A while back I had a chance to interview some of the cast and creativity behind the “Avengers Assemble” web series. What… you never heard of it? Well put down your crack pipe and head on over to http://www.avengersassembletheseries.com/ and check it out. It’s fun, well done and just full of true blue geekery .
Now as I was saying, The interviews were done a while back , but thanks to my writing and convention schedule I didn’t have time to put it all together. Luckily for me ,the after SDCC lull is upon us and the series is about to go into season 2. That makes this the perfect time for the interview and for all you who have never heard of the series or missed out on parts of it to check it out and learn about the commitment and love a fellow geek Brian Godleski (Tony Stark/Iron Man) has put into this great little series.
The Geeksiah- Tell us a little bit about yourself and your past as an actor and filmmaker.
BG - I've been an actor for the better part of the last 6 years. Two and a half years ago I moved to New York from Atlanta and I discovered the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, where I've been studying long-form improv and sketch writing. As far as the actual filmmaking goes, the credit on that goes to my friends and fellow co-producers Chris Burns and Matthew Cornwell. I do the writing, they make it look cool.
The Geeksiah- Why the Avengers? Are you an Avengers Fan?
BG - The idea came to me as I was writing a sketch for class. I thought the idea of super heroes, in particular the Avengers, arguing about politics would be pretty interesting. I've always been a fan of the Avengers, mostly because all of the characters are flawed, just like real people. I thought it'd be cool to explore that in a sketch.
The Geeksiah- How did you find the actors that portray the Avengers?
BG - Casting was handled by Chris Burns. I sent the script out for fun to a bunch of my friends, and he expressed an interest in making the piece. Chris knows a bunch of people who had access to some killer costumes, and any costume we didn't have, Chris and his wife Miracole went ahead and made what we needed.
The Geeksiah- Who made the Costumes?
BG - Chris and his wife made Thor, Scarlet Witch, the Hulk, and Namor. All other costumes were provided by the actor portraying him or her.
The Geeksiah- What Avenger’s would you like to see in “Avenger’s Assemble” in future episodes?
BG - We've talked about a few things, and Chris and Matt have had some cool ideas. We've talked about the Vision, Luke Cage, and a few others. The trick is to find the best, most relevant way to use a character to get the maximum effect, while still remaining cost conscious.
The Geeksiah- What are your dreams and worries about the upcoming Avengers movie?
BG - I like that Joss Whedon is at the helm, and I think he'll be just fine. This movie has been a long time coming, so it'll be interesting to see how getting so many great characters and so many great actors together is going to play out. I was disappointed to see Ed Norton step out of the production, simply because so much time and energy was put in place to contact the world of "The Incredible Hulk" and "Iron Man." I thought he was a fantastic Banner, but it's not my call. Of course I'll be there at midnight with all the other fanboys and fangirls to see it premiere.
The Geeksiah- Your Iron Man has more than a little RDJ in him, Was that on purpose?
BG - Ha! Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I certainly wasn't trying to do that. Tony is one of the most confident people in the Marvel U, so these questions he's answering aren't weird or out of place. He fully expects this kind of stuff because he deals with it all the time. I know how passionate the fans are about someone portraying a hero, and RDJ is one of my favorites, so I hope people like what we did.
The Geeksiah- Will we see the Masters of Evil Showing up?
BG - We've talked about seeing the world we've created through the eyes of the Marvel villains. I'm brainstorming some ideas of how we can see them and what points of view these guys will have. I think doing something like that would be fun.
The Geeksiah- There are a lot of web-series out there hitting it big (Like the Guild) is that your goal or are you just doing this for the love of the material.
BG - A little of both I think. Super heroes are something we're all very passionate about, and as a writer, you're told to write about what you love. Since these characters aren't our intellectual property, we can't make any money off of it. Our goal is to showcase our talents as writers and our producers. Ideally, we'd love for the right people (whomever that may be) to see what we've done and say "wow, you did that on an incredibly limited budget, I wonder what you could do if you had legitimate budget in place."
The Geeksiah- What advice do you have for someone wanting to make a web-series?
BG - Don't let anything stop you. Find a way to get it done and keep doing it. Look at who can help you get it done. In our case, I had access to Chris and Matt who've made several films through their respective production companies, so I'm fortunate enough to have access to their talents. Most importantly, have fun!
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A hearty thank you to Brian for his time and for the cast and crew of "Avenger's Assemble" for knocking it out of the park every episode.
Till next time.
Spread the geek-love not the Geek hate.
Your Geeksiah has spoken.