Misfits/Author Interview

''The following is from a one-on-one talk with KevinEleven99, lead writer of "Misfits", on Sept. 11, 2017. This interview was conducted by part-time writer Mark Billingsley.''


 * Mark Billingsley: My first question is something that's been on all of our minds: how is Misfits "loosely" based on High School Musical?
 * Kevin: That's a good question, honestly. It's really not, in many ways. In certain regards, it's a parody, taking stereotypes and breaking them down into more relatable and everyday characters. And the idealistic of being partially in high school, of course, isn't solely HSM territory. What we're attempting to do is take a simple and cliche idea, and really make it something special. Jim Henson did it with sketch shows in the 70s, so I see it being possible now.


 * MB: So, basically...Penn & Teller's idea of making an "anti-HSM".
 * Kevin: Partially. A good chunk is set outside the school. There's an entire town around it, and that's a big focus too. They mostly have jobs, and of course, hobbies, and those take some place in the show too.


 * MB: Hold that thought. HSM 2 was largely outside of school too.
 * Kevin: It was, indeed, and it was a nightmare.


 * MB: That's my point, though. How do we differentiate the two?
 * Kevin: Well, HSM2 was summer based, and dealt with totally ridiculous, Disney Channel-esque views of real life. Misfits is a bit more realistic, even down to earth. Our goal is to make this feel mostly real, but still funny, and of course, some levels of drama sprinkled in. There's no songs, though; goodness knows I don't need to be singing.


 * MB: Good riddance!
 * Kevin: HSM's songs were pretty hit or miss, anyway. I could probably do a better song, but there's no need. Then again, outdoing HSM is like winning a race against a crawling baby; you're an automatic winner.


 * MB: Moving on to something else I've been wondering. Is this a "webtoon" for real? And how do you plan on making it that?
 * Kevin: Again, great question, something I've been pondering, too. This is definitely real, and happening. Production has been slow, but that's because we want it to be all it can be. First episode script is pretty far in the works, and is coming along excellently.


 * MB: Sounds like someone I know...
 * Kevin: Yeah, me and [Travis] Hawkins are in a similar spot. As far as animation goes? At the start of 2018, my first purchase is a drawing tablet, to go along with my laptop I'll be getting in December. It's gonna be a tedious process, as I'm animating solely on my own, but I have faith in my efforts, as well as our scripts.


 * MB: Still, we had this same problem with Vic [Lane] and RoT. It takes far too long to draw something we still have many doubts about.
 * Kevin: Well, of course, I can see why that'd be an issue. Animation won't begin until everything is fully fleshed out, and all production questions are answered.


 * MB: How long does it take to draw one scene?
 * Kevin: Well, it depends. Some shots stay in one place longer than others. However, the character designs are fairly simple, so I'd say around 30 minutes for the final character drawings. Also depends on how complex a shot is, but 30 mins is an estimate of a average one.


 * MB: And while we're on the topic of designs, do you still think your artwork is subpar?
 * Kevin: Some of the rushed stuff? Absolutely. I still haven't gotten everything where I'd like, but I'm making serious progress recently. I can't even tell you how many times the designs changed, though. I've been getting a lot of constructive criticism from others, which also helps me to strive for better.


 * MB: What would you say are your biggest influences for writing?
 * Kevin: That's a really good question, one I really wanted to answer, actually. Definitely Jim Henson, and his team (Jerry Juhl, his main writer, comes to hand), as well as those amazingly quoteable SpongeBob episodes come to my brain immediately. I always like to make things easy to remember, but also fun to remember. Things easy to bring up in a real world conversation. Jim Henson is one of my biggest inspirations all around, so he definitely plays a large role in the writing process.


 * MB: You just used remember twice in the same sentence, writer!
 * Kevin: Fine, "fun to remember, but easy to recall", or "fun and easy to remember". Better?


 * MB: Yes. And now, the grand finale. What do you feel makes your work worth looking into?
 * Kevin: Honestly, I feel it has a really unique sense of humor; somewhat dry, but realistic. Let's face it, a lot of people have pretty dry humor, but seeing it in a script isn't as common, to my knowledge. And if people will give me the time, I'd like to give them fleshed out and original characters. My dream as a child was to inspire people, and that's what I hope to accomplish here. Many before me have inspired me; why shouldn't I continue the trend?...I used me twice. Brilliant.