Post by The Reporter on Sept 24, 2008 7:16:53 GMT
I caught up with head writer/creator of the virtual shows Gifted: The Series and Allenwood to talk to him about his plans for the Buffyverse spinoff! Here's what Zach Kastens (known as Dave on the forums) had to say.
SJ: First of all, thanks for taking the time to talk with us. I’m guessing you’re pretty busy – running/writing two shows and working on pilots for the upcoming TEN Anthology?
ZK: You bet. I’ve got a couple of things in the works, but Gifted: The Series and Allenwood are what I’m focusing on the most right now.
Tell us about Allenwood. It’s a bit of a shocker; from reading the descriptions on the site, it doesn’t sound all that interesting. Librarian Watcher, Slayer in town overrun with vampires...is this just Buffy: Season 1 all over again?
(Laughs) I know, I know. I’m not very good at self-promotion, so when I wrote the synopsis I did it quickly without really thinking about it. Thematically, it’s what I would call a study in opposites. Sure, it’s about a Watcher in a small town training a reluctant Slayer with a little sister, but that’s just the surface. David, our Watcher, is the main character of the story, not Erin. This is really his story; the story of his fall and, ultimately, his redemption.
Redemption?
Well, maybe. I don’t want to give anything away, but David’s not the best guy in the world. In fact, he’s kind of an @$$%#!*. He was a Watcher before the end of Buffy Season 7, but not in the conventional sense. He was what I would call a “repo” man – tracking down mystical artifacts and bringing them back to the Council for study. When the entire power structure collapsed, he lost everything, and that has taken its toll on his mind. He’s deeply flawed, and isn’t the best choice to mentor a Slayer.
Not to poke holes in your story, but-
-but then why send him to train Slayers? It’s a question of numbers: there are 1800 Slayers, but how many new Watchers are there? Giles needs all the hands he can get, and he’s willing to overlook a few …issues… if it means helping the greater good. Besides, at this time the main gang is dealing with the whole Twilight thing, but that still leaves about 99.9% of the world overrun with demons and bad guys.
So it runs concurrently with the Buffy comics?
At the moment, yeah. I’m waiting to write stuff that lines up with Angel until Vaughn and those guys finish After The Fall, but for the most part this series is continuity-compliant. Think of it as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead for the Buffyverse.
After a quick read through of the pilot, it seems like Kristen (Erin’s sister) is going to have a huge role in the series. Can you comment on that?
I hated Dawn in the show. She was too whiny, too obnoxious. I understood why they wrote her like that, but come on – there’s a limit. In Allenwood, Erin is like David in that she’s burdened with this destiny she didn’t ask for and doesn’t want, but Kristen convinces her to use her powers for good. Over time, the question becomes more about which sister is the real focus of David’s training – who’s benefiting more from his knowledge and his ideals, and who’s going to end up being the one to take charge?
Why Western Kansas?
I grew up in Atwood, KS, and my experiences there made me want to write a supernatural thriller set in a real small town. Sunnydale's not small; any town with a mall isn't small. Allenwood has about 5,000 people, but that's more than enough to keep a few dozen vampires going - not to mention livestock. I always wondered what happened to those kinds of place in the Buffyverse. They're so small, they tend to get looked over, and I thought it'd be a perfect place to separate David, Erin, and Kristen from the huge world-saving plots of the original series. They're not trying to destroy evil, they're trying to survive.
Right off the bat, you delve into some moral grey areas. Will we see more of that as the series progresses?
Absolutely. One of the themes I like to explore is failure – absolute failure. In this instance, you have three main characters who are absolutely the wrong choice to put in the situation their in, and we expect them to win? In almost every show, it seems like the underdog wins at the last second, and I wanted to turn that on its ear.
Sounds exciting! Thanks for taking the time to talk to us. I know we're all looking forward to seeing what's in store.
Anytime. See you in three weeks?
SJ: First of all, thanks for taking the time to talk with us. I’m guessing you’re pretty busy – running/writing two shows and working on pilots for the upcoming TEN Anthology?
ZK: You bet. I’ve got a couple of things in the works, but Gifted: The Series and Allenwood are what I’m focusing on the most right now.
Tell us about Allenwood. It’s a bit of a shocker; from reading the descriptions on the site, it doesn’t sound all that interesting. Librarian Watcher, Slayer in town overrun with vampires...is this just Buffy: Season 1 all over again?
(Laughs) I know, I know. I’m not very good at self-promotion, so when I wrote the synopsis I did it quickly without really thinking about it. Thematically, it’s what I would call a study in opposites. Sure, it’s about a Watcher in a small town training a reluctant Slayer with a little sister, but that’s just the surface. David, our Watcher, is the main character of the story, not Erin. This is really his story; the story of his fall and, ultimately, his redemption.
Redemption?
Well, maybe. I don’t want to give anything away, but David’s not the best guy in the world. In fact, he’s kind of an @$$%#!*. He was a Watcher before the end of Buffy Season 7, but not in the conventional sense. He was what I would call a “repo” man – tracking down mystical artifacts and bringing them back to the Council for study. When the entire power structure collapsed, he lost everything, and that has taken its toll on his mind. He’s deeply flawed, and isn’t the best choice to mentor a Slayer.
Not to poke holes in your story, but-
-but then why send him to train Slayers? It’s a question of numbers: there are 1800 Slayers, but how many new Watchers are there? Giles needs all the hands he can get, and he’s willing to overlook a few …issues… if it means helping the greater good. Besides, at this time the main gang is dealing with the whole Twilight thing, but that still leaves about 99.9% of the world overrun with demons and bad guys.
So it runs concurrently with the Buffy comics?
At the moment, yeah. I’m waiting to write stuff that lines up with Angel until Vaughn and those guys finish After The Fall, but for the most part this series is continuity-compliant. Think of it as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead for the Buffyverse.
After a quick read through of the pilot, it seems like Kristen (Erin’s sister) is going to have a huge role in the series. Can you comment on that?
I hated Dawn in the show. She was too whiny, too obnoxious. I understood why they wrote her like that, but come on – there’s a limit. In Allenwood, Erin is like David in that she’s burdened with this destiny she didn’t ask for and doesn’t want, but Kristen convinces her to use her powers for good. Over time, the question becomes more about which sister is the real focus of David’s training – who’s benefiting more from his knowledge and his ideals, and who’s going to end up being the one to take charge?
Why Western Kansas?
I grew up in Atwood, KS, and my experiences there made me want to write a supernatural thriller set in a real small town. Sunnydale's not small; any town with a mall isn't small. Allenwood has about 5,000 people, but that's more than enough to keep a few dozen vampires going - not to mention livestock. I always wondered what happened to those kinds of place in the Buffyverse. They're so small, they tend to get looked over, and I thought it'd be a perfect place to separate David, Erin, and Kristen from the huge world-saving plots of the original series. They're not trying to destroy evil, they're trying to survive.
Right off the bat, you delve into some moral grey areas. Will we see more of that as the series progresses?
Absolutely. One of the themes I like to explore is failure – absolute failure. In this instance, you have three main characters who are absolutely the wrong choice to put in the situation their in, and we expect them to win? In almost every show, it seems like the underdog wins at the last second, and I wanted to turn that on its ear.
Sounds exciting! Thanks for taking the time to talk to us. I know we're all looking forward to seeing what's in store.
Anytime. See you in three weeks?