:07.350
every movie you watch, every TV show. I would
01:35:07.350 --> 01:35:09.890
like to say though, podcasts in general, not
01:35:09.890 --> 01:35:16.329
a cash grab, but at all. But yeah, all the entertainment.
01:35:16.430 --> 01:35:18.010
I mean, it's all, you know, of course we want
01:35:18.010 --> 01:35:19.590
it to be profitable because guess what? That's
01:35:19.590 --> 01:35:22.409
how we get more of it. So. You know, I think
01:35:22.409 --> 01:35:25.029
just have fun with it. And if it's a good creative
01:35:25.029 --> 01:35:27.350
vision, then cool. Which in this case, again,
01:35:27.470 --> 01:35:29.829
I'll say I've only read the first issue, but
01:35:29.829 --> 01:35:34.100
that first issue is a banger. So you'll get some
01:35:34.100 --> 01:35:36.819
bang for your buck, perhaps. Yeah, absolutely.
01:35:37.140 --> 01:35:40.979
I think. Well, and also to go back to Kyle being
01:35:40.979 --> 01:35:42.920
really good at introducing fans to concepts,
01:35:43.020 --> 01:35:45.079
I think it's a good starting point for G .I.
01:35:45.100 --> 01:35:47.140
Joe or Tomb Raider. I think either property,
01:35:47.239 --> 01:35:49.600
if you're not as familiar with either one, in
01:35:49.600 --> 01:35:52.859
the first few pages, you're off to the races.
01:35:52.960 --> 01:35:55.560
You know, you understand who everybody is and
01:35:55.560 --> 01:35:59.100
what they're doing. It's just a good book, and
01:35:59.100 --> 01:36:02.319
I can't wait to see the rest of it. Same. So
01:36:02.319 --> 01:36:05.100
I think that's a good place. Any more G .I. Joe
01:36:05.100 --> 01:36:11.630
Tomb Raider thoughts? Just trying to think if
01:36:11.630 --> 01:36:16.430
there's something that I just, I think I've shared
01:36:16.430 --> 01:36:18.789
mostly that I'm just loving the synergy of it
01:36:18.789 --> 01:36:20.489
all. Even if you read like the file card on the
01:36:20.489 --> 01:36:22.250
back of the action figure, what Mark Beasley
01:36:22.250 --> 01:36:23.770
put together, I think he's doing a great job,
01:36:23.829 --> 01:36:25.710
by the way, with the modern file cards, but like
01:36:25.710 --> 01:36:29.680
his description and, you know. if you read, you
01:36:29.680 --> 01:36:32.260
know, it's, it's relatively general so that,
01:36:32.319 --> 01:36:35.479
you know, he wrote it at a time before, you know,
01:36:35.479 --> 01:36:37.779
Kyle had figured out all the details of the story
01:36:37.779 --> 01:36:40.359
and that kind of thing. But, but there's still
01:36:40.359 --> 01:36:42.000
like, there's that nugget in there. It's like,
01:36:42.039 --> 01:36:44.399
they're going to Cobra Island, like clearly that's
01:36:44.399 --> 01:36:46.760
a plot point that, you know, Mark Beasley had
01:36:46.760 --> 01:36:50.279
to be aware of. And so that was early in the
01:36:50.279 --> 01:36:52.260
process and that kind of thing. And so I just
01:36:52.260 --> 01:36:57.689
love, it all fits. And, and, and I really do.
01:36:58.590 --> 01:37:01.869
You know, Elena Casagrande, you know, her art
01:37:01.869 --> 01:37:03.810
style is obviously different than what we're
01:37:03.810 --> 01:37:05.770
seeing in the main book right now. But I think,
01:37:05.770 --> 01:37:08.069
you know, she's an artist and she's doing a great
01:37:08.069 --> 01:37:11.569
job. The coloring is phenomenal. Like, I just,
01:37:11.609 --> 01:37:16.949
you know, I don't see a weak link in this process.
01:37:17.449 --> 01:37:22.029
And that's just really cool to see. And I always
01:37:22.029 --> 01:37:24.210
love, you know, I know this is not a special
01:37:24.210 --> 01:37:26.859
missions branded, you know. mini series or anything
01:37:26.859 --> 01:37:28.939
like that but it kind of to me anyway it has
01:37:28.939 --> 01:37:32.100
a bit of that feel um but it's like there was
01:37:32.100 --> 01:37:34.000
one special mission story in the 80s that was
01:37:34.000 --> 01:37:36.520
like a two -issue thing um and but this is so
01:37:36.520 --> 01:37:38.939
it kind of feels like a an expanded special missions
01:37:38.939 --> 01:37:44.560
thing and i uh yeah i mean i i'm sort of sitting
01:37:44.560 --> 01:37:46.859
here going you know i understand why obviously
01:37:46.859 --> 01:37:48.779
lara croft different company different property
01:37:48.779 --> 01:37:51.840
all of that but just you know on on the surface
01:37:51.840 --> 01:37:54.439
like could have done this a long time ago i mean
01:37:54.439 --> 01:37:57.840
this you know she just fits in this world and
01:37:57.840 --> 01:38:00.800
and but you know how can you play to the strengths
01:38:00.800 --> 01:38:03.819
of you know her one going to someplace she's
01:38:03.819 --> 01:38:07.140
never been But also, you know, exploring the
01:38:07.140 --> 01:38:09.619
way that she does, you know, what I think the
01:38:09.619 --> 01:38:12.220
setting and going to a setting that has a lot
01:38:12.220 --> 01:38:15.960
of history, a lot of varied history. And it's
01:38:15.960 --> 01:38:18.680
a setting that I mean, in your memory, what is
01:38:18.680 --> 01:38:22.119
the last recollection of this place that you
01:38:22.119 --> 01:38:24.119
can think of that, you know, it's been a while,
01:38:24.159 --> 01:38:27.819
right? Yeah, it's well, but what you're saying,
01:38:27.840 --> 01:38:30.180
it makes even more sense for it to be Lara Croft
01:38:30.180 --> 01:38:33.300
because her character or rather her stories.
01:38:34.250 --> 01:38:37.270
depend on mythology and lore and that's why real
01:38:37.270 --> 01:38:39.289
american hero is so perfect for her character
01:38:39.289 --> 01:38:43.069
to join up with because it's all there's so much
01:38:43.069 --> 01:38:47.680
depth there there's uh our ghost star was a great
01:38:47.680 --> 01:38:50.920
starting point but think about how many other
01:38:50.920 --> 01:38:56.510
you know geographical or or historical events
01:38:56.510 --> 01:39:00.069
there are from the history of real american hero
01:39:00.069 --> 01:39:03.109
that could you know have future installments
01:39:03.109 --> 01:39:06.329
of of Tomb Raider G .I. Joe. I mean, there's
01:39:06.329 --> 01:39:10.850
so much material there. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's
01:39:10.850 --> 01:39:14.890
it's really. i can't say enough about how much
01:39:14.890 --> 01:39:17.909
of a thread in the needle it is when the task
01:39:17.909 --> 01:39:20.770
is bringing two properties together in which
01:39:20.770 --> 01:39:23.130
you know both companies are going to be happy
01:39:23.130 --> 01:39:26.329
with you know the result but also you know something
01:39:26.329 --> 01:39:28.550
that is evergreen that you know you can pick
01:39:28.550 --> 01:39:31.090
up and you don't have to have read the 40 years
01:39:31.090 --> 01:39:33.729
worth of you know how much gi joe to understand
01:39:33.729 --> 01:39:37.500
it um But at the same time, so you can bring
01:39:37.500 --> 01:39:39.399
in new readers, but at the same time, from my
01:39:39.399 --> 01:39:42.699
perspective, longtime fans can read and it fits,
01:39:43.079 --> 01:39:46.239
you know, the tone and the characters, you know,
01:39:46.260 --> 01:39:49.340
they fit, you know, for anyone who understands
01:39:49.340 --> 01:39:52.680
this world. It doesn't, you know, it's not a
01:39:52.680 --> 01:39:55.939
screech of the record like that. And then just
01:39:55.939 --> 01:40:00.899
threading the needle of, yeah, something that
01:40:00.899 --> 01:40:05.739
can satiate longtime fans. grab new fans, you
01:40:05.739 --> 01:40:10.579
know, and, and it's evergreen, but it's cause,
01:40:10.659 --> 01:40:13.550
cause you know, it's sort of like you're playing
01:40:13.550 --> 01:40:17.869
with a lot of Canon, but you can't just do, for
01:40:17.869 --> 01:40:19.930
example, like Larry Hama, you know, is doing
01:40:19.930 --> 01:40:22.729
his thing. And so you can't just do something
01:40:22.729 --> 01:40:26.600
that, you know, Larry Hama is, you know, it can't
01:40:26.600 --> 01:40:30.119
cut against, you know, what he's up to. Right.
01:40:30.720 --> 01:40:34.250
And, and so that's, The fact that it's concurrent,
01:40:34.470 --> 01:40:36.409
it's a real American hero, but it's not like
01:40:36.409 --> 01:40:38.630
a period piece. It's not like we're setting this,
01:40:38.829 --> 01:40:41.329
you know, at this moment in time where we found
01:40:41.329 --> 01:40:43.930
this gap in, you know, the storytelling, but
01:40:43.930 --> 01:40:47.460
we're doing it with concurrent events. I mean,
01:40:47.520 --> 01:40:52.979
that is a tough needle thread. And particularly
01:40:52.979 --> 01:40:55.340
when, you know, you have lead times and all of
01:40:55.340 --> 01:40:56.979
that and, you know, the story you write, it's
01:40:56.979 --> 01:40:58.640
not like it comes out the month you write it.
01:41:01.229 --> 01:41:04.829
kudos to this creative team for you know for
01:41:04.829 --> 01:41:08.189
the synergy for threading the needle and I really
01:41:08.189 --> 01:41:11.890
do I'm just I'm really impressed and I think
01:41:11.890 --> 01:41:14.090
there's maybe some luck involved but there's
01:41:14.090 --> 01:41:16.850
a lot of thought involved in that and I know
01:41:16.850 --> 01:41:19.170
I've said it a few times now but like it's just
01:41:19.170 --> 01:41:21.029
one of those things that I think the creative
01:41:21.029 --> 01:41:22.729
team should be very proud of the job they've
01:41:22.729 --> 01:41:26.840
done you know you bring up a really good point
01:41:26.840 --> 01:41:29.449
that I had not even thought about Because the
01:41:29.449 --> 01:41:32.149
assumption from the beginning on our part was,
01:41:32.310 --> 01:41:36.550
well, this will be an unspecified timeline happening
01:41:36.550 --> 01:41:39.409
in its own little bubble. And I hadn't really
01:41:39.409 --> 01:41:42.149
thought about how much extra work they asked
01:41:42.149 --> 01:41:45.489
for by tying it into the current real American
01:41:45.489 --> 01:41:51.329
hero. Because of the appearance in 330, you're
01:41:51.840 --> 01:41:54.420
right. I hadn't thought about, wow, that is a
01:41:54.420 --> 01:41:57.560
lot of extra effort they're putting in to make
01:41:57.560 --> 01:42:00.800
it. relevant to what's happening now to have
01:42:00.800 --> 01:42:04.420
that introduction in the main comic that that
01:42:04.420 --> 01:42:07.020
was my surprise you know because i was like that
01:42:07.020 --> 01:42:10.520
is that's making a challenging job more challenging
01:42:10.520 --> 01:42:14.619
but at the same time more potentially from my
01:42:14.619 --> 01:42:17.680
perspective more fulfilling because you know
01:42:17.680 --> 01:42:22.670
it's it's it it fits in more places than it might
01:42:22.670 --> 01:42:28.779
otherwise um and and it really I just, you know,
01:42:28.800 --> 01:42:31.100
it's, I'm impressed, you know, and that takes,
01:42:31.100 --> 01:42:34.920
that takes a level of experience and, and coordination.
01:42:35.699 --> 01:42:38.539
And I just, I like to think of, you know, like
01:42:38.539 --> 01:42:40.979
there's some people involved in this that are,
01:42:40.979 --> 01:42:42.960
you know, in the war room, whether it's at the
01:42:42.960 --> 01:42:45.560
pit or on the flag or whatever, like, you know,
01:42:45.560 --> 01:42:48.140
that are, that are, you know, they, they're pros
01:42:48.140 --> 01:42:51.119
and, and, you know, they should be honorary Joes
01:42:51.119 --> 01:42:54.380
in my mind, you know, so. And well, and also
01:42:54.380 --> 01:42:57.369
just the confidence to make that decision. To
01:42:57.369 --> 01:43:01.590
not be scared of we're going to have this extra
01:43:01.590 --> 01:43:05.069
layer that we have to get right. That's impressive.
01:43:05.630 --> 01:43:08.710
That's very impressive. There's an element of
01:43:08.710 --> 01:43:11.590
fearlessness, but it's like, you know, greater
01:43:11.590 --> 01:43:15.710
risk, potentially greater reward. So I know I
01:43:15.710 --> 01:43:18.130
tend to be, I have a certain energy about me,
01:43:18.149 --> 01:43:20.210
but I will generally say that, yeah, there's
01:43:20.210 --> 01:43:30.220
reason to be excited as far as I can guess. I
01:43:30.470 --> 01:43:33.329
can't wait for the general public to start getting
01:43:33.329 --> 01:43:36.729
into this story because it's funny. It's been
01:43:36.729 --> 01:43:39.310
almost a month since I read that preview issue.
01:43:39.670 --> 01:43:41.909
So I've been living with this excitement for
01:43:41.909 --> 01:43:46.170
like a month now. But on October 7th, that excitement
01:43:46.170 --> 01:43:49.050
is going to hit everybody and start up all over
01:43:49.050 --> 01:43:51.630
again for me because other people finally are
01:43:51.630 --> 01:43:53.550
going to get to read it and like understand.
01:43:54.390 --> 01:43:57.649
Oh, this is really good. Yeah. I mean, and we're
01:43:57.649 --> 01:43:59.689
talking like a week from now. So like, if you
01:43:59.689 --> 01:44:02.149
put this episode up, it could be the next day
01:44:02.149 --> 01:44:04.710
or, you know, the same, you know, yeah, it'll
01:44:04.710 --> 01:44:07.310
be, this'll go up. Um, let's see, seven, six,
01:44:07.390 --> 01:44:09.510
five. This will go up on October the fourth,
01:44:09.670 --> 01:44:13.390
I believe. Um, so yeah, just a few days before
01:44:13.390 --> 01:44:16.850
the comic comes out. So listeners you're in for
01:44:16.850 --> 01:44:21.199
a treat. I'll tell you that before we go. Where
01:44:21.199 --> 01:44:23.159
can we find you online? Is there anything you're
01:44:23.159 --> 01:44:26.409
up to that you want to talk about more? Well,
01:44:26.649 --> 01:44:30.630
I'm relatively limited in my social media presence,
01:44:30.850 --> 01:44:34.130
but I do have an Instagram. It's a visual platform,
01:44:34.329 --> 01:44:36.010
so I guess that's where you'll find me most.
01:44:37.350 --> 01:44:40.350
My last name is Nye, spelled N -I -E underscore
01:44:40.350 --> 01:44:46.829
light, L -I -G -H -T. So at Nye Light. is my
01:44:46.829 --> 01:44:49.470
Instagram handle. And then I do have a website,
01:44:49.630 --> 01:44:52.750
which is simply my name. It's michaelneye .com.
01:44:52.949 --> 01:44:54.890
That's where you can see some of my work. And
01:44:54.890 --> 01:44:59.149
I do have my contact info up there. Should you
01:44:59.149 --> 01:45:02.130
want to talk about a creative endeavor or something
01:45:02.130 --> 01:45:06.399
like that? I know there's a trailer, I think,
01:45:06.439 --> 01:45:08.159
for this Shadow Hours. There's two things that
01:45:08.159 --> 01:45:10.140
I did with Kyle, if anybody's interested. There's
01:45:10.140 --> 01:45:12.020
a little trailer for this movie, The Shadow Hours,
01:45:12.020 --> 01:45:15.840
on my website. And then we did a, I did not grow
01:45:15.840 --> 01:45:19.180
up a Power Rangers fan, but I think this is returning
01:45:19.180 --> 01:45:21.420
the favor a little bit because I helped Kyle
01:45:21.420 --> 01:45:24.899
out on a, there was a Lord Drakken Power Rangers
01:45:24.899 --> 01:45:27.560
teaser that he did when he was working on that
01:45:27.560 --> 01:45:30.939
book that I helped him out with, which was just
01:45:30.939 --> 01:45:35.199
a lot of fun. Jason Dave Frank was still with
01:45:35.199 --> 01:45:38.760
us, you know, may he rest in peace. But anyway,
01:45:39.789 --> 01:45:42.130
I have a website, Instagram handle. Otherwise,
01:45:42.350 --> 01:45:45.850
you know, my name is spelled differently than
01:45:45.850 --> 01:45:47.810
Bill Nye the Science Guy. So some people will
01:45:47.810 --> 01:45:53.270
guess it's N -Y -E, but it's N -I -E. So, yeah,
01:45:53.409 --> 01:45:56.310
I mean, I, you know, I'm not that easy to find
01:45:56.310 --> 01:45:58.729
because I do enjoy, you know, my private life
01:45:58.729 --> 01:46:03.340
as well. But you can find me a few places. Well,
01:46:03.380 --> 01:46:04.779
awesome. Thanks for coming on the show, man.
01:46:04.880 --> 01:46:07.500
I really appreciate it. I enjoyed talking to
01:46:07.500 --> 01:46:10.739
you and absolutely want to, now that we've gotten
01:46:10.739 --> 01:46:13.760
a broader field covered, love to have you back
01:46:13.760 --> 01:46:16.319
on in the future to maybe hammer down into some
01:46:16.319 --> 01:46:19.520
GI Joe specifics. Amazing. Amazing. And by the
01:46:19.520 --> 01:46:23.220
way, where are you on the East? I'm in Atlanta.
01:46:23.560 --> 01:46:26.569
You're in Atlanta. So you've never been to Codename
01:46:26.569 --> 01:46:29.489
Iowa, have you? Assembly required? No, I haven't.
01:46:29.489 --> 01:46:32.689
And it's on my list of like, would love to go.
01:46:32.989 --> 01:46:35.989
But distance wise, it's like just outside of
01:46:35.989 --> 01:46:40.529
my reasonable field of travel. That and, oh shoot,
01:46:40.569 --> 01:46:43.630
I was just talking about, oh, Legion's Con is
01:46:43.630 --> 01:46:46.510
another, it's a toy. It's not Joe centric, but
01:46:46.510 --> 01:46:48.770
it's a toy convention that everybody talks about.
01:46:49.069 --> 01:46:51.670
But it's, I can't remember where it is, but it's
01:46:51.670 --> 01:46:57.810
just out of my. I will be at Assembly Required
01:46:57.810 --> 01:47:01.649
this year. Oh, excellent. For the third time.
01:47:02.729 --> 01:47:05.890
My brother and I have made it an annual occurrence.
01:47:05.989 --> 01:47:08.470
We do the road trip from Wisconsin. We stop at
01:47:08.470 --> 01:47:10.630
my 101 -year -old grandmother's house on the
01:47:10.630 --> 01:47:14.609
way. I love it. And then get to the convention.
01:47:14.729 --> 01:47:18.289
And it's, I will say. It is not the biggest convention.
01:47:18.550 --> 01:47:21.229
You know, I do San Diego. I get that scratch
01:47:21.229 --> 01:47:23.710
that itch. This is the total opposite of this.
01:47:23.829 --> 01:47:27.329
This is a small town, you know, homegrown as
01:47:27.329 --> 01:47:30.789
it gets, but they do such a good job. And, you
01:47:30.789 --> 01:47:33.350
know, everyone is just, it's, it's all G I do.
01:47:33.529 --> 01:47:37.029
And, and just, you know, it's, it's, it's free
01:47:37.029 --> 01:47:40.090
for kids. It's, it's such a family thing. I just,
01:47:40.130 --> 01:47:44.590
I, if ever I hear you and you know, it's tough
01:47:44.590 --> 01:47:47.750
to, to make that. go around but if you if you
01:47:47.750 --> 01:47:49.750
ever do make it up that way it's it's pretty
01:47:49.750 --> 01:47:53.069
unique so yeah it's i mean look it's on the list
01:47:53.069 --> 01:47:55.850
it'll as things expand i'll make it out there
01:47:55.850 --> 01:47:57.329
eventually because i've been hearing too many
01:47:57.329 --> 01:47:59.069
good things i would have had word burglar out
01:47:59.069 --> 01:48:02.529
there last year which i was so jealous of two
01:48:02.529 --> 01:48:05.050
years in a row he's done a live concert and larry
01:48:05.050 --> 01:48:07.569
home has been out there and you know yeah you've
01:48:07.569 --> 01:48:10.390
seen that solicits but yeah yeah yeah it's just
01:48:10.779 --> 01:48:12.520
It's a great show. And anyway, I'll be there.
01:48:12.600 --> 01:48:14.779
So if anyone wants to, you know, see me in person,
01:48:14.840 --> 01:48:17.500
I'll see it. Code name Iowa's Assembly Required.
01:48:18.439 --> 01:48:21.300
Excellent. Well, man, thanks for coming on. Had
01:48:21.300 --> 01:48:23.579
a great time talking to you. Sounds good. All
01:48:23.579 --> 01:48:43.229
right. Have a good night, Dave. You have been
01:48:43.229 --> 01:48:45.670
listening to a Needless Things production. Follow
01:48:45.670 --> 01:48:48.050
us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube for the
01:48:48.050 --> 01:48:51.510
very best in toys, movies, music, and pop culture.
01:48:51.829 --> 01:48:55.310
Until next time, be kind and like what you like.