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Sunday, November 4, 2012

 
 
Craig Lew


 

“It was a dark and stormy night” and “Once upon a junk yard heap” were Craig’s favorite openings to the stories he told as a child.

An award winning screenwriter, director and producer, Craig honed his skills consulting to Dreamworks SKG, Deluxe Labs and KCET at that time the nation’s largest PBS station.

Craig’s Lil Emo’s HalloweEmo screened at Comic Con, Wonder Con, The Children’s International Film Festivals in San Diego, San Francisco, New Orleans and Santa Monica.

Rock Jocks, Craig’s current Sci Fi comedy stars Felicia Day, Jason Mewes, Robert Picardo and Gerry Bednob releases 2012.

Craig has just released The Goths, a trans-media, graphic novel, motion comic, ebook and web series.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/craiglew/the-goths-an-augmented-reality-web-series

Craig is a graduate of the prestigious Nevada SCBWI Mentorship and is currently a blogger with the infamous Turbo Monkeys at
http://turbomonkeytales.blogspot.com


-Is this what you always dreamed of doing?
I have always dreamed of writing children’s books and animation. Always. But I took a long logical business Executive approach to getting here.

-What animation programs do you use to create the cinematic sequences?
There are so many.  Smith Micro’s POSER and ANIME Studio, Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro, Photoshop.  Are the main ones
But also Maya, Studio Max.  There’s a ton of file conversion going on. 

-What inspired you for this project? Or what continues to be your inspiration as you do different episodes?
The Goths was originally a screenplay for a movie.  I wanted to create the next vampire and the Goths is what i dreamed up.  Instead of biting a blood I wanted something more intimate...so a kiss that sucks out life essence is how The Goths feed on humans.

Episode wise, I tend to build a very complete world, with rules and laws, backstory and history.  With a film, the story would be action based. With a YA novel it would be a bit more romance based.  But with trans-media,   I can give the audience a more complete experience.  So I get inspired to tell fans more and more and more.

-What is your favorite medium to use when drawing the graphic part of it?
I am a pencil and charcoal guy first.  I really enjoy smudging stuff.

-Did you have to draw it different for each media (books, video etc) or did you just use the same drawings ?
Because our goal was to give the audience the ability to walk through the world, we started with digital 3D characters first.  The renders were the basis for the illustrations.  But I wanted a seamless visual when we moved into the animations.

-How many years have you been doing this?
I started consulting to the entertainment industry in 1994, working with Dreamworks SKG in 1995. I produced my first animated film in 1996.  I began writing kid lit since 2009.  The Goths will be my first graphic novel.

-What are your favorite authors/tv shows/artist?
Authors:
J. R. R. Tolkien, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,
Alfred Hitchcock - for his Macguffin
Steven Spielberg taught me so much about story and how things get done.
I admire Tim Burton’s look and feel to his works.
 
Artists:
Salvador Dali, M.C. Escher, Edvard Munch and Frazetta.

-What is the next big project you want to work on?
I have a YA novel/screenplay that I am hot to finish.  It’s “Kick Ass” meets “Leon the Professional”

- How do you choose your color palette ?
I seem to be drawn to cloudy days, to the maudlin and blue.  So night colors are always present in everything i do. 

- What music do you listen to while you create ?
Oh Lacuna coil for The Goths....the lead singer Christina Scabbia was the inspiration for Desdemona. Also Evanescence. But for creative in general I listen to music sound tracks...Thomas Newman, James Newton Howard


I would love to have a picture of your studio or desk area… where you create. 

Filmography:Rock Jocks 2012
Lil Emo's Halloweemo 2010
Barking Mad 2010
Mementos 2004
Though Destiny's Lens 2004
The Fish 2000
Little Indiscretions 1999

Numerous screenplays:
The 13th Reflection (Script Magazine Award)
Death Town Cinehyte Productions
The Lord of Shanghai Hus Entertainment
Links:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/craiglew/the-goths-an-augmented-reality-web-series
https://www.facebook.com/Craig.Lew.writer
www.thegoths.com
www.imdb.me/craiglew
www.craiglew.com
www.brightpenny.com

 

5 comments:

  1. Great interview...thanks for posting!

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    1. thank you. You have been one of my best supporters. :)

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  2. Great job, Felicia! It's so good to meet Craig and hear about his work!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you. You're next. :) I'm just trying to decide what I want to ask you.

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  3. What a great way to learn about other creatives and what inspires them. Great job and thank you for sharing!

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Thanks for leaving your comment. I should recieve notification of it and will respond when I do. Thanks for visiting, Felicia