John Derevlany: (Super Narrative - Storytelling Across Platforms)

Comedy Masterclass

Danielle Krage interviews writer, creator, and brand builder John Derevlany. John is an award-winning writer, animator, and showrunner who has written or produced hundreds of hours of TV (including for the Jim Henson Company and LEGO). John has also been a game designer, street artist, investigative journalist and played Crackers the Corporate Crime Fighting Chicken for Michael Moore’s TV Nation!

In this episode John shares learnings from his creative career, and how he now thinks about Super Narrative – his approach to planning a story across multiple media platforms.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

02:05 Founding a Comedy Newspaper

03:09 Using Comedy as a Defense Mechanism

04:12 Transition to TV Comedy

05:40 Working with National Lampoon

07:25 Creating Crackers, the Corporate Crime Fighting Chicken

08:47 The Power of Reaction Shots in Comedy

09:56 Transition to Animation and Children's Shows

10:38 The Concept of Super Narrative

15:08 Understanding Super Narrative

16:00 Differentiating Super Narrative from Transmedia

24:02 The Need for Innovation in Hollywood

24:49 Adapting and Pivoting in Creative Projects

25:15 Navigating Humour and Broad Appeal

26:04 Considerations for International Audiences

26:34 Keeping Content Broad and Timeless

27:02 Challenges with Technological Advancements

27:49 Creating Characters and Expanding Worlds

28:18 Using AI for Idea Generation

28:57 Simplifying Stories and Layering Content

29:25 Creating a Multitude of Characters

29:58 The Challenges of Naming Characters

30:25 The Role of AI in Joke Generation

31:26 Using AI as a Tool for Creativity

32:09 The Increasing Speed of Content Production

33:21 The Importance of Trying New Things

34:19 The Uncertainty of the Entertainment Industry

35:28 Take Risks and Embrace Ignorance

36:36 Being Playful and Creative in All Aspects

37:35 Finding Inspiration in Comedy and Entertainment

38:16 John's Website and Projects

40:01 The Resurrection of 'Squish'

41:21 Dealing with Fan Obsession

You can find more about John’s work here:

https://johnderevlany.com/

Videos - https://johnderevlany.com/video-trailers-episodes/

(Including Squish, Legends of Chima, Crackers the Corporate Crime Fighting Chicken, Uke Til U Puke.)

The "Give me a job LEGO” animation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZznS4Y06_Cc

The big, outdoor board game: https://culverland.johnderevlany.com/

You can find the transcript at:

https://comedymasterclass.com

And Danielle’s socials here:

https://twitter.com/daniellekrage

https://www.instagram.com/dekrage