Hey guys, us here at SMN were lucky enough to be contacted about a week ago by writer, actor, and producer of Nightwing: Prodigal, Brady Roberts!
Hey Brady, first of all thank you for reaching out to us here at Superhero Movie News, we really appreciate your interest in our site as we are for sure interested in your film series! You guys have a great site, thanks for having me on.
Why Nightwing? There are numerous characters out there in the DC Universe that would make for good fan films, but out of all these characters, Batman included, why make a Nightwing fan film? What makes him exciting? I love Nightwing. I grew up reading the comics, watching the cartoons, and I felt like I related most to Robin/Nightwing. I know Dick Grayson is a character that has a huge cult following and someone that has never been done properly in live action, and fans can't wait any longer to see a high quality, epic Nightwing series. Myself included. My hope with this show is that we can present this character in a way that goes down with the best live action adaptations and have fans notice all the work and love that went into it. That's a big goal, but from the footage I've seen and the team we built, I think it's entirely possible. It looks amazing.
Kind of going off of the last question, with this being a Nightwing fan film, what is Batman’s role in Prodigal? Batman is missing. This allowed me to focus solely on Nightwing as the star of the show, without being overshadowed by Batman.
Tell me about Nightwing a little bit, where is he at right now? Was be in Chicago, Bludhaven, New York, or was he keeping a low-profile before Batman went missing? One thing I really want to make clear is that this definitely is not an origin story- the Gothamverse is established here, lots of other story lines from the comics are referenced. Nightwing is returning to Gotham from Bludhaven in Batman's absence and begins to investigate the myth of the Court of Owls.
Where does the relationship between Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon stand in this series? I think the relationship with Dick and Barbara is the most fun part of this show. Lots of banter back and forth and awkwardness- they still work together, they clearly still love each other and have a deep history together, and maybe some unfinished business, but Dick is out dating another girl and is pretty open about it.
We can see from the trailer that there are some obvious references to the “Killing Joke” in Prodigal, what other comic storylines can we expect either a reference to or to be adapted into this series? Oh man, it is endless. We reference a whole bunch of other story lines and characters, from the comics, cartoons, and movies. I really wanted to create a huge scope for this project and those references help establish that universe. I'm not going to say what story lines are referenced- maybe when the show comes out you guys can try to find all the easter eggs. That's part of the fun.
Based on the name of this series, is it at all based on the “Prodigal” story arc that took place after “Knightfall” in the mid-1990’s? It is not a direct adaptation of any previous story, no.
We can also see villains like Bane, the Joker, even the Red Hood in the trailer, but what other Gotham based foes will we encounter throughout Prodigal? I think so far for the series we've announced Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Bane, but I will say that not all of the characters that are in the trailer are in the series. The trailer was shot over a year ago, and a lot changed in the planning of the show since then. The trailer was shot in Calgary, then I moved to Vancouver, so it's an entirely new cast and crew, although the director of the trailer JD Buzz is still involved as our VFX and co-writer.
You’re not only the star of Nightwing: Prodigal, but you also wrote and produced the series. From a creative standpoint, what was the most challenging part of putting this series together? It was a huge undertaking. That's why it took so long from the trailer to the series- I didn't even want to do the series originally because it was such a large task, but after 6 months of fans asking when the show would come out I caved in. We built an amazing team in Vancouver, starting with director Kyle James-Patrick, director of photography Bruce Borland, lead makeup Lindsay McMillan, and our AD Samantha Derochie. All of these people took a huge burden off of me as they are such pros and I didn't need to worry about anything that they did at all. The most challenging part of the series was writing- it was so much fun to play in that world as a writer, but it was also a huge responsibility as I didn't want to let the fans down. If you love the comics you will love this show, because it pays a lot of love and respect to the source material. I like to think I know my stuff pretty well, and JD was a great co-writer, and I'm really happy with what we did and think it pays true to the book.
Asking that question from an actor’s standpoint as well, what was the most challenging part of playing the ex-Boy Wonder as well as his alter-ego?The hardest part as an actor in this was the fact that I was also producer. As an actor I would normally show up and only have to think about nailing my scene. Here I had 10,000 jobs and things to worry about, so I was concerned that my performance would suffer, but I hope that is not true. I have a lot of training and experience as an actor and I was comfortable and able to put producing things out of my mind when it came time to act.
What makes your version of Dick Grayson different than other versions of "Robin" that we've seen in the past like Chis O'Donnell from Batman Forever/Batman & Robin or Joseph Gordon-Levitt's "Robin" from The Dark Knight Rises? This version is true to the comics. He's at a really interesting time in his life- he's in his mid 20s, he's not Robin anymore, he's grown up. He's seen and been through so much. He feels a lot of guilt for not being there to save Barbara from the Joker, for Batman going missing, for Jason being murdered. Not being there for any of those things. So he's struggling in a sense, and develops a sense of humor to try to cover that up but there's some real pain there. I think you guys will be really impressed with the action sequences in this show, way cooler than any live action Robin stuff you've seen in the past. We had an amazing team of stunt guys and pro wrestlers for the fight sequences.
Now, how close are you guys to being done with filming? Are you done and in post-production or do you still have things left to wrap up in the filming department? We are 95% wrapped filming and are already into editing. We just did voiceovers/ADR sound yesterday in the studio. We just have a couple really small things to shoot next weekend and are also doing a photoshoot for the show. We had a really great wrap party this past Saturday night for everyone involved in the show.
Finally, last question for you Brady and then I’ll get out of your hair, when can we expect Nightwing: Prodigal to be released onto the inter webs?
We are aiming for an April release. Please like our Facebook page at "Nightwing: Prodigal The Series" to get all the updates and find out when the show comes out officially. We also post pictures from the set. You can also follow me on Twitter @BradyMalibu to find out what I'm doing and get updates on the show! Thank you!
Hey Brady, first of all thank you for reaching out to us here at Superhero Movie News, we really appreciate your interest in our site as we are for sure interested in your film series! You guys have a great site, thanks for having me on.
Why Nightwing? There are numerous characters out there in the DC Universe that would make for good fan films, but out of all these characters, Batman included, why make a Nightwing fan film? What makes him exciting? I love Nightwing. I grew up reading the comics, watching the cartoons, and I felt like I related most to Robin/Nightwing. I know Dick Grayson is a character that has a huge cult following and someone that has never been done properly in live action, and fans can't wait any longer to see a high quality, epic Nightwing series. Myself included. My hope with this show is that we can present this character in a way that goes down with the best live action adaptations and have fans notice all the work and love that went into it. That's a big goal, but from the footage I've seen and the team we built, I think it's entirely possible. It looks amazing.
Kind of going off of the last question, with this being a Nightwing fan film, what is Batman’s role in Prodigal? Batman is missing. This allowed me to focus solely on Nightwing as the star of the show, without being overshadowed by Batman.
Tell me about Nightwing a little bit, where is he at right now? Was be in Chicago, Bludhaven, New York, or was he keeping a low-profile before Batman went missing? One thing I really want to make clear is that this definitely is not an origin story- the Gothamverse is established here, lots of other story lines from the comics are referenced. Nightwing is returning to Gotham from Bludhaven in Batman's absence and begins to investigate the myth of the Court of Owls.
Where does the relationship between Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon stand in this series? I think the relationship with Dick and Barbara is the most fun part of this show. Lots of banter back and forth and awkwardness- they still work together, they clearly still love each other and have a deep history together, and maybe some unfinished business, but Dick is out dating another girl and is pretty open about it.
We can see from the trailer that there are some obvious references to the “Killing Joke” in Prodigal, what other comic storylines can we expect either a reference to or to be adapted into this series? Oh man, it is endless. We reference a whole bunch of other story lines and characters, from the comics, cartoons, and movies. I really wanted to create a huge scope for this project and those references help establish that universe. I'm not going to say what story lines are referenced- maybe when the show comes out you guys can try to find all the easter eggs. That's part of the fun.
Based on the name of this series, is it at all based on the “Prodigal” story arc that took place after “Knightfall” in the mid-1990’s? It is not a direct adaptation of any previous story, no.
We can also see villains like Bane, the Joker, even the Red Hood in the trailer, but what other Gotham based foes will we encounter throughout Prodigal? I think so far for the series we've announced Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Bane, but I will say that not all of the characters that are in the trailer are in the series. The trailer was shot over a year ago, and a lot changed in the planning of the show since then. The trailer was shot in Calgary, then I moved to Vancouver, so it's an entirely new cast and crew, although the director of the trailer JD Buzz is still involved as our VFX and co-writer.
You’re not only the star of Nightwing: Prodigal, but you also wrote and produced the series. From a creative standpoint, what was the most challenging part of putting this series together? It was a huge undertaking. That's why it took so long from the trailer to the series- I didn't even want to do the series originally because it was such a large task, but after 6 months of fans asking when the show would come out I caved in. We built an amazing team in Vancouver, starting with director Kyle James-Patrick, director of photography Bruce Borland, lead makeup Lindsay McMillan, and our AD Samantha Derochie. All of these people took a huge burden off of me as they are such pros and I didn't need to worry about anything that they did at all. The most challenging part of the series was writing- it was so much fun to play in that world as a writer, but it was also a huge responsibility as I didn't want to let the fans down. If you love the comics you will love this show, because it pays a lot of love and respect to the source material. I like to think I know my stuff pretty well, and JD was a great co-writer, and I'm really happy with what we did and think it pays true to the book.
What makes your version of Dick Grayson different than other versions of "Robin" that we've seen in the past like Chis O'Donnell from Batman Forever/Batman & Robin or Joseph Gordon-Levitt's "Robin" from The Dark Knight Rises? This version is true to the comics. He's at a really interesting time in his life- he's in his mid 20s, he's not Robin anymore, he's grown up. He's seen and been through so much. He feels a lot of guilt for not being there to save Barbara from the Joker, for Batman going missing, for Jason being murdered. Not being there for any of those things. So he's struggling in a sense, and develops a sense of humor to try to cover that up but there's some real pain there. I think you guys will be really impressed with the action sequences in this show, way cooler than any live action Robin stuff you've seen in the past. We had an amazing team of stunt guys and pro wrestlers for the fight sequences.
Now, how close are you guys to being done with filming? Are you done and in post-production or do you still have things left to wrap up in the filming department? We are 95% wrapped filming and are already into editing. We just did voiceovers/ADR sound yesterday in the studio. We just have a couple really small things to shoot next weekend and are also doing a photoshoot for the show. We had a really great wrap party this past Saturday night for everyone involved in the show.
Finally, last question for you Brady and then I’ll get out of your hair, when can we expect Nightwing: Prodigal to be released onto the inter webs?
We are aiming for an April release. Please like our Facebook page at "Nightwing: Prodigal The Series" to get all the updates and find out when the show comes out officially. We also post pictures from the set. You can also follow me on Twitter @BradyMalibu to find out what I'm doing and get updates on the show! Thank you!
