Kyle Jones - 3/20/06

~ Hey Kyle, thanks for agreeing to do this interview. I really appriciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule. So let's begin, you're still a relative newcomer to ADV with your earliest credit being back in 2003. What is your pre-ADV background?

Kyle: In high school, I worked at Showbiz Pizza Place, Chuck E. Cheese’s and Little Caesar’s. In college, I worked at a place called Amy’s Ice Creams in Austin. After that, I took my University-of-Texas-Longhorns-National-Football-Champions-Degree into advertising as a copywriter. I started in New York, went back through Austin and wound up in Houston. I’ve always enjoyed the competitive nature of the ad business, but sheesh, that form of writing can really do a number on the ol’ soul.

~ So, how did you get started with directing at ADV?

Kyle: Short answer – Steven Foster called.

Long answer -- ADV was set to explode in the summer of 2003. They had just landed a staggering number of titles and needed more hands. (Or tentacles, in this case.) In their search for people who had produced anything remotely similar to trans-cultural/animated ADR (!?!?!), Steven (who also cut his teeth in advertising as an art director) looked to his old stomping ground. And, man, am I glad he did!

~ How much did you know about anime in general before signing on?

Kyle: Of course, Speed Racer was huge when I was growing up, but the one that got me was Star Blazers. I also caught a fair amount of shows like Battle of the Planets and Robotech. You see, my father was always drawing or painting or cartooning when I was a kid, so we watched just about anything animated. Plus, I got a pretty detailed critique’ with every show.

~ What kind of process do you follow when you're first starting a project? Do you have a set order of things that you do to lead you up into the casting process and beyond or is each project something entirely different?

Kyle: I think it’s safe to say that it’s a combination of both. I learned a long time ago that there are things I can control and there are things that can go all crazy and wacky-doodle. (Sometimes, even encouraged!)

~ What is your casting style? I've heard some directors say that they prefer to just close their eyes and try to envision the character with the voice they are hearing, some record lots of vocals and then try to match up the best voice combinations, what do you do when you're casting a new show?

Kyle: Casting is very very very very important. My first title at ADV was "Gamera: Attack of Legion". For those not familiar with the Gamera series, let me explain. He’s a giant, flying, fire-breathing turtle ala Godzilla. But, more importantly, the show is not animated, it’s live-action. (I’ve since worked on quite a few other live-action titles as well, like Conduct Zero, Guns and Talks, Dark Water - and even a bit more Gamera!) And in the world of real people and real lips, if a person doesn’t ‘look’ like they ‘sound,’ (or vice versa) then it becomes a distraction. And if the audience is distracted, then the audience is not submersed in the story. It’s right up there with the actors’ emotive talent. “You know it when you here it,” -- somebody must’ve said somewhere.

~ How closely do you work with the writers and translators of each show that you direct?

Kyle: I go to the translators for cultural questions. The writers get prodded about the story and the subtext. Otherwise, when it comes to the actual dialogue, they both must hate me. I change a lot.

~ One of the greatest shows to come out of 2005 was the dark action series, Madlax. I've had the pleasure of interviewing some of the cast members of this show (and I am dead set on finding the rest of them as well! lol) but this is an extra special treat for me to get to ask you for your own unique perspective about this show. What was your initial reaction to this show when you first saw it?

Kyle: Let me think…well, I knew that the story was thick and layered and that the characters were devoutly complexly sexy. Also, we were going to need to tell the story sorta backwards. So, my initial reaction was…uhm…something like, “Aaugh!” I could tell it was going to be quite a terrifying challenge - and that I was going to love every minute of it.

~ How closely did you work with Monica Rial on the writing of the script?

Kyle: To make this story flow in one direction and unfold in another, Monica Rial was key. In a sense, she was the only one who knew the actual, reality-based future…or, the past, as it were. I could only tell the actors so much, and my tiny brain could only personally retain so much. Monica Rial (and translator Sarah Lindholm) saved my butt countless times from really screwing this whole thing up.

~ With so many interesting characters such as the voice-only SSS and the incredibly complex Madlax, did you find it difficult to know exactly what you wanted from each character or did you leave it more up to the actors and their instincts?

Kyle: Ah, casting – it really is one of my favorite parts. Some characters prove to be a long, drawn-out search of attrition while others lend themselves to chance and circumstance. Nancy Novotny (Madlax, herself) was a late surprise. Just about everyone else was cast, but the title character was still missing something. I wasn’t sure exactly what that something was, but I knew I hadn’t heard it yet. When Nancy first read, I thought she was a close second for the character of Margaret Burton (Luci Christian). Sincere innocence seethes out of Nancy. Her voice just has this helpless purity quality to it. So initially, I didn’t even consider her for the role, but she somehow managed to talk me into a reading. No matter how badass I tried to make her read it, there was always this faint undercurrent of sweetness trickling beneath. And as it turned out, that was the missing ‘something!’ Well, I was sold – and my cast was dismantled. In fact, I had to redo a bunch of paperwork because of that girl!

~ Madlax has been getting rave reviews from the vast majority of the anime community, not only because of the anime itself but also because of it's hilarious extras. I've had a chance to talk to Jay and Christine about the now infamous, Conversations with SSS extra but now I'd like to ask you, the REAL evil mastermind (as Jay has come to refer to you as), how did this extra come about? Did you know from the beginning that you wanted to do something like this or did you just decide to do it later as an afterthought?

Kyle: First of all, in regards to Jay Hickman, don’t let him fool you with that “REAL mastermind” business. He may be the most evil of masterminds I’ve ever met. And as far as Christine Auten goes, well, after all the crap I had her say, I’m surprised she still talks to me.

When it comes to the whole concept of the “Conversations with SSS” thing, you see, I’m always looking for something to play with on the special features. It offers the chance to dabble in one of my favorite things – improv. Plus, it provides a fun, creative outlet after hours of trying to mix cultural ‘intent’ with precision ‘flap’ timing. But I’m not going to lie – ‘Conversations with SSS’ came to me in my sleep. And when I woke up, I immediately went to the bathroom and took a pee. But immediately after that, I called Jay Hickman. He said he loved the idea, then he went back to sleep.

Recording was an adventure. At the end of each volume, every person who had a telephone scene was invited to attend a big group session. For the most part, I only prepared myself with a brief idea of what each conversation was going to involve. But, exactly how that happened was entirely up for discussion. Jay, bless his evil soul, did a great job of holding it all together. I can honestly say that I simply could not have tried it with anybody else.

~ Another extra that is also getting rave reviews is the hidden Easter Egg on volume 6... the sock puppet theater! Now, how did this come about?

Kyle: Once Matt Greenfield and David “The DLW” Williams told me about the Sock-Puppet-Theatre Easter egg from the Noir series, I started writing the sequel. It had to be done – especially since the dastardly Chris Patton was never captured!

~ Where were the beginning shower scenes filmed?

Kyle: Ha! Why, that’s the Family Jones bath.

~ What kind of direction did you have to give Patton to help him find his motivation to make out with a sock?

Kyle: Okay Chris, I want you to close your eyes. Close your eyes and take a deep breath, Chris. Now listen, I want you to think. I want you to think back, Chris. Think waaay back to last Saturday night….

~ Ok, latest project you're working on is the new series Diamond Daydreams. What can you tell fans about this series to make them want to go out and buy it? lol

Kyle: This is not your average anime. There are no robots, no explosions, no blood-drenched prostitutes. One of the most intriguing aspects of Diamond Daydreams is the format. Every two-episode couplet is a story. In each pair, we follow a woman and her life in Hokkaido, Japan. The series avoids the fantastic and focuses on the reality and depth of the characters and their circumstances. In other words, it’s drama. Also, since the entire cast had to change every other episode, it’s packed with a wide variety of some of the best VAs in the business. (Warning: Name-Drops ahead…) We’re treated to the likes of Jessica Boone, Kira Vincent-Davis, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Kaytha Coker, Luci Christian, Laura Bailey, Allison Sumrall, Kelli Cousins…and, oh yeah, a bunch of dudes, too.

~ In your personal opinion, what is the hardest and easiest parts about directing an anime?

Kyle: The hardest part is making both a colloquial, yet loyal transformation of the original. It’s a tricky matter to take an artist’s intent and make it cross cultures.

The easiest part is lunch.

~ Do you have any other projects coming up that you'd like to, and can, share with us here?

Kyle: Unfortunately, the biggest thing I’ve got going is too hush-hush to mention. Aside from that, I am always looking for another way to get “Lake Texarkana Gamera” in front of people. It’s a redneck version of Gamera: Attack of Legion. So far, we’ve shown it in a few local theatres and at the Houston Kamikazecon. Currently, I’ve been working with the good folks at The Anime Network on a fun little project called “The Miscellaneous Adventures of Poo-Boy”. The show is not a Japanese conversion, but rather some original content. It’s a collection of shorts - some very short shorts. And it involves poo. Right now you can catch it on either the network itself or on The Anime Network. It will be available on pod-cast very soon!

~ And now for the final obligatory question that I end all my interviews with, do you have any parting words or thoughts that you'd like to leave with your fans?

Kyle: Sure, a thousand monkeys locked in a room with a thousand typewriters might be able to write Shakespeare, but man, just think how badly that room would stink.

Thanks again to Kyle for this incredibly insightful interview.