Please tell us about the projects you worked on before making ‘Ah My Goddess Bad Goddess (DUB) Who Shot Mike Richardson’. How did you start, and how did you learn to make films?
KDN: Who Shot Mike Richardson is a part of a series of nearly 70 Ah My Goddess Film Pitch Video Comics that were jokingly written to look like they were made by a Disgruntled Intern who was using his Film Pitch to flip off his bosses on his way out the door. Before I made the Ah My Goddess cartoons, I interned on an Austin Public Access show called Zombie Life TV in the control room, and after making a few friend connections, after the show was canceled, I began to make my own Rock Documentaries on my iPhone7 in the local bars and coffee shops of Austin Texas. Eventually I ran out of places to shoot movies, and the Ah My Goddess videos became my main focus. All of my video projects are both online and available on IMDbTV. I wrote a book for the FBI, a scandal tell all, called The Story of a Blacklisted Bootlegger explaining my life and my films up until the death of my father and there are paperback copies on Amazon. Basically, my entire life and my career is an open book and there is an entire back history to this cartoon that will completely leave you dumbstruck.
Tell us about ‘Ah My Goddess Bad Goddess (DUB) Who Shot Mike Richardson’. How do you describe it?
KDN: A Wise Man named Josh Becker once told me that the Best Writers wake up in the morning and Write Angry, and if you look at my last seven films, that’s exactly what I just did. I found some kind of subject matter that pissed me off so much that I just had to write about it. During the making of Bad Goddess, I’ve done everything that I could to keep everyone in the loop including Kodansha Ltd, Dark Horse Comics, the Local Austin Police Department, and the Psych Ward Doctors (Kevin Neece has Schizoaffective Disorder). One day I found out that after emailing Dark Horse Comics for Six Years, every message that I sent them went straight into the garbage without being read. In retaliation to this, I made Who Shot Mike Richardson as a scare tactic to get their attention. The Short Film is a Pilot for a Longer Movie that’s basically Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians set at a Party at Dark Horse Comics Milwaukee Oregon in the middle of the night. Belldandy Urd and Skuld arrive at the Party hoping to make Film Industry Connections only to discover that they are not on the list and being brushed off, so they make friends with David Harbour who was also dissed because his Hellboy film was a monetary flop. During the party, somebody has stolen Big Head’s Mask and is bumping off the Comic Book Artists and has threatened to burn the building to the Ground if Junior Detective Skuld and David Harbour do not solve the case before sunrise. This movie is like a Rorschach Test. You can tell that the writer does not have a good working relationship with Dark Horse Comics because his characters reflect the way Kevin Neece himself was treated by their company. Bruce Campbell appears in the movie too because I felt Bad Goddess was on its last legs and it might be my last chance to use him. Dark Horse Comics reaction to the Cartoon is they called the Austin Police Department and sent them to Kevin Neece’s house for a Psych Test just to make sure he wasn’t planning to burn down their HQ for real. Outside of that they appear to have no problem with the cartoon’s existence and have made no attempts to attack it. I believe that Dark Horse Comics and Kodansha Ltd are just as equally curious to see how an audience reacts to this movie. It was made as an Angry Revenge Tactic, and now all of the Film Festivals want to screen it. Now that is Ironic.
Please tell us about your favorite filmmakers.
KDN: William Wyler and John Frankenheimer. Werner Herzog influenced my movies in the sense that I take real life people and put them into fictionalized situations, just like his movies from the 1970s. Obviously Ralph Bakshi, Trey Parker, Kevin Smith, and Monty Python are influences as well. I always believed that if I made a Biopic, it would be about William Wyler, but it turned out to be Vic Morrow instead. As for directors I would like to work with, Lloyd Kaufman, Anna Biller, Adam Rifkin, Tom McLoughlin come to mind.
If you were given a good budget, what would be your ideal project?
KDN: If I were given a good budget and a film crew, I wouldn’t know what to do with them because I haven’t been properly trained by a film school. My projects are truly independent projects. That movie I recently made, Let’s Save Vic Morrow, is the Big Budget movie that I would have made if I were working with Steven Spielberg.
Describe how you would ensure that production is on schedule. What steps would you take?
KDN: I’ve never had an official film production, just my indie projects. Who Shot Mike Richardson was made on a Laptop in my Bedroom, no different than all of my other cartoons. I have no experience in proper film productions. The method has changed over the years due to our technology. Back in the 1980s, if you were a teen filmmaker, you would beg your parents for money for 8mm and 16mm films like Bruce Campbell, now you have everything you need in the form of your iphone7 and laptop. But that’s not nostalgic enough for real filmmakers and it’s not going to teach you how to get a real job in the industry. Make no mistake, I have all of the creative freedom that I want or need to make my own films without putting myself at the risk of Studio Interference, but that creative freedom comes with a price. Unless I can get my films to take off, it looks like I’m on my own.
What was the hardest part of making ‘Ah My Goddess Bad Goddess (DUB) Who Shot Mike Richardson’.
KDN: The Text to Speech Voice Tracks are a pain in the ass every time and I’m telling you it’s not my fault. The Anime Industry in Japan, which has very strict copyright laws, told all of the voice actors that they would be blacklisted from work if they used Fan Dubs and Fan Films on their resumes to get a job. It’s okay if they made them for practice, they just can’t use them professionally. Because of this, none of the Voice Actors who made Ah My Goddess want anything to do with Kevin Neece and refuse to respond to him. But there’s more to the story than just that. As I’ve stated before, there is an entire backhistory involved Black Magick and Witchcraft and a Paranormal Haunting that I took Seven Years to Investigate and share with the Local Police and the FBI, and my communications with the FBI and the CIA along with my mental health issue also clearly led to everyone being afraid to respond to me. Once again, I’m on my own when I make these things. If I could have a Real Voice Cast, I would, but I can’t, because I don’t want to be responsible for a Voice Actors being lowered down to my level and blacklisted.
If possible, tell us about your next work. What plans do you have for your future work?
KDN: I have a backlog of Ah My Goddess films waiting to be made, although I’m a little worried that there may have been a good reason for me skipping over them. They’re not bad ideas, I just didn’t feel compelled to write them at the time. Bad Goddess War Games took five years before it actually got made so I won’t say NEVER, but still, I’m thinking of taking the Stanley Kubrick approach to them. Stanley Kubrick reached a point in his career where he only made movies once every seven years to keep his Retirement Valid. Likewise, instead of cranking out one episode every few months, I’m just going to make one feature film per year just so I can continue to keep my name attached to the Ah My Goddess series. Also my work laptop is broken right now. The screen has become detached from the laptop only connected by a thread and no longer works, so I have to plug the laptop into my Television with an HDMI plug. And all of my original files are on this laptop. There is still time for me to fix things, but until I get the files properly transferred, the future of Bad Goddess is definitely at risk right now. If you’re curious about my future film line up, I’ll list them here.
So here are the Ah My Goddess Storylines that are on the Future Feature Film Slate for now.
1) You're Under Arrest: Urd Your Wife is Calling. Officer Natsumi Tsujimoto and Urd decide to get legally married so that they can claim relationship partner benefits from the Bokuto Police Department only to face discrimination from their Bosses over their Lesbianism. After a fall out argument over Urd's lack of responsibility in their relationship, Urd gets smashed drunk during her bachelorette party and wakes up on the other side of Japan with Otaki and no fucking idea how they got there, leaving Urd and Otaki to hitchhike back home. While this is happening, Urd is engaging in phone conversations with Natsumi Tsujimoto during which she is trying to hide what has happened to her, coming up with one excuse after another to buy her more time to make it home for the Wedding. While this is going on Natsumi Tsujimoto also has her hands full dealing with a Pickpocket named Bartleby Hisakawa who has Tokyo Japan in chaos and enlists Lupin III to help her find the thief. When Urd finally makes it home in time for the Wedding, a fight breaks out in the Church when Strikeman and Troubadour show up to break up the Wedding to try and stop them and wind up in a Fist Fight with each other, with Strikeman confessing his love for "Home Run Girl". Urd and Natsumi go through with the Wedding anyway only to become tragically separated by the Judgment Gate when Urd's lack of honesty with Natsumi Tsujimoto results in her failing the test. Urd returns home traumatized and devastated only to find Natsumi waiting for her with John Waters Doctor What, who explains that he used the TARDIS to travel back in time to stop them before the separation. John Waters breaks down in tears and explains to them that Marriage is just a sheet of paper that some people feel they need for their relationship to be validated, and unfortunately, society still has a long way to go before the Government will ever allow Same Sex Couples to love each other for who they are. The Entire Reason that Marriage was created to begin with is because Weddings in the past were used as Business Partnerships that allowed Families to join with each other for Money and Property and had very little to do with actual love.
2) Bad Goddess: One Wish. Scandal has taken Yggdrasil HQ by storm when Robin Williams is put on Trial in the Afterlife for the crime of committing suicide leaving everybody on the staff completely shocked. In order to buy Robin Williams some more time, Skuld and his Lawyer Marlon Wayans kidnap Robin Williams during the Trial Recess and use the TARDIS to hide him in the one place nobody would ever expect to look for him, the cinematic universe of Tim Burton's Batman, where Robin Williams, Marlon Wayans, and Skuld face off against different variations of The Joker while engaging in existential arguments over Robin Williams career, how Warner Brothers and Disney kept repeatedly fucking him over on the Batman and Aladdin movies, the Irony of What Dreams May Come, jokes about Marlon Wayans being cast as Batman's Sidekick Robin only to be replaced by Chris O'Donnell, leading to the ultimate shocking reveal of all. Why the hell did the Funniest Man on Earth kill himself? Robin Williams wins his freedom during the Afterlife Trial when it is revealed they he suffered from Dementia and Mental Illness and was therefore not in control of his own actions when he took his own life. In order for someone to stand trial, they must first be deemed Mentally Competent and Robin Williams Tragic Mental Health Condition Ironically saves him from being sent to Hell.
3) Marller Gets a Spinoff: Cowboy Bippity Bop. The movie opens with Mara Marller performing in Broadway Theater singing "Remember My Forgotten Man" from Gold Diggers of 1933. Mara Marller wakes up from her dream to find herself sleeping in a Bus Station with the Marller Gang who are Homeless after the Last Adventure. While eating at a nearby McDonalds, Mara Marller gets caught putting Sprite into a complementary water cup, then flips off the manager and walks out, unaware that the petty crime is caught on camera. The Marller Gang travel centuries into the future only to discover that Mara Marller has been on the Most Wanted List for Centuries because her Petty Soda Crime at McDonalds classified as a Felony Theft Crime and her evasion of the Law resulted in Thousands of Years of Additional Charges being added to her record dragging all of her friends in the Marller Gang into it as her Accomplices. This leads to the Marller Gang being hunted by the Bounty Hunters from Cowboy Bebop, who are oblivious as to what sort of crime Marller actually committed in the first place, it just says Felony Theft with no mention that it was Sprite in a Water Cup. Team Cowboy Bebop chases the Marller Gang through a number of Vintage Sci Fi Movies from Roger Corman where they are both captured by a Space Pirate played by Drag Artist Christeene Vale impersonating Emperor Ming from Flash Gordon. Christeene Vale is revealed to be one of the Dragon Eye's Thirteen Escaped Demons, but ulitmately gets away after stranding the Marller Gang and Cowboy Bebop on the Planet of Starship Troopers where they are under attack by Bugs. The Team from Joss Whedon's Firefly and Serenity shows up to rescue them at the last minute, and they chase down Christeene Vale for the Final Showdown leading to the Capture of the Second Escaped Demon since The Mad Doctor.
4) Ah My Job Hunting Goddess: Contract Killers. Skuld is visiting her Psychiatrist played by Bruce Campbell and telling him the story of her troubles in flashback. It all started when Kodansha Ltd CEO Yoshinobu Noma secretly calls Skuld into his office and hires her as a Hitman for a Secret Mission. Kosuke Fujishima wants Skuld to murder Kevin Neece's Father Jim Neece during his Retirement Vacation in the Bahamas, so that his Rich Grandfather Roy Neece's Inheritance will bypass him going to his son Kevin Neece instead, allowing Kosuke Fujishima and Yoshinobu Noma to finally profit off of suing Kevin Neece for copyright infringment on his Ah My Goddess Fan Films. Skuld's Hitman Job on Jim Neece goes to plan, but backfires when Kevin Neece writes an FBI Confession Scandal Tell All called The Story of a Blacklisted Bootlegger, exposing the Existence of the Goddesses and Yggdrasil HQ to the FBI and the CIA and the United States Government, and detailing how Skuld was secretly the Grim Reaper all along. Word of Kevin Neece's book get passed around Yggdrasil HQ's Staff and suddenly everybody begins to re-examine all of the greatest unsolved murders throughout history only to discover that Skuld was the Goddess of Death behind everyone of them, and a subplot emerges detailing how Skuld has been engaged in a secret competition with Andras The Marquis of Discord, played by Daniel Radcliffe, as to who can create the most chaos. This movie is also the set up for the next storyline. Andras The Marquis of Discord was previously introduced back in Bad Goddess: Touched by an Angel.
5) Idris Elba is James Bond in Don't Break the Ice. Irritated with the State of Politics, Fake News Coverage, and Xenophobia in America, Skuld decides to stage a massive prank to teach all of the Americans a lesson by fabricating a Fake Islam Terrorist Group calling themselves "The Eskimo Sandn***ers" who are planning to blow up a Doomsday Iceberg to raise the Sea Levels through Climate Change sinking Japan and America underwater like the movie Waterworld. The point of Skuld's Racist Ruse is she wants to see how many Republican News Reporters she can get fired and career cancelled off of television for saying "Eskimo Sandn***ers" live on television and at first her sick prank works like a charm. There's just one problem that Skuld has overlooked, the Doomsday Iceberg is real, and her Terrorist Plan to blow up the Iceberg has just been hijacked by Andras The Marquis of Discord, played by Daniel Radcliffe. Skuld hacks into the MI5's database and drafts Idris Elba's James Bond on a mission to beat Andras and the Eskimo Sandn***ers to the Doomsday Iceberg, but Idris Elba gets robbed at the Airport by Noelle Parker, the Teenager from Ernest Saves Christmas. Tom Cruise from Mission Impossible is too busy to help Idris Elba out himself but Simon Pegg throws him a bone and tells him that another MI5 operative will meet him at the Airport to assist him on his mission, look for a man selling shower curtain rings. It's John Candy reprising his role as Del Griffith from Planes Trains and Automobiles, and he's Idris Elba's co-star for the rest of the movie during their adventure. Can Idris Elba, Skuld, Noelle Parker, and John Candy beat Andras the Marquis of Discord and the Eskimo Sandn***ers to the Doomsday Iceberg?
6) Ah My Goddess: Wacky Go Lucky. Inspired by the Warren Beatty Political Farce Bulworth, Kodansha Ltd CEO ropes Kosuke Fujishima into a Gentleman's Wager to finance Kosuke-san's Political Campaign to run for the Prime Minister of Japan with Voice Actor Mitsuo Iwata as his running mate (Ganchan the Rat from Mini Goddess). Kosuke Fujishima has no fucking chance of winning the election because he has no background training as a politician, but as CEO Yoshinobu Noma explains to him, the only experience you really need to perform the job of a Politician is Common Sense, a Strong Moral Backbone, and the ability to use an Ink Pen to sign things, which is pretty much what Kosuke Fujishima has been doing as a Mangaka on the Ah My Goddess series for decades. Instead of trying to win the election, Yoshinobu Noma wants Kosuke Fujishima and Mitsuo Iwata to meet their Political Crook Opponents in Battle after Battle like a Rocky Balboa movie with the intention of Throwing the Race by telling them the Outspoken Truth and what they REALLY want to say to the Japanese Public. In short, this is going to be fucking hilarious. There's just one little problem... Kevin Neece doesn't know anything about Japan's Political Issues either.
7) You're Under Arrest: Von Zipper Breaks Loose. Kosuke Fujishima's former cosplayer wife Nekomu Otogi has grown bored with being a Housewife hidden from the public spotlight and has been seduced by Doctor What and the Marller Gang into sneaking out of the house to party every night in the Cinematic Universe of Frankie Avalon's Beach Party. When Nekomu Otogi gets passed out drunk, the Marller Gang pranks her when she wakes up back in her apartment in Chiba Japan with Harvey Lembeck's Eric Von Zipper, completely unaware for how they both got there or how they are going to get Eric Von Zipper back to the Beach where he belongs. Nekomu Otogi and Eric Von Zipper try to hunt down Kosuke Fujishima at Kodansha Ltd where Harvey Lembeck becomes the life of the party because all of the staff members believe he is an impersonator. Eric Von Zipper then suffers an existential crisis when he realizes that the reason why he never appeared in Back to the Beach was because he died, leaving behind two adult children in America, one of which Michael Lembeck is the director of The Santa Clause Trilogy with Tim Allen. Eric Von Zipper gets arrested by the officers from You're Under Arrest for making a scene at the office, and during his escape, Officer Natsumi Tsujimoto is forced to chase after him though the City as the Night begins to fall. Things go from bad to worse when the two of them come face to face with a Yakuza Gangland Murder perpetrated by Yakuza Mike, played by Horror Director James Wan. Eric Von Zipper and Natsumi Tsujimoto are forced into a game of cat and mouse with Yakuza Mike based on the Emilio Estevez Thriller Judgment Night where the Yakuza have no plans of allowing the witnesses to go free, leading to a bunch of Tarantino'esque Discussions as Eric Von Zipper tries to charm their way out of the Yakuza's Lair.