Broken Frontier

Producers Jason Koornick (Next) and Lawrence Blume (Martin and Orloff) have optioned NBM’s terrific graphic novel BLUESMAN from writer Rob Vollmar and artist Pablo Callejo.  The soundtrack will be produced by Grammy-winning blues artist Keb’ Mo’, who will also act in a supporting role. 

Producer Jason Koornick and writer Rob Vollmar shared their excitement with Broken Frontier.

BROKEN FRONTIER:  Rob, how exciting is it to have your story optioned for a film? What did it take to get Bluesman noticed by the movie industry?

ROB VOLLMAR:  I think moving the series to NBM was a crucial component. Their well-earned credibility as a serious publisher of graphic novels got Bluesman looked at in channels that would have been closed to us previously. In particular, the favorable write-up we received in Entertainment Weekly did wonders to spread the word and resulted, I think, directly in Jason Koornick's contacting us.

BF: What were the negotiations like?  Was it difficult or intimidating?

RV: Pablo and I were not involved directly in the negotiations by virtue of the contract we signed with NBM. However, I did speak with Jason at some length before negotiations began. He was very interested in having me articulate to him directly what my vision of the important themes and elements of the story might be.   Our common background as musicians also made talking to him about the possibility of a Bluesman film a very relaxed and enjoyable conversation. 

I've also been very impressed with the willful transparency that NBM has exhibited to Pablo and me during this process. Publisher Terry Nantier has kept us engaged at every step in the process and has regularly reached out to us for input where contractually he was bound to accept as little as he preferred. Both Terry and Jason have proven to be very capable partners in this endeavor and we are gratified that they have both chosen to invest so deeply into our work.

BF:  Jason, you say you're already working on the Bluesman film project!  What are you doing?

JASON KOORNICK:  I'm glad to hear that you are as excited about Bluesman as I am. I believe that the property is a special one - it combines two of my favorite things: music and visual arts. The structure and visual and auditory nature of the story make it perfectly suited for adaptation into a film. I have little doubt that it will attract the top actors and directors.

As you and readers are aware, making a film is a tedious, often arduous process that is contingent on many factors. And Bluesman is at a very early stage.

Our next goal is to get a screenplay written and my partner Larry and I will be interviewing screenwriters who are as excited about the material as we are. We'll also show the property to actors and film-makers with the goal of attaching well-known talent. One strategy is to reach out to the black film community. And the comics community in Hollywood as well. With a completed screenplay and budget, we'll be in a position to approach actors, financiers, studios and other production entities.

Since Bluesman isn't your typical studio film, any person who will be involved in it creatively will do so out of their love for the blues. The level of talent Scorcese's The Blues documentary series was able to attract was encouraging to us. The fact that Keb’ Mo’ has committed to produce the soundtrack and act in a supporting role in the film is a testament to the power of Rob and Pablo's source material. Hopefully the comic, in addition to Keb's involvement, will interest an established actor or director and we're off to the races.

BF: What changes do you anticipate in the story as it gets translated to film, Rob? 

RV:  The biggest one that I can anticipate would be sound!  With Bluesman, the graphic novel, we were commenting in a way on the power of the medium by creating a musical environment believably without it. The benefit of this is to encourage the reader to fill that void with music from their imagination. Reasonably, the more deeply a person was immersed in the blues, the richer that co-creative experience might be.

It is only one step further to look to one of the most gifted blues composers of our time, Keb' Mo' and wonder in awe what his encyclopedic knowledge of the art form and amazing gift for performance might present in an eventual film version of the story. His name was the very first one that came up in my conversations with Jason about the soundtrack. I can't reiterate enough how thrilling it is that he is attached to the project and how much I look forward to hearing his interpretation of the music of Bluesman.

BF: Do you anticipate making any major changes in the setting of Bluesman, either the time or the location, Jason?

JK: At this stage, I believe the graphic novel speaks for what the film will be, it's all there. The period element and the location are integral parts of the experience of the early blues musicians who lived from day to day - it was better than working in the fields, that's for sure. Lem's story is an unsentimental, gritty depiction of the bluesman life and we'll try and maintain that tone throughout.

BF: How did Bluesman get your attention?  Are movie industry people routinely reviewing comic books and graphic novels for ideas?

JK: I read a review in Entertainment Weekly and was instantly curious because I am a musician and music producer as well as being into comics. I was nervous before I read it because I loved the idea so much and was afraid it wouldn't live up to my expectations. There are so many ways to screw up an ambitious, high-concept idea like Bluesman. But I was more than pleasantly surprised - it was better than I imagined!

The way that Rob integrated the 12-bar form of the blues into the storytelling structure not only works emotionally but fits perfectly into a 3-act structure for a film. I went after the property right away and a few months later Larry and I worked out a deal with the publisher.

BF: The story is already visualized in the comic book.  Does this help or hinder the process of developing the storyboard?

JK: Absolutely, the graphic novel form is a powerful tool in visualizing what a film could look like. Pablo's stylized drawings create a world that is as much a part of the story as the narrative. I'm excited to show it to film-makers because it's like a storyboarded movie - cool camera angles, lighting effects and a visual style that will translate beautifully to the cinematic form.  You can really get a sense of what our movie will be like from the graphic novel, even more than a screenplay in many ways.

Look for Next, based on a story by Philip K. Dick, starring Nicolas Cage and Julianne Moore, and executive produced by Jason Koornick in May, 2007.