EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: ‘NEW EDEN’ CREATORS BRETT AND FREEK
For those who have never heard of the show, what is New Eden about?
Freek: Yeah, and that’s the good part!
Brett: Hamilton and Murray escape to the planet’s surface in a Life-Pod and find themselves alone and stuck on this planet.
Freek: And stuck with each other, which proves to be a lot harder then anything this hostile alien planet can throws at them. Murray and Hamilton are a classic bickering duo but with more originality to them I think. Something that will become more clear with each episode. They have to work together in order to survive, so that combined with a lot of monsters and strange situations – it’s humour waiting to happen.
Brett: So far we’ve released the New Eden Pilot and have a bunch of short gag films, the New Eden Shorts, that we’re releasing from Tuesday, 12th June. From there we’re looking to build an audience and then hope to secure some financing so that we can make the full series.
How did the concept of the show come about?
Freek: Wow, live-action. I’d love to have seen that. I saw Brett’s post on Shooting People and I had just finished a short film and had my hands free, besides my daytime job as freelance illustrator. I love having something to do besides the regular work. I think it keeps you sharp and gives you a chance to explore new grounds and meet new people. So I saw the post for New Eden and liked the idea. I live in the Netherlands but with the numerous communication possibilities these days I didn’t think it would be a problem. It sounded like something that could have a quick turn around. Boy was I wrong.
What was the production process like for the first episode?
Freek: I think most people would agree if you start something, the first step is the hardest. Everything had to be designed. Characters, backgrounds, the overall feel of the series, the animation style. I really didn’t think about it too much back then. Oblivious as I was I just started sketching. Months later we finally had a good foundation and then the animation could begin.
Brett: We spent probably a solid four months just on this process. Nutting everything out.
Freek: Because Brett and I don’t live in the same country we had numerous Skype calls and emails….oh my god the emails. But it worked. Who knew two people from totally different parts of the globe would have a similar sense of humour.
Brett: Yeah, we’ve developed a great partnership over the past two years. We co-directed the pilot so there was a lot of back-and-forth early on about the tone of comedy and style of animation.
Freek: After the designs were there I started testing the animation style. Since it was a web series we decided right at the beginning it couldn’t take too long. It had to be produced fast but still had to look okay. That is the great thing about animation. It gives the freedom to explore all kinds of direction.
Brett: We blogged about this whole process recently over on our website for folks who are keen to read the long version.
Freek: Pretty quickly we decided on a puppeteering kind of animation style, since it would enable me to use the characters over and over again without re-drawing them each time. There was only a couple of times that some extra hands had to be drawn or some extra body shapes or different angles had to be made. It was still a lot of work but not nearly as much as traditional animation would be. Of course this brought limitations into the animation but we tried to work around that and kinda made it our own style.
Brett: The pilot was animated over the span of about a year.
Freek: I think if I had worked on it eight hours a day it would have been around two months. Maybe a bit more.
What was the casting process like for the voices?
Brett: Casting was a lot of fun. I advertised and also invited some people to audition who I thought would be suitable. I did auditions in groups so that I could hear how people worked with one another. That was the most important thing for me, getting great voice actors who could bounce off each other to make the characters and relationships sound real – personally that’s what I think leads to good comedy.
Freek: Certainly with this type of animation the actors are very important. You know it’s not Disney/Pixar quality we’re portraying here, far from it, so having a great cast is very important.
Brett: I had a wish list in my head of who I thought would be good for each role and was secretly hoping that Freek would agree and I’m happy to say we got our dream cast.
Freek: Yeah the voices worked for me right away. When I’m animating I always listen to them a couple of times and an idea will start forming in my head. Maybe he could do this or that and have this look on his face. The voices really leads the animation.
What do you like about working on New Eden as compared to work you’ve done in the past?
Brett: New Eden has been my first foray into animation. I come from a TV production background, so for me it’s been a blast but also a big lesson in patience.
Freek: This has been one of the biggest projects I have ever done. So also for me it was a lesson in patience and in persistence. There were times where I thought it would never ever get finished. You have to get yourself into a mindset and not think about finishing it too much but gradually work your way through it, just doing bit by bit each day. Even if it’s just a second of animation. Or just one background. And finally the end is in sight and you start believing it will get finished again.
Brett: Every step of the way New Eden has just kept building momentum. From finding Freek to securing our great cast to working out the animation process … it’s been hard work but a real joy.
Freek: I found it inspirational and a great experience to work with the crew and cast of New Eden. I got in head-first without considering for a minute the amount of work it would be but I would do it again without hesitation.
Brett: I should point out that Freek and I have only met in person two … three times now. Once in Netherlands and twice here in London when he came across for a script reading and then later a screening. It’s big deal when we’re in the same room together!
Freek: Awww you’re too sweet! Ha ha ha, but seriously. I always knew when I took on this project eventually there would be some travelling. But I didn’t mind. The world is big but small at the same time. Communication these days is so super simple. Given you speak a second language of course. And in just five hours I’m from my front door at Brett’s place. Plus seeing other places and meeting new people – I love it.
Brett: I think Freek and I are both used to working solo but for me when I get the chance to collaborate with someone and do it day in and day out … nothing beats it.
Freek: Yeah, it’s the same for me. Projects like these cant be done without collaboration.
What are some of your inspirations in creating an animated series and growing up what were some of your favorite shows, animated or otherwise?
Brett: I watched the classics like Star Trek and Star Wars. I was big Babylon 5 fan for a long while and of course loved the reboot of BSG.
Freek: Well, I didn’t watch Star Trek that much. I liked Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers and of course Star Wars. Although I didn’t see it until it was on video. I did think the reboot of BSG was absolutely brilliant.
Brett: I used to love shows like Star Blazers, Robotech, G-Force, Astro Boy, Exosquad, Transformers. Did you get those in the Netherlands?
Freek: Only transformers actually. We didn’t get those other shows. I loved Thundercats, Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors and He-Man! Besides that I was a real comic nut. I used to collect anything from Marvel and DC. Spiderman, Batman, Avengers, X-men and those cross-overs they did. I had my entire bedroom wall covered in comic-covers! And of course games!
Brett: Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors?! I have no idea what that show is but yeah I was a big comic book fan as well. Big influence. I still remember the first time I saw Robotech, it was a like this big event when it first aired in Australia or at least felt like it as a kid back then.
Freek: I can remember my first He-Man episode. We went to an amusement park that day and when I came home the first episode aired. I only saw half of it. But I remember as a kid I wished that every day could be like that.
Brett: Lots of British comedy as well, I watched loads of British sitcoms and series growing up.
Freek: Yeah they air a lot of British and American comedies in the Netherlands. I watched what my parents watched, which was Fawlty Towers, Cosby show, Family Ties. All the big ones.
Brett: I think you can see the mash up of our love of British comedy and classic sci-fi in New Eden, or at least I hope so.
Do you have plans for other animated series and what else are you working on?
Brett: At the moment we’re both pretty swamped with New Eden. We’re finishing up the New Eden Shorts and generally just busy promoting it online. But like any good writer I have some other projects I’m developing and looking to pitch in the future.
Freek: I’m working on a music video for a client that is going ot be cool. But it’s still in pre-production.
Brett: Freek, you have another project kicking around don’t you?
Freek: I have a short film that I’d love to make but so far it’s just in my head. Nothing on paper yet. And I’d like to try my hand om some actual life-shooting. You know, with an actual camera and people.
Brett: I’d love to work with Freek to develop something else, in fact I can see Freek and I working together more and more in the future.
Freek: Same here. I hope New Eden will get picked up. But if not I’m not stopping there. I’m sure we have other stuff that we will come up with.
You can check out New Eden on their official Youtube page including the brand new short “Mating Call”and even check out our most recent review of the pilot.
Do we know if Hulu will be the only entity to have the dub, or if it will be on other platforms, too? The show in general is definitely going to be on multiple platforms.