Nick Mills - Interviews Status Thread

Site Discussion Team Discussion
21

Interviewed Jim Meskimen and Gerrianne Raphael.

Both were good interviews - Gerrianne actually intimidated the hell out of me at the beginning because she seemed somewhat angry and forgot I was calling her for the interview. But like all women with my charm :P, she loosened up and it wasn’t a bad interview. It’s about 20 minutes raw audio, though, so it’ll probably be 15 minutes overall. Jim’s interview was about an hour’s worth of audio so it’ll take longer.

However - and this is awesome - the echo problem seemed to have been solved! So it’ll take less time to edit than it used to.

The plan is still to do the teasers - I’m interviewing Peter Newman on Monday 20th. I’ll edit the interviews, piece some soundbites together and then produce a ‘teaser’ to be added to ThunderCast/single forum post which we can hype up and such.

It would just be a short audio file describing the many interviews we have, the ones upcoming (+ soundbites) and then bringing in the Tygra music and “Coming Soon to ThunderCatsLair.org…”, using a clip of that interview. This way, we get people excited. Tease them. :slight_smile:

After that, we’ll draw up the questions for Leonard Starr and get them sent to him. We could do that now but, seeing as he’ll take a while to answer them, we could do that now. It’s Chris that helps with the questions but I don’t want to bombard him with work/work/work, so.. yeah. Whatever works. :slight_smile:

22

Chris here…

Yikes, that’s scary stuff with Gerrianne - what, did she like go “Yeah, whaddya want? Who the hell are you?!” Anyway, well done on making it work, and even a short interview with Gerrianne is more than most sites have been able to snag! :slight_smile:

Awesome! :slight_smile:

Awesome - if you like to fire the edited teasers my way and I’ll upload them for you, my friend! :slight_smile:

I don’t mind, Nick - obviously if others want to chip in with their own questions that’s fine by me, but I’m happy to help. :slight_smile: My immediate priority is Peter Newman questions, and then if you like I can get to work on Leonard Starr - still can’t believe you managed to get him to agree to a text interview… :thumbsup:

Take care… :slight_smile:

23

Well, something along those lines.

It started with “Excuse me?” - so I had to explain who I was. She was like “right so we’re doing the interview NOW?” (which we’d agreed in emails) followed by sorta giving me a harsh tone for getting her name wrong - ‘Jerry’, it’s pronounced. Not ‘Gerr’ sounding, as I put it.

It wasn’t a bad interview - she loosened up in the end and was joking and such which was really cool. Did a nice ‘montage’ too which I’ll edit together.

The Jim Meskimen one was very, very fun indeed - he’s a very laid back dude. Shouldn’t be too much hassle editing this all - which I’ll do at some point.

My immediate priority is Peter Newman questions

Excellent! I agree. Since Peter Newman is exclusive and all, I’d very like to get some good questions down for him to make the interview great. Get those in as soon as you can so I can forward them to him so he’s fine with them :slight_smile:

As for the teasers, once you upload them.. fire them about ThunderCats forums like EOT and Angie’s websites - I’m sure lots of those folk would be very pleased. I’d do it, but.. that’s all I’ve done so far is talk about my interviews on those sites and I’m afraid that I’d become a little repetative. :stuck_out_tongue:

24

Chris here…

Quick post just to say that I’ve completed all the questions I can think of for Peter Newman - you’ll note that there are a number of similiar questions to those I came up with for Gerrianne Raphael, which concerned me at first, but thinking about it, both would qualify for similiar sorts of questions, as they both had the same “job” on the series. :slight_smile:

Anyways, hope these are OK for you, Nick - as ever, by all means feel free to chop and change, edit, add, amend or whatever needs doing. I’m really, really, really, really, REALLY excited to hear this interview!! :slight_smile:

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]How did you get started in the field of voice acting and doing voiceover work? [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]What made you choose voice acting over conventional acting? Have you ever done any acting on TV or on stage? [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]How did you become involved in ThunderCats and had you ever done any voice acting work for a cartoon series prior to ThunderCats?[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]How did you come to land the roles of the two main characters that you voiced, Tygra and Monkian? [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]Was there anything about the character of Tygra that particularly attracted you to that role, or that you felt made you particularly suitable to voice him? [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]Was there anything that particularly attracted you to ThunderCats as a project? [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]Do you have any interesting or particularly fond memories of recording for ThunderCats that you’d like to share with us? How did you find the experience of working on the show as a whole? [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]Do you remember how you developed the voices of the characters that you portrayed? [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]Did you have a favourite voice that you did for ThunderCats, and conversely what was the hardest voice to do? [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]Was there a character voiced by one of the other actors that you would have particularly liked to have voiced, and if so, why? [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]Since working on ThunderCats, have you done any more voice acting? What sorts of projects have you worked on since that time? [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]What are you working on currently, and do you have any upcoming projects that we should keep an eye out for? [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]Larry Kenney has mentioned that from time to time he still gets people who recognise his voice from his work on ThunderCats – does this ever happen to you? [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]As you may or may not know, Warner Bros are currently in the process of producing a CGI-animated ThunderCats movie, tentatively planned for release in 2010. If approached, would you be interested in reprising your role of Tygra, Monkian, or any of the other characters that you played, for that film? [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]What legacy do you think ThunderCats has left, and when you look back, how do you feel about your involvement in the show? [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]And lastly, would you be able to do a quick montage of some of the voices that you did for the show, mentioning our website ThunderCats Lair?[/SIZE][/FONT] [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]----- [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]Keep up the awesome work, Nick, and don’t forget, when you need another new interview (or teaser) adding to the site, just LMK! :)[/SIZE][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2][/SIZE][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]Take care… :)[/SIZE][/FONT][/FONT]

25

UPDATE

Sorry for taking so long to reply to this thread - I’ve not only been struck down with a chest cold and lost voice (due to shouting so much as I attended two wrestling shows over the weekend - met Ric Flair if anyone knows who that is - got a photo which I’ll be whoring out very soon) but I’ve been extremely ill and so I’ve just spent today sleeping as I’m energy-less.

That said, I HAVE conducted the interview with Peter Newman and it’s one of the best I’ve done.. ever. It’s brilliant, he’s a very intelligent funny guy and it’ll be all worth it. Unfortunately, my voice was destroyed so I’m actually going to overdub my dialogue because it’s pretty much unuseable. Until my voice comes back and my cold gets lost and doesn’t mess with my voice, I can’t really do anything dialogue wise. I’ll edit things over the next few weeks and have three completed interviews by, hopefully, mid-November. This is just a guess - might have them done earlier than that.

The montage he did for us is well worth it - got Wilykat, Monkian and Tygra in it. He also did Haitchiman for me. :slight_smile:

Other updates - Peter Lawrence has actually offered to try and get some interviews for us. He threw names at me including Lee Dannacher, Chris Trengove, Bob Camp, Masaki Iizuka and J. Larry Carroll (who he quoted as “a real vet of this era of animation and can give you scads of inisght into the business at that time”). However, I’d like to get all our other interviews edited and uploaded before I start going into this.

We also have the Leonard Starr text interview to conduct. However, Chris, take your time with that one as I’m going to be a while editing these three interviews. I’ll try make up a teaser/trailer in the next few days depending on if my voice comes back and my cold goes away - just use tibits.

26

Chris here…

Wow, Nick, that sounds awesome - well done!! I can’t wait to hear the Peter Newman interview, sounds just simply amazing! :slight_smile:

That’s brilliant about Peter Lawrence as well - none of those folks he mentions have ever been interviewed by a ThunderCats fan site before (Purrsia had a line of communication wide open with Lee Dannacher, but it shut down suddenly and abruptly with no word as to why, and she’s never been able to re-establish contact), so those will be amazing exclusives for this site! :slight_smile:

Lastly, and most importantly - get well soon, Nick! I know how horrible colds can be, and losing your voice is the worst thing ever! :frowning:

Take care… :slight_smile:

27

I’ll recover… soon.

I actually think the Lee Dannacher communication issue is down to her email address - I’ve emailed her several times after she got in touch but nothing. It’s probably knocking back my emails.

I also got in touch with someone at Earle’s agency and they’ve told me that they’ve put a call to Earle Hyman about the request but nothing - they believe that he’s in Norway right now but don’t have his telephone number there and he doesn’t have an email address. So at least it’s being acknowledged.

Y’know what’s crazy, though? I looked through the credits today of ThunderCats and we’ve interviewed so many people - apart from Earle Hyman, we’ve interviewed practically everybody who did voices for ThunderCats! (Doug Preis won’t do interviews, Earle’s hard to find with people thinking he’s actually dead due to it and Bob/Earl Hammond have passed on) How amazing is that, huh? I actually feel pretty awesome about that.:slight_smile:

28

Chris,

I PM’d you a few days ago. Could you please respond to it ASAP so I know you’re kicking about and that?

29

Chris here…

Hey Nick, I must apologise - I got your PM, I’ve just been completely disorganised the past couple of days and completely forgot to reply! :duh:

Nonetheless, even though I haven’t replied, the content is all registered in my (otherwise dysfunctional) brain - will fire you a reply ASAP, and apologies again for the delay in so doing! :frowning:

Take care… :slight_smile:

30

Ladies and gentlemen…

I’ve just managed to confirm an interview that’s so awesome and amazing that ThunderCats fans everywhere will rejoice.

He’s agreed to do an interview with me. After all that time trying to find him, I found him.

EARLE HYMAN!

Interview will take place Friday 7th November at 6PM NY time (22:00 GMT)

31

Chris here…

Congratulations, Nick! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Believe me, this will be the most amazing interview ever - a man so reclusive that some ThunderCats fans actually believe he’s dead! :wink: To put this into context, I don’t believe Earle has EVER done a ThunderCats-related interview in the last 20 years - he & Doug Preis were the only surviving voice actors absent from Warner Bros’ special features documentaries on their ThunderCats DVDs… :slight_smile:

Questions from me will follow ASAP! :slight_smile:

Take care… :slight_smile:

32

Chris here…

Roll up, roll up - here are the questions I came up with for Earle Hyman! :slight_smile: Be warned, there are a lot, LOL! :slight_smile:

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]When did you decide you wanted to become an actor, and who or what was your initial inspiration? [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]What was your first TV appearance as an actor, and did you start out in TV or on stage? [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]How did you become involved in ThunderCats and had you ever done any voice acting work (either for a cartoon series or commercials, etc.) prior to ThunderCats?[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]It would probably be fair to say that ThunderCats is quite radically different to most of the other work you’ve done in your career – was there anything that particularly attracted you to the project? [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]How did you come to land the role of Panthro? Was he a character that you chose to voice, or did the producers assign him to you? [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]Was there anything about the character of Panthro that particularly attracted you to that role, or that you felt made you particularly suitable to voice him? [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]Do you have any interesting or particularly fond memories of recording for ThunderCats that you’d like to share with us? How did you find the experience of working on the show as a whole? [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]Through your work on the stage you’ve doubtless had to play some very dramatic roles – did you find this part of your background at all helpful when voicing some of the “larger than life” characters you had to portray in ThunderCats? [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]Do you remember how you developed the voices of the characters that you portrayed? [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]Did you have a favourite voice that you did for ThunderCats, and conversely what was the hardest voice to do? [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]Was there a character voiced by one of the other actors that you would have particularly liked to have voiced, and if so, why? [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]In addition to ThunderCats, the TV role you’re probably most associated with is that of Russell Huxtable, a.k.a. Bill Cosby’s father on The Cosby Show. Can you tell us more about how you came to land this role? [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]Did you work on The Cosby Show at the same time as working on ThunderCats, or did you work on the two projects at different times? And, did you ever have a problem juggling the scheduling of your work on ThunderCats with any other work on TV or stage that was taking place around the same time? [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]How much of a difference did playing Russell Huxtable make to your career, and did it affect the types of roles you were offered on other projects? [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]Do you still get stopped in the street and suchlike by people who recognise you as Russell Huxtable? And, does anyone ever recognise your voice as being that of Panthro from ThunderCats?[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]As well as your TV work, you are also a critically acclaimed stage actor. Can you tell us more about this aspect of your career, and do you still act on the stage today? [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]Which did you do first, television acting or stage acting? And, of the two, which do you prefer and why? [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]What are you working on currently, and do you have any upcoming projects that we should keep an eye out for? [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]As you may or may not know, Warner Bros are currently in the process of producing a CGI-animated ThunderCats movie, tentatively planned for release in 2010. If approached, would you be interested in reprising your role of Panthro, or any of the other characters that you played, for that film?[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]When viewed in context with the many other acting projects you’ve worked on in your career, when you look back, how do you feel about your involvement in ThunderCats? [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]What legacy do you think ThunderCats has left? [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]And lastly, would you be able to do a quick burst of Panthro for us, giving a shout-out to our website ThunderCats Lair?[/SIZE][/FONT] [/FONT]

Hope these are OK for you, Nick - you’re a complete legend to score this, taking us into territory even Warner Bros couldn’t reach, and I’m so looking forward to hearing the finished product! :slight_smile:

Take care… :slight_smile:

33

Congrats Nick! You know how I feel about Earle…I’ve been a huge fan of him through ThunderCats and The Cosby Show. I’m so excited about this interview! :smiley:

34

Just completed the interview with Earle Hyman.

Wow… simply amazing. His first answer to my questions nearly ran to an hour! Not joking.

I was disconnected halfway but I managed to get back hold and finished the interview. Since he answered most of my questions without asking him, I cut a few. And I asked some questions again just to extend the interview because I was slightly worried.. overall, fantastic interview. And the first ever ThunderCats website audio interview, too. :slight_smile:

Here’s a clip of him plugging the website (just for you guys) - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WS576MDT

35

Chris here…

Nick, that is AMAZING! :eek: You are a prince amongst men, my friend, and I’m so excited to hear this interview!! :slight_smile:

Will reply to your PM tomorrow as like I said in my message to you I’m absolutely knackered - but, I had to both finish listening to Peter Newman, and check out that amazing plug for this site! :slight_smile:

Take care… :slight_smile:

36

Just an update - I’ve finished editing Gerrianne’s interview. Also, in a strange turn of events, I’ve managed to edit Earle Hyman’s interview and it’s practically finished save some touching up, I’ll have it on a Megaupload link tomorrow for all of you in the team to listen to.

Keep this interview and any news of it restricted here - I don’t want anyone else knowing. Me and Chris have big plans for the releasing of the interviews and when :slight_smile:

37

Chris here…

Yep, absolutely - I’ll shoot you a PM about that and more (hopefully) tomorrow, Nick, when I’ll try and respond to all your points and also HTML-ise and upload everything that needs doing! :slight_smile:

Take care… :slight_smile:

38

Thanks, Chris.

I’ve edited and completed the Earle Hyman interview - you can find it in the ‘Final Links’ thread where I’ve posted. Allow all feedback or any comments etc to come here.

39

Chris here…

Hey Nick, am having the day from hell so won’t get chance to do the work I’d hoped today, unless I have enough energy to do it late tonight when I return from a gig - however, it will be done ASAP I promise! :slight_smile:

Take care… :slight_smile:

40

Hey guys,

Was wondering if I could get an idea of how popular (download wise) the interviews are. Specifically, how many hits the Earle Hyman interview received. :slight_smile: