As an extremely ecstatic (and sometimes erratic) fan-boy, I was very excited to hear the news drop in mid June pertaining to a new TV Sitcom “There Goes Da Neighba’hood” starring everyone’s favorite murderous black midget, the Black Devil Doll himself, Mubia Abu-Jama! Well as of late the Rotten Cotton Crew has kept a pretty tight lid on things more recently unveiling 3 new cast updates with the inclusion of B-Film Deniro & TROMA Alumni, Trent Haaga, the multi-talented and extremely fun to look at, Heidi Honeycutt, as well as actor, death metal drummer and Howard Stern Show Producer Richard Christy! The horror press has picked up the news of this crazy endeavor and the Indiegogo Campaign is well underway, creeping up on $2500.
So what comes next? I was able to catch up with Shawn & Jonathan Lewis, Mitchell Boone, and John Osteen to get a look at how the idea all got started and what to expect from the show when it is officially in the can. Although devoid of any plot-spoilers (which we are saving for later!) the crew delves into some technical points as well.
Check it out!
Legend:
- [SHAWN] Lewis
- [JONATHAN] Lewis
- [JOHN] Osteen
- [MITCHELL] Boone
- [ADAM] Delia
[ADAM]: First off, Unholy Shit! “A Black Devil Doll Sitcom”?! What type of drugs were involved in the thought process?
- [MITCHELL] All of them!
- [SHAWN] Marijuana definitely played a big role.
- [JONATHAN] Just say no!
[ADAM]: I know you’ve guys kicked a plethora of different ideas around, since the original “Black Devil Doll” film, trying to bring the little black bastard back to the screen but how the hell did you guys settle on a cheesy 80s TV sitcom?
- [JOHN] Shawn came up with the overall sitcom concept, pitched it to us, and we all just said, “YES, THAT IS IT!” Then we just ran with it from there.
- [JONATHAN] We’re all big fans of all that 70′s and 80′s sitcom stuff like “The Jeffersons”, “Diff’rent Strokes”, “Webster”, “Alf”….just all of it.
- [MITCHELL] Have you ever watched “Three’s Company” on mescaline? Amazing.
- [SHAWN] It just felt right when we started to really flesh it out and toss around the ideas. We just knew that this was the way we wanted to go.
[ADAM]: We know that “There Goes Da Neighborhood” will be its own entity and be unlike anything we’ve ever seen…but can we expect homages to some of our favorite shows like “Sanford and Sons”, “That’s My Mama”, “Good Times”, etc?
- [JONATHAN] Absolutely! People are going to catch all kinds of nods to classic TV sitcoms.
- [MITCHELL] You’ll see it in everything from the logo and theme song, to certain characters and the sets. For some people, half the fun will be looking for that stuff and pointing it out.
[ADAM]: Do you guys think that they’ll be room in the budget for some black celeb cameos from the likes of “Blowfly”, “Fred Williamson”, “Jimmy Lynch”, “Jim Brown”, etc?
- [SHAWN] We’re working on having a guest star in each of the 6 episodes, and that seems to be working out.
- [JOHN] I can think of a perfect role in episode 5 for “Fred Williamson”, so you never know.
[ADAM]: Who will be handling the score for this endeavor?
- [MITCHELL] We’ve been working with a guy already, and we’ll be announcing him very soon. The theme song is already done, in fact.
- [JONATHAN] And it’s fucking amazing!
- [SHAWN] People can’t possibly imagine what they’re about to see and hear…the opening with the theme song is so goddamn ridiculous.
- [JOHN] Very soon!
[ADAM]: Will “Grindhouse Releasing” have a hand in distribution?
- [SHAWN] As it stands, we’ll be handling distribution ourselves. That is not to say that “Grindhouse” or one of the other distribution outfits we deal with won’t be involved to some degree, but it’s too early to tell.
- [MITCHELL] ”Grindhouse Releasing” has been amazing and really good to us, but we’re pretty intrigued with the possibility of total self distribution. Not to mention, the DVD/Blu-Ray market is changing so drastically every day, so who knows where it will all be in a year. You will absolutely be able to watch all the episodes via VOD on the website, no question.
- [JOHN] And order the Blu-Ray and DVD, of course.
[ADAM]: Mitch, has Marty completed his rape-therapy after his last encounter with Mubia in the “Black Devil Doll” film?
- [MITCHELL] That closet homo loved every minute of it.
[ADAM]: What are your plans for shooting? Multiple cameras? Will there be authentic laugh tracks? etc.
- [JOHN] The laugh track is a must, we’re already working on that. And we’re doing the traditional 3-camera TV style shoot. Lighting will be another key factor in giving it that look, as well as a little post digital trickery. Not to mention the sets. It’s a whole bunch of different ingredients that will come together to give it that look and feel.
[ADAM]: Will there be trading of the director’s chair per episode? Or will Osteen and Louis Lewis be duking it out to see who directs?
- [SHAWN] Osteen is directing all six episodes. Osteen is like a fucking encyclopedia of old television shows and the mechanics of how they’re shot, so he had to direct.
- [JONATHAN] I’m going to handle the feature length behind-the-scenes doc that will come with the DVD and move more into the producing chair on this one. Our biggest regret with “Black Devil Doll” is that we didn’t shoot all the behind-the-scenes stuff. It would have been amazing! We won’t make that mistake again.
- [MITCHELL] There is no way in hell that we won’t produce an insane documentary around this project. The shear size of this whole thing, the people involved? Nuts. Absolute fucking nuts.
[ADAM]: Finally, what’s it look like in the future for Mubia on the big screen?
- [JOHN] Each episode is it’s own stand-alone thing, but the six parts also have an overall story arch.
- [MITCHELL] We’d still like to produce some sort of sequel, maybe even a spin-off type thing. So many ideas floating around.
- [JONATHAN] It’s set-up to easily carry on past the sixth episode.
- [SHAWN] And this series could easily continue on. If people love it as much as we hope they do, we’re totally prepared to continue it past the sixth episode. I’m guessing it’ll continue. Fingers crossed!
“There Goes Da Neigh’bahood” is continously funding on Indiegogo until this AUGUST 3rd! If you want to be a part of indie film history you can donate and/or pick up a nice perk at the Official Indiegogo Campaign page!
Also follow Mubia Abu-Jama on his FACEBOOK PAGE, his TWITTER @BlackDevilDoll, and on the “There Goes Da Neigh’bahood” fanpage!
- 1985 A.D.