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Your new movie The
Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the
Aardvark - in a few words, what is it about?
It's
kinda a "folly of man" - or should I say aardvark - kinda
story J Basically, in an effort to fit in, Cerebus the
Aardvark exchanges his barbarian helmet for a merchant vest - this
seemingly small event has major repercussions forever fracturing his
destiny.
Before we dig deeper into your movie, could you give us a quick
introduction to the Aardvark, the comicbook by Dave Sim, and its significance to
the world of indie comics?
In
the grunge era 90s, Cerebus
was called the "Godfather of
Indie". It really encapsulated much of the spirit of the time -
even that of resisting easy definitions J
The
comic started in '77, hot on the heels of punk, and was seen by many as
starting and leading the way for alternative independent comics. Readers
of Cerebus
and such were often referred to as comic book elitists even
as it sought to cater to a more mature sophisticated audience.
It championed creator rights - and had one of the largest female
followings in a time when comics were mostly seen as a boys' thing. What inspired you to make a
film about Cerebus the
Aardvark, and how close did you stay to the source material?
I
had been reading Cerebus
practically from the get-go. Even though those
early issues were uneven and unpolished they held tremendous appeal to
me. As a kid I was hoping to do something similar with comics, animation
and film. The
film is mostly based on Cerebus
issues 1, 4, 5 and 13 seen through the
prism of the revelation in issue 196 that Cerebus the Aardvark fractured
his destiny by trading his barbarian helmet for a merchant vest in issue
4. This act basically catapulted and informed the rest of the series'
run. Outside
of Dave Sim's comicbooks, what were your sources of inspiration when
writing The
Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the
Aardvark?
The
original idea was to expand issue 1 into a full feature - the comic is
practically the length of a Looney Tunes cartoon... so there are
remnants of that still in the film. There's a bit more on the town
dynamics with what luckily seems topical with a condemnation of Trump
though it was done way before.
Do talk about The
Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the
Aardvark's approach to both fantasy and humour!
Lol. I do have an appreciation for the absurd and surreal. Much like the
comic there is a parade of characters that enter stage right and exit
stage left. What people might call random humor - even though a reason
for this is given in the film much sooner than in the comic J
Not that
a reason is needed. I'd imagine some might see this kinda apparent
whimsy as frivolous, but alas I think it cuts to the core of human
existence. There's a "sarcastic zen" like quality (not always
shared by its protagonist J) in showing how absurdly funny the world is
in its endless chaoticness.
On that note, a Dave Sim quote -
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/dave_sim_200358 -
is among 21 zen sarcastic sayings J -
https://blog.sivanaspirit.com/sarcastic-zen-phrases-need-life/
You've
told me that The
Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the
Aardvark was made on virtually no budget - now this is an
computer-animated feature film, so how is that even possible?
Films
referred to as low budget, or even shoestring, are still made with
enormous sums of money, usually millions of Dollars - more money than
any of us will ever see in our lifetimes. It really did have no budget.
And this was in a time when personal computers weren't as powerful, the
internet was slower and there was less software and apps, some of which
got discontinued or updated to the point where old files became
incompatible. If we had cameras on our phones back then I would probably
have done that instead J I think this might be the first
no budget full
feature CGI film in history. Everybody including voice recording studios
invested/gambled their time and energy. Not that anybody was holding
their breath on it paying off. Jeff Seiler, who voiced "Elrod the
Albino", and who sadly passed away just before the film was
released, said: "Oh, and you should know that since Larry
Hart left his boots in the back of my van after we got back from SPACE
(an indie comic book convention), I had to mail them to him. I
told him not to worry about reimbursing me, and he said he'd send the
money to charity. So I suggested he help pay for the recording
session. He said that he had *actuallly* earmarked $30 for the
postage, so he sent me that to cover the cost of the session. Synchronicity is what he called it." So I guess I lied. We had a
$30 budget J Apart
from lack of budget, what were the main challenges of bringing
The
Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the
Aardvark to the screen?
It's
hard to put into words how not having a budget permeates every aspect of
the process, but it did allow us to overcome maybe the biggest hurdle
which was that of creator rights. Having a budget would have complicated
that. Admittedly it would maybe have been a nice problem to have... I
know some might wish I was rich even - hey, how do you think I feel? J
We also overcame a fire - the Tubbs fire, which till then was the most
destructive wildfire in California history (a year later it was the
Paradise fire - both due to the utility company PG&E) - special
thanks to former firefighter Robert Morgan, who lived down the street,
and the three brave Santa Rosa firefighters who fought alongside him for
saving the film which was left behind as we fled in the middle of the
night.
Also, thanks to Red Cross, FEMA, the Buddhist group Tzu Chi
Foundation, Metallica for their benefit concert which helped more than
just about anything - all so wonderful as we had to stay in various
hotels. It took a while getting resituated after something like that.
For those of us
uninitiated, do talk about the production process of The
Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the
Aardvark!
It
started in a forum, which got closed down and so we migrated to
another forum which again got closed down etc. Various file-sharing
services closed over time. Facebook was taking over and so most of our
work continued on our Facebook page, production blog and YouTube.
Everything was done transparently, warts and all.
You of course also have to talk about your voice cast!
Yuell Newsome as the "heist brothers", who employ
Cerebus' mercenary services, was an acquaintance. A Cerebus
fan and
indie comic creator. Truly a great guy and was, I think, the first voice
recording we did. The recording studio was super generous, offering
their time, expertise and resources albeit a bit of a drive. We also
recorded Brian Lee Moore as Bran Mak Muffin, Head Farmer, Farmer
Bully, Guard and Tavern Keeper there - an indie filmmaker and Cerebus
fan who came to visit from out of state.
For Cerebus I had been referred to John Di Crosta and we met at a
Starbucks. As soon as he did his first sentence as George C Scott I
exclaimed that was it (and likewise with Groucho Marx). A different
recording studio that was nearer invested us with 30 minutes, maybe
an hour... I forget, but almost everything was done in one take.
Similarly yet another recording studio, with Stephen Mendel as the
Wizard, invested us with 30 minutes. An English buddy of mine was sure
he was actually a fellow native.
Jim Johnson actually is English - and does it get any more like
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards than that?!
Georgina Leahy though local is from England as well, and sings the Cerebus
song over the end credits followed by an after credit tease of
her as Jaka (actually a reporter who looks like Jaka). An idea by Dave
Sim was to have her interview an old Cerebus as the framework for the
film. That's actually Dave Sim as old Cerebus at the very end. Like
Blade Runner we might have multiple versions one day J
Btw Dave really liked the music video I was working on of her and
her then boyfriend, Chris Mullings, who she did the song with - https://youtu.be/q2HinF5taL8.
Chris was a Cerebus
fan and followed our Facebook page - even gave some
praise and feedback on my son's music and invited us to the studio he
was running. Beach Boys' old studio no less.
Daniel Geduld (Arnie, Boobah, Leonardi, Luzzo, Farmers etc) did a Cerebus
radio show, and had I thought of it sooner I might
just have had him do everything lol, it would have been easypeasy J
You can find the radio show episodes at Jeffrey Tundis' amazing site
"> Cerebus film) - http://www.cerebustheaardvark.com/Cerebus_The%20A-V%20Room.html
Most had their own means of recording set up, such as Scott Reyns
(Trotu), John Munt (High Priest), Simon Vause (Bear, Artist), Guy Harris
(father) and Bronson Pullen (flowers) were able to record from their
location and email me the files. I still have to pinch myself that so
many artists lent their skill and talent to this project.
Sadly both Jeff Seiler (Elrod the Albino) and Michael Petranech
(Necross the HAHAHA Mad, Thrunk, Despuess, "Twerp",
Pigts, Bran Muffin, Shop Keeper etc) passed away before we finished the
film. Each such a tremendous creative force and like everyone
went above and beyond for this movie.
The
$64-question of course, where can The
Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the
Aardvark be seen?
The film
is available on the following streaming services so far - no
registration needed and free to watch with commercials:
Tubi:
https://tubitv.com/movies/640736/the-absurd-surreal-metaphysical-and-fractured-destiny-
of-cerebus-the-aardvark
Plex (which is worldwide): https://watch.plex.tv/movie/the-absurd-surreal-metaphysical-and-fractured-destiny-of-
cerebus-the-aardvark
and Comcast's Xumo
https://www.xumo.tv/channel/99991733/free-comedy-movies?v=XM0CLEVSZBPQCX&p=50760
For commercial-free it's available on "Vimeo On Demand"
for $.99 to rent and $1.99 to buy
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/363684
What can you tell us about
Dave Sim's reaction to seeing his creation come to the screen for the
first time? And anything you can tell us about audience and critical
reception of The
Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the
Aardvark so far?
Just about
everybody has been very kind - with a project like this you are a bit
vulnerable from purist Cerebus
fans on one hand and Cerebus
haters on
the other lol. Not to mention the expectations for anything CGI now are
so high and almost impossible to meet even if you aren't indie. Most
people don't understand why it's expensive. To be fair I learned a bit
on that front myself lol.
Here's Dave's reaction - truly one of the greatest moment in my life: https://twitter.com/CerebusFilm/status/
1470159547666866189 -
and here is an earlier reaction to some of our progress back when we
were working on his Cerebus
TV venture:
https://youtu.be/ElwkmvbbdH4
Could you ever be tempted to make another Cerebus
the Aardvark-movie? And/or any other future projects you'd like to
share?
I'd
love to do a Cerebus
sequel if we had a budget. Like the comic's
trajectory High Society would then be more polished. Money would speed
things up, of course, but also the advances with render technology would
make all the difference. At least half our time was spent rendering.
These days you can have real time rendering - meaning there would be
zero render time. What got you into filmmaking to begin with, and
did you receive any formal training on the subject?
I
was a film major at CSULB, took some Cartoonist Union classes, did
West Hollywood Public Access Channel and worked on film sets. What
can you tell us about your filmwork prior to
The
Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the
Aardvark?
I
made Super 8 films as a kid, later student films, storyboard artist,
flash cartoons, CGI corporate logo mascot animation stuff and even
this little behind-the-scenes featurette for the Cerebus film
J
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw00YJCjEvw
I've worked on quite a few small movies in a small capacity - movies like High Strung featuring up-and-comers like Steve Oedekerk
(who would go on to create Thumbmation, Kung
Pow, Barnyard etc)
with cameos by young Jim Carrey and Kirsten Dunst.
Worked on several ambitious shorts from Oscar winning Chanticleer Films
such as Birch Street Gym and Without a Pass. I
also worked in their office between films. And straight up B-movie fare like the sword and sorcery film
Eyes of the Serpent. And even the occasional TV commercial
and big budget movie like Man Trouble with Jack Nicholson
and Ellen Barkin. Though
usually long hours there was also such a great sense of community.
How would you describe yourself as a
director?
As
someone who can be counted on with a big budget. Filmmakers who inspire you?
During
my high school and college years in the 80s a lot of exciting
filmmakers were emerging on the scene like Spike Lee, Alex Cox [Alex
Cox bio - click here],
David Lynch, Tim Burton, Jim Jaramusch, Amy Heckerling,
Robert Townsend, W.D. Richter, Sam Raimi, Peter Jackson, Terry
Gilliam, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Stuart Gordon, Kathryn Bigelow, Paul
Verhoeven and John Hughes to name a few. It was a surprisingly very
inspiring time. Your
favourite movies?
Like most of my generation I can't deny Star Wars and Empire
Strikes back lol (throw in American Graffiti too J).
But
before then grew up on 50s, 60s and 70s cinema.
As far as old classics: Citizen Kane and The Third Man. Lords of
Flatbush on TV while still watching Happy Days was big. Watching the
talking heads of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The
independence of Easy Rider. And of course there was the Bruce Lee,
Steve McQueen and Clint Eastwood films. Oh and Abbott and
Costello J
On
the artsier side: 8 1/2 and
Fanny and Alexander (long
version) - the latter I saw when released. The
stuff you see as young stays and holds a special place, unfairly so
maybe lol, there is also so many great newer masterpieces to
unpack - not to mention old stuff to catch up on. ... and of course, films you really
deplore?
Nothing but love here J
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Your/your movie's website, social media,
whatever else?
We
should probably do better on that front but here we go:
https://twitter.com/cerebusfilm
https://www.instagram.com/what_comics/
https://www.facebook.com/cerebusfilm
https://facebook.com/captainzap/
https://youtube.com/whatcomicsentertainment
http://whatcomix.blogspot.com/
https://whatcomix.wordpress.com
https://whatcomicsentertainment.com
Anything else you're dying to mention and
I have merely forgotten to ask?
So
much I've probably forgotten to say that I will probably think of
later J Thanks for the
interview!
Thank
YOU - very kind!
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