Year One Diary #4: Breaking Down the Euphoria Arc

So, since episode 6 (pain in my ASS!!) is finally up on the website, I can talk a bit about the thought process that went into shaping the Pilot Arc (one of my many phrases for it) of the series.

I guess the first question I should answer is why a drug? That one is pretty simple. It can't be killed. Dealing with a series where our good guys don't really care about putting bullets in asses if need be, it didn't really make any sense to just bring in a bad guy that theoretically had no chance of making it out of the first episode. In the end, we did put a face on the villainy by linking the drug to Shane, Deacon, Angel, and the street gang Tribe, but at least in the cases of Shane and Tribe, they really were there just to be shot to keep the kill quota up. :)

My real focus was to introduce our cast and put them in a situation that forced them to function as a team and I added in numerous examples of characters hopping in to assist others, which isn't to say that any one of them are deficient (more on that in a bit), but they really have been trained to work off one another.

It was also really important to me that Rox officially joining Haven felt earned. Too often in projects like this, you see characters just slot right into their new surroundings with no real growing pains or adjustments. That irritates the living shit out of me. Rox is a spoiled Hollywood brat turned back alley whore and drug addict. There was no way I was going to suddenly turn her around and go all noble inside 35 pages. It would've felt hollow and cheap. The way I approached it was initially she's wondering if Haven is worth her time, but over the course of the six episodes, it's really Rox proving herself to Haven, albeit not consciously. In these six episodes, she saves Bishop's life, helps Lokesh and Priest on a mission, basically brought the whole Euphoria case to Haven via the slut huts, and came up with the idea to blow up the dam in order to prevent the city's water from being contaminated. On top of that, she was drugged against her well, struggled with withdrawal pains (and I should've done more with this), and brutally raped and beaten while strung out on Euphoria. I put her through the paces because I wanted Rox to see that staying in Haven wasn't because she had no place else to go. It's because she has something to offer the team and Haven has something to offer her. As we'll learn during the run of the show, all of them are there for that same reason.

Another goal in this pilot arc was to basically hand the show off from Bishop to the Field Squad. When I aired the original pilot at MZP, Bishop's introduction in the beginning (that I left intact in the final version) got such an overwhelmingly positive response that I got worried. Worried that fans would demand more of The Preacher throughout the series. I indulged a bit in episode 3, but the Bishop/Deacon scene at the end of episode 6 was more about Bishop finally admitting that he needed to stop being The Preacher and get back to being Bishop Baines full time. I liken it to aging athletes, especially prize fighters. It's hard to admit that even though you're capable of still fighting, maybe it's time to move on. Bishop's trained a whole team to fight in his stead and moving forward, he needed to step aside and let them do it.

Deacon Baines became a bit of a problem after I introduced him. I'll be honest here. Deacon's not going to be the Lex Luthor of this show. If I wanted to do this show as Deacon's nefarious plot of the week, well, Creed wouldn't be airing right now. I've consistently stated that Creed is very much an experiment in storytelling. Conventional television these days tends to fall into the trap of introducing bad guys and dropping them fairly quickly. One of the "comic book" influences I drew for this show was the rogue gallery superheroes enjoy. If I put just a casual comic book fan on the spot and said "name ten Batman villains" there wouldn't even be any thought involved. Just fire them right off. I want that for this series, but since this is a "series" it's going to be inherently tougher to introduce villains and resist the temptation to dispose of them when their story is done. It's also tough to avoid the "grand master plan" methodology for developing my bad guys. Using Angel as an example, yes, at some point she became the leader of Tribe. However, she wasn't planning all along to steal Euphoria from under her father's nose. It was a matter of circumstance and opportunity that she came to ally with Brynn. Of course, there will be plots on a grander scale now that they're together (which I alluded to with Angel's final scene in episode 6), but I'm really fighting to avoid the "I'm going to take over the world! Mwahahahahaha" train with this show.

So these first six episodes really were an introduction not just to these characters, but how I want to structure this show. I admit that it's not going to be for everyone. The decision to go half hour was lambusted by more than a few people and I think I'm going to need at least a full season to get people to stop coming into the show with the preconception of "half hour is only half an episode." Bear in mind that this is also an adjustment for me as a writer. I hope to iron the style out quickly, but no guarantees.

I also need to address another subject. Anyone who is expecting me to waste a ton of pages delving into these characters' backstories is going to be sorely disappointed. In terms of storytelling, I'm very much a shark. Always moving forward. I will explain their pasts where I can, but don't expect their pasts to be a driving force in the narrative. I'm so sick of "an old enemy from such and such's past comes back for revenge" crap and I can firmly state you'll never get that on this show. For better or for worse, I'm trying my best to present something different. For those who stick with it through the shaky spells, I appreciate it and I hope that your patience is rewarded.

One more creative decision I want to talk about is the missionary system. First, I blatantly ripped this off from the underrated action flick, Eraser. Second, one thing that bugged me about super heroes over the years is how damn good they are at putting things together. I didn't want Haven conducting autopsies and shit like that. It was important that instead of being self contained, Haven outsourced for help when they needed it. Despite the scale of Project Haven itself, it felt more right to have them venture out into the city and be connected to the people they were protecting. I didn't want that disconnect that you often see with characters like Batman. That aloofness that can happen when you become an icon. I haven't really gotten into the legacy of The Preacher in Seraph, but rest assured the man is a legend in the city. Despite that, Bishop himself still remains such a man of the people. Haven wouldn't exist if Bishop weren't able to connect to people well enough to convince them to take up his fight. The man is up there in years, yet he can still keep a conversation with someone like Tanya and not be overwhelmed by that new generation he doesn't really understand. I wanted him to foster that connection with the Field Squad and make sure that they stay connected to the people. This is why when Asher is introduced in person in episode 4, they meet her out of costume. Same with Manny at the apartment. He knows Tanya by name. I really wanted to avoid the "costumed hero meets informant" feel because that would be diving a bit too far into the fantastical. It feels more rooted in reality to have these people aware of Haven's identities and be willing to help. Not to mention it proves that in a shithole like Seraph (and we're soon to learn how fucked up people in this city are), there are still decent people who believe in doing the right thing.

So these first episodes were about establishing all of that meandering rambling you just sat through. With all of it out of the way, I can focus on really getting into the meat of the story.

Thanks, as always, for reading and supporting the show.

- MJ

Year One Diary Entry #3:

I'm sitting here on bed rest after finding out I have pneumonia. Figured now was as good a time as any to do some mindless rambling.

So, episodes 3 & 4 start to flesh out the world of Project Haven a little bit more and I thought it'd be insightful (fingers crossed) to delve into a few of the inspirations behind the creative choices.

First, the Haven complex itself. Rob Kenneth, my right hand man on most of my projects, was instrumental in helping me lay out the actual look of Haven. We'd gone over the size of the complex a few time and determined that with that many people running around and that much equipment to house, it wasn't feasible to just have a one man "batcave" sized place. So I kept going bigger and bigger until I decided on the place having two levels (the Sim Stages are on the lower level). Eventually I'm going to put together an image so everyone can see it visually.

Second, the missionary system. I'll freely admit I stole this from the underrated Arnie flick Eraser. The idea here was I didn't want Haven itself to have such extensive resources that they could basically do whatever they wanted (something that always bugged me about Batman). I liked the idea of Bishop having to outsource for help. Rhonda Asher was a big part of what I can now publicly refer to as the Euphoria arc. There's another web series that just ended called Watchers where all of their research was done in house. We're talking autopsies, chemical research, it's like they had the entire set of CSI built in house. I wasn't interested in that. The missionary system gave me a chance to introduce some people around the city and flesh out Seraph itself a bit more.

Lastly, there's the notion that so many people know who the Preachers are, even going so far as the Mayor of Seraph being fully aware that Bishop Baines is the original Preacher. This is something Rob proposed pretty early in the planning and I agreed with it wholeheartedly. I even toyed with the idea of the Field Squad not wearing masks, an idea that got 86'd when I crafted the cast and having two characters like Lokesh and Sage didn't allow for the general public to know who they were. I'm fascinated by the idea that even though Haven brutally executes any "bad guys," there are still people (like Maynard, like Asher) who believe in their mission and support what they do.

Year One Diary Entry #2: Casting

So, first let me think anyone and everyone that posted a comment on the series premiere. I'm very pleased with the feedback we've gotten thus far.

So, for entry numero dos, I thought I'd talk a little bit about the casting. I'm not really big on VS casting to be honest. I'll paste something I posted on Monster Zero Productions in their discussion board.

I'm not a huge fan, but I look at this whole writing thing a bit differently. I grew up reading more books than watching television, so the art of storytelling is more a reading than viewing thing for me. As such, I came up with the mentality that I'll always be able to produce a better picture in my head of who the characters look like b/c it's my own interpretation than being shown a picture.

As a writer, I don't think it makes me any less attached to my vision b/c I don't cast every single person that gets time in my episodes and screenplays. I just like to allow the reader that freedom. 9 times out of 10, most people who read your work without looking at the casting will picture someone completely different to who you cast. Could actually make a fun game.

As for casting being "pointless" I think it's only pointless when you have an actor in mind for a character without knowing who the character is first. Invariably, you're going to be influenced by their prior work and basically end up typecasting the actor in the role. I like to figure out the character first, so picking an actor is just who looks the part instead of "ooh, I can finally work so and so into my show." There's a bit more of that going around than I'd like.

Having said all that, casting Creed was an interesting and at times frustrating experience, so here's how I came to settle on the faces for the eight regulars.

Bishop (Tony Todd) - Bishop the character was a holdover from The Damned, one of the series mentioned on the 'About the Series' section on the front page of the website. I always had Tony Todd in mind for that particular character. I imagined Todd playing the demon turned Heaven general Bishop as he did in Candyman.

Priest (Brandon Jay McLaren) - I'll admit McLaren was sort of an odd decision. Allow me to humiliate myself for a moment and admit that I used to be an enormous Powers Rangers fan back in the day. After the god awful garbage that was Lightspeed Rescue, I only caught episodes when there was nothing else on television, the exclusion to this being Dino Thunder when Jason David Frank returned. Anyway, I caught a random episode of SPD (Space Patrol Delta) while hanging out with my niece and that's where McLaren came from. I went back and watched his first episode and that sold me on him.

Rox (Taryn Manning) - Despite what Leigh Nguyen, one of GVP's Admins will tell you, Manning's not a bad actress. I fell for Manning when I watched Dandelion. At the time, I was mining for Vincent Kartheiser clips to use for the opening credits for my MZP series, Connor. Manning played lead opposite Kartheiser and I enjoyed her in it. So I saw a few other things and followed up. Manning was one of the casting options for the lead for Zero, the other series that helped give birth to Creed. Then... I saw the movie Hustle and Flow. Game over. Manning was the first person I cast on the show.

Salome (Joy Lauren) - Now, I'm not much of a Desperate Housewives fan, so I asked around for this one. Lauren was suggested to me as was Emma Stone. I ended up using Stone for Connor, so Lauren wound up here.

Tanya (Jaimie Alexander) - Welcome to my personal nightmare. In Tanya, I saw a humongous Amazon of a woman ala Nicole Bass. When I decided to soften the character just a hair, I still wanted someone tall and athletic, so an exhausting casting search began. You know what I found out? Hollywood ain't keeping women like that employed. Most of the time, you see a woman bulk up for a role, then lose the "movie muscle" just as quickly. Examples of this are Jessica Biel in Blade 3 (and she was a candidate), Kristanna Loken in Terminator 3, and most famously Charlize Theron in Monster. But naturally, they're just not that big. So I drop the size and stuck on the height. Alexander was a name that came up and a buddy of mine who is a big Kyle XY fan gave me the endorsement. Not to mention, I love the voice. She's got that sexy raspy thing going on.

Sage (Seth Green) - I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I love Can't Hardly Wait. I love The 70s Show. I love Greg the Bunny. Seth Green is a major reason for all of them. He's one of those quirky actors I'll watch in anything. End of story.

Lokesh (Maulik Pancholy) - I wanted an East Indian character that wasn't Kal Penn. I almost picked that dude from Heroes and was talked out of it by like fifty people. I've never seen the show, so 50 endorsements of "he has less range than Katie Holmes" was enough to dissuade me. So, I got so desperate that I was ready to go another way on the nationality and pick someone of Mexican/Hispanic heritage. In particular, I'd just finished a rewatch of The Shield season 4 and the movie 911 (awful, never watch it), so I was feeling Michael Pena. Then I remember how much I really enjoy Diego Luna's work. Finally, JT Vaughn, showrunner for MZP's Cult Hero pointed me in Pancholy's direction.

Bekah (Kathy Lamkin) - Now, this one was fun. Bekah was originally going to be a male character (with a different name obviously), but I'm sort of tired of jolly fat guys being represented on television. I come from a family of big women and it was startling how underrepresented larger woman were on television and in film. Shows like Married with Children and flicks like Shallow Hal made light of the girthy woman. For the most part, big women on television were relegated to comedies. So when I made the choice for this character to be female, the search was very difficult. All that did was really spur me on to use a heavy set female. I like working against type in my work and you don't see women like Lamkin playing roles like Bekah is going to play in this show. Despite her weight issues, this woman is smart (probably the most intelligent person there) and can handle herself. She's modeled after my own mother, actually. My mom's been big since she gave birth to my older brother, but never let it get her down and she's easily the most kind hearted person I know. Angelo Shrine, another MZP member, suggested her to me. I watched an ep of Nip/Tuck she guest starred in and that was that.

Year One Diary Entry #1

So, with just over a week to go until the (actual) series premiere, I figured I'd start up one of these puppies, taking a cue from my man, JJ Estes, over on Threadbare.

Creed has been an interesting journey and after getting an overwhelmingly positive response to the original pilot (changeling car and all), figuring out season one was a tough challenge because I was faced with all these new questions I didn't think about when I wrote the pilot off a bare bones outline.

- Do I want to introduce 'powers' into the show and take a more supernatural route or keep it firmly a real world based show?

- Should the series stay set in the near future or do I want to scale it back to the present?

- Is Atlanta the right choice for the setting or just the easy choice because that's where I currently live?

Lots of hard questions to figure out and I think season one will be reflective of that process. I've never written for a show with this high a number of characters and this magnitude of scope, so I took my time to figure it all out.

The idea for this show, oddly enough given the adult tone, is a return to those action 'toons from my childhood. Not so much with the cheesy lines and whatnot, but something that isn't trying to be spectacularly deep and complex. Rather just a lot of fun and exciting to read.

Television bores me these days, quite frankly. My favorite show, The Shield, just ended this past November and there isn't another show right now that I clamor to watch week after week. A lot of television feels like it's trying really hard, too hard in fact, to be clever and mysterious. Most of the time, continuity and characterization ends up being sacrified for the sake of whatever needs to happen that week and it's irritating.

But I digress. Creed isn't going to be any of that.

For some insight into the actual show, well going into the inaugural season, try not to look at 1x01 as the pilot. The story that kicks off in 1x01 carries on for six episodes, so in a sense, 1x01 through 1x06 combined are the true 'pilot' of the series. There's a central arc that runs through all six and by the end of it, we'll have met some of the faces of the city, the layout of the city, Haven's layout, and hopefully gotten a better feel for the rather large cast I'm touting.

I'm excited to write it all. I'm excited to see what people think of it. And hopefully anyone that is reading this gets more inclined to tune in next Monday.

- MJ