In this issue of AlienSkin Magazine, we are delighted to have had the opportunity to interview a brilliant independent filmmaker and producer, Joshua Sikora. For more information on him, please read Joshua's biography at the end of this interview.  Mr. Sikora has a new science fiction television series, The Black Dawn, which debuts this coming January.

Having seen some of it via the Internet, I can tell you right now, it has a marvelously dark, forbidding, and scary storyline, a plot that will make you yearn for each new episode. What's more, this series is full of mysteries, as well, and ones that I'm certain will make the readers of AlienSkin Magazine want to watch the show to try to figure them all out, as much as I want to do right now.  Of course, you may find hints as to the solutions to some of these mysteries here, in this interview with Mr. Sikora.  So, let's get started with it!

Sgt. Shelsky:  Mr. Sikora, as the producer for The Black Dawn, you offer audiences a truly chilling television series, one whose post-apocalyptic premise is frightening in the extreme. Could you tell us a little about the show, fill us in on it for those who haven't had the opportunity to see it?

Joshua Sikora:  The series centers on the survivors of a worldwide virus that kills all but these thirteen college students.  How the virus spread and why these thirteen people survived are at the heart of the mystery behind The Black Dawn.

Sgt. Shelsky:  We all know that the end-of-the-world scenario for films is popular, has often been used before, and sometimes with great success, but sometimes not.  There have been some spectacular failures in this regard.  So, I'm sure our readers would like to know why you chose this particular premise for a series.  How did you come up with the idea and why did you decide to take a chance on it?

Joshua Sikora:  Series creators William Hellmuth and Abraham Sherman first came to me with the concept back in late 2007.  They had this idea of telling this very small, personal story amidst this huge tragedy —we all really liked the idea of honing in on this handful of young survivors. It was very fun to think about what things would be like if the only people left alive, maybe on the entire planet, were just these thirteen immature, inexperienced college students.  I know William & Abe and co-writer Brian Walton really got excited about how we could use this small pool of characters as a sort of microcosm of larger societal rifts and conflicts— sort of a Lord of the Flies scenario.

I loved the pitch and thought it was a very compelling idea for a low-budget series, like ours.  The one thing I wanted to add was a visual motif that we could tie to the virus—the original pitch was just some sort of virus that killed everyone and so we added in this idea of the dark cloud that blots out the sun and makes it permanently night.  That small change really solidified what The Black Dawn was, because now the whole series takes place in the dark and it makes everything much more oppressive and mysterious.

Sgt. Shelsky:  As a writer, I'm curious as to how you develop your plots for The Black Dawn.  Can you give us an idea of how you go about it, how you formulate them?  For instance, do you just come up with a premise and then perhaps you and other writers flesh it out for each episode, or do you have a specific, perhaps even rigid outline for the whole series, as was done with the television show, Babylon Five, which was said to have had a five-year plan?  Is this how you approached The Black Dawn?  Or instead, are you a person who just prefers to "wing it" episode by episode?

Joshua Sikora:  No, we definitely had a plan from the beginning. The Black Dawn has actually gone through a number of permutations and it didn't start as a TV series.  The original pitch was for a feature film and we actually took that concept and developed it into a web series first.  We developed a lot of surrounding content for the website, using video blogs from the characters, short films, an online comic—really building the "world" that this story exists in.  Out of all of that, came this TV series, which uses many of the stories not just from that original central storyline, but also a lot of the other integrated content.

Sgt. Shelsky:  Do you have your own writing staff, or do you accept scripts from any writer?  (This is for all those aspiring script writers out there.)  And, what do you look for in a writer for The Black Dawn?

Joshua Sikora:  I've had the pleasure of working with an amazing team of writers on The Black Dawn.  Abe and Brian, who actually scripted most of the series, brought a great sense of weight and drama to the story—this was by far the darkest and most serious story our team has tackled up to this point.  The script came together very, very quickly—I think there was just a couple of months between their initial pitch and when cameras rolled —so the speed at which they were able to write and develop this story and these characters was really impressive.

We've considered pitches and scripts from other writers from time to time, but there's so much that goes into producing an ongoing series—deadlines, a consistent level of quality that you have to strike, fast revisions, no egos to be bruised when other writers change your work—and all of those factors make it very difficult to evaluate a writer simply off of the script (or scripts) they've written.  You might send me the greatest script ever, but if it took you the last five years to craft that story, I have no way of telling whether you're well-suited for the demands of a weekly series.  So, we develop most of our concepts in house and I try to work with the same pool of writers as often as possible, because I know those guys, I know what they're capable of, and I know I can trust them.

Sgt. Shelsky:  Having watched The Black Dawn, I found it very intriguing, and of course, I have my own ideas about what makes it so successful, but I'm sure our readers would rather hear what you think makes it good. So, what do you feel is the main ingredient or ingredients in the success of The Black Dawn?

Joshua Sikora:  Well, I think with any series, first and foremost you've got to love the characters.  If you don't have likable or compelling characters, there's really no emotional reason that you're going to want to keep watching.  So, that was the biggest concern for me—finding ways to make these survivors relatable and interesting and fun to watch.

I also love the mystery in the series.  The story really is all about unraveling this mystery about what happened and why it happened and why these people survived.  There are a lot of sci-fi series these days that play the mystery card, like Lost and Flash Forward, and I think you definitely have to find a balance—how long can you sustain this mystery before it just becomes gimmicky?  How long before your characters just start looking dumb?  There was a lot of discussion about how to try and curtail some of that with The Black Dawn.  Our format right now is almost more of a mini-series, because we go through these big mysteries and answer a lot of the big questions in our first seven or eight episodes of the show.  There's a lot more to explore, if we get a second season, but the first chapter is really self-contained and complete on its own.

Sgt. Shelsky:  I have to ask how you went about selecting your actors for The Black Dawn.  Obviously, they are all young, and so the show seems primarily aimed for that age group, but I'm sure you used other criteria in the selection process, as well?  Did you look for anything particularly special in your actors?  And do they have any input into how their characters develop and behave in the series?  Do they ever object to any aspect of it?  Or, do you maintain control of all this, and so is the end product mainly the result of your personal vision for the series?

Joshua Sikora:  We were incredibly blessed to have such an amazingly talented and diverse cast of actors on this series.  Jordan Warren and Misty Madden, who play the two heroes, have incredible chemistry and I think you can't help but immediately connect with them.  And I can't say enough about Eamon Glennon, who will scare the socks off of you in the series.  He plays this almost deranged leader of the survivors and he so owns that role—Eamon is the nicest guy off camera, but when he's playing Lee, you just want to run and hide.

William's a great actor's director—giving each performer a lot of room to create their own characters and their space in a scene.  We also had a lot of opportunities for improvisation in The Black Dawn—especially with a lot of the flashbacks that Kevin Christensen and I directed.  That was great fun because we shot all of those after the bulk of the series had been produced and all of the actors knew their characters backwards and forwards, so we could just roll cameras on them and they would improvise full scenes in character.  It was remarkable.

Sgt. Shelsky:  Mr. Sikora, you are known for being an independent filmmaker, and one who seemingly prefers to produce low-budget, but high-quality films, rather than expensive, so-called "Hollywood blockbusters" with numerous special effects.  I'd like to know a couple of things.  First, could you tell us a little about your own background that led you to take this approach to filmmaking?  How did you become the type of filmmaker you are?  And secondly, I'd like to know if your desire for the freedom of being an independent filmmaker is so strong that it's the primary motivator for you in taking this approach to filmmaking?  In other words, if given the chance, backing, and complete creative freedom, could you be tempted to try for the "Hollywood blockbuster" style of movie?  I could easily see The Black Dawn as such a movie, but could you?  And if given the chance, would you produce such a film or one like it for Hollywood?

Joshua Sikora: Well, first and foremost I just love cinema.  I love making movies and TV series and web series—doesn't matter the format, the scale, or the budget, I just love being creatively involved in that process. And as technology continues to shift, I think the lines between mediums is going to continue to blur. The Black Dawn is a great example of this— conceived as a feature film, produced as a web series, now airing as a TV series, and next year we plan to release that original feature film concept on DVD.  So, it's a single world that keeps getting re-invented and added to and it will likely continue to evolve, which is very exciting.

I'm not opposed to working within the traditional Hollywood framework— and we dialog with studios all the time about collaborations and crossovers and such—but the system has become so large and convoluted and bureaucratic, that I think a lot of the freshness and creativity is lost.  The Hollywood blockbusters you mention have so much riding on them and they go through years of development and re-writes and market testing.  The end result is so often just lifeless—all of the creativity and all of the spark has been sucked dry by the "process".  I think it's a small miracle every time a good movie can actually slip through that machine.

Being independent and working with a small team gives us the ability to be very fast and forces us to be creative.  We're nimble and can quickly rally behind a concept and bring it to life.  Sometimes, it's not as polished as what you see coming out of a large studio, but I think there's a freshness to what we're doing.  I liken it a bit to the early impressionist painters like Monet ù their paintings weren't pristine and polished like the studio artists that came before them, but they were so vivid and beautiful and so full of life that they launched an entirely new style of art.

Sgt. Shelsky:  I noticed that The Black Dawn does seem to include similar cinematic techniques to some of those used in The Blair Witch Project, which was a low budget film that was a huge success, and also more recently, Paranormal Activity, another movie that is a terrific box-office draw these days.  So did these types of movies inspire you to approach your cinematic techniques in this same way?  Specifically, I'm referring to things like having the camera shaken about when there is action, using darkness to create vague and menacing scenes—that gritty feel of a reality show, or documentary.

Joshua Sikora: Jon Lavey was our cinematographer and he pulled off the impossible.  Our budget was very tight, so his camera and lighting package was about as bare bones as you could get.  On top of that, the whole series takes place at night, so he couldn't rely on natural lighting, and to make matters worse, we had a very, very fast shooting schedule.  Jon and William took those challenges and made the best of them, developing a fast and loose shooting style that not only fit the energy of the series well, but also ended up looking quite beautiful on many occasions.  Jon's unique compositions and almost film-noir-inspired lighting was really the perfect match for the dark and edgy series we were trying to produce.

Sgt. Shelsky:  I also notice that you do tend to keep these sorts of techniques to a judicious minimum, are almost cautiously sparing with their use in The Black Dawn, as compared to those other movies.  Why is this?

Joshua Sikora:  Well, you're talking about cinematic devices—and they tend to work as long as they're distinct and different and stand out.  You overdo anything and it loses its impact. This goes back to that "packaged" mentality that governs Hollywood.  Someone will use a clever new cinematic technique in a film very appropriately, but because that was so "cool" every film six months later is emulating it, almost to the point of parody.  I'm not saying we're not guilty of this at times, but it is something we try to be conscious of.  We endeavor to put our own stamp on each production and use the techniques that make sense for our story—not just whatever the latest trend may be.

Sgt. Shelsky:  Where do you see The Black Dawn going from here?  What are your plans for its future?  Is there any chance of a full length movie version in the offing, either for television or the big screen?  Do you plan any sequels, spin-offs, or other series similar in style and nature to this one?  And if so, do you have any on the drawing board or in production now that you could tell us about?

Joshua Sikora:  Well, we're in post-production on the feature film version right now ù it's the same story you'll see in the TV series and the web series, but it's a slightly different point-of-view, really focusing more on our main character, Adam.  We plan to have that out on DVD early next year. We're also looking at the potential of future seasons of the TV series.  If we were to do a second season, it would be very different from the first in some really cool ways.  Without giving too much away, the scope of the story could really get a lot larger.  We may also continue expanding the world through the web, with our collaboration with WebSerials.com. That's still the easiest and most immersive way to experience this story and we'd love to continue to add new short films, online comics, and other stories to the world of The Black Dawn.

Sgt. Shelsky:  Right now, access to watching The Black Dawn is somewhat limited, being either via the Internet (Webserials.com), or through AMGTV outlets.  Also, the show is on Vision TV.  Do I have all that right?  And although I did see where they are expanding their coverage (Vision TV), I still don't get The Black Dawn via cable in my area, for instance, although it is available in nearby Raleigh.  Are there plans for expansion into more venues in the offing for those wanting to watch The Black Dawn and other such shows you may produce in the future?  I'm thinking sort of along the lines of the Syfy channel, or something similar, perhaps?  I'd personally like to know, because I like the series!

Joshua Sikora: Well, The Black Dawn is very unique in terms of how it's getting distributed.  We are an independent TV series, so on one hand that means we're not connected to any particular network, but on the other hand that means that we can take this series anywhere.  Our first broadcast of the series is on AMGTV and it's great having the nationwide coverage of a network like that, although you're right that it's not available in all markets yet.

Our distributor is now actively working with networks around the world to get this series into as many markets as possible.  It's tough because we don't have a big international premiere date like you might have with a larger series or film, so we don't have any way of telling when the series might be playing in your area or in the market of your readers.  That's why I'd encourage people to check out WebSerials.com, where they can immediately jump into The Black Dawn and experience it for themselves. And if you do happen to see the series in your local TV listings, definitely check it out ù we can use all the support we can get.

Sgt. Shelsky: You do have an impressive list of other shows to your credit.  These are diverse ones, with many not in the science fiction genre. Could you tell us a little about these, and also perhaps why you seemingly have such a varied interest in so many different genres, such as westerns, science fiction, and such?  I notice one of the movie companies is New Renaissance.  Since you produce, write, direct, and are a businessman, would you describe yourself as a Renaissance man, at least with regard to independent filmmaking?

Joshua Sikora:  Like I said before, I just love making movies.  I've been blessed to work on such a diverse range of films and work with such great and talented filmmakers over the last several years.  To me, genre and tone are far less important than characters and story and how a filmmaker wants to bring that story to life.  When I get excited about a story, I want to do everything I can to bring that to fruition.  Sometimes, that's as a producer or a director, sometimes as a writer or an editor, sometimes I'll supervise the visual effects—whatever it takes, simply because I have a passion to see that film or series come to life.

Sgt. Shelsky:  Finally, is there anything else you'd like to share with our readers, about The Black Dawn, yourself, or the future of the Independent Filmmaker, in general?  I know there are many aspiring movie makers out there, and they'd appreciate any insight you, as a successful filmmaker, could give them based on your own history and experience in this field.  Perhaps, you could give us your view on the future of it?  Where do you think independent filmmaking is headed?

Joshua Sikora: Well, that was part of the inspiration in creating our company, New Renaissance Pictures.  I see technology as a great enabler for the next generation of cinematic artists.  You look back on the Renaissance and everywhere you looked there were artists creating all of this beautiful and amazing art.  It permeated culture like never before.  The weird thing is that with the internet and blogs and video blogs and webcams and little pocket cameras that shoot HD video, anyone—and everyone—is becoming an artist in this new multimedia culture.

That excites me, because cinema has always been sort of unattainable for so many people.  Historically, if you wanted to write or paint or make music, it was relatively easy to get the materials you needed and make that happen.  But film has traditionally been expensive and Hollywood is very closed off and insular and it's just been incredibly difficult if you have the dream of making movies, but can't break into that vast machine.

I think that's definitely changing and that excites me.  It can start small, with high schoolers just making their own web series on YouTube, but I also think a lot more doors are going to open—just like we've experienced with The Black Dawn—where you can dream up an idea, bring it about completely on your own, independent of any studios or Hollywood or whatever, and if it's compelling and good then it can go anywhere.  We never expected that The Black Dawn would be a TV series, but we loved the story and we knew we could make it well and so we did.  And it's proof positive that in this new cinematic Renaissance, anything can happen.

***

And so ends this fascinating interview.  We wish to thank Joshua Sikora for the time and effort he put forth in answering our questions.  For would-be script writers, and budding filmmakers alike, there is a lot of valuable information here.  And for us science fiction fans, we are getting the best thing of all; a new science fiction drama of the very dark sort!  We look forward to the debut of The Black Dawn this coming January.  And again, for more information on Joshua Sikora, and his new television series, just read the biography and follow the links listed below.

Biography Of Joshua Sikora

A young filmmaker & businessman, Joshua Sikora has produced, written, & directed a number of award-winning independent films.  Committed to high-quality, low-budget filmmaking, Sikora has a passion for the freedom and creativity that independent cinema offers.

In 2005, he founded the Sikora Media Group and New Renaissance Pictures, which are breaking new ground in the creation and delivery of the next generation of multimedia.  Sikora's latest endeavor is WebSerials.com—an online network for serialized media, which is host to several Sikora productions, including Project X, Cataclysmo, and The Black Dawn.  With more than three million views to date, the serials have been dubbed by YouTube "some of the best dramas the web has to offer."

The Black Dawn recently became a nationally-syndicated TV series and Sikora is actively developing new concepts for the web and television.  He also occasionally teaches film for the Torrey Honors Institute at Biola University.  He lives in La Habra, CA with his wife Alisa.

Links:

Joshua Sikora's Filmography: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1460178/

The Black Dawn: http://www.theblackdawn.com

WebSerials.com: http://www.webserials.com/

New Renaissance Pictures: http://www.newrenaissanceonline.com/

Photos courtesy of Joshua Sikora and Webserials.com