Dallas Clayton interview
HUCK speaks to Dallas Clayton, author of 'An Awesome Book' and the man behind the Where the Wild Things Are fan site, We Love You So, about his involvement in this epic project.
More like this...
HUCK: What is your background before doing We Love You So?
Dallas Clayton: I'm a writer. I write kids books and 'zines and all sorts of things, but I also run my own blog and contribute to and help out with a few others. But mostly, I'm a writer.
I understand you were requested to create the site by Spike Jonze personally. How did this happen?
I've known Spike off and on for a while and one day I got an email from him and his partner Vince regarding putting together a project for the film. They liked my blog and my book and wanted to know if I'd be interested. I was 100 percent stoked!
What are you plans for the site? Are you going to keep it going?
Well, we have such a loyal fan base that we want to keep it going as long as possible, at least through to the release of WTWTA on DVD.
Have you had much interaction with Spike concerning the site?
Yes, 100%. Spike was involved every step of the way. He posts pretty regularly, when he has time and is great at helping maintain the overall feel of the site. We usually talk via email on a weekly basis.
Do you have any other projects you are currently working on?
I'm finishing up three books for the coming year and working on pushing my Awesome World Foundation into the world. Touring around, reading and giving books to kids.
On your website it says you 'love strangers'. What is the strangest WTWTA fan experience you have had?
No, it's all very nice. People are very nice and mostly just want to share about how stoked they are on some aspect of WTWTA. It makes us nothing but happy.
What has been the best part about working on the We Love You So site?
Just being able to be a part in some small way of this giant project involving so many rad people, from Spike to Maurice to Eggers. Also, being able bring in other writers that stoke me out, like Graham and Molly and Rubin, to push the envelope of what people assume a film/ fan/ project blog can be.
Have there been any interesting experiences?
The whole thing has been pretty amazing because I think no one really knew what to expect from it. I mean, it's a pretty weird thing for a major motion picture to host a culture blog. The fact that it exists is pretty unreal but I think most people look at many of the facets of Spike's career in the same way. That's what makes it rad.
What can we expect from Dallas Clayton in the next twelve months?
More kids books, more adult books, more book donations and more positive vibes.
Dallas Clayton's An Awesome Book is out now via Very Awesome World.
Subscribe to HUCK for six issues
Only £20 (UK) / £43 (EU) / £58 (Rest of the World).
Dallas Clayton interview (text) by David McNamara is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Comments (2)
Please note: Your comment may be held in moderation for approval by an administrator to prevent spamming. This usually doesn't take long, please be patient.