Supertalk: Lawler Chats It Up With Squedge

Squedge, here, reporting for duty. Recently, Comics2Film caught up with Andy Lawler, co-writer and co-producer of Supertalk. What, you may ask, is that? Supertalk is a quirky, fanboyish look into the private lives and personal problems of superheroes. Based on popular call-in radio talk shows, it puts a new, and humorous, twist on some old comic book standards. Andy was kind enough to grant us an interview.

Squedge (SQ): Which came first-- Andy the filmmaker or Andy the comics fan?

Andy Lawler (AL): Andy the Comics Fan. My twin brother Colin and I couldn't get enough of comics growing up, to my shame I recall I loved Champions best...that hot Black Widow. A time came when I moved away from comics and didn't pick up one up for years. Then I just happened to buy one, X-Men #139, which summed up a ton of the comics history I had missed, hooking me again. As time has gone by (and prices have gone up), I've started reading fewer titles. The only thing I buy religiously is Astro City (the twice a year it comes out), the rest I pick up in the published collections. I loved Preacher and Sandman and Kingdom Come. I can't wait for Dark Knight 2. 

SQ: Where did the ideas for Supertalk come from?

AL: Wizard was having its first 5 minute film contest, and I said if I couldn't write a 5 minute film I'd have to shut up about writing forever. I was trying to think of a way to use superheroes without having to show too much of them, and I hit on the idea of a therapist for Superheroes. I don't remember if Adam or I came up with the idea of making it a call-in show, but when I decided to satirize Dr. Laura, it all came together.

SQ: How did Adam Reist get involved. What did he bring to the project?

AL: Adam and I went to school together, where he was the creator and director of one of the first college soap operas. (The cast of whom included Billy Crudup and Dan Cortese as well as my wife Michele). He's been writing for a long time, and had written (with Reid Mihalko) an urban super-hero script called the Vigilante Chronicles which he had asked for my opinion on. I knew he wanted to direct a film and asked him to do mine.

Apart from directing, editing, and co-authoring, it was at Adam's direction that we opened up the story to satirize not just the comic book aspect of things, but the pop culture/TV view of superheroes which is so much more familiar to people. He added a whole layer of humor and meaning with the way he shot the story.

SQ: There's an excellent cast: Kurt McKinney, Justin Deas, Billy Crudup, Anthony Addabbo, Alice Ripley, John Hines, Beth Ehlers, Bruno Gioiello, and, of course, Kathleen Chalfant. There's an array of silver and small screen actors, more Tony and Emmy nominations (and winners) than your average daytime soap opera... How did they become involved in the project?

AL: Adam has worked on Guiding Light for a number of years, and asked some of the actors that he respected if they wanted to get involved. That got us more than half our cast. I've also worked in the business for a number of years and asked some of the actors that I knew. So we're just lucky to have super-talented and generous friends.

SQ: Was there any improvisation involved in the making, or was it "stick to the script'?

AL: Not a lot, although a few lines were changed a tad. The script we shot was pretty much what we'd written. Doom almost didn't make it, as we'd feared it was too obscure for the masses, however we also felt like it was the funniest of all the bits, so Vic got his three minutes of glory. The ongoing 'tension' so to speak was between making it accessible to Joe Public, but at the same time padding it with in-jokes for the comics reader.

SQ: Was there something you really wanted to include, but for logistical reasons, couldn't?

AL: We'd actually planned on shooting in one of two tunnels in Central Park which would have done a great job of simulating a certain Cave. However the Park wouldn't let us use motorcycles at our first choice, and the second one was occupied by drug dealers when we went to shoot. We ended up using an alley in Wall Street which gave a great urban feel. In fact when we were doing the moving shot from the motorcycle (with our DP Dylan Sanford hanging on for dear life) we had other drivers following yelling "Hey Robin!" Ah New York.

SQ: How much preparation did the production take?

AL: It was about 8 months from idea to shooting. That involved a lot of rewrites and gathering a production staff. One of our big initial choices was to use Digital Video instead of film, which saved us a lot of money. We shot over 6 nights. 6 long cold nights. Then Adam edited the film over the next few months. All told, less than a year.

SQ: The look is great; the costumes (what we get to see of them) are very accurate. Where did they come from (who made them or did you buy them, etc...)?

AL: The film was always intended to just show bits and pieces of the heroes, so that made it fairly easy. Mostly we just bought part of costumes and accessorized a lot. Reid Mihalko (who was also the body of most of our male superheroes) is a terrific artist and actually painted Peter's gloves with a web pattern. Diana's costume was an S/M knockoff worn to great effect by Michelle Rodd. Except for her, less was more.

SQ: What are the plans for Supertalk? Is this a first installment? A one-shot episode? Will there be more?

AL: We're putting it on the web and hoping people like it. Who knows where Supertalk might go. Both Adam and I hope (of course) that people shower us with other projects. Maybe we can rewrite Superman Forever for the zillionth time.

SQ: One more question: What's your next step as a filmmaker?

AL: Adam wants to direct and would love to do one of his own scripts. Me? I want to write films people have fun watching. I'd like to write a superhero film that don't feel like it needed to apologize for the fact that the guy's a superhero.

Check out Andy's Basic Training For Actors  - Now including pages on Kids' Acting and the Chicago Market!

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