You are the only IP you need
An edition about the individual creation and other criminal suggestions
HELLO AND WELCOME TO A NEW EDITION OF MY NEWSLETTER!
Step by step, I am on track to finish a couple of my commitments. Like you know, I have more assignments (I always have more!) but I hope to have more time to dedicate to other more relaxed things, like working on my online store, doing more commissions or -if I dare- doing nothing. But summer holiday is coming, and if you are a freelancer and have a partner with a nine-to-five job, the time before summer is the time you work twice to save some time to join her/him on holidays. Like every year I feel summer approaching, my first thought is “Do I will get it?”.
THE POWER OF CREATING IPs
Recently I was chatting with a TV/movie director I know, a very nice and accessible guy, about the possibility of adapting Ginger’s Revenge into an audiovisual production. Nothing signed yet, it was simply a nice chat, but it was great to reconnect with this person I really admire. Some time ago, when Paranoia Killer was released, I had some chats with a Hollywood producer about the same question, the possibilities of that IP (Intellectual Property) as a TV show. Right now this conversation is on a kind of limb due to different circumstances but what I want to remark is: Ginger and Paranoia Killer has not been published in paper, they were released in the PanelSyndicate platform. The IPs these directors and producers were asking about were something I made because I felt like doing it. Polar was previously a webcomic, but its publication as a graphic novel was the key to sell the movie rights.
But right now things are different and people from TV and cinema are more open to new formats, even those you could consider “humble”. The origin of the wonderful Netflix show The End of the F***ing World was this little small press fanzine created by Charles Forman. Yes, it was published later by Fantagraphics but the creator of the show saw those little xerox pages and decided to contact him. And how many Korean shows are based on webtoons now?
Paper (this is: a publisher) is no longer necessary to create an IP. The book is an option but if you have done something, it exists as an IP even if it’s locked into a drawer because you fear to show it to your friends. It’s REAL. Because this power is, and always was, in the hands of the creator. You only need to tell a story, and you can tell it with a pen and a notebook, take a photo and upload to social media, or send it to your friends using a newsletter.
Ok, I am not telling to the creators that they should make stories for the internet and try to sell them to producers to make movies. I don’t even know if these conversations will have a tangible result, but the potential lies there.
What I want to explain is that a creator is the origin of everything, and even with this AI bullshit they want to sell us like that it can actually create, this is not the same case, folks. Because the difference is in the WILL to create, you can create when you want and what you want. And this is something they can’t take from us.
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CRIMINAL RECOMMENDATIONS
Lately I have not talked about things I have read or watched. I went to the movies to see Furiosa (I loved it). I must say this is the second time I go to the movies after Covid. The first one was when Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was released.
I admit I was pretty sick of cinemas before Covid, and attending a theater had become a stressful experience where I never knew if I will finish the day arguing when someone because he/she was using his phone, speaking out loud or her lactant baby was crying during the midnight projection of War for the Planet of the Apes (true fact!).
And right now, the perspective of more sequels and remakes in theaters (Planet of the Apes 5, Bad Boys 4 Inside Out 2, Twister 2, Beetlejuice 2, The Crow again, Gladiator 2!!!!!) doesn’t motivate me to return soon.
Ok, the two movies I saw after Covid were also sequels. Sue me. But you understand me. And 15 minutes of ads before the movie (including a shameful cryptocurrency commercial) didn't help.
I’m not going to recommend shows like Shogun, The Boys or Doctor Who that I enjoy. I’m sure you will find plenty of information about them. I prefer to select a show I have not noticed very much buzz online. I watched the UK show Sexy Beast. It’s a prequel of a cult movie from 2000 (yes, more derivative products) with Ray Winstone and Ben Kingsley, but you don’t really need to watch it to understand the show (I had watched it two decades ago but I didn’t remember a thing).
I love crime shows like this, because the British have a special talent to show this low-grade criminal scum and make them funny. Plenty of over-the-top characters and dark humor (although the show has very solid dramatic moments). And over all I want to highlight Stephen Moyer’s performance. Yeah, the vampire guy from True Blood. He performs a charismatic and diabolical bisexual crime lord who looks more like a vampire king than in his previous role. I really love how scary and funny he is. I actually want to create some character inspired by his acting.
I watched I'm Your Woman in Prime Video, a movie directed by Julia Hart with Rachel Brosnahan. It’s set in the 70s so this makes it my kind of shit. What makes this movie interesting is that it is a drama and noir story, but you see the perspective from a collateral damage, the wife of one of the gangsters. So you guess there is a storyline you can’t understand completely and you see pieces. And part of the story is waiting, and making you questions and doubting about everything and everyone. It’s a slow burn story with sudden and merciless bursts of violence. If you are looking for action, surely you will feel disappointed. But if you like Brubaker and Philips’ most “quiet” Criminal books, I think you will enjoy it.
And that’s all for today!
Like I’m working hard to save time for the holidays, I’m not sure when I will upload the next newsletter, but I’ll try to keep this monthly pace and deliver a new one at the beginning of August.
See you soon!
Victor
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