WHERE IN TIME is KEVIN SHINICK? HOST MORTEM offers us a TINSELTOWN TEMPORAL CAPER

Kevin Shinick, a performer and creator first introduced to global audiences as host of Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? is bringing Host Mortem to Kickstarter this May!

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COMIC BOOK YETI: Welcome to the Yeti Cave, Kevin! I know you’re originally a New Yorker, but where in the world are you joining us from today?

KEVIN SHINICK: Funny you should ask, because while I am a New Yorker, I do currently live in Los Angeles, but I’m shooting an episode of a TV show in New York at the moment so I’m becoming as elusive as Carmen Sandiego!  

CBY: I'm glad we were able to catch you for a moment before you're on the move again! I checked out your recent Host Mortem interview over at CrimeReads, so I’ll try not to tread in the same territory, as you spoke a fair bit about your early comic inspirations. To that end, my earliest experience with Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego came as a preschooler on my dad’s Macintosh+ (with a whopping 1MB RAM!). How were you first introduced to the series (I assume) back in the ‘80s? Can you tell our audience a bit about any intersection of your interest in computer games, game shows, and your early theatrical stage production work?

KS:  My first exposure to Carmen Sandiego was with the television series, Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?, hosted by Greg Lee. I didn’t really play the computer game much, because we didn’t have a computer growing up. But years later, while I was acting on Broadway, my agent called and said I had an audition for a new Carmen Sandiego series which wound up being Where In Time Is Carmen Sandeigo? Of course, when you’re trying to have a Broadway acting career, the last thing you want to hear is that you’d make a great game show host, but the audition process took so long (six call backs, in fact) that by the time I wound up getting the gig I realized what a special job this was going to be.

CBY: It was a phenomenon during my childhood, for sure. By the time you assumed the role of host for Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego, I was in the thick of primary school, reading copies of The Hardy Boys, Encyclopedia Brown, and watching Jeopardy!, which was a perennial favorite of my mom and grandmother. The legendary, much missed, Lynne Thigpen reprised her role as the Chief in segments aired during game show play - this was relatively early in your career, and clearly you and Greg Lee have no qualms working together - what was the production environment like as the reins were handed over to you as host of a new iteration within franchise that had been wildly successful? How did you two connect over this project?

KS: First and foremost, I have to say that Lynne Thigpen was absolutely wonderful. I was so fortunate to be able to call her a friend and she definitely set the tone on Carmen Sandiego. From the warmth to the professionalism, everyone took their cues from her. It was also Lynne who helped me realize I wasn’t compromising my Broadway career by doing a beloved television series. In fact, Lynne actually won the Tony award for her role in the play An American Daughter while we were filming our series. Strangely enough, Greg Lee and I didn’t really meet face to face until about twenty years after our shows had ended. And even then, though we hit it off, we didn’t stay in touch until I reached out and asked if he’d like to take this crazy journey with me as co-stars of Host Mortem, the story of two fake detective game show hosts from the 1990’s who have to solve a series of real murders in the 1940’s. He said yes and we’ve become the closest of friends ever since.

CBY: That is not surprising to hear, except in that your friendship didn't solidify sooner given the concurrent themes in your professional backgrounds. I'm glad you were able to bring him on-board for this project, which has taken a solid ensemble approach. So following an initial cover from Tony Foti, you’ve got Damien Torres and  Andrea Schiavone as your primary illustrators, and other artists supplementing with additional art for covers and more. Pippa Bowland is layering things together as colorist, and the esteemed Taylor Esposito is lettering. How did you meet the folks involved in this project, and what did pulling everything together look like as a team? How long has it taken from the idea first arising until now to get all the pieces in place for publication, and when did Clover Press come into the picture?   

KS: I have been incredibly lucky to have gathered such an esteemed group of artists to help me bring Host Mortem to life. About a year and a half ago I came up with the idea, and since Tony Foti had done such an amazing job creating the cover for my Star Wars novel, Force Collector, he was the first person I reached out to. Then honestly, I began interviewing artists for what I hoped would be a really unique and specific look for the inner pages of the graphic novel. I met with a few, but then a friend introduced me to Damien and when I saw his work and learned that he enjoyed film noir as much as I did, I knew I had my main artist.

Along the way, the idea came to me that, much like a 1940’s film noir, each of the four issues that make up the 180+ graphic novel should have a different narrator and a slightly different art style to match that narration. That’s when I reached out to Andrea whom I had met through a mutual friend and who I knew had the exact “golden age” style I was looking for. The great thing about having already established myself in the world of comic books is that I know, and have access to, amazing talent and that’s how both Pippa and Taylor came to be on the project as well.

Once word got out about this project, Clover Press reached out to see if I’d be interested in having them distribute it. And if you know Clover Press, then you know there’s a certain prestige that comes along with their books. When I set out to create this graphic novel, I not only wanted it to be a great murder mystery, I really wanted it to be a work of art that you’d eagerly display in your library. So if Host Mortem can share space on a shelf alongside their collections of Dick Tracy and The Spirit, to name a few, I will be more than happy. Another fun tidbit is the fact that I haven’t even told my collaborators who the murderer is, so they’re all doing their work in real time trying to figure it out just as the readers will.

CBY: I'm keen to see it take it take its place amongst other classics of the high noir era to which it pays homage. On a more contemporary note, my son loved the Disney XD run of Spider-Man you were involved in producing. In reading up on your portfolio beyond the recent development of Host Mortem, I’m curious as to how you plan your schedule, day-to-day, month-to-month, given the variety of roles and positions you assume, both on-screen and behind the scenes. How do you balance the time you spend working on a project with lining up your next project?

KS: I appreciate you saying that about my Spider-Man animated series. I really had a great time showrunning that and had a blast creating that original storyline. That being said, we’re living in a time where a lot of projects don’t necessarily see the light of day. A lot gets cancelled or falters before even leaving the starting gate, so you’ve got to throw a lot at the wall to see what sticks. I usually have a number of projects going at once for that very reason. But I also try to be diligent about my personal work. I spend at least three hours a day writing what’s important to me. (Host Mortem and other personal projects) and spend the rest of the day working on whatever I’ve been hired to write on. 

CBY: I find that encouraging, as I'm employing a similar model of hopping across a variety of projects, always trying to balance the professional with the personal and more the latter into the former category. When I saw the initial press around Host Mortem and realized what’s possible within the comics market, I was encouraged to call up one of my old writing partners and said, “you know what? That decades-spanning, alt-future, sci-fi character epic starring the Rat Pack; I think it might have legs.” I know you’ve also worked on Robot Chicken and a variety of IP mash-up projects that allow you to play with cultural conventions in creative ways, but how did you land on The Big Sleep as the setting within which to situate this graphic novel?

KS: First off, a futuristic Rat Pack sounds awesome! So get back to work on that. The truth is, being former game show hosts, Greg and I have a lot of random knowledge in our heads that we wish we could put to better use. Being a big fan of film noir, one of those tidbits included the knowledge that movie The Big Sleep was actually completed in 1945, but was recut and in some cases, recast before its definitive release in 1946. I got to thinking about how since many people don’t know that (or didn’t know that in 1947) that bit of trivia might be useful if trying to solve a murder back then. 

CBY: Duly noted! All the behind-the-scenes schenanigans on (and off) film sets in Hays Code-era Hollywood paints a very different picture to what the broader public caught on-screen, so it should be fertile ground to put on display for readers. I’m sure for the aspiring screen media and comics writers amongst our audience, they’d be keen to hear your Emmy-award winning advice around getting involved in collaborative projects. I’m in the midst of putting together a television pilot right now, and I know there are a lot of moving parts. So I’m keen to hear, after decades of working across productions of formats both live and animated, what common threads go into assembling successful projects, and what entry points do you see for new creative talent in a rapidly evolving media market?

KS: It all starts with a great idea. Along the way, the idea will tell you what format it’s most suited for. In fact, Host Mortem actually started as a TV pilot, but when I realized that I, myself, had played a time traveling detective, the premise shifted and I knew I wanted this to be a graphic novel. That’s not to say it won’t one day become a TV series, but for now this is the path I want to go down. But the great thing about focusing on what makes an idea special is the fact it’s probably the one thing that’s guaranteed NOT to change. Meaning media venues will come and go: Streamers, YouTube, TikTok, etc, but the IDEA is the most important thing. One of the reasons I’m excited about Host Mortem is that it is unique to me.

Often creators are worried someone is going to beat them to the punch or worry that what they're making isn’t what a network is looking for. But my feeling is you can’t have the tail wag the dog. Be bold enough to create what interests you or have a take on something that only you can offer. On my recent run of The Flash comic, I only agreed to do it when I realized I had something unique to say. On Robot Chicken we’d do a sketch that we thought only five people might get because it’s that type of specificity that helps you find an audience. The one thing I DO find social media to be helpful with is finding collaborators. No matter what your field of interest is, you should have a presence on social media that tells people what you do. Because a lot of times, when I’m looking for people to collaborate with, I will definitely start scrolling to see who’s out there.

CBY: Astute advice - I hope we can all draw upon your insights in our future endeavors. To close, we always provide an opportunity for guests to highlight any unrelated creative work they’ve been enjoying or finding inspiration in lately. Once our audience gives Host Mortem’s campaign their attention, what should they make sure they check out from amidst the creative landscape?

KS: That’s a great question. And I’m not going to limit my answers to just current things, because I’m a big fan of finding inspiration from all walks of life. In books, if you love comic books, my friend Alex Segura just came out with a follow up to his successful murder mystery novel set in the comic book world of the 1970’s called Secret Identity. The follow up is called Alter Ego and is equally good. On television, one of the most riveting and creative shows I’ve seen in a long time is the Showtime series Kidding (starring Jim Carrey). It’s a dark subject matter, but also executed perfectly and hilariously. A great movie/TV crossover is the limited series The Offer on Paramount+, which chronicles the making of the movie The Godfather. It’s must-see TV, for sure. On the film front, I think everyone should catch Michael Keaton in The Founder where he plays Ray Kroc, the man who ushered the McDonald's franchise into existence. And lastly, streaming on Amazon is a docu-series I’m a part of called Selling Superman, which anyone who loves comic books will be interested in.

CBY: The recommendations are much appreciated! Kevin, it means a lot to have you here in the Yeti Cave. Host Mortem provided me with a wonderful opportunity to waltz down memory lane with one of my most formative media experiences. For our readers at home, please let folks know how to engage with your portfolio, publications, and social media below!

KS: Absolutely! If you haven’t already, I’d say check out Host Mortem on Kickstarter or at www.HostMortem.com so you don’t miss out on any announcements or early bird specials, because we have some amazing rewards. You can also follow me across all social media @KevinShinick. I’ve also started an advice column called Game Show Gumshoe that you can join for free at KevinShinick.substack.com.