FAN MADE: NIGHTWING 'ESCALATION', Plus A Chat With Creator Alex Valderana

I was contacted by the good folks over at Nightwing: Escalation to check out the web series and I have to say, I'm pretty glad I did. Keeping an open mind and coming in with realistic expectations, as this is a fan-film made on a shoe-string budget, I was pleasantly surprised to see a real attention to detail and a shift to a heavier focus on the Gotham police force. Also, there's tons of cameos and Easter Eggs in here, ranging from Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr. to The Creeper and Huntress. While I'm not going to go into a full on review as the series is still unfinished, the series is placing a paramount on story in lieu of action. I was able to catch up with producer/writer/director Alex Valderana to ask about this concept and about where the web series is headed.



Mark JULIAN: What's the inspiration for the story, why Nightwing?

Alex Valderana: "The inspiration for the story well honestly came out of a film I did in the summer of 2009, "Batman: Hothouse", which can be seen on Dailymotion.com. It had a budget of $6,000 or so, and focused on an earlier year of Batman as he dealt with a murder mystery involving Poison Ivy and the corruption in the GCPD. It was more or less adapted from a John Francis Moore story that appeared in the "Legends of The Dark Knight" book. I was originally going to do a parody film on the production of "Hothouse", because it was pretty nutty. I met the actor portraying Nightwing in "Escalation" in the auditions for said film, Jon Caballero, and we became good friends quickly, and maybe four or so months later began talking about doing a feature film sequel to "Hothouse" focusing on "Nightwing", more or less simply because we felt he's an extremely intriguing character, one of our favorite DC Comics/comic book characters, and the fact that Jon looked like him and could act. Nightwing still remains to this day one of the more intriguing comic book characters out there, because there's so much that can be written about him and his motivations have always been like Batman's but a tad lighter and different, and I think his drive is really fascinating."

MJ:Seems like the story is really focused on the GCPD and the judicial system instead of what we normally see in Fan Films where Batman shows up and takes down various members of his rogues gallery. Can you speak about that and a little more about the challenges and differences of creating a web series vs a fan film?

AS: " I think Episode 2 "Calloway" really focuses on the GCPD, as that episode served to connect the dots between "Hothouse" and "Nightwing: Escalation", and also served to bring people up to speed on the continuity since I assumed many hadn't seen "Hothouse" before "Nightwing". But at its' heart, I think as the series continues, the GCPD is definitely characterized as a corrupt beast, like much of the lore. "Calloway" definitely drives that to heart, though. As for differing it from the majority of Batman fan films out there, well, I feel like we're missing a Heath Ledger Joker impersonator and the Hans Zimmer score lifted directly from the Nolan films. Haha. But in all honesty, I'm setting out to do a more character-driven piece vs. action. I think in the next episode following Episode 3, which would be Episode 4, "Edenspring", the action should totally involve the fans who may feel, and perhaps correctly so, that action has been lacking from the overall series."

MJ: How did you round up your crew and acting troupe?

AS: "What a question. Well, Jon as I explained met through auditioning for a project that never saw the light of day. Ironically, I also met a good friend, Audrey Lorea, that same day, who later jumped on as producer for the first several episodes and made a gigantic contribution in getting those done, as well as designing the website that houses the series. Samantha Mason produced the first episode and I noticed her work on a fan film-esque webseries entitled "A World of Her PWN", which I thought was really lovely, innovative and quirky, and knew she had a good mind for the production. Later on, actor/director/producer Zack Abramowitz jumped aboard, and right now the production team is comprised of him, Jon and myself spearheading the webseries to its future. Zack has really helped out a lot, as he has a great mind for the business and is very capable a producer. The cast I've met through friends or using casting websites to arrange auditions for the characters; we actually had two long days of auditions for roles like Black Canary, The Huntress and Catwoman, and other roles were more or less cast based on me knowing the actors' capabilities and trusting them with the role. My talented composer, Matthew A.C. Cohen, I met through my equally talented "Hothouse" composer Curtis Dumas, and both have contributed tremendous work to my films. Our fight choreographer, Brian Morvant, jumped aboard after seeing a trailer for "Hothouse" on Vimeo, and he's done an incredible job choreographing the fights so far in the series, and I know will continue to do a stellar job going forward. The cast as a whole are tremendous because they're all supremely talented actors and actresses in the NY/NJ area who all contribute so much to the product, and really believe in the webseries and in the potential it has for all of us."

MJ: Tell me about the actor who portrays Nightwing. I expect to see some serious escrima butt-kicking!

AS: "Jon Caballero, my good pal, portrays Mr. Grayson in the series. And yes, definitely escrima butt-kicking is on its way! You simply can't have a Nightwing fight scene without that. But yea, Nightwing gets introduced in episode 3 "Ascension", which more or less deals with Dick moving from Bludhaven into Gotham in Batman's wake, and catching up with the escalation taking place there, and accepting his new responsibility to stop it. The whole story is almost like what happened after Batman "died" in the comics or after Bruce Wayne left Dick to take up the mantle back in the mid-90's. Nightwing has to prove himself in his eyes, and maybe even his mentor's, that he can defend Gotham on his own and do just as good a job. I guess we'll see if he can rise up to the occasion."

MJ: There were tons of innuendo's to the larger DC Universe in the first few episodes. Martian Manhunter, Jason Todd, Black Canary, Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr., etc. [did I catch them all] What other Easter Eggs can viewers look forward to in the coming episodes?

AS: " I am so glad you caught all the little nuances and references! And yes you caught most of them. I can't think right now of any that may have been excluded, but you caught a lot. Oh, just came to me: in the beginning of episode 2 "Calloway", the stripper Scarlet talks about her sister living in Metropolis and how Superman isn't in Gotham protecting people and therefore it's a different type of protection offered in Gotham. Other Easter Eggs to look forward to I'd say would be appearances by some of these characters; Superman makes a cameo at the end of episode 2, after the credits, and minor characters like The Creeper (if you have Jack Ryder you gotta have the Creeper eventually!) may make an appearance as well. Other definitive characters to look forward to appearing are The Huntress, Black Canary, Catwoman (in-costume, not just as Selina Kyle), Bane, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, and The Riddler and his trusty cohorts, Query & Echo. And maybe that psychopathic boy Bruce Wayne grew up with who would later become one of his greatest enemies...."

MJ: Are you going to explore the "Bane" incident that drove Dick and Bruce apart?

AS: "The Bane incident that Dick mentions in that scene is the back-breaking Knightfall event from the comics, where after Bruce returned and reclaimed the mantle of the Bat from Jean-Paul Valley, he passed it on to Dick and left town. So, I'm purely referencing the books there. It's an odd continuity, I'll admit, but I felt it was worth continuing."

MJ: How many episodes will the series have?

AS: "The episodes, or 'first season' or so, should have about 5 episodes counting what we have thus far. Past that point it may go on hiatus, or may continue. Hard to say right now."

MJ: Do you have any projects lined up to work on after Nightwing: Escalation?

AS: "Other projects I'm currently occupying my time with include the comedy webseries "Roommates", directed and written by talented NYC comedian Ray Gootz, which can be found on Youtube; I'm the D.P./editor of that series, and it's really funny and quirky, and has comic book and pop-culture/videogame references in it, so I think fans would really dig it. Mr. Gootz and I are also collaborating in the future on a horror comedy film entitled "Laura the 13th", which is going to be a parody obviously of the Jason Voorhees films. I just wrapped production, with Zack Abramowitz producing, on a short film entitled "Remnants", which can be seen in the Exquisite Corpse Festival on March 31st, and is a mix of a bunch of genres, sci-fi, fantasy, romance, drama, and comedy, and is kind of like "Blade Runner" meeting "Cloverfield". It boasts a lot of familiar faces from the "Nightwing" series along with some new ones and I'm really proud of it. Other than that, I was assistant director on good friend Jack Gattanella's epic drama film "Green Eyes". I'm also eagerly anticipating the next episode of Zack's sci-fi comedy webseries "Kyle Sands: Raptor Hunter", and I'm sure I'll be involved in that in some capacity, as will our current D.P. of "Nightwing", the very talented Bobby Sansivero. I definitely don't want to limit myself to fan films; I think some filmmakers do that and it can be just that -- confining. In this business, I try and wear as many hats as possible, so I feel I'm a capable producer, editor, cinematographer, gaffer, sound operator, and actor. You don't want to put all your eggs in one basket."

MJ: Unfortunately, the average fan boy doesn't realize that you don't have a $100 million dollar budget for SFX and the like. What would you say to these knuckleheads?

AS: "Hah. Oh, those knuckleheads. I'd say that I understand the undertaking of a project like this can be seen as a huge misstep or waste of time. On the Batmanfanfilm.com forums, for instance, so many people comment on the works of my friend Aaron Scheonke or something and say that he wasted a ton of money on something, or that you should never invest your own money in your own work. They'd probably look at the cumulative amount of money spent on "Escalation" and say we're throwing away money, that it's non-profit and has no direction. To that I say it's a bunch of bollocks; I'm doing this project because I believe in it. I'm learning from it, every step of the way, and I know the outcome is worth it. What would the outcome be? Notoriety. Spreading the word. Spreading the talent of each and everyone involved, simultaneously while appeasing the fanbase at large. Some may call that small, I call it smart. If we succeed, imagine what inspiration we can spread to others around us."

MJ: Are you a reader of comic books? Have you been reading the DCnU?

AS: "Yea, I'm a reader of comics! Not as avid as I used to be because it's become such an expensive habit. And yes, I mourned the death of the DC Universe last year and the coming-on of 52. I'm actually a part of a weekly podcast called The Gootzcast, run by the same Mr. Gootz mentioned earlier, where we lamented about that. But the books I keep up with now are appropriately the main Batman books, and I also really love the "Nightwing" books, even if they seemed to have borrowed the color design of his current outfit from the Schumacher 1997 film with O'Donnell. Haha."

MJ: If you were to do a webseries about a Marvel character, who would it be?

AS: " Ah. A webseries on a Marvel character. I'd have to say it would be Howard The Duck. No, in all seriousness, Iron Fist or Daredevil or something. Maybe even The Punisher."

MJ: What are your thoughts on The Dark Knight Rises? Think Nolan will be able to top The Dark Knight?

AS: " I am so pumped for "The Dark Knight Rises". Isn't everyone? I know they're some skeptics who feel that Nolan may not be able to top "The Dark Knight", but I think he certainly can. I was privileged to see the prologue at a special screening at Lincoln Center, NY, and it was amazing. True, Bane's voice could use some work. But overall I am so excited to see where he's going with it, and after "The Dark Knight", I really trust in Nolan. I remember cursing the world when Heath Ledger first got cast as The Joker. Now, I'm eating those words. Like, some people seriously doubt Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. I don't. Some people think they're going to spend the whole film laughing at Bane (look at all the now-annoying parodies out there as well). I won't. Hey, it's not like he's going to be yelling "STEP" or "BAT" like some other filmmaker had him do! But honestly, "Dark Knight Rises" will be epic. If it disappoints, I mean, that's going to be HUGE."

MJ: Where do you think the franchise should go after Nolan's last Batman film?

AS: " Well, as far as I know, they're planning to reboot it not long after the Nolan franchise ends, right? So, that's where it's headed. But, I'm sure the fanfilm world will embrace continuing on the story or maybe even filling in the gaps between 'The Dark Knight' and 'The Dark Knight Rises'."

MJ: When can fans expect to see the next episode of Nightwing: Escalation?

AS: " In a month or so, new material will be online, formally introducing Nightwing in-costume and Helena Bertinelli (Diana Cherkas), Arkham Asylum psychologist Dr. Emily O'Brien (Amanda-Elizabeth Sawyer), Query & Echo (Kate Kenney & Sarah Seeds), and comprising the mob in the story led by Jordan Thorne (Vincent Bivona), Antoine Rotelli (Zack Abramowitz), Candace (Märgen Soliman), Alejandro (played by myself), Sofia (Maya Lynne Robinson), and Chris Cardona (Kyle Hoskins) in episode 3 "Emergence". All the episodes lead up to the crescendo of sorts in episode 4 "Ascension", which promises to be the most action-driven episode, tying together the storylines of Strife, Harvey Dent, Nightwing, and the mob alongside the drug war in Gotham. So I'd say be on the lookout in March or late February more specifically for more Nightwing goodness! Emphasis on 'Nightwing': I'm aware the main complaint of the series has been "Where's Nightwing?!" I guess I cannot expect everyone to trust in Valderana like they trust in Nolan. But maybe some day, they will. :)

Thanks so much for this opportunity, Mark. Really appreciate it. Comicbookmovie.com rocks!"

A cool guy, doing some cool things out of love for his favorite comic book character. Surely, the CBM community can get behind that right? You can check out the first two episodes of the series below and as Alex said, be on the lookout for episode 3 to drop sometime in February. And oh yeah, the series contains profanity, scantily-clad hot chicks, violence, and did I mention the hot chicks?








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