Adult Animation Revolution: ‘Far-Fetched’ EXCLUSIVE Interview With Dave Capdevielle And Ashley Nichols

After a smash-hit success on Kickstarter, Far-Fetched co-creators Dave Capdevielle and Ashley Nichols agreed to do an in-depth Q&A.

Tito W. James: Firstly, congratulations on your successful Kickstarter campaign! It’s heartening to see a unique concept for a show that wouldn’t be greenlit on a traditional channel.

Dave: Thanks so much! The response has been completely flattering and humbling. I’m so thankful that we’re actually going to be able to bring our pilot to life now!

Ashley: Thank you so much! It’s been a wild experience for a first ever Kickstarter campaign!

Tito: What were some of your favorite shows growing up? Did any shows influence you when creating Far-Fetched?

Dave: Some of my favorite cartoons when I was a kid were The Grim Adventures of Billy And Mandy, Spongebob Squarepants, Dexter’s Laboratory, and Kids Next Door.

Ashley: I was obsessed with Danny Phantom as a kid and Rue and Kira actually started out as Danny Phantom fan characters 20+ years ago, haha! So to say the least, that’s also had a big influence on the show. I’m also a big fan of Avatar The Last Airbender, Steven Universe, and Gravity Falls so all those absolutely left their mark as well.

Tito: There are several web animated series that explore spooky genres. How are you making sure Far-Fetched is unique while also delivering the thrills and chills we enjoy?

Dave: I’m a massive horror freak and have definitely integrated that love and knowledge of the genre into the world of Far-Fetched. One of the biggest things we’ve wanted to aim for with the tone of our show is to balance out the characters being fun and down to earth, but the monsters and mysterious parts of Veilport are genuinely creepy and threatening. A lot of the creatures we have in mind for the show are combinations of established monsters and original designs to create scary mutants, as well as some of the ideas we have for episodes of the show are very much rooted in horror.

Ashley: I’ll be honest, we just put in the stuff that sounds fun to us, haha! Shockingly 2D animated horror is a fairly untapped medium, likely due to how simplistic 2D animation can seem compared to 3D or live action, so it’s been a fun challenge experimenting with how to capture spooky creatures in this medium.

Tito: What role does music play in Far-Fetched?

Dave: Music is very important, as not only our main cast of characters make up the rock band Sesamoid, but there are other musician characters as well in the series! A very important element of the show for us was that the music that Sesamoid makes is of genuine high quality, even if the members that make up the band themselves are a ragtag motley crew. We’ve released five songs (two originals and three covers) so far onto real streaming services, and it’s really cool to see people who are just as big of fans of Sesamoid as a band as the animated series itself.

Ashley: We’re always proud of the fact that the band within Far-Fetched, Sesamoid, stands on its own even without the context of the show. Within the show, however, music is what has dragged all these freaks together and we use that to help tell the characters stories.

Tito: Many people working at traditional cable channels like Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and Disney Channel, have expressed frustrations with corporate censorship. What are some of the creative advantages of working in the indie animation realm?

Dave: Having the freedom to be fully independent brings both serious pros and cons. Some big advantages are the fact that we get to create the exact show that we want, without any corporate interference or changes made by people who see nothing but dollar signs in their eyes. So it’s wonderful to have the ability to make all our own decisions. However, the unfortunate truth is that it’s financially unpredictable and sometimes even unsustainable to be fully independent. You really have to be in this for the passion, because there’s just not much money to be made in it.

Ashley: I mean the main advantage is you can basically do whatever you want. Other than needing to follow the policies of whatever platform you’re uploading to, there’s total creative freedom and you don’t have to sell the rights to this project you spent years of labor on. It gets to stay all yours and be as chaotic, gay, and gruesome as you like. The downside to all that freedom though is, of course, money.

Tito: Young adults are some of the most passionate cartoon fans and yet they are largely ignored outside of anime. Why is this demographic unique and important to create for?

Dave: As you said, their passion speaks for itself. So many young adults in these spaces are budding creators themselves, and thus are very vocal and active in communities to make their own stories, fan creations, and support independent cartoons. It’s also more of an interesting audience to create for because finding the balance between something for kids and for adults can be a difficult tightrope to walk, but it feels incredible when you’re able to pull it off!

Ashley: Being in that age group, let’s face it, sucks, haha. You aren’t a kid anymore and you’re only just beginning to figure out how to exist in the world and then on top of that you have barely any media to unwind with or relate to??? A huge reason most of our characters are young adults is because we are trying to tackle that exact frustrating time in life and we wanna say, we see you! You aren’t alone! You will survive this!

Tito: The blog I write is called “Adult Animation Revolution” — we believe that “animation is a medium not a genre.” Sadly, in America it’s still rare to see animation being taken seriously as a mature form of artistic expression. If you had to advocate for animation’s potential as an artistic medium what would you say?

Dave: Animation is one of the hardest forms of art to produce, and it pains me that it still isn’t given the proper recognition for how powerful it is in the world of media. I’ll always be an extreme proponent of the art form, and I am blown away every day by the incredible creations folks all around the world are able to pull off through animation. Some of the greatest stories ever told have been drawn or sculpted, and we should be fighting to ensure the art form only grows stronger as time goes on.

Ashley: Animation is one of the rare mediums where every single pixel of every single frame has to be hand crafted by actual human beings. That means that what can be created through it is absolutely limitless. Narrowing something with that much potential is narrow sighted at best. The awesome thing about this wave of indie animation is I believe we’ll finally start seeing animation made without demographics or audience in mind. True expressions of the kinds of stories real human beings want to tell, not a boardroom of suits.

I’d like to thank Dave Capdevielle and Ashley Nichols for taking the time to do this interview. You can follow their work online here.