Last time out we took a look at the best of November 13th’s Portland Comic Book Show 2011. Below is part one of my two-part interview with Brandon Jerwa, Ali Mohsenian and Tom Nord, the fine folks responsible for the documentary Untold Tales of the Comic Industry. Part 2 will be up on Monday. Until then, you can check out their Facebook Page!
Chad: “Untold Tales of the Comic Industry”…the name could have a number of connotations, ranging from an under the hood look aimed at those new to the world of comics to a lurid scandal filled expose. What do you see as the focus of the film?
Brandon Jerwa: As a title it is very enticing because it creates all these different expectations. I would love it if we got some lurid tales.
Chad: But not so much so far?
Brandon Jerwa: Uh, no, listen, everybody’s been really honest. There have been a couple of people, like editors, who sidestep a little bit and say “yeah, I probably shouldn’t answer that”, and that’s totally their prerogative. We’ve had some horror stories from working in the industry. We’ve had some feud stories. Never any naming names, but overall I think that everybody has been very forthcoming and honest, and we’re getting a wide variety of material, so we’re delivering on the promise of the title.
Chad: The initial funding for the film was raised via the Kickstarter website. What were your expectations and goals for the Kickstarter effort, and how did it turn out?
Ali: I think initially I was optimistic. I thought Kickstarter would be a really easy way for us to raise some money. I got warned by some other Kickstarters that we should raise more than we thought because of taxes and fees. You have to pay state tax against things that you sell. The state expects their cut. So we went with a higher number than we wanted to make sure we didn’t get too much money taken away because of that. In the beginning it was really great. We hit out the door with a bang. And it kind of got, in the middle there, a little nervous because it kind of mellowed out. We got that push towards the end that everybody kind of came through. I think it was Brandon tapping the living hell out of his contacts to pull it together.
Chad: I was watching and there was definitely a lot of work and promotion going on. It was all good-natured and positive.
Brandon Jerwa: I was very much against the idea of Kickstarter. It made me very nervous. There are certainly Kickstarter people out there who raise tons of money, and we all get a little tired of seeing it sometimes. I didn’t want to be that guy. But to do it, you have to. I have a better appreciation for that now having been on the other end of it. I’d said if we hit our goal early that I want to stop campaigning. Because the one thing that I do hate to see, and I’m not condemning anybody for it, but you see somebody, you know “We hit $10,000.00 over our goal…But we still got two weeks left!!” Well, you know what, take your money and let someone else raise theirs now. That’s my attitude towards it. I don’t begrudge anybody, but personally, I find it a bit crass. In that, it did turn out, but we ran down the clock. It was a real last-minute sweat deal. I feel like we did the right thing in pursuing it, but man it was a rough month.”
Ari: We initially had no intention of raising any money, but after the success of the San Diego Comic Con, we thought, there’s more than we thought here. And going to places like Portland, or New York, or LA, and getting different…even a Hollywood perspective, would really expand what we could talk about in the documentary. It was worth it to raise the money to get to those locations.
Chad: You’ve recently returned from filming in Africa. How would you describe the comics scene there?
Brandon Jerwa: It’s interesting because of the comics scene over there. What I was doing was attending the FIBDA festival in Algeria, which is a gathering of comics creators from all over the world; everyone from African nations to the Swiss to the British to the French. The aesthetic everywhere, except the United States, is very different. The Europeans have great success with an album system. They release these albums once a year. You wait for this book all year, then it comes out, and you wait another year for the next one. And they’re these gorgeously produced large volumes.
Chad: That’s how it works now with novels now.
Brandon Jerwa: Yeah, but American comics have not embraced that aesthetic. We’ve got to get that weekly and monthly fix. I was very ignorant to the width and breadth of the comics world outside of America. I knew about some of these things, but I didn’t realize how much material there was and how varied it was. 
They seem to favor, across all of those nations, there seem to be a much larger appreciation for material that is biographical, or more centered in the real world. They love their fantasy just as much as anybody, but you look on the shelves of the library, or the bookstore there at the festival, and you’re seeing a lot more historical material, and a lot more…there was a suicide prevention book.
Chad: It’s not a bad idea.
Brandon Jerwa: It was requisitioned by the Suicide Prevention Association of Holland. Manga is huge.
Chad: Manga is huge in Africa?
Brandon Jerwa: But they seem to like the more real world manga. Like the one’s that about a soccer team, or a group of lucky candy store owners. They do enjoy the American comics, but I was there with Steve Lieber and John Layman and Paul Benjamin. Here we are with our very mainstream works; we were the minority without exception. And of course they loved Steve because he’s so much in that European aesthetic.
That’s it for part one of the interview. Part two will be up on Tuesday. Until then, check out this video put together by Tom, Brandon and a few friends. It’s a tribute to the late great Dwayne McDuffie, the writer behind numerous comics and animated series. If you enjoyed the Justice League or Static series then you’re already familiar with his work!
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