Very enjoyable interview. I liked the interviewer's style, too. Just asking the question and letting Joss talk.

lycoming | December 11, 23:22 CET

It's a great interview, don't think I've ever heard Joss talk about the Faith TV series before. There's lots of lovely insights.

Simon | December 11, 23:35 CET

Great interview, always interesting to hear Joss talk.

Was cool to hear him actually talk about Faith, and it's nice that there doesn't seem to be any bad feelings between him and Eliza, and that he recognises her choosing Tru Calling made more sense. Bet it would have been a great show though.

Encouraging that he's still working on putting together this Buffyverse project, from what he said it sounded very TV based (not just comics or books), thought some of it sounded long term to, maybe hinting to a series rather than a TV movie, though that could just be me hearing what I want to.

Ghost Spike | December 11, 23:43 CET

I agree, i also like the interviewer. He asks the questions and lets Joss answer them.
I liked hearing the praise that Joss gave Nathan Fillion.
He is the first lead character that i liked from the start.
I watched it in reverse(first the movie), was very impressed by it. And then bought the dvd of Firefly.

sethsky | December 12, 00:19 CET

Joss' description of Nathan as a "manly man" is absolutely bang on. He really does fit the description given - I've met him twice, and both times the thing which stands out in my mind is how tall and broad he is. He 'fills' the screen (yes, I imagine life through lens - I am a weird person). He's also very nice, and despite seeming all over the place he's also very grounded. Also, passionate about what he does. I'd hire him. Unfortunately, I could only hire him in non-media work, which probably isn't much use to him. I could get him making coffee and call him coffee boy. Yes. I'll call his agent monday.

Re DVD art, I think Joss hits the nail on the head about that again. I don't know if that cover will sell either, but I didn't like it, so I voiced those concerns with people. Deliberately didn't offer alternative designs to Universal, as that isn't my place (and also, I'm about as good with Photoshop as I am with an etcha sketch). They sell things, I buy, hopefully others do too.

Anyway, fantastic stuff.

[ edited by gossi on 2005-12-11 22:36 ]

gossi | December 12, 00:33 CET

I really enjoyed this interview. The interviewer was thorough in touching all the bases, yet, as said above, was economical in his own comments, providing Joss with as much time as possible to respond.

One of the things that strikes me in this and other interviews, apart from how much Joss truly cares about every aspect of the storytelling, which we already know, is how diplomatic he ultimately is. He clearly did not like the cover art on the DVD, and he paid fans their due in acknowledging their responses to it, but, once raising the issue with Universal, he ultimately yields to their experience. While I would argue that their experience did not provide dividends in this case, there is little more that Joss can do, I suspect. His line "guess what else I'm not the boss of" comes to mind.

I think he will ultimately be filling that "reserved" space at the table.

palehorse | December 12, 01:10 CET

At the UK aftershow party, there was a table space with "Joss Whedon - Reserved" at it. Somebody had written "Unusually reserved" on it, for some reason. Made me laugh, considerin' Empire's description of Joss as "Disco Diva" in their magazine from that party.

palehorse... I think, ultimately in public comments you have to respect the studio. They are paying your wage. They are paying for the production. It's their investment. It's the same as Joss likely expects his staff to respect his judgement as director -- they can differ in opinions, but they can't completely clash over an issue otherwise the director thing falls apart.

I still think an awful lot of people at Universal "got" Serenity. They understood it. Certainly, the people I dealt with did, they got it wicked bad. How you market it is still something which I don't have an answer to, and if I did, I'd be ringing Universal's marketing department for a job.

Now, Fox. I recently had some promo material from Fox UK for Firefly on DVD through the post, where they refer to it as (quote) "A shoot-em-up western". I'll bite my internet tounge on if I think they ever got it.

gossi | December 12, 01:21 CET

Great interview! I'd write more, but my brain is fried from studying for mid-terms next week :(

[ edited by MySerenity on 2005-12-11 23:26 ]

MySerenity | December 12, 01:26 CET

palehorse, good job to acknowledge Joss' diplomacy - that's a characteristic of his that consistently impresses me (despite his own admission of being a "control enthusiast"). I too do not like the R1 DVD cover art, but I appreciate Joss' respectful deference to the experience of Universal's marketing staff; makes me re-analyze and try to re-interpret his "guess what else I'm not the boss of" comment.
I'm also reminded of a section of this interview, where he discusses the WGA policy that got his writing credit remodeled off the 'Speed' poster and his admission that, even though there are entire episodes of Buffy that he's written every word of, he still gave up the credit on some of them.
I hope I don't sound too much like Season 3 Cordelia fawning over Wesley Wyndham-Price, but isn't he just so classy?
Okay, so that's a direct quote, but still :-)

gorramit | December 12, 02:13 CET

Joss kicking off Buffy Season 8 through comics?! Excitement, thy name is Whedon. How does this man do it? The tour de force that was Serenity and all the publicity work it entailed, writing Wonder Woman, planning more X-Men, Serenity and Buffy comics and Joss knows what else... (to say nothing of Goners). He must have Calvin's Duplicator cardboard box.
So envious of people who are not only more talented, but far far less lazy than I am. My writing process is much closer to the one David Fury described in that recently unearthed, and slightly controversial, interview (i.e. play a game, surf the net, have a nap and try to get some writing done in between).

Special Agent Dale Cooper | December 12, 04:11 CET

It is frustrating to hear that there was the possibility of a Faith show and it just didn't happen, because that was something I was always very interested in. I realize it's not any one person's fault. However, I do hope that Joss and co. take another look at that particular project.

One of the many things I really love about these interviews is how willing Joss is to talk about his creations and what he wants to do. It's nice to have honest answers, rather than relying on silly rumors.

As to Universal, I think gossi really hit the nail on the head.

spitefairy | December 12, 04:19 CET

gossi, I totally get it. I just think I was particularly struck by how he communicated that he did not like the cover, and yet he put it out there in a way that would not really offend anyone. He volunteered the comment -- he didn't have to say anything at all. But I took it that he was also publicly acknowledging his fans' opinions, while indicating to said fans that he is working within a system that took a big chance on the film, and he is not about to bite that hand.

palehorse | December 12, 05:11 CET

Very good, enjoyable interview.

I especially loved Joss' comments about Nathan, especially when he said that Nathan would be great playing Bill Murray roles. And now that I think about it, yes, he would be genius...he could employ the exact same kind of cynical wit and droll sarcasm.

So, here it is, for all of you to witness:

I am starting a campaign right here and now to develop a Ghostbusters remake starring Nathan as Dr. Peter Venkman. With me in the director's chair, of course!

UnpluggedCrazy | December 12, 05:54 CET

The scary part is, last month I heard they were making another sequel to Ghostbusters. I'd probably give it a chance if Nathan was in it. Otherwise....uh, no.

Danica | December 13, 00:04 CET

Well, don't worry, Danica, they can't make another Ghostbusters sequel. Bill Murray owns a third of the franchise, and he refuses to give it the go-ahead...which, at this point, I'd have to say, God bless 'im. It would be a very lackluster sequel.

UnpluggedCrazy | December 13, 15:20 CET