By: Nicole D’Andria
Where do
superheroes go when they want to get their dry cleaning done? Find out in Super Drycleaners, a new TV show
available on TELUS OPTIK On-Demand and online. I talked to the
creators of the series and several members of the cast!
I first spoke
with creators Brandon Rhiness (who I previously spoke to about his comic book company Higher Universe Comics) and Barb
Briggs.
Me: You were able to make the show after winning
the Telus Optik contest. What can you tell us about that?
 |
| Barb Briggs |
Barb Briggs: We submitted a proposal back in June of
2016 and had to wait some time before finding out if we received the grant or
not. We knew we had a good story but were being ambitious with what we wanted
to film. We found out around October that we received the grant, and began
working. TELUS was extremely supportive in providing us with mentors and
assistance in assuring we made the best possible series with the budget we had.
 |
| Brandon Rhiness |
Brandon Rhiness: Barb Briggs had hired
me to write a horror movie. It was during that process, in one of our Skype
meetings, that she mentioned an idea she had about two teens who worked in a
dry-cleaning store that catered to superheroes and the teens who sneak out in
the costumes.
I really
liked the concept because of my work in writing comic books. We didn’t really
have any means to actually get the series made, but I wrote the first six
episodes on spec, mostly just for fun because I liked the concept.
Soon
after, the Telus Optik contest came up. Telus is a communications company here
in Western Canada. They had the contest offering to fund chosen Canadian-made
TV series by newer producers. Barb entered the Super Drycleaners scripts into the contest. I don’t think either of
us seriously thought we had much chance. I had pretty much forgotten about it
until Barb contacted me one day saying we were one of the winners!
It was a
great experience! There’s no way we could have funded the series ourselves. So
it was amazing to see this TV show I just thought would be a fun thing to write
turn into something real that is now on TV and people are watching!
Me: As co-creators, what are each of your
individual roles on the show?
Rhiness: I’m the writer and Barb is the director
and main producer. Basically, my job is to come up with really hard things for
Barb to shoot and it’s her job to figure out how to do it. 😊
Briggs: I came up with the original story concept and
Brandon wrote the scripts. We worked back and forth until we were satisfied
with the final storylines and had a script that we were both happy with.
Brandon also provided creative input on how we might film some of the scenes.
In
addition, I was the primary producer and the director for each episode.
Me: What inspired you to combine superheroes with
drycleaners?
Rhiness: I’ll leave that question up to Barb,
since she came up with the original concept.
Briggs: There were a few inspirations. One of the first
was the Warren Zevon song “Werewolves of London,” which has a line “I’d like to
meet his tailor.” It got me thinking about the costumes that heroes, villains
and monsters wear. They need to be made, cleaned and mended. In some superhero
films you see the characters address this – such as in Spider-Man and Deadpool –
so I thought it would be fun to spend more time in that world.
The
second inspiration was Seinfeld. There’s an episode where they suspect that
their drycleaner was wearing the client’s clothes out at night. I thought it
would be interesting to look at that scenario from the point of view of the
person borrowing the clothes for the night.
And
finally, the biggest inspiration came from my two boys and watching how they
try to figure out who they are in this world – where they fit in, who they are
and who they want to be. By combining superheroes and literally trying on an
identity, we wanted to address questions around finding yourself. I think at
some point, especially in those adolescent and teenage years, we struggle to
find ourselves. We try on different identities, and sometimes people assign
them to us, such as jock, class clown, social butterfly, scholar, etc. We do so
through clothes, speech, activities, likes, dislikes and the people we choose
to hang around with. I remember as a youth, and even still as an adult,
wondering what it would be like to be someone else for a day. Sky and Kyle get
to do just that.
Me: What can you tell us about the main characters
of Super Drycleaners?
Rhiness: The main characters in Super Drycleaners are Sky and Kyle Walters.
They are twins and attend the same high school and work part-time in their
grandmother’s dry-cleaning store. They both have ambitions of being
superheroes, but Sky takes it a little more seriously. Kyle still isn’t sure if
he should be a superhero or a famous rock star.
Sky is
running for school president and tends to take things a little too seriously.
Kyle is more laid-back and a bit of a goof. He has to remind his sister
sometimes that she’s not his boss.
Sky and
Kyle are both good kids, but as the series continues and they find themselves in
possession of great superpowers, a dark side begins to emerge in both of them.
Briggs: Kyle and Sky are twin siblings aged 16 years.
They are both popular in their own ways and fairly confident. They have a
stable group of friends that support them both.
Sky is
the more dominant of the two. She’s taken on the role of leader and a bit of
the "mother" in the family. She’s precise, focused and organized. She has a
goal in mind and works toward it. I don’t think she likes being challenged too
much by others, which sometimes poses problems for Kyle. She likes to be right.
Kyle is
easy-going and more interested in being a hero because it’s fun. For him, it’s
like being a rock star (which he would also like to be), whereas Sky says she
wants to make a difference in the world. Kyle often gives into what Sky wants
because he wants to support her, and because it’s probably easier than arguing
with her.
Me: What makes this show stand out from other
programs targeted to 9-12 year olds?
Briggs: The combination of school drama and superheroes would be the biggest difference. The show doesn’t “talk down” to the
youth like some shows do. It features actual high-school aged actors as opposed
to adult actors pretending to be in high school. It was important for us to
show youth as they are – to cast actual students and give a realistic portrayal
of what teenagers look like.
We also
made a big effort to not "gender" the series. I think it will appeal both to
boys and girls. There’s the action with the heroes and villains, a bit of
romance and high school drama. We also combined live-action with comic book
panels and motion comics. As the series progresses, we will include more of
this.
Rhiness: Lol. That’s difficult for me to say. I
don’t watch many shows aimed at a young audience. In fact, most of the comics
and movies I write are aimed at an adult audience and deal with mature themes.
So writing Super Drycleaners was a great exercise for me to learn how to write
for a different audience.
I think I
was successful. When I attended the premiere last week, the kids seemed to love
Super Drycleaners!
Me: Thank you for your valuable insight into the
show!
I also
spoke with actors Skylar Radzion (Sky Walters), Adam Forward (Kyle Walters) and
Lorette Clow (Lydia—Grandma—Walters) about their roles in the show.
Why did you decide to audition for the show?
 |
| Skylar Radzion |
Skylar
Radzion: I really loved the idea and the message that the show
had. It's about finding your identity and staying true to who you are. I
struggled a lot in high school and I know a lot of other kids are too. To be
able to help young people means a lot to me. I started getting into acting and
my mom saw this audition for a TV series in Calgary. It was for a couple of
smaller roles and so I thought “why not”? It was such a cool idea about
superheroes. We drove to Calgary for the day and while there, they gave me some
pages and asked if I could take ½ hour and read. It was for Sky! Adam and I
read together and just meshed like a real brother and sister, and the rest as
they say is history.
 |
| Adam Forward |
Adam
Forward: I saw the audition notice and I thought it was a great
opportunity, but I also saw it as a chance to work with teens. The cast of
Super Drycleaners mainly consists of high school kids and it was so great to be
part of a cast of teens my age. I also
love superheroes so that drew me to it as well.
What teenager doesn't want to have superpowers!
 |
| Lorette Clow |
Lorette
Clow: It’s an exciting prospect to be a part of a new TV
series, as well as Children’s and Young Adult programming – something I loved
while filming Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
Me:
How would you describe your character on the show and
what is your favorite thing about them?
Radzion: Sky
is a very complex character. She has so many dimensions and that is what I love
about her. I relate to her in the sense that she's hard to read and she's very
passionate about her options. I'm very passionate with my career and I always
want things to be perfect even though I understand that sometimes it just can’t.
My director, Barb Briggs and our acting coach Dawn Van
Der Schoot talked about Sky having an anxiety disorder, which is something I
too struggle with. Mental illness still has a stigma – especially in teenagers.
It's not something kids want to talk about. I want to be able to put myself out
there to help other people with their own mental health issues. Sky was the
hardest character I've had to play so far but I'm forever grateful to help
bring her to life. Oh, and kicking butt is an awesome perk!
Forward:
Kyle is all about fun. He loves hanging out with
friends, reading comics and talking to girls. He loves being a superhero
because he wants to show his powers off to his friends.
In any situation Kyle can always find the fun and the
positive; he's always first to crack a joke. This contrasts really well with
Sky. Sky is all about the facts and what could
go wrong, she will focus on the negativity in some situations where Kyle
would see it as a great thing. A lesson that Kyle learns is how to balance fun
and seriousness. Kyle can be serious when he needs to be. My favorite thing
about Kyle is that fun-loving personality because it makes him so much fun to
play. His character is much like my own personality, I love having fun!
Clow:
A warm-hearted caregiver to her grandchildren – she
would do anything to enrich their lives but understands their growing need to
explore and learn from the world around them. She is fiercely protective of them and also the world around her – when
she can!
Me:
Who is your favorite superhero and why?
Radzion: Well, my favorite superhero from the show is The Wraith. I love the wraps she had
around her arms and just the way her costume looked. It was functional and
comfortable! I love Gal Gadots' Wonder Woman. I was a bit concerned when they
announced her as she seemed very young. But when I saw her, she was cast
perfectly. The innocence, the compassion, the strength. She nailed it. And
having a woman Director was the icing on the cake. She's definitely an actor I
aspire to be like.
Forward:
My favorite superhero is Spider-Man. As a kid I was
obsessed with him. I had a whole costume
including a mask and web shooters. I would run around all day and pretend to be
Spider-Man. He is my favorite because
he's super cool, and he has one of the most interesting origin stories and the
most unique powers in my opinion. I also loved the movies, my favorite being Spider-Man 3. The whole universe of
Spider-Man is awesome, from the villains to Spider-Man himself.
Me:
So far, what has been your favorite scene to film and
why?
Radzion:
It's really hard to pick just one. I really enjoyed
filming every scene because the cast and crew were phenomenal. I would
definitely have to say the scenes where the whole cast was involved. Being
around a bunch of people who genuinely want to see you succeed and laugh
together is incredible. Oh, and Adam was a lot of fun; we were like brother and
sister on and off set! Everyone was like a family and now every time I travel
to Calgary I look forward to seeing these wonderful new friends I've made on
set. I absolutely cannot wait to get back to filming!
Forward:
I think my favorite scenes to shoot were all of the
ones where Sky and Kyle are trying to come up with/use our catchphrases. I had a lot of fun trying to come up with a
cheesy action to say them with or a funny way to speak the line. We had a lot
of freedom in those situations as to how we were going to deliver those lines
and we had so much fun creating that and performing it.
Clow: I don’t have a particularly favorite scene as they are
all delightful to partake in, but I did enjoy sending the message to the
“hoodlum” in Episode 3 that YOU DON’T MESS WITH GRANDMA WALTERS!!
Me: Thanks for letting us get a glimpse into the
world of acting like a superhero!
If you’re
interested, check out Super Drycleaners,
check it out on TELUS OPTIK On-Demand and online.
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