Writer short profile:
Name: Paul Bedford.
Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Writing style: Drunken Master. Or is that a fighting style? (Expect more crap jokes below).
Website/s: – www.facebook.com/
– http://thelistgraphicnovel.
Bragging rights (Featured work/collaborations):
* The film rights to The List screenplay (which I’m writing) based on the graphic novel have been optioned.
* We have received over 20 reviews of the book and none have been negative (two were luke-warm).
* We have a fan-base of thousands of sickos. Some of them actually do worry me…
Writer continued profile. Let’s get a tiny bit personal:
What are your goals as a writer?: To one day own a beer lake.
Second to that, I hope to make a career of writing, where I can look back on a body of work that I feel represents my beliefs as opposed to just writing pop crap for big money, but there’s just as good a good chance I’ll sell out too. 😉
Favourite writer/why?: Chuck Palahniuk. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Palahniuk). He sees through the bullshit, and can express lament, rage and discontent with an amazing turn of phrase.
If someone created a Comic about your life what would they title it?: The Pist. (I warned you about the crap jokes, didn’t I? DIDN’T I?)
What do you think of Comics being made into movies?: As mentioned above, the films rights to The List screenplay based on the graphic novel were optioned, so I have conveniently become a HUGE fan of comics being adapted to film. As I do this interview I am halfway through Act 3 of the screenplay. I will submit the first draft to the producers next week. Fingers crossed they don’t fucking hate it.
Has reading a Comic ever changed your life? Which one/why? (If yes): The Crow. Its influences are pretty heavy on The List (aside from having the same number of letters in the title) with regards to tone and atmosphere, but the stories are vastly different. Funnily enough, I didn’t actually realise its influence until I re-read it just recently. How it never occurred to me, I’ll never know.
Where there any defining moments in your life that have influenced your writing style?: The truckload of shit ones.
Favourite Comic writer of all time/why?: Before writing The List, I never read comics (The Crow was the only), but since then I have come to like a few. I would have to say Bobby. N (http://www.bobbyn.com/) would be my favourite creator. His story, Oxygenin his Digested series (published by Gestalt) shook me to the core. Most powerful story I have read in this medium.
What do you prefer to snack on when writing a masterpiece?: Beer. Great. Now you’ve made me think of beer. Why are you making drink at this ridiculous hour? What kind of sick interviewer are you, Ness?
Where do you get your daily inspiration from?: Observing, over thinking, over analysing, a fucked childhood, my stupidly powerful fucking demons, the self-destructive nature of humankind which will lead to its ultimate demise, hypocrisy (esp. mine), regret, times of self-loathing, the effort it takes to think positive (anything requiring that much effort can’t be natural, right?), religion (it still exists?!), our denial of our dark side and our labelling of it as “evil” instead of recognising it (not embracing it) and moving on, our denial of the animal inside when the intellect is only an expression of the animal: we do all the things animals do, with the only difference being that we can label judge and project misguided morality onto it… Ok. I’ll stop now. Certainly time for that beer.
What is your shoe size?: There are some questions you should never ask. I’m considering not finishing this interview. It’s only my borderline psychopathic narcissism that pushes me on.
If you could collaborate with ANYBODY, who would it be and why? No one really springs to mind. When I write a script, a certain style comes to mind based on its themes, tone etc and sometimes I will know an artist who has that particular style so I’ll kidnap him/her promising release upon completion of the work. I never live up to the promise.
Have you ever eaten your own boogers as an adult?: Not my own. No. Only those of the freshly dead artists previously mentioned.
If you suddenly found yourself turned into a woman, how would you spend your day?: I am a woman.
Likes: 50% of things.
Dislikes: The other 50%
Favourite joke: “An English man was walking through London one day when he spotted a giant rabbit. Well, it was a rabbit except for its head, which was a boulder-sized jam donut. He approached the giant donut- headed rabbit and asked if there were any cutlery holders available in the near vicinity. When the nineteen banana-flavoured robots called to ensure their dinner reservation wasn’t soaked in sea water they floundered, but recovered eventually. Are you still reading this absurd crap I am making up on the spot or do you want more? If you want more, please read on: …so, disappointed, Mary the lion tamer decided it was time to shoot the pigs. This pleased those who worshipped dirt, and then it fell over.”
Any thank you’s/shoutouts?: My awesome artists, Henry Pop, Tom Bonin and my long suffering sexy wife, Fleur. And my constant companion, my awesomedog, Noodle McDoodle. Everyone who has purchased The List. The many who have taken the time to write to me with their thoughts on The List – I utterly cherish those letters; they are the best part of creating a work. The critics who have taken an open mind and seen The List for what it and articulated their thoughts on it so well. The artists of the Monthly Melbourne Creators Meet, who are an awesome force of talent, friendship, humour and inspiration. (http://hpop.deviantart.com/) – (http://tombonin.blogspot.com.au/p/pro-illustration.html).
– Thank you in abundance to Paul for this interview. Hands down one of my favorites and why I decided to take these profiles on. Giggles and respect go hand in hand for this fellow Aussie. Good luck with everything Sir. – Ness 🙂
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