It’s happening. Sort of.
If I’ve been a little silent as of late it isn’t without good reason. I’ve been up to my neck in work on a new project closely related to my comic book series Mixtape.
I’ll be brief and to the point; I’ve partnered with Little Engine Entertainment to develop Mixtape as a half-hour comedy-drama TV series. That’s right, the further adventures of Jim, Noel, Siobhan, Lorelei, and Terry are (hopefully) coming to the small screen. We (Little Engine and I) are currently in the development phase of the sales pitch that we hope to start taking to broadcasters and production partners this fall, with an eye to rolling into production (again, hopefully) sometime in 2022.
Hope is not a business strategy, and we recognize that. But it seems the age of 80s nostalgia is moving off and the 90s are back “in” again (except to people like me, where the 90s apparently never left). But with some BIG musical anniversaries this year (Lollapalooza, Nevermind, Badmotorfinger, Ten, Use Your Illusion 1 & 2, Screamadelica, Out of Time, Blood Sugar Sex Magick, Trompe Le Monde, Bandwagonesque*) now is probably the best shot we have at grabbing the attention of the people we want to grab.
*Seriously, Google “1991 Albums” and prepare to drop your jaw. 1991 might have been THE year the 90s officially began, culturally anyway.
It’s a long road ahead, and one that might never reach its destination, but we all believe in the project and think it has a better chance of moving forward now than it ever did.
So, that’s where you’re going to find me over the coming months; here, working on Mixtape again. It feels good, if a little strange
To be clear this series is NOT an adaptation of the comic; think of it more as a companion piece to those stories. Each issue of Mixtape captures a small moment in the life of its particular main character, but there’s a lot more story to tell that until now has lurked largely in the margins. new characters, new situations, new music. It’s all there. The pictured title page is actually the first completely “new” Mixtape story I’ve written since completing Volume 1 of the series. My hope is that with a series moving forward I’ll be able to return to the comic book world of Mixtape and complete Volume/Side 2.
But that’s all some time from now. Until then I hope you all have a great summer and I’ll see you in September!
Hey Brad! You know, I clicked over to your website because you hadn’t updated your Facebook or Twitter recently and I was wondering if anything was going on with the Mixtape comic book so you can imagine how happy I am to hear this news! A Mixtape TV series AND more issues of the comic? I know both are still a long shot away but you can count me as one very excited fan! Good luck!
Thanks, Lisa. My biggest hope with all of this is having the chance to complete the Mixtape comic, which is only half-way through. It feels like unfinished business. Of course a TV series that runs multiple seasons is a nice goal as well but there’s so many outside factors that will determine if that happens. but I do think the timing is right as people start moving on from 80s nostalgia into the 90s.
Yes! I couldn’t believe it when I clicked your Twitter link and read this news. I totally think now is the time for a Mixtape TV series. Any series set in the 90s, really. So much amazing music and culture from that decade that hasn’t been re-examined to the degree the 80s have been. A question: will this series be in Black and White, like the comic?
(I know I know TV series take a long time to happen, it’s just that I think you guys have a really good chance here to make something amazing)
Hey Charles – you know, I hadn’t even thought about black and white. I don’t think that would fly with a TV series, unfortunately. Most times the most you get on that side of the color spectrum is a one-off episode. But I do recall that in the 90s there was a lot of mixed-format filmmaking going around, in music videos and in the Oliver Stone movie Natural Born Killers as well. As a film student in the 90s we too experimented with different film stocks – 16mm, Super-8 – so it could be fun to incorporate some of that into the look of the show. But as you acknowledged, we’re still a long way from a show on the TV.
Awesome! I loved Mixtape the comic and always hoped for more. A TV series would be the next best thing! (but I hope you do continue the comic)
I hope so too, Marty. I have the stories for issues 6-10 ready to go, but the cost and logistics of getting them illustrated and published is a wholly different matter. I don’t want to go the Kickstarter route, and my hope is with a series potentially being green-lit the impetus would be there for outside involvement from a publisher. Time will tell …
I first discovered your work through Mixtape and the books I picked up at the New York Comic Con. Always wanted to see more – this could be the next best thing. How closely do you plan to follow the series and story you already wrote? Is it to be a straight adaptation or something else? Andrew.
Hey Andrew – I can’t reveal too much about the direction we’re going with the Mixtape TV series, but I will say that both the comic and this series (should it go forward) will occupy different corners of the same universe. By necessity a TV series needs to have a greater “mainstream” appeal than a comic, but don’t let that concern you as we plan to maintain the same indie rock alternative spirit of the comic.
Well you know I’ll be watching!