From the creators ofBrickleberryandParadise PDcomesFarzar, a new Netflixadult animation seriesfollowing the self-obsessed human warrior Renzo—voiced byResident Evilstar Lance Reddick—who freed the planet Farzar from an evil alien invasion. Unfortunately, the planet falls under attack once again.
Creators Roger Black and Waco O’Guin spoke with Game Rant about their new series, which was a long time coming. “We actually had this idea beforeParadise PD. Waco and I are both huge sci-fi fans and watchedHe-Man and theMasters of the Universereligiously when were kids,” shares Black. “We came up with the show, but Netflix wasn’t looking for a space show at the time, so we didParadise PDinstead. Eventually, once we signed our deal with them, they were looking for more ideas from us.”
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O’Guin adds, “We had to redevelop it a little becauseFarzarmorphed inParadise PD.” Airing for four seasons from 2018-2022,Paradise PDeventually saw itself adopting the character profiles that were originally created forFarzar. In the earlier versions of the new sci-fi show, characters similar to Hopson, Bullet, and Chief were included. “We had to come up with a lot of new characters when we decided to come back and doFarzaragain, but the theme of the show stayed the same.” Throughout our conversation, we spoke about how working in the sci-fi genre opened Black and O’Guin up to a whole new world of creative freedoms, casting Reddick in the leading role, the future of the series, and more.
GR: Your last few shows were more grounded in reality, withBrickleberrytaking place in a park andParadise PDin a police station. How did creating a show within thesci-fi genrechallenge you as creators and writers?
O’Guin: I think it was way easier. We spend time on the other shows going “Well, that’s a funny idea, but it’s too silly or crazy." We have to keep it somewhat grounded. But withFarzar, it’s the opposite. Anything that’s thrown out in the writers roomcan work. If it’s interesting enough, you could figure out how to make it work. The creative process was way easier once we got the writers room going.
GR: While we’re on the topic of pulling together a writers room and creating an entire world, how do you guys typically divide tasks?
O’Guin:Most of the stuff we do together because it’s more fun. There’s been less than a handful of times that we got so slammed—not on this show—that we’re like, okay, “you got to do this, I got to do that. It’s the only way we’re going to survive or get this done." But if we’re doing that, we’re in trouble.
GR: Do you often find yourselves agreeing on things?
O’Guin:We’re very lucky that most of the time we have the same opinion. If not, we just trade off, like, “You get this one, I get that one.”
GR: Do you find that your ability to agree on things comes from your common animation inspirations?
O’Guin:We are about the same age, so we grew up watching the same thing. We both didn’t fit in where we came from. We were the different ones. So, I think we have a lot in common.
Black:We both grew up in small towns in Georgia, and we were ready to get the heck out of there as soon as possible. It wasn’t cool back in the 80s and early 90s to be the nerd, but now it’s worked out for us, and it’s paid off.
GR: Getting back toFarzar, how would you describe your lead character Renzo? And what was your reaction when Lance Reddick came on board?
O’Guin:We were ecstatic. We had to beg to get him on the show. When we started writing that character, his voice was in our head. Once you get a voice in your head, and you start writing the dialogue in that voice, it is devastating to not get that actor. We couldn’t hear anybody else at that point, and we didn’t know what we were going to do if he didn’t do it. We knew Lance fromParadise PD,and we knew that he has a very silly sense of humor, just like we do. So, we knew we had a good shot, but you never know for sure. We were so happy when we got Lance, he’s the perfect actor for that role.
Black:Definitely. We’re huge gamers. And the thing we love about Lance is that we playDestiny 2with him, just about every Saturday.
GR: Were you bugging him aboutFarzaras you played?
O’Guin:I don’t think we started playing with him until after he said “yes.” It was his idea to play with us because we didn’t know he was obsessed with the game like we are.
GR: Who’s the best at the game?
Black:He is. It’s so weird. Sometimes he will talk to his NPC character, he’s Commander Zavala inDestiny, but he’s doing the Renzo voice. It’s so funny.
GR: What does Lance add to the character?
Black:He’s a very great actor, and he’s got an intense voice, but at the same time he can get emotional, or go crazy and scream. He’s just got a huge range.
GR: Did you do all the voice recording virtually? Was this a 100 percent virtual production or was it hybrid?
O’Guin:For season one, it was all Zoom. I can’t believe we were able to pull it off.
GR: Was this kind of the first time you worked virtually?
O’Guin:I don’t think we’d ever done any virtual stuff before COVID. Some of it actually worked better, but not the writing. We would rather not do that again.
GR: Is it because everyone’s talking over each other?
Black:You nailed it. We were dealing with a group of writers who all needed attention and were trying to tell jokes.
O’Guin:The worst is when a joke gets muted, and then they have to repeat the joke. It’s never going to be as good if you had to repeat the joke.
GR:Farzaris a bit more gory and raunchy than the previous shows we’ve seen on Netflix. Did you ever feel as though you had to reel things back during production?
O’Guin:Oh, we always had to. We always had to reel things back. If it grosses us out, we’re like, “okay, let’s not do it.”
GR: What was it likeworking with Netflix?
Black:Oh, they’re awesome. They just give us so much creative freedom. They pretty much let us run the show. If they do give a note, it only helps the product.
GR: What do you hope is next forFarzar?
O’Guin:We’ve got it all mapped out. We know exactly what’s going to happen through season three. We’d love the chance to do it. When you pitch Netflix, they want to know where the show is going, multiple seasons ahead.
Black:We just want to do like 10 seasons. That would be great.
Farzaris currently streaming on Netflix.
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