An Interview With The Creators Of ‘Thanks! Romina’

Guilie Speziani: The character of Romina is inspired by my own experience working in Hollywood. Most people outside the movie and TV industry don’t know how it all works with the different departments and how involved the process is to get the show or feature out into the world, in front of an audience. There are a lot more steps in post-production which made it a unique battleground for Romina because she’s learning the nuances from the get-go.

SE Case: I remember being a little hesitant when Giulie approached me to illustrate Thanks! Romina because the setting (Los Angeles) and the world of post-production were things I was unfamiliar with, and authenticity in environmental design is really important for me. I have been to Los Angeles only once in my life, and that was almost 20 years ago, and I’ve worked in a lot of office environments, but I know every industry is a little different. But Giulie was really great about getting me lots of information and reference photos, and I actually learned a bit about post production in the process. I like post production as a career for Romina because it feels a lot more authentic and accessible to me than the usual story about someone trying to make it in Hollywood, where they’re usually trying to be an actor or writer. It’s a very specific job, but also an extremely relatable story to anyone who has ever worked in an office setting.

Speziani: It’s interesting how that first page came to be. Originally it was an entirely different introduction where it opened on a flashback to a young Romina ready to go down a huge slide but got scared and ran away. I wanted to show her character as lacking confidence which she still struggles with as an adult. But as SE and I both agreed, it wasn’t working with the rest of the story so it was rewritten and redrawn. I’m glad we made that call because it’s much more relatable and impactful.

Case: Yeah, I like the first page we ended up with, even though the original first page was pretty fun (I love a flashback sequence). But I think this one says a lot more about Romina and her current situation. I gave her a fast food breakfast sandwich to eat — and I imagine she’s probably eating it sort of robotically, not really even tasting it. I know I’ve eaten in my car like this before going into the first day on a job; you’re anxious and the food feels like styrofoam in your mouth, but you shove it down anyway because you know you’ll need the energy but you might be too nervous to eat anything for the rest of the day.

Speziani: Yes. That’s what makes comics such an awesome medium because there’s no limit on how to convey these fun details.

Case: I don’t do a whole lot of inner dialogue in my own comic writing, so I thought the dynamic of illustrating situations/expressions/etc that compliment or contrast with Romina’s inner dialogue was super fun, and definitely a different experience for me.

Speziani: Yup, both her sister and dad show up throughout the series. Romina has a special relationship with them and I really want to develop more storylines with that.

Case: I love Romina’s family, especially Flavia. You do get to see her more in future chapters, and she’s such a great contrast to Romina. Most of the people you see Romina interact with, especially at the beginning of the story, are people she’s a little uncomfortable with. So seeing her interact with Flavia is great because you get a glimpse of a different part of her personality.

Speziani: That’s all on SE, they should take the credit. I think my favorite tchotchke is the grumpy cat toy next to a desk phone, the face says it all.

Case: I loved designing all of the desks because looking at someone’s desk is a great way to get insight into their personal lives and personalities. Clay’s desk is dirty and chaotic, in part perhaps because that’s just how he works, but also because he’s overworked and has kind of stopped giving a shit. Contrast with Shelby’s desk, which is neat and organized. She has a poster that just says “Unicorns!” on her cube wall, which I kinda think says it all about her personality. My favorite tchotchke is probably the little giraffe Pedro keeps on the top of his cube wall. I imagine his cube neighbors gave it a clever name and put little seasonal trinkets on it.

Speziani: Since I’m pretty short (5’2″) I thought it would be a funny gag to have a tall guy too tall for the panel. That character, Gabe, stays pretty quiet until the last issue.

Case: Gabe was one of the trickier characters to draw. Not being able to see Gabe’s face meant I had to try to imbue extra personality into the parts of him you can see, and framing the shot so that you can’t see his face was a little tough in some instances. But doing the pages where he appears were really fun. He’s usually seen with Leah, the other person who works in the edit bay. Gabe is big and tall and chill, Leah is tiny and fiery and outspoken. They were some of my favorite characters to draw, because I’m a sucker for a contrasting character pairing.