Animator Ashley Nichols and writer Dave Capdevielle are no strangers to animation. With a whole host of credits to their names individually, the pair joined forces to collaborate on a whole new cartoon creation, the gorgeously rendered and marvelously manic Far-Fetched. Pitched as “Scooby-Doo meets Resident Evil, but for people who shop at Hot Topic”—and what a perfect description!—Far-Fetched follows young Rue, whose release of her own sparkle creature kicks off a series of events that leads to Rue joining the band Sesamoid, attempting to make a music video, and, hopefully, not lose her and her bandmates’ lives to dark creatures lurking in the woods.
Editor’s note: God, this concept is just *chef’s kiss.*
To make their pilot for Far-Fetched become a reality, Nichols and Capdevielle recently launched a Kickstarter through Spike Trotman’s Iron Circus, and so far the response has been overwhelming. With a whole multimedia smorgasbord of rewards from art to music available to backers, this is an immersive campaign, to say the least.
I spoke with Ashley Nichols and Dave Capdevielle recently about the conceit of Far-Fetched, the journey of the concept from fan art to animation to comics, the Kickstarter itself, and why this is such a labor of love for the duo.
FreakSugar: Far-Fetched sounds wild and I’m here for it. What can you tell us about the series and its genesis?
Ashley Nichols: Back in 2006, I was incredibly active on the art site DeviantArt and made a bunch of OCs (original characters) to roleplay and draw with friends. Rue and Kira were two of those characters! Even though I didn’t draw them for a good 6-7 years, they stuck with me for some reason.
In 2015-2016 the urge to revisit some old ideas and work on something that was truly my own hit me and I found myself going back to those old characters once more. I slowly developed them and played with ideas for stories for years until Dave came along and everything really took shape and blasted off from there. So there’s a ton of late 2000s nerd on the internet culture packed into this show, to honor those roots.
Dave Capdevielle: Thanks so much! Ashley originally had the idea for the characters of Rue and Kira for a long time, and approached me back in 2019 about writing an animated short starring them. That became our proof of concept, and after lots of time working together and spilling our brains all out, that simple premise evolved into what Far-Fetched is now. It’s the story of a young girl named Rue, who after accidentally releasing her own sparkle creature named Kira into the world, joins her friend Quinn’s rock band of misfits called Sesamoid, with members Piper, Warren and Griff. Trying to rise to relevance, the gang get caught up in a growing battle between science and the supernatural in their mysterious hometown.
FS: I’ve read the press release and poured over the official website. I adore the characters and their designs. What can you tell us about the cast and the process in their creation?
AN: Like I said, Rue and Kira started out as DeviantArt OCs, haha. They’ve changed a good bit though, such as Rue starting out as a half ghost/vampire and Kira being her “guardian angel” of sorts. Quinn came about in 2016 and started out as a super soft sweet guy, much unlike the egomaniac diva he is now haha! Griff, Piper, and Warren however were a combined creation by both Dave and I! We really dug down into our unique and combined interests with anime, cosplay, music, horror movies, animals, scientific experiments, and creatures of all shapes and sizes to make this group of freaks really fun to mash together into a band.
DC: We really love these characters and wanted to truly make them a motley crew, reference intended. Rue is the definition of a walking quarter-life crisis, extremely anxious and looking for direction. The combination of Kira coming into her life and Quinn making her join Sesamoid as the new keyboard player takes the wheel out of her hands, especially because Quinn is the definition of hubris incarnate. He’s the drummer who claims to be the leader with none of the qualities of being one. Piper is a cosplay witch with pure gremlin energy, who can shred a guitar and radiate positivity. Warren is the dad-brained bass player, who ends up doing all the manual labor. And then there’s Griff, the pure-hearted trash rat with an incredible singing voice and accident-prone existence. They all have their stand-out moments and it’s been so fun to write these misfits playing off each other.
FS: Your love for animation and storytelling is bursting from everything I’ve seen so far. What are some of your influences that might have been kicked around when approaching Far-Fetched?
AN: I’ve always been obsessed with animation and cartoons. My family inundated me with old Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry growing up so I was “doomed” from the start haha! For Far-Fetched particularly, I know a massive inspiration for me was my favorite childhood show, Danny Phantom. From the style, character dynamics, sense of humor, and spooky supernatural hijinx that show has always stuck with me. And needless to say, another one of my childhood favorites Scooby-Doo obviously has a huge influence on the show. Specifically I think the day I experienced their movie Zombie Island, something in my brain chemistry permanently changed. There’s also definitely a lot of anime and horror movie inspiration as well. The show’s a real melting pot of both Dave and my greatest creative inspirations.
DC: Ashley and I both have our personal loves that bring a lot to what Far-Fetched has become. I’m a huge horror and comedy freak, so cartoons like The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Gravity Falls, and Scooby-Doo, as well as films like Ghostbusters, Evil Dead 2 and The Thing have really played their part as influences on both the humor and scares that go into writing Far-Fetched. It’s been a lot of fun to balance out the things I love with the cute and cryptic aesthetic that Ashley provides and admires.
FS: The Kickstarter for Far-Fetched promises all sorts of wonderful goodies, such as music and concept art and prints and so much more! What can you tell us about the campaign?
AN: Well the biggest goodie to look forward to is definitely the Far-Fetched Art & Comics book we’ll have available as a reward! It will feature tons of concept art all the way from the characters inception in 2006 through the completion of the pilot as well as production stories, behind the scenes looks at making an indie show, character art and also every single comic we’ve released for the show so far! And likely some revamps of our older comics as well.
DC: Our pilot is halfway finished, which is why we’ve chosen to do this Kickstarter. With the public’s help, we want to fund the completion of the pilot and release it before we die! Balancing the production out with making Sesamoid music and comics has us juggling a workload, but we believe that doing so has helped us sell people on our original characters and world. We’re really excited for people to check out the rewards we’ve come up with, including exclusive sticker packs, downloads of Sesamoid music, private watch-a-longs and Q&A sessions, animatic downloads, special signed prints, and much more!
FAR-FETCHED book cover
FS: This project seems to be one of love and joy. What do you get from working on it, not just professionally but personally?
AN: So, slightly heavy, but in 2019 I was in an extremely dark place. Probably the absolute worst depression I’ve ever been in, and something in my core knew I needed to finally stop thinking “someday” and sit down and actually make something for ME. Making Far-Fetched in many ways saved me and has given me a reason to keep going.
DC: This show and these characters really have been beyond satisfying to bring to life over the past few years. To be able to create both a whole new animated world and a real rock band seriously is the coolest combination to yank out of our craniums. Every day while working on it has been incredibly fulfilling, and I’m so excited for a huge second wind once the campaign ends to finish the pilot!
FS: If you had one final pitch for the Kickstarter, what would it be?
AN: Animation is in an extremely rocky place right now. Shows getting canceled out of nowhere, studio mergers, projects people put YEARS of love and effort into being thrown away for a tax write off (Release Coyote Vs. Acme!), and TONS of creatives being out of work due to corporate greed. We need to support the arts and create outside a corrupt system that doesn’t care about us. So, if you think our show sounds a little fun, please check it out!
DC: If you love animation, comedy, horror, action, monsters, music and mayhem, I really think Far-Fetched is for you! Supporting our Kickstarter not only gives us the chance to bring this show to life, but gives our backers the satisfaction of knowing they’ve contributed to keeping the indie entertainment scene going and the chance to get their claws on some really awesome rewards!
As of press time, the Kickstarter for Far-Fetched has hit its initial funding goal one-and-a-half times over with 27 days left in the campaign! This whole project is a labor of love and everything coming out of it so far is gorgeous and weird and wonderful. Give it a look if that sounds like your jam—and I’m willing to bet it is!
From the official press release about the Kickstarter:
Writer Dave Capdevielle and animator Ashley Nichols are teaming up to create FAR-FETCHED, an all-new animated pilot about Sesamoid, a fictional band of misfit musicians who are primed to skyrocket to untold fame and fortune. All Sesamoid needs to break through is to manifest their big break — and one pitch perfect music video. There’s just one problem: Before they can even get started, monsters and mayhem break loose to destroy the band. FAR-FETCHED is now on Kickstarter from Capdevielle and Nichols, with Iron Circus’ Spike Trotman consulting on a campaign jam-packed with special rewards, including a book full of comics and developmental art, early access to the screening and Q&A, music by the cartoon fictional band Sesamoid, exclusive signed prints, custom sketches, and much more.
“Ashley and I became friends during the production of Hazbin Hotel and knew we had a lot of shared creative interests,” said Capdevielle. “She had ideas for some of the characters for what would become FAR-FETCHED since 6th grade, and always wanted to do something with them. So one day, she approached me about writing an animated short starring the two main characters, Rue and her dog Kira, that became the show’s proof of concept.”
FAR-FETCHED is about Rue, a walking quarter-life crisis and proud new owner of a mistakenly unleashed DeviantArt sparkle-creature named Kira. Her life in shambles, childhood friend and hubris incarnate Quinn drags her into his band Sesamoid, with fellow members Piper, Warren and Griff. As new friends, the gang embark on a rocky road to relevance in an ancient ice cream truck, but soon learn their hometown of Veilport is far more than meets the eye, becoming unwilling participants in a battle between science and the supernatural.
“We’ve already successfully produced a 2-minute proof of concept short animation and plan on funding the full pilot episode on our own, so that we may create a show that isn’t limited by the expectations of some business suit named Frank,” said Nichols. “If we don’t screw this up and people actually like it, then we plan on funding an entire series, in order to fully bring to life the story we want to tell. Sure, this is a little uncertain and risky, but it’s a lot better than working with Frank. Screw you, Frank!”
“After Iron Circus’ crowdfunding campaign to make a cartoon of Tracy Butler’s webtoon Lackadaisy became a blockbuster success, we were inundated with offers to collaborate on campaigns,” said Trotman. “And I turned all those projects down, because I need to be passionate about the campaigns I work on, even if I am just working as a consultant. And I love the world that Dave and Ashley have created! Besides, they’re both veterans of Lackadaisy, so they’re practically family.” Capdevielle currently works as a writer on Lackadaisy and previously worked on the Hazbin Hotel pilot. Nichols worked as an animator and clean-up artist for Animaniacs, Lackadaisy and the Hazbin Hotel pilot.
“I have firsthand knowledge of (and gratitude for) all of the considerable skills and creativity both Ashley and Dave have contributed to Lackadaisy, so there’s no question in my mind that they can pull off completing this spectacular inaugural episode for Far-Fetched,” said Lackadaisy creator Tracy Butler. “It’s just a matter of allotting them the budget to do it. To that end, I wholly recommend hopping aboard for the ice cream truck ride. This project — born out of passion for the artform and love for the characters, and packed with all the skelly boys, werewolves, and cryptids the heart desires — is going to be something special.”
The campaign features a slew of rewards for backers, including a book featuring original comics, developmental art, character art, design philosophies and more; a computer and phone background package; access to an early online screening of the completed pilot alongside creators, cast & crew, plus a Q&A; a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the short including bloopers and outtakes; a Sesamoid MP3 package featuring every single song from the show’s in-universe band, including instrumental versions; a sticker pack; a digital sheet music pack; exclusive signed prints; custom sketches; comic cameos; and more.