[quote=« Shamdasani »]What we’re doing here, and I think people will see when they see the first footage, is unlike any web series that’s ever been produced. Our goal here — and this is going to sound crazy but ambitious — is to create the best series that’s ever been produced for digital. Better than anything Marvel or DC has done, Hasbro, etc. To give you an example, the first episode has 15 locations alone. That’s more than the majority of independent feature films. We have this incredible cast. We have TV-quality — and you can argue even better than TV-quality — special effects. Our goal is to fit somewhere in that Marvel/Netflix, DC/CW range, if not better, in terms of production value, quality of storytelling, quality of visuals, etc.
We knew we could come in and do something that hadn’t been done before. None of our competitors are looking at this space. They don’t know what to do it; they know it’s a thing, but they are slow-moving. We’re an independent company, we’re not owned by a giant conglomerate, so we can move fast. We’ve been having conversations about this space for about two years.
Web series seem to fit our narrative best, our skill set best. We can do something that was one step removed from publishing, exhibits the traits of characters that seem to get people excited, allow us to bring our stories and know-how to a new medium. Ninjak was a perfect choice, because he touched so many different avenues of the Valiant Universe. He fits squarely in the espionage world; he has strong connections to our supernatural side of the Valiant Universe with Master Darque and Shadowman; he’s on Unity, which allows him to tap into X-O Manowar and the Harbinger world. He was a good gateway, because we knew we wanted to touch as many components of the Valiant Universe as the story organically let us. [/quote]
[quote]I was playing drums in a punk rock band and suddenly I’m the bad guy of the week. It’s a great thing. I really didn’t over-think it. I did a couple of acting class when I first got into acting, but I started out doing comedy and making Indy films with my little brother. I thought that would be my ins into the big leagues of the industry. My acting teacher told me I’d be playing bad guys and bad fathers. I said, “Really?” And he told me I had that look… I don’t see myself like that. But I’m glad he saw it and challenged me with all the prep work.
Flasforward to about a year ago and I met Aaron [Schoenke], I was a fan of what he’s been doing Super Power Beatdown and we talked about doing something together. I come from the Indy scene and the do-it-yourself punk rock background. So to create things like that warms my heart. I prefer doing it like this, the collaborative energy and working on something together. That vibe is what I’m in it for. It’s nice to have the big budget things to fund the revolution, but I’m always happy to get back to the Indy stuff. While we were talking he was having discussions with Valiant and the timing of everything just worked. We weren’t even talking about Colin originally; we were talking about a different character. But it’s probably because of my hairdo.[/quote]
[quote]We’re only a few episodes in, but my approach to it is to take it one episode at a time. He’s going to have a different approach and style depending on who he’s fighting and I think you’ll be surprised at how he sees the weakness in an undefeatable situation. That’s why I say MacGyver is one of his influences because he makes something out of nothing all the time. He might be the badest due on the planet when it comes to fight style, but it’s his intelligence that gets him through these things and how he’s two steps ahead of you. That’s one of the things I like about the comics is you get the peek into his brain and get the running commentary.
I’m learning so much as a physical actor on set, doing the fight scenes. I always wanted to do that and now I have really cool people working with me and trusting me to do it. And hats off to them as I don’t think they knew I could fight. They just knew I was athletic and hoped they could use me and the coverage as much as possible. But after the first big fight scene Dinesh [Shamdasani] came up and said “I didn’t know you were that good at fighting.” And I said, “Neither did I.” But if you’re not a martial artist and suddenly you have a bunch of guys coming at you, the fight seems very real to you and it makes it seem real. I know what moves I’m going to use, but there is a certain frantic energy that comes with it.[/quote]
L’ambitieuse web-série Ninjak Vs. The Valiant Universe est toujours en cours de tournage aux États-Unis.
C’est l’occasion pour l’éditeur Valiant Entertainement de nous dévoiler les premières photos du catcheur professionnel John Morrison et de l’actrice Ciera Foster dans les costumes du Guerrier Éternel et de Livewire.
Et le moins qu’on puisse dire, c’est que la production est très fidèle à la bande-dessinée.
“Ninjak Vs. The Valiant Universe” est une mini-série en 6 épisodes dirigées par les producteurs du collectif Bat in the Sun, Aaron & Sean Schoenke. Le casting comprend Michael Rowe (Arrow, The Flash) en tant que Ninjak, Jason David Frank (Power Rangers) est Bloodshot, John Morrison est the Eternal Warrior, Chantelle Barry est Roku, Kevin Porter est Armstrong, Ciera Foster est Livewire et Derek Theler enfile l’armure de X-O Manowar.
