With the campaign for Room Service live on Kickstarter, we are delighted to be joined by writer Pierrick Colinet(Superfreaks, Star Wars: Adventures, The Infinite Loop) and artist Elsa Charretier (The Infinite Loop).
Could you please introduce yourselves to our readers?
PK: Sure thing. Until now I’ve primarily worked as a comic book writer on books like The Infinite Loop, Superfreaks and Star Wars Adventures. And Room Service will be my first movie as director.
Elsa: On my end I’m a comic book artist. PK and I started together on The Infinite Loop about 8 years ago. I then worked with the Big Two and Lucasfilm for a while after that but came back to my indie roots more recently. I’m also the storyboard artist for Room Service.
How would you describe Room Service?
PK: “Room Service” is a brutal glimpse inside the world of the ultra-wealthy. A world where there is no desire outside the reach of their wallet. Our protagonist is down on his luck, his family is on the verge of ruin, and with the help of the mysterious Caretaker, he might have found a way out of his trouble.
Elsa: But of course, as you can imagine, these transactions always go wrong. Someone wants out, and when they realize they can’t, then the true horror begins.
Can you tell us about the origins of Room Service?
PK: In a lot of ways, it’s me going back to my roots. I was the kind of kid who would do short movies and put together plays in their spare time. Directing was what I saw myself doing as a career and until I discovered comics and started writing, it was pretty much what I’d set out to do. During the early days of the pandemic, Elsa and I started this YouTube channel about storytelling. I got to produce, film, direct and edit again and it re-kindled my love for the medium. Not that I had fallen out of love with it, but rather that I’d been busy building other things. The YouTube channel made it clear that I deeply needed to get back to it.
Elsa: From there it was really a matter of finding a writer that would be the ideal partner in an indie setting. We got in touch with James who immediately said yes!
What did you think when you read the screenplay by James Tynion IV?
PK: It was everything I wanted without knowing it. James’ script is full of the brutality he’s known for and the humanity he’s infused into these characters was tremendously inspiring. It was dense and smart enough to have a very solid structure to work on, and open enough that my interpretation of this story didn’t feel shoe-horned.
Elsa: I mean, my jaw was on the floor. It is such a powerful story, especially considering the many restrictions he had, for budgetary concerns. Then, seeing PK adding another layer of meaning and creativity to it has been incredible to witness. I couldn’t wait to start drawing storyboards.
Who is the Caretaker?
Elsa: The Caretaker is the mysterious faceless entity who runs the whole operation. In the comic that James and I are creating as a companion piece to the short movie, we dig into a lot of how he operates and the depths of the depravity he is willing to provide to the ultra-wealthy.
What made you want to be involved with Room Service?
Elsa: PK and my creative relationship goes way back and we’re used to doing stuff together. When he said he wanted to do a movie I knew I would participate in one form or another. Me being a comic book artist, and the only one of the time with drawing skills, I guess it made sense that I would do the storyboards! Everything about this process was new, but I learned a ton and I can’t wait to see my pictures in film form.
How important is word of mouth for any indie project?
PK: For Room Service, we didn’t want to enter into a financial agreement with a production company that would want creative control in return. Full creative freedom is extremely important for all of us in general, but especially for this project. So we’re essentially counting on Kickstarter backer support to fund this movie. Meaning, we have just a few more days to convince people to support the project and help us get as big a budget as possible. I’d say word of mouth is incredibly valuable!
As you are crowdfunding Room Service and dealing directly with consumers, does that make Room Service more special for you?
Elsa: It does mean we have a certain amount of responsibility, especially in terms of delivering the movie on time. But that’s actually good. No matter the difficulties we will face during the process of making the film, and we will probably face some big ones, we won’t give up. We will have to push through and I know that for PK, James and I, that responsibility towards people who gave us their money is something we take very seriously.
Do you have a favourite Kickstarter reward?
Elsa: Personally, I’m very excited for the comic and for the beautiful variant covers we’re putting out!
PK: The artbook, I would say. I’m very excited to start putting it together. We’ll have a whole bunch of behind the scenes, the script, artist’s interviews…At this point, Elsa and I have published a lot of books and we know what we’re doing. There are incredibly cool objects for backers!
Any message for the ComicBuzz readers?
Elsa: Sure! We’re entering the last few days of funding. If you’re the least bit curious about what Room Service is and what we’re trying to accomplish with it, I would encourage you to check out the campaign!
PK: We’re aiming to do something incredibly ambitious and we want to take as many people on the ride as possible. If you’re into comics, horror or indie movies, I’m sure you’ll find something to your liking in our campaign!
A big thank you to Elsa and Pierrick for chatting with us. We would like to wish them the best of luck with Room Service.
Feel free to check out the campaign: Room Service Kickstarter.
