Shannon Eric Denton is a busy man. If he's not publishing kids books under the Actionopolis line, or writing indie comics such as 'Common Foe', 'Grunts', '10' or 'Zapt!', then he may be acting as partner in the long-running webcomics site, Komikwerks. More and more, that role has gone hand-in-hand with yet another title for Denton's resume: Television producer.
Last March The CW announced that the (then) Komikwerks title 'World of Quest' had made the Fall schedule as an animated series. What hasn't been reported is that last August, Denton ushered a second Komikwerks webcomic title into a TV deal. This time 'Wyoming' is the subject a pilot option deal with CBS and Paramount TV.
Denton is on board the live-action project as a writer producer. The deal was shepherded by David Engel at Circle of Confusion, the same guy who set up Mike Oeming's 'Them' as a pilot for Fox TV.
Comics2Film spoke to Denton about the 'Wyoming' deal and Hollywood's current level of interest in webcomics.
Comics2Film (C2F): What's the general concept for 'Wyoming'?
Shannon Eric Denton (SED): It's simple. East meets West, Rich man/Poor man but set against the great American backdrop that is Wyoming. I try and get up there as often as I can. It's just magical country. You can ride horses for hours out there and just totally lose any sense of being confined by a job, life, etc.
C2F: And this was a webcomic before you pitched it?
SED: Yes. We posted it as a preview on Komikwerks. I had a pilot script I wrote that I really liked but it had started with me making some comic pages. I had wanted to do modern romance comic. So the comic was started before I knew we'd be selling it. I just couldn't stop playing with this project. CBS/Paramount apparently liked it as well and here we are.
C2F: We looked for the webcomic on Komikwerks, Where is it?
SED: I pulled some of it down as I knew with 'World of Quest' getting greenlit and with commitments to overseeing that it'd be a while before I could get back to it. Right now, it's just the teaser for the comic that is up.
C2F: Are there plans to continue the Wyoming comic in print or online?
SED: Absolutely. Only now, I'm thinking of doing it as a novel to put out alongside our other ACTIONOPOLIS titles.
C2F: What inspired the show?
SED: Oddly it was my love of Westerns and travelling the American West. I wanted to create something that was more accessible to mainstream America the way 'Dallas' was but still have an opportunity to introduce people to a section of the country I love so much.
C2F: What's your role in the development of the TV show?
SED: Writing and producing. It's been great.
C2F: Are there any casting, directing or other interesting talent attachments at this point?
SED: Not yet. It's still too early in the process for that. Obviously, I have a list in my head. I'd love to get acts like Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Dwight Yoakam, Lyle Lovett and some of the classic country stars musical exposure on the show. That'd be fun for me.
C2F: It seems like you're having a pretty good run. Back in March you got the Komikwerks 'World of Quest' set up at the CW as an animated series. Is this an overnight success?
SED: It was a four year overnight success story. Like all of this stuff there is so much going on behind the scenes no one knows about. I set 'Quest' up at Warner Bros. based off of the online comic and just kept hammering at it moving forward on the animated side. After Komikwerks ran it as a webcomic, we then published it.
More recently we just got the book set up over at Hachette. Komikwerks set that up and I'm proud of that. I'd love to say we're the third largest publisher in the world but, we're not, they are. It made sense, we still got to be involved and it was great for Jason Kruse, who created 'Quest'. It was a winning situation for everyone involved.
C2F: So 'Quest' was pretty much a deal you brokered through Komikwerks. And 'Wyoming': was that the same situation?
SED: Yes. Komikwerks has set up six or so projects now based off of our online comics. I made sure years ago every producer in Hollywood knew where to find us. So now we post stuff, and the phone rings. It's a good place to be.
C2F: How is it that a small publishing shingle like Komikwerks has made such inroads into TV production?
SED: It's my day job. I started in comics. I love comics, but I understand TV/Film is its own entity and basically just provide a forum for creators to showcase their work and at the same time have some opportunity to expand their work into other media.
C2F: What's next for Shannon Denton?
SED: While overseeing 'Quest' and 'Wyoming', I have a few other things that just sold we can't announce yet. On the comics side, I'm gearing up to showcase the ACTIONOPOLIS books at San Diego Comic-Con (booth 2103).
I'll also be promoting 'Zapt!' from TOKYOPOP, 'Graveslinger' from Shadowline/Image, 'Common Foe' from Desperado, and 'Grunts' from Arcana and more to come!
LOGIN
REGISTER
RSS
HOME
