Brad Plevyak and Chris Alley / Newsaskew

Anatomy of a Superfan

It's the stuff of dreams for a true-blue, dyed in the wool, net-bound moviehound...one day, you're creating a fan-site for your favorite indie director: the next, you're meeting that person face to face, and entering into a creative relationship with them. Such an opportunity could be considered the birth of a cinematic Superfan.

Superfans are a special breed. They are made, not born. Among their ranks are extreme examples that defy impossible odds: Steve Sansweet was once just a guy with a museum-like collection of Star Wars memorabilia. After writing several books on collecting said memorabilia, Sansweet began doing the lecture circuit at sci-fi and fantasy conventions as an appraiser. He eventually wound up as a member of Lucasfilm's 'Jedi Council' as a fan relations expert working for the man himself, George Lucas.

Sansweet did it the hard way; to be a Superfan was far more unlikely in the days before the birth of that Greatest Of All Rumor Mongers and Purveyor Of Pop Culture Prattle: The Internet.

Enter the technophiles. The Net is now home to several webnutz that made it big: Harry Knowles at AICN, Countingdown's own Lincoln Gasking, Phillip Nakov, and Tim Doyle, and ViewAskew's Ming are a few examples. To become a cinematic Superfan, one must usually possess a combination of several factors, though there are certainly no set rules:

1.) An immense affection for and / or encyclopedic knowledge of a particular pop-culture mainstay with a large rabidly dedicated fanbase, ie Star Wars, Star Trek, or in our case, The Jersey Films.

2.) Expertise in web design.

3.) An inordinate amount of free time and / or lack of social life.

4.) A high tolerance for sleep deprivation.

5.) Candor. (Stalkers are NOT Superfans).

6.) Innovative spirit.

7.) A boatload of luck and right place : right time ratios.

Countingdown.com is a community run for and by people who certainly adhere to number one of the above list, if none of the others. My particular area of interest happens to be Kevin Smith, who could himself be considered the most successful Superfan ever. A rabid movie fan in his youth, Smith now writes and directs feature length films for (and sometimes about) rabid movie fans. A rabid comic collector in his youth, Smith is now the writer with the golden touch in that industry with a resume that includes Oni, Marvel, and soon DC and Image. Why is Smith succeeding consistently (no, I don't think Mallrats could be considered a failure) in two industries where so many have failed? The answer is fairly simple, though the major studios would likely consider it a revelation: Kevin Smith knows, interacts with, and most importantly, listens to his audience. What is the forum for that interaction?

In continuing a series of interviews with the folks that help Smith run the most fan-centric production company in history, I had the opportunity to interview Brad Plevyak and Chris Alley, webmasters of NewsAskew.com. NewsAskew could be considered the information hub for Smith's fans. While Kevin occasionally posts updates at ViewAskew.com, Newsaskew is constantly updated with a degree of detail a major news site could learn from. As a result of all their hard work, Chris and Brad have attained possibly the ultimate coup for a cinematic Superfan: walk-ons in Dogma, and in Kevin Smith's upcoming flick Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back.

I had a chance to ask them about their journey from drinking-game authors to Superfan contempories of Kevin Smith.

Antony: Whose idea was it to start NewsAskew?

Brad: After Chasing Amy came out, Chris thought it might be a cool idea to create a drinking game based on the flick, since an old college roomie of mine and I had come up with a Monopoly drinking came a couple years back. I thought it might be cool to create games for all the flicks, so we did just that and put the games online. At first, we updated just when a rule changed or something, but after a while, we started to mention other cool Askew stuff that was on the web. After a while, the site, then called "Drinks Askew", transformed into "News Askew" and the games took a back seat to the news. The games are still and always will be there, though, and we're always going to create a new one for each of his new films, too.

Antony: Would you ever have believed that a drinking game could have lead to the opportunity that has become NewsAskew?

Chris: Not in a million years. I think it's every fan-boy's (or girl's) dream to start a fan site for someone you admire and eventually end up working for them. It's really a testament to Kevin's feelings towards his fans. I don't see too many other directors running out and starting webpages like ViewAskew.com.

Antony: How long have the two of you been running NewsAskew?

Brad: We started in May of 1997 with Drinks Askew, so we're coming up on 4 years on the web. Wow. I never realized it was that long before.

Antony: How much time per week do you spend on the site?

Brad: It varies from day to day, but I'd probably say I personally spend about 12 hours per week on average. That includes answering e-mails, scoops, writing updates, and design stuff. With the new film on the way in a few months, though, that number will shoot way up, as it did with Dogma.

Chris: It all depends on what's going on with Kevin. It could be as little as 3 hours a night or maybe more closer to a movie's release date. It's pretty amazing that there's always something to talk about daily with our site.

Antony: What is it about Kevin Smith's work that motivates you to provide such a valuable service to ViewAskew?

Brad: When we started News Askew back in '97, we did it for free anyway. Sure, things have gotten somewhat busier since then, but it's a fun job and the response that comes back from it all makes it worthwhile. I'm a fan of Kevin's work just like everyone else who reads the site, and consider it an honor to actually have become part of the View Askew team now.

Antony: What are your dayjobs?

Brad: I'm currently a webmaster for a Health care company in central Pennsylvania. It pays the bills.

Chris: I currently run one of the local Blockbuster Videos in Harrisburg. I know it's the enemy, but what can you do?

Antony: Speaking of work, do you have girlfriends/wives?

Brad: I do have a girlfriend who currently lives with me, yep.

Chris: Neither, currently.

Antony: How do you keep up with such a huge amount of information?

Brad: Some days I feel like my head's gonna explode there's so much of it. Kevin's got so many different projects out there, from the comics to the movies to the speaking gigs to the merchandise. It's a lot to handle.

Chris: When the site began, Brad and I used to comb the internet for stories ourselves. But as the site grew, more and more fans started sending stories in. We always give the proper credit to a scooper, so I think it's a race sometimes for people to send in stories.

Brad:...Without the scoopers, the folks who read the website and find the news to submit in, there's no way the site would be what it is. It's the readers/fans that help to make the site as informative and complete as it is.

Antony: Do you have any scoopers you'd like to send a 'shout-out' to as people who contribute a large amount of news to the site?

Chris: There's too many to thank here. That's why I love running into people at various View Askew events. It's nice to thank them and to put a face with the e-mail address.

Antony: When and where did you first meet Kevin Smith?

Brad: Soon after the site was started, we were invited to New Jersey for a day of shooting on the set of Brian Lynch's Big Helium Dog, a View Askew production (yet to be released). Lynch and Vincent Periera were on set that day (shooting was done at Vincent's house, actually) and Kevin did a lot of funny dialogue and improvisation for the picture that day (he played the role of the "director" in the film). We introduced ourselves that day in person, though Kevin had already been familiar with the site and had it linked from his official site [http://www.viewaskew.com].

Antony: Is Kevin REALLY as self-effacing as he is when we see him in the media?

Brad: The Kevin I've always seen being interviewed on television or elsewhere is the exact same Kevin that I've dealt with on the phone, in person, and even outside of the business completely. That's not an act, that's Kevin. I never knew him before "Clerks" though my guess would be that success hasn't changed his personality a bit.

Antony: In your opinion, what has made Kevin Smith one of the most successful independent/low-budget filmmakers in history?

Brad: The guy's remained grounded over all these years, and stays true to the fans. He's not afraid to mix it up a little bit, and he doesn't mince words. I think all of that comes through in his flicks. Sure, Chasing Amy and Dogma both have a ton of hilarious dialogue in...but when you look at the stories themselves, you see that these are both very personal stories, and that they meant something to him. On the other side, he's turned around from Dogma and made Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, an obvious love letter to the fans, especially those who loved Mallrats, and made a completely fun, silly, light movie. He doesn't let it get boring, and I think that's what's going to keep the crowds coming back to the theaters and, afterwards, the video stores, to watch these movies again and again.

Antony: Do you ever interact with [Viewaskew.com webmaster] Ming, or is Newsaskew pretty much independent of ViewAskew.com?

Brad: We're 99% independent of View Askew, really. We do share a server but the similarities end there. Of course, we're linked on the web, but Kevin was clear when we [became part of] the View Askew team that [our] site could run as it did before. [This] gives us the freedom to pretty much print whatever we want. The only time I bug Ming is when we've got server issues, usually.

Antony: Does NewsAskew have its own offices in the ViewAskew office? Do they house the servers?

Brad: Chris and I both live in differnet parts of Central Pennsylvania, about 3 hours from Red Bank, NJ. All the web work is done from here and sent up to a server that View Askew rents. Ah, the beauty of telecommunications.

Antony: Does ViewAskew help fund NewsAskew in any way (equipment-wise)?

Brad: Actually no, but now that you mention it...Kevin, I could REALLY use a new Pentium 1.7 gig with 512 RAM, 60 gigs of hard disk space, and a 21 inch Sony Trinitron monitor. :)

Antony: Outside the ViewAskewniverse, what are your Top 5 Flix (roughly, give or take a few)?

Chris: Evil Dead 2, The Thing (1982), Aliens, Badlands, and Suspiria .

Brad: I like so many different genres of film, but as far as pure entertainment value, I'm an action flick junkie. Jim Cameron's "Aliens" is my all-time favorite flick. Star Wars is up there, as is the original Die Hard. After that, the list changes from day to day.

Antony: There was a HUGE amount of controversy surrounding DOGMA, for which NewsAskew served as a forum and rumor control. Was the server ever attacked?

Brad: Nope. I guess there aren't many Catholic activists out there that have hacking skills or something. Actually, I think they used the site in their propaganda, as we had a copy of the script up for a while. Their anti-Dogma pamphlets actually had links to the website. That's when you know you've made it.

Antony: Did either of you receive any threatening email or phone calls?

Brad: Not unless you count bill collectors or bookies.

Antony: Do either of you aspire to a full-time career in film?

Brad: Actually, I like doing what I do. It sucks getting up so early most days, but the luxury of a job with regular hours, nights and weekends off, is pretty nice. It's fun to visit movie sets and see the world that exists there, but I don't have any interest in getting more involved than I am right now.

Chris: No, not really. It would be nice though. I applied to ILM once, basically just to say I did. I've always been fascinated with special effects.

Antony: Have you ever attempted to make your own short or feature?

Chris: Nothing besides some 8mm "films" with Star Wars toys like I'm sure every kid born in the 1970's did. I wish I still had them. I'm sure they'd be real funny to watch now.

Brad: Nope...In fact, even the pictures I take are usually off-center or out of focus. If prices keep dropping on equipment, though, I can see myself getting a digital video camera and a decent PC someday and playing around with some editing and stuff. It'd be fun.

Antony: How do you feel about the end of Jay and The Bob?

Brad: I think it's time for them to exit the silver screen...I can totally understand why Kevin wants to move on to something else after making 4 films that [feature Jay and Silent Bob].

Chris: [I'm] kinda sad, but I'm sure they'll live on in comics and cartoons for years to come.

Antony: Excluding your visits to the various film sets, what is your favorite memory or experience so far, as related to NewsAskew, or a Vulgarthon, or ?

Brad: The film set visits were fun, as was attending the Dogma premiere, but some of the best times that came out of this gig have been the opportunities to attend the events in Jersey, the Vulgarthons and the Stash Bash. Just seeing all those fans there and the devotion they've got to all the work done at View Askew is really something to experience. I never plan on missing one of those things.

[Antony's Note: Vulgarthon is the annual ViewAskew film festival held in Red Bank, New Jersey. Most of the ViewAskew crew generally attend, along with many stars from Smith's movies...except Jeremy London...if he showed, it would probably be at peril of his life. The Vulgarthon moniker refers to ViewAskew's company mascot Vulgar the Clown, NOT the content of the festival. Usually. -Antony]

Antony: After having been on the inside loop and digesting so much spoiler information, are you still excited for the premier of J&SBSB?

Chris: Of course! We've only seen bits and pieces here and there really. It'll be great to see the final film in a theater with a packed audience. I think people will be really suprised with this flick.

Brad: Absolutely. While it might seem like I know everything that happens in the movie, that's pretty far from the truth. I caught about 40 minutes of edited product when I was in LA, which was great, but refused the chance to read the script as I'd like to save some surprises and jokes for August 24th. It doesn't really matter how many scoops I've read, or what I know about the film, I always felt that the dialogue itself is the biggest star of all of Kev's flicks. So, by not reading the actual script, I know I'm going to have a blast when I sit down to watch the film. Nothing compares to going into a well written flick cold. You just enjoy it that much more.

Antony: What was it like to be actors in Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back?

Chris: I'm by no means any type of actor. I get real nervous, even though I'm just in the background. I think it's all the people staring at me that freaks me out. I'm much more suited for behind the camera work.

Brad: It was nice of Kevin to include Chris and I in another scene after I way overacted the last time we got to do it in the background of Dogma (we walk by the kissing couple in the airport scene, very early in the film). It's cool to be a part of this one again though, especially since it was at the location where the Askewniverse basically began. Lots of fun. Hopefully I won't look as stupid this time.

Antony: Do you have any anecdotes with regards to meeting stars on the set of J&SBSB?

Chris: Two things really stand out for me. One, watching Will Ferrell at work. Every take he'd come up with some different way to say a line. He had me cracking up constantly. And another thrill was meeting Mark Hamill and how he insisted on not being called "Mr. Hamill, just Mark". I still can't believe that happened.

Antony: Is there anything special being planned in New Jersey for the premier of J&SBSB?

Brad: At this point, I've heard nothing about it, though I'm almost positive that the official premiere will be in Hollywood/LA for this one.

[Antony's Note: The premier will indeed take place in Lost Angeles on August 15, 2001.]

Kevin has been very dedicated to the New Jersey area fanbase over the past few years though, letting them catch Dogma and Chasing Amy before their official releases, so it would be nice if he did that again. I know he plans to be in LA until after the film's release though, so to do it back in Jersey would mean a trip home, and I don't know if he's got one planned at this point.

Antony: Star Wars, Empire, or Jedi?

Chris: I'll have to say Star Wars. Sure Empire is the best made film, but I'll always have the best memories of seeing the first one when I was 4. Sitting in the back of my parents' car pretending it was a X-Wing fighter flying around on the way home.

Brad: There's no way any of the other flicks in the SW series will ever compare to the original Star Wars. It just doesn't get any better than that.

Antony: We're looking for a BIG inside scoop here...whose butt do you think is displayed in all its glory on Moviepoopshoot.com? Could it be Kevin's? Did he have it waxed for the photo shoot?

Brad: Could make a good poll [for NewsAskew]. I think they've got some questionable photos of Jay's a** in the offices somewhere, so ya never know...

You can catch Brad and Chris fully clothed in their second big screen appearance when Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back premiers in theaters August 22, 2001, or hit http://www.newsaskew.com for multiple up to the minute updates on any and all news pertaining to ViewAskew, its crew, stars, media coverage, and exclusive updates.