Like The Muse French Kissing You - An Evening With Joss Whedon

AN EVENING WITH

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JOSS WHEDON

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AN EVENING WITH JOSS WHEDON

The Joss Whedon talk at Wesleyan was an interesting 2 hour experience. About an hour and fifteen minutes of talk and 45 minutes of Inside the Actors’ Studio type questions from the crowd, mostly quirky and interesting some breathless and meandering. First time in the film studies building/cinema. A modern and sleek oasis hiding in the shadows of the rough and tumble Rte. 66. There was a queue of about 130 anxious fans lined up when I arrived, and another 200 reserved seats inside. Some playing Warlords on their iBooks, others tweeting their friends at the seminar dinner looking for extra reserved seats, the fellow in front of me reading Steven Hellers’ Cover to Cover column in The New York Times, a guy with black denim shorts, black t-shirt and

a salt and pepper ponytail sitting on the ground eating a sandwich. A motley snake of happy fans. As Joss walked into the center somebody feverishly yelled his name and he waved and then the girl behind me waved to him/squealed and talked for the next 5 minutes about their moment. Luckily everybody got into the auditorium. I thought that it might be dry that he was not going to have any slides or clips - but he was an enthralling speaker, even to someone only having a cursory awareness of his canon. He made a joke about hoping he was not going to have to expound about secular humanism. Relying just on the personal drive results in some-

Bret Kerr is a parent of a 2 year old daughter & graphic designer living in Connecticut.

He acknowledged that he is as interested with the business/marketing side of things as the pure narrative/personal side. He needs to have a title, trailer and one sheet in his head before he can write. Acknowledged a debt to Anne Rice, having read Interview with a Vampire when he was 15; but he said that he hasn’t kept up with her since then. “Interview was the last of the great puffy shirt vampire stories,” he said. Relating how the revenue structure of Hollywood was rapidly changing he said that the executives asked him if he had thought about DVD extras even before Firefly ever started filming. That segued into a recollection of his musical commentary for Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog. Not sure if the Stepbrothers crew of John C. Reilly and Adam McKay borrowed that idea from him for their musical commentary.

Advice to writers ... speed the plow Finish it. Writing “The End” changes things and makes the work outside of yourself, something you can revisit but is separate. He said he has a lot of friends who write and rewrite the same thing in their head for 3 years without ever moving on ... that half the battle is just plowing through it.

Whedon on Abrams Said that he admired the craft and look of the

Dollhouse in the Woods In tv news: Dollhouse has been renewed but will have a decreased budget and they will shoot it all on HD going forward. He is all for technology and says that he likes anything that cuts down on the amount of time actors have to wait. He said waiting endlessly for things to be lit is “a brontosaurus” waiting to die. He pointed to soderbergh’s recent The Girlfriend Experience as a beautiful example of something that was shot digitally with all available light. Said he was very excited about his upcoming movie The Cabin in the Woods because it had a real story and narrative. Relayed that an executive said that it was more risky because it wasn’t a sequel, Was trying to keep details under wraps to preserve the experience for fans. It has a strong third act. “Coming up with the third act is like the muse french kissing you,” he relayed to rolling laughter.

Ask Me, Ask Me, Ask Me During the lengthy Q&A somebody stood up and said that they remembered him discussing Buffy in their kitchen. It turned out to be somebody that he was a TA with. A lot of remembrances of his influential film classes at Wes followed, much to the delight of President Roth in the fifth row.

“The first (film class) you take changes you forever and is always the most important. His first class was musicals. He said that he felt like he was in a musical for 2 semesters, discussing how college becomes like a little bubble - a world within a world where people were always spontaneously bursting into song around him.

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new Star Trek movie. But said that, in the end, it is just a reboot that rested on the fans love for the originals. “Here’s Scotty, you like Scotty ...” Sort of sounded like sour grapes, but I understood what he was saying -that it us harder to slip into the pop culture bloodstream and circulate with something new.

Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks hardcover | 4c matte with spot gloss Client: Lyons Press Software used: InDesign CS3, Photoshop CS3, Illustrator CS3 After careful research into book styles popular with the intended demographic, I chose a picture of the author when he was 15 and a bold type treatment that evokes a maze of letters. Prior to release the book cover has received universal kudos on Facebook groups for the book and within the industry. I also created an animated book trailer based on the cover.

He talked about he was lucky to get the tv rights to Buffy because the studio did not think that it would ever pan out. But noted that he will not see one cent from Buffy reboot, unless Fox swoops in with their lawyers like they did recently for Watchmen.

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Whedon fans are sure to love the new book Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks by Ethan Gilsdorf, publishing this Fall.

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Somebody asked him about the different mind set writing for comics vs tv/movies and he said that they were similar in that he was always looking for “Ahhh” moments. Moments that might take up a whole panel or page. Said that with recent tv - it is hard to write 6 acts vs 4 (to accommodate more ads) because you have to have 6 reasons for the viewer to come back.

Book Trailer on YouTube (short version)

He wrapped up talking about how old Hollywood studio system was quickly ossifying and that indy/gamer/DIY/mumblecore was rising up - and that for things to be successful they would have to be some type of hybrid. He said that he wrapped The Cabin in the Woods Friday at 7am and was going back to Dollhouse this Monday morning. As I left the auditorium about 50 people swarmed the podium, like a flash mob, with different paraphernalia for him to sign materializing out of thin air. I walked into the refreshing night air a happy ♠ Whedon neophyte.

In an enthralling blend of travelogue, pop culture analysis, and memoir, former roleplayer Ethan Gilsdorf crisscrosses America, the world, and other worlds—from Boston to California, New Zealand to France, Planet Earth to the realm of Aggramar. He asks gaming and fantasy geeks how they balance their escapist urges with the kingdom of adulthood. He seeks out those who dream of elves, long swords, and heroic deeds. He hangs out with Harry Potter tribute bands. He goes to fan conventions. He battles online goblins, trolls, and sorcerers. He camps with medieval reenactors. He becomes Ethor, Ethorian, and Ethor-An3. What he discovers is funny, poignant, and enlightening. { LYONS PRESS }