RUN FOR YOUR LIVES AS THE KNIGHT IS IN THE SNAKE PIT

Breaking into the movies is usually a very hard thing to do. While some of us are lucky enough to be able to do this either by chance or association, others can only 'make it' via a mixture of hard work and determination. Kevin is just such a man, and now he's going to tell you about his comic book road, currently traveled.





1) What are your own origins, Kevin?   My brother and I own a video production company so making movies and telling stories is something I've always wanted to do. The dream was to make movies, and in my experience, I know that this is extremely difficult with all of the intricately moving pieces. I've never been fortunate enough to make a full length feature film, but that is something I still hope to accomplish as well as obtain a career in the field.

2) What inspired you to become a comic book creator?   I've always wanted to write stories in different mediums, such as screenplays, books, and graphic novels. So even though writing / creating comic books was something I never aspired to do, inadvertently, I fell into it by chance.

I was in the process of writing a screenplay for the 'Run For Your Lives' story and wanted to write a comic book to give a sort of origin that could work like a one-shot. 'Run For Your Lives' was actually a real life 5k run that was created for horror fans who wanted to run an obstacle course while getting chased by a hoard of zombies. It was an interactive experience that came out a few years ago and caught on very quickly. I was lucky enough to be involved with the event as well as all of the promotional videos and commercials that were filmed. The comic book was something that we sold at events, but the bigger picture was to potentially create a series, or simply use the comic book to help us get funding to make the movie, which hasn't happened as of yet.

Anyway, I think I'm getting a bit off topic here, so to answer the question, that's how I ended up learning the process. 'Knight In The Snake Pit' is me taking another crack at getting a comic book made to see if there is potentially an audience for it. I can tell you, it's a lot easier to get a comic book made than it is to make a movie.

3) In your own words can you briefly describe your two stories?   "Knight In The Snake Pit" is the most recent book, and one I would ultimately like to turn into a series. It mixes different genres, as it takes place in two different settings. The first is a mental asylum set in the 1940s while the second is a medieval fantasy world. The main character finds himself living in both worlds, simultaneously, questioning his sanity and what's real and what are delusions.

"Run For Your Lives", on the other hand, mixes elements of tournament-type-stories like Running Man and Hunger Games, while throwing some zombies into the mix. In the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse, survivors who discover certain safe zones must choose to either stay out in the wastelands and take their chances, or they could participate in the Run For Your Lives tournament. If they win, they'll be granted admittance in the safe haven they've been longing for.

4) What song would you say best represents your comics and why?   I can't think of any songs to really represent these books as a whole, but I have certain songs that I could use in both of these stories, should they ever become movies or a TV series.

Run For Your Lives: Shirelles "I Met Him On A Sunday" is a song that I imagine the creator of the event would play as the participants are in the Starting corral. I envision the song blaring out of old rusty speakers, so the audience members / spectators would hear it as well as the participants. It would be a great juxtaposition for the carnage to come, when something so innocent and pure is playing while people are terrified and wondering what could have possibly happened to lead them there to this very moment.

Knight In The Snake Pit: Either The Mystics or Beach Boys' version of "Hushabye". While I know this song technically is released after the time period in which this story takes place, I feel this, or something similar to this, would be a great song to use as our main character is getting strapped in for the electric shock therapy, right before he crosses over into this fantasy world. Once he crosses over, that's when the music would abruptly cut off. Plus, we see glimpses / visions of a specific character during the shock therapy, who our protagonist refers to as an "angel" -- and this song sings about guardian angels -- which is a suitable fit.

5) If you could get a celebrity – either living or dead – to promote your wares, who would you choose, and why would you want to choose this particular person?   Robert Zemeckis would be a great choice. Robert has not only made some of my favorite movies of all time (like Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?), but the fact that a guy can bring you such different stories like Castaway, Allied, Polar Express, and Tales From The Crypt, show that he's one of the more well-rounded story tellers working in the industry.

Similar to Steven Spielberg, every time Zemeckis releases a movie, to me, it's an event, no matter what the genre is. I'd love to have a conversation with the guy and see if he finds either one of these stories compelling, or for that matter, any of the other ones I have.

6) What have you learnt about yourself through this endeavour?   I've learned that writing anything can only get you so far unless you have a team to execute it properly. Thankfully for me, for both projects, I had a great team to bring both stories to life. Finding the teams while keeping to budget constraints wasn't easy. I've also learned that self-publishing comic books is really expensive, especially when you can't draw.

7) During your time in this field, what is the one thing that has kept you in good stead?   Getting the script written was a big undertaking, but it was also a fun thing to do. Watching the pages come to life was what really did it for me. The collaboration and working through each panel and page was a great process because it allowed me to tweak subtle nuances as we went along, which probably drove the illustrators nuts.

8) If you had a personal motto, what would it be?   I'm not really a motto type of person, but on a daily basis, with everything I do, when it comes to multitasking, I usually find it's best to do the thing you don't want to do first.

And on that note, dear reader, I'd like to thank Kevin for telling us about his two comic book projects, 'Run For Your Lives' and 'Knight In The Snake Pit', before directing you towards his official facebook and comixology pages.