Red Giant Entertainment, Inc. (fka REDG)

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From http://www.workingsnug.com/

Catching Up with the Glass House Guy!
David Campiti of Glass House Graphics puts us over...

by T.Tochioka


I think it was 1990 when I discovered the Innovation line at Comics Unlimited on Beach Blvd. The covers were very reminiscent of the Gold Key line from the early 1970s and I was instantly drawn to their comics on the stand- passing up all of the superhero titles my friends were into. Now that I think about it, it was probably these Gold Key books ('Lost in Space,' 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea,' and 'Ghost Stories') that led to 'Swamp Thing,' 'House of Mystery' and 'Monster Hunters' being some of my favorite titles as a kid.

So seeing the Innovation line pop out at me from Comics Unlimited's display, was not only refreshing, but nostalgic as well. Since my childhood doesn't have superheroes forever bonded to it (other than the baseball players of the time), I don't feel a grip of nostalgia poking at my heart whenever I walk into a comic book store. The Innovation covers were painted and stood out from the 'Sandman,' 'Hellblazer,' and 'Shade the Changing Man' products that DC had been putting out (pre-Vertigo).



Fast forward to 1996- and 'Crash Course for Comic Writers' had just been approved for a second year, as a hands-on seminar for the Comic-Con (pre-Hollywood, I the Red-Carpet Guest that year was Tia Carrere as she was hot at the time from 'Wayne's World,' I think). The previous year was the first time I'd run a seminar at Comic-Con, and although it was a great experience, I don't think it was entertaining for those participating. I had vowed to make 1996's installment fun somehow.

Enter David Campiti, owner of Glass House Graphics, an international art coalition with talent hubs all over the Universe it seems. Having been referred to me by Ms. Nee, who was in charge program scheduling for Con, Campiti and I talked briefly for the first time a few days before the Comic Expo (a 2-day industry-only event that Diamond would host the Tuesday and Wednesday before Comic Con opened on Thursday- 'Bone' creator, Jeff Smith and I called this experience 'Hell Week').

Sorry, I'm rambling.

So Dave and I talked on the phone briefly about how we could make our presentation more engaging and entertaining and less classroom feel. It wasn't until I met him in person though, that it dawned on me:

"Sh*t! This is the dude who ran Innovation!"

Needless to say, the seminar was a super-awesome time had by all. Campiti and I were able to work off each other no sweat. It was so fun we booked it again in '97 and '98.

Since I was unable to make Comic Con this year, I figured I'd pick Dave's brain a bit about how the annual Mardi-Geek went for Glass House Graphics as well as some of the projects he's currently developing.



- How was SDCC this year for you guys?

Comic-Con was pretty terrific -- it's the first year I was able to take my wife Jinky Coronado AND my 8-year-old daughter Jasmine -- and it turned our pretty well for all three of us. Jinky and Jasmine were hell-bent on meeting the creators and voice actors of MONSTER HIGH, and they succeeded in that. By the third day, Jasmine and the actors were on a first-name basis. The only thing that didn't work out was their getting to see Doctor Who Matt Smith in person, since Hall H was filled to capacity. Unlike Doctor Who's Tardis, Hall H is NOT bigger on the inside.

- Do you think SDCC still growing?
It it still growing?
Not really. It's limited by physical size and by fire codes. As I understand it, the capacity is 150,000 on any given day, which comes out to somewhere around 120,000 to 130,000 attendees, plus professionals, celebrities, union workers and such. I was sad to see Artist's Alley isn't in a position to grow....I know a lot of artists are turned down each year. Everyone's jockeying for space. Some of the Panel halls could be twice their size and still not accommodate everyone who wants to attend.


- What about the 'hugeness' and how has changed the overall experience from say, a decade ago?

Only a little. You've got to take the WABAC machine 15, even 20 years to understand the real difference. My wife attended last in 2002 when her BANZAI GIRL comic book had launched -- she remembers it already being huge, although Artist Alley was bigger. Comics publishers have come and gone; TokyoPop and others are missed. Their spots were happily taken by movie and gaming companies. It's not really a "Comic-Con" except by name. If you want to imagine what Comic-Con would look like without the movie industry, you have to look no further than New York Comic Con in the fall, which I think, square foot for square foot, is as busy as San Diego. And one huge difference: Its Artist Alley is bigger than most entire Conventions! I think its safe to say, with so many things to do, see, browse, buy, meet, greet, and otherwise enjoy, each person comes away from Comic-Con with a different experience. I miss the panels you and I used to conduct there together, though.


- It's been a while since we've caught up- So what's new with Glass House? You'd mentioned animation and film production projects---

Quite a lot is new since we talked last. You may not know that I now have offices in Orlando, Florida; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Manila, Philippines; Jarkarta, Indonesia; and across Europe and Colombia. We rep 126 artists, colorists, painters, writers, designers, coders, and so on. Plus we have a full-service animation studio in Manila.

Our clients are all the usual suspects: Disney, DreamWorks, Hasbro, Harper-Collins, Reader's Digest Books, Capstone Publishing, Marvel, Dark Horse, Dynamite, IDW, DC, BDI, and a whole bunch of other initials. (Laughs.) Pretty much everyone.

Did you know I wrote the book STAN LEE'S HOW TO DRAW COMICS with "the Man"? I also wrote much of the text for THE MARVEL ART OF MIKE DEODATO, JR. and co-edited with Mort Castle THE ILLUSTRATED MASQUES anthology that recently came out in trade -- and hardcover -- from two different publishers. Mike Deodato and I just released THE CARTOON ART OF MIKE DEODATO, JR., and are about to Kickstarter THE MIKE DEODATO, JR. SKETCHBOOK, plus we've three other books in the works. So I'm writing and editing a lot more these days than I did for a bunch of years before it. Maybe our move to Florida appealed to me.

We've brought back three comics projects we did years ago, all on Keenspot.com

The sexy supernatural EXPOSURE series I did with the late, great Al Rio is serialized on exposure.keenspot.com; that free comic built a new audience, so an EXPOSURE trade paperback and hardcover are coming out this Christmas season. Meanwhile, Jinky and I have been creating brand-new EXPOSURE stories on Keenspot. Our newest, a story called "Blind Faith," is running there right now.

I don't know if you'd heard, but we've partnered up with my longtime friend Kevin VanHook, who is a film writer, director, producer and special effects master with 18 years of history in that business. He and I are working on developing EXPOSURE for a TV series. so cross your fingers.

Jinky's own BANZAI GIRL sassy schoolgirl adventure series is likewise on banzaigirl.keenspot.com, serializing all the issues she's written and drawn over the past 10 years. She plans on doing a brand-new story for that, as well. Look for new collections of her work to come out next year, funded via Kickstarter.

Remember Mike Deodato's JADE WARRIORS Asian assassin mini-series, which Deodato, Mike Buckley, and I did at Image Comics years ago? That one is on jadewarriors.keenspot.com. The original books saw only four issues come out; that last two have never been seen. So we've already finished serializing the original published issues, and right now we're into the unpublished material to complete the story. Deodato will do a Kickstarter on that so the graphic novel version will come out next year.


- Was this always part of the Glass House plan (to expand into multiple media projects)?

When I launched Glass House Graphics 20 years ago, it was a company that repped about 20 artists out of Brazil, breaking new ground and doing something nobody else was doing from there. We're six times that size now, just that part of the company alone. It came from editor demand -- and expanding out into other services, so what once was an comics agency is now a Professional Service Firm that does media consulting, helps publisher start-ups, trains artists, provides full animation services, book packaging, print brokering, and a whole lot more.


- With this new territory that Glass House is exploring/expanding into, are the comics and comic production still a big part of the company?

I'd say comics business is about half our business. Of course, we package whole books both fiction and non-fiction, produce children's books for Disney Worldwide Publishing and DreamWorks and Reader's Digest Books and other publishers. Stuff like TURBO and THE CROODS and HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON and CARS and TOY STORY and PEABODY & SHERMAN. Lots of stuff for Hasbro, Lego, and beyond. We've medical clients, animation clients, ad agencies....

I just finished producing an animated 2D feature film, JOURNEY TO MAGIKA, which is with a company now for distribution; we produced it in the Philippines with Cutting Edge Productions. I even voiced several characters for it! We're about to start work on another one.

MAGIKA's screenplay, incidentally, is
by my long-time friend David Lawrence, who is now a New York Times best-selling author for graphic novels that my Glass House Graphics has produced.


- You'd also mentioned a 'history of Innovation' that you're working on to celebrate 25 years, can you share more on that?

If I have time over these next few months, I'll complete the book in time to match the 25th Anniversary of Innovation's first release, following the building of the company and its early books such as Hero Alliance and Legends of the Stargrazers, through all the licensed properties including Lost in Space and the Anne Rice books. Even the bizarre Stephen King project that didn't happen even when it was completed because the licensor messed up! But hey, if it's not ready in time, I'll just hold and refine it for the 30th Anniversary! What the heck, right?


- What's the current status of the Jinky Coronado franchise?

Fans of Jinky Coronado's work on the AVALON HIGH graphic novels with Meg Cabot, and her own creation BANZAI GIRL, would probably be surprised to know that for the past year and a half she's been artist of the revival of my EXPOSURE series on exposure.keenspot.com. We relaunched on Keenspot the EXPOSURE sexy supernatural series that Al Rio and I created over a decade ago, serializing the entire eight issues online, to rebuild its audience. We're releasing a trade and hardcover collection to comics shops and bookstores this Christmas. When the original material was completed, around the same time Al Rio died, Jinky came in to do new stories with me. I think we're on our seventh new story, and all that material will be collected for print next year.

Similarly, banzaigirl.keenspot.com is reprinting, serializing all her BANZAI GIRL material, and she's about halfway done with a new story.

- Oh wow, a new BANZAI GIRL project! Where will Glass House Graphics be exhibiting next? How can potential artists contact you regarding upcoming presentations/classes you'll be putting together?

I will be exhibiting, and teaching a Seminar, at a brand-new convention called Rocky Mountain Con, in Denver, Colorado on November 9th and 10th, 2013. Find out more at rockymountaincon.com. I will also be attending New York Comic Con in October, though

- Dang, I can't even try to wrap my brain around everything you've been up to- anything else you'd like to spill the beans on?

Probably the biggest other news is that I've dipped a big toe back into publishing and delved further into filmmaking. Benny Powell and I wrote the business plan for Red Giant Entertainment, which went public a few months ago and is selling shares on NASDAQ as REDG. We've already released a few books, which are also featured on Keenspot.com to build audiences. We're developing a whole line of comics for release next year. Red Giant's WAYWARD SONS has been optioned as a feature film by Lin Pictures, which produced the Robert Downey, Jr. SHERLOCK HOLMES movies. Red Giant's LAST BLOOD starts filming in a few months. Red Giant's handling the release of my JOURNEY TO MAGIKA movie, as well. So this will be something to watch for as the next year rolls out.




Coming soon!!! We'll be meeting up with the lovely Jinky Coronado to discuss some of her upcoming projects and gigs through Glass House Graphics!


T.Tochioka
Editor-in-attempt