Welcome to my monthly interview feature! I’m so
excited to be interviewing all the fabulous artists, illustrators and designers
I’ve meet over the years (both personally and virtually!) and sharing their
artwork and experiences here on Bird Meets Worm. Look for a new interview on the
first Tuesday of every month.
This month I am chatting it up with the very
talented Writer, Drew Filus! (With whom I am working on a fabulous new project…stayed
tuned) Drew and I first met on our honeymoons in Belize, which is quite funny,
I know. But as it turned out, Drew and his lovely wife, Andrea, both screenwriters
in LA and myself with my husband, Chris, who designs movie posters, also in LA,
hit if off and have been friends ever since. These days, Drew is a
screenwriter-director-children's book author, which keeps him plenty busy. His
award-winning movie Raw Footage is available on Netflix and
his children's science-adventure series Josie Robin, Science Fiend will
launch this April with its first installment A Fungus Among Us (an
interactive ebook) in the iBookstore in April 2014. Drew lives in Los Angeles
with his super-supportive wife and incredibly-inspirational two kids.
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| Mr. Drew Filus |
Q: How did you find your
way from filmmaking and writing for Hollywood to creating children’s content,
stories, books & apps?
A:
It all happened very logically. I had kids and started seeing the world
differently, through their eyes. Naturally, ideas geared toward children
started coming to me, so I went with them. I write mainly adult-themed movies
and TV shows, so the transition to writing for children was a bit jarring at
first, but not too bad. It’s felt nice to fall into a gentler kind of
storytelling. Fortunately, with little kids running around me all the time, I
never have a shortage of ideas.
Q: What was your
inspiration for your interactive children’s series star character, science
girl, Josie Robin?
A:
The Josie Robin character was originally a boy character in a one-off rhyming
picture book called A Fungus Among Us. I can’t even remember what name I
gave him. As a boy myself (well, a man now, I guess), my natural inclination is
to make my main characters male. But being a somewhat-new dad to a girl while
writing Fungus, I thought I should change it up. And I’m glad I did. Turning
the character into a girl gave the story a whole new angle, a whole new twist.
People naturally imagine boys being interested in science and doing science-type
stuff. So with a girl performing the science feats in the story, it felt
fresher, more rebellious. And it led to a big idea: that the story shouldn’t
just be a one-off, it should be a series.
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| Josie Robin, Science Fiend! |
Q: Tell us all about the
process – from initial concept to text to Kickstarter project to e-book/app – of
creating Josie Robin Science Fiend?
A:
The Josie Robin, Science Fiend series was sparked by an eye infection.
Really. My eye was all red and sensitive, so I went to an ophthalmologist. He
checked it out and told me I had a fungal infection (if you’re eating lunch, I
apologize). So I said aloud, for no apparent reason, “There’s a fungus among
us.” I didn’t originate that rhyme, of course, but I loved the ring of it. So when
I got home I built a story around the phrase.
After
completing the story and not understanding how traditional publishing works, I
sought out an illustrator and connected with a talented woman I once worked
with on a short film, Megan Hutchison. Over the course of a year we
collaborated on the illustrations. It was also within that year that my wife
(who’s also a writer) suggested I think about turning the story into a series
that revolves around a girl who goes on all different kinds of science
adventures. So I did. As I researched girls and women in science, and came
across statistics about the state of science in our nation, everything I was
reading was very unsettling. I realized that a series about a girl who goes on
science adventures could not only be a fun series, but also one that
addresses some real problems too. So I wrote up a treatment, married it to the
dummy book Megan and I created, and started talking to people about how to get
the series going.
Soon
enough I connected with an old friend and former-Hollywood-producer-turned-book
agent, Swanna MacNair. Coincidentally, she was forming a content studio called
Electric Yarn, and was in search of material just like Josie Robin! So we met,
talked through what the project could be, and decided to work together. Swanna
came up with the idea of releasing A
Fungus Among Us first as an interactive app and then to extend the series
across different media. I loved the idea. The concept of bringing the science
in the story to life through interactivity was very exciting. We planned out
different features for kids and their parents to interact with the story
originally for an app. Fortunately, ebook technology progressed rapidly over
the time we were working on raising money for the app, and we realized we could
do much of what we wanted to do in the app in an enhanced ebook…for a fraction
of the cost! So we committed to doing it as an ebook.
We
mounted a Kickstarter campaign for two reasons: 1) to raise the money to build
the ebook, and 2) to raise awareness about the project. Fortunately we
succeeded on both fronts. There are so many good, generous people out there,
and Kickstarter is a great way to find them. With the money we raised on
Kickstarter we hired an engineer to build our ebook. While he was doing that,
Electric Yarn and I planned out the release strategy.
It’s
been a long, eye-opening journey, but we’re thrilled to finally be getting the
ebook out.
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| Do you see the fungus among us?! Oh, no! |
Q: Throughout the process,
what have been the biggest challenges? The biggest rewards?
A: The biggest challenge for me has been patience. It
takes a long time to craft an effective and streamlined interactive digital
book (and the platform on which to release it), especially on a tight budget.
But the process has actually been the biggest reward. Working with Electric
Yarn, I’ve learned how this game is played and feel confident about doing it
again and again. I’m guessing it’ll get easier and more efficient every time I
do it, but that might just be me being totally delusional.
Q: What’s next for both you
and Josie Robin?
A:
Well, we’re releasing the first installment of the series, Josie Robin,
Science Fiend: A Fungus Among Us, this month as an ebook. Currently, we’re
doing all we can to get the word out (thanks for featuring me here, Jane!). We’re
hoping the ebook will gain us some traction, bait some interest and help us
raise the money we need to make more Josie Robin ebooks and apps. I have two
(and a half) more Josie stories written, so we’re ready to go on the next
installments. Beyond ebooks and apps, we have a whole plan that includes a
digital ecosystem, real-world science adventures, school visits and programs, a
TV series, movies, merchandise, etc. Yeah, we’re aiming high, but why not,
right?
Beyond
Josie, I’m working with another amazing illustrator on another picture book
story I wrote. Her name is Jane Smith and if you don’t know her work you’re
really missing out. (Aww, shucks! Thank
you, Drew!)
I’m
also cranking out more and more picture book manuscripts. Under the motivation
of 12x12, this highly-inspiring picture book writing community run by the
immensely knowledgeable and organized Julie Hedlund, I’m finding myself more
productive than ever.
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| Here's Josie doing her thing! |
Q: Describe your most
perfect Sunday.
A:
Any Sunday that involves a mid-day nap in the backyard with the sound of my
kids playing around me.
Thank you for chatting it
up with us here at Bird Meets Worm, Drew! We can’t wait to read your new ebook! Download it today! Hooray!
