Greg Grunberg and Kevin Smith unleash their AMC talk show Geeking Out at San Diego Comic-Con. What better place to promote their show than the con that started it all? Smith and Grunberg talk about celebrating comic book culture that aims to take audiences behind the scenes with some of the hottest creators and talent in genre.
- Kevin Smith on jumping into the idea: “I got involved because it would be like doing sports center without watching sports.” Both he and Grunberg wanted to create a way for fans to get unprecedented access to creators and talent.
- On AMC being the right home for the show, Smith compares it to being a companion to the massively successful after-show Talking Dead. Their talk show aims to be different and not just specific to one type of fandom.
- On the show, the duo will talk to folks like J.J. Abrams and Matt Damon as well as Star Trek composer Michael Giacchino. They joked that they exhausted their address book.
- The show won’t feature traditional interviews, it’s a real conversation. Charlie Hunnam got to geek out about things he liked. The format appeals to actors because they can be themselves and be fans too.
- Kevin Smith really hopes to get Ben Affleck on the show. He thinks it would have been easier a couple years ago but now not so much. Steven Spielberg would be amazing for Smith, who has never talked to him, and feels like this could be the way to do it. Smith thinks his body of work is the reason we geek out. Jaws was one of Kevin’s first films he geeked out over, so he wants to know what Spielberg geeks about.
- The show will provide different access than all entertainment news shows. Smith and Grunberg want to create a genre version that focuses on things this specific demographic. Grunberg said he wants to include both perspectives of creators and being a fan.
- Kevin Smith got the Suicide Squad not through his first attempt, which was sending the suits a plea video. “They were like we love you but no.” Tiffany Smith, who’s their lady counterpart as a genre fan, got the access to the cast that even he couldn’t.
- There was a time were comic book culture wasn’t dominant. The Marvel films have taken the entertainment and turned everyone into fans. Smith thinks “the more the merrier. It can’t be just us and not you. It’s inclusive, you go out on the floor and everyone is represented.” Movies and sports stand shoulder to shoulder now.
- When Smith was a kid he wanted to see his world and he did it in his films. Now it’s about diversity to him of not just white geeks. “If you can’t see it you can’t be it.” He wants to bring in other people not just one specific audience. Bring the community together. He doesn’t like the hostility that’s been going around with Gamergate or Ghostbros, and thinks it doesn’t make sense that people don’t accept women and people of color enjoying comic book culture or making it. He also thinks those who have been given countless stories about them need to kick back and enjoy other stories that need a spotlight that aren’t just another white guy. “Anybody can fucking play!”
- “Just make it, there’s nothing stopping you from making it” Abrams told Grunberg during his interview with the director. The hosts aim to be allies for having more creators of all colors and genders. Though they look like the problem, they want to help fix the problem.
