Broken Frontier

Broken Frontier catches up with Top Cow Publisher Filip Slik and Mel Caylo of Marketing and Sales to discuss the company's plans for the future, in the first part of an interview series.

Well, here we are.

2008 is here, and with it comes some staffing changes in the comics industry. One of them no one cares about at all, namely my quasi-return to Broken Frontier in the capacity of journalist. The other one comics readers probably care more about – that one has to do with some staffing shakeups at the upper tiers of Top Cow.

So as excited as I was to publish an interview with myself about the missing two years (which I should warn you included a fantastic voyage, a battle with a hideous monster and adventures in the gritty world of basket-weaving), I have instead decided to publish a story about the fellows over at Top Cow. I hope no one’s too upset.

Effective at the beginning of the year Filip Sablik, VP of Marketing and Sales, became Publisher at Top Cow. Mel Caylo, formerly of Wizard, switched hats and coasts to take over the vacant job in Marketing and Sales. But these aren’t the society pages. I was interested in the reasons for the changing of the guard and most importantly, what it would mean for Top Cow in the months to come. So I caught up with Filip and Mel and we talked a little bit about what went down and what was coming up.

BROKEN FRONTIER: Okay, Filip, let's talk a little bit about your new job. For people who aren't as clear on the hierarchy, what were you doing before and how does that differ now that you're Publisher?

Filip Sablik (pictured right): My title before was Vice President of Marketing and Sales and I was in charge of promoting Top Cow and our properties in every way I could conceive of. That meant spearheading our press efforts (both in comics and mainstream), coordinating interviews, working with the book market buyers, direct market retailers, spearheading our online presence and trade shows, and so on. Or to put it another way, I worked out of my home office in Baltimore at the computer or on the phone all day... and I didn't have to wear pants.

Now, I'm Publisher and a fantastic guy named Mel Caylo (formerly of Wizard Magazine) is taking over as our VP of Marketing and Sales. We're lucky to have Mel and he's going to spend the next year making my previous efforts look bad. As Publisher, my duties will be largely in an overseeing capacity and making sure the wheels are turning day to day at Top Cow HQ in Los Angeles. That means working with Mel to make sure we're spreading the word about Top Cow, working with Rob Levin to make sure the books are coming out on time and kicking ass, developing relationships with creators, retailers, and fans and working with our Production crew to make sure all the nuts and bolts of comic publishing are turning smoothly. Or to put it another way now I'll be in the office in sunny California on the phone or computer all day and while I do have to wear pants, I still don't have to get dressed up for work.

BF: How did the change happen?

FS: Matt Hawkins pitched me on the idea a few months back. With our recent successes in the mainstream with The Darkness video game, Witchblade Anime, and the upcoming Wanted feature film, he realized it's an ideal time to capitalize on that success and continue to expand Top Cow into other media, which has always been a goal for the company. Matt was already wearing too many hats and his schedule didn't really allow for him to take all the meetings to pursue that. With me in the office every day, handling the day to day decisions for our Publishing branch he can focus on developing new business opportunities for the company.

BF: Mel, tell us about your job at Wizard.

Mel Caylo (pictured right): I was at Wizard for a total of seven years, broken up into two terms. During my last stint there, I was the editorial director, and it was my job to work with outside companies, primarily movie studios, TV networks and home video companies, to get coverage of their projects in the magazine. For example, when we were covering Spider-Man 3 in Wizard, I was the liaison with Columbia Pictures who facilitated our access to the set, cast and crew interviews, exclusive images and other necessary arrangements.

BF: Why the move to Top Cow?

MC: Wizard eliminated my position. I have no hard feelings about that. Business is business. As a member of the Wizard editorial staff, I had been friendly with Top Cow over the years, especially with Matt Hawkins, the president of the company. He had wanted to promote Filip to publisher, and in doing so, he knew he needed a new sales and marketing person. When he heard I was available, he invited me out to Los Angeles to talk about the opening.

BF: What’s different about what you’re doing now? What stays the same?

MC: Whereas before I was primarily an editorial person, now I’m a marketer. I’m not writing to inform; I’m writing to sell. What stays the same, though is my ability to forge strong relationships with people outside the company, and I believe that was one of the reasons Matt found me an attractive prospect.

BF: What are your plans for Top Cow over the next few months?

MC: Over the next few months, I’m going to make sure people know about our two biggest projects of the year: Broken Trinity and Pilot Season 2008. Broken Trinity is a follow-up to last year’s First Born event and will reveal a new artifact in the Top Cow Universe. Of the 13 artifacts, we’ve only revealed half thus far, the biggest three being the Witchblade, the Darkness and the Angelus—the Top Cow Trinity. Pilot Season 2008 is our joint venture with MySpace Comics that will introduce six new original series for the fans to vote on which two they’d like to see expanded into ongoing series. Last year’s was so successful that it was only logical to do it again.

FS: Get my feet underneath me and see how many times I can get the interns to get me coffee. The nice thing is that Top Cow already has publishing plans well into 2009, so it's more a matter of executing our plans effectively than trying to come up with new stuff for the next few months.

Join us tomorrow for the next part of this interview when Filip and Mel talk about Top Cow's long-term plans and The Darkness video game.