With Scott’s passion for family friendly entertainment, it is evident that the geek legacy is quite safe as he ushers in a new generation of geeks and their families with his 3D story of magic, dragons and dreams in The Dreamland Chronicles, running since 2006. We sat down to have a little chat with Scott about the business, what he’s been up to and what the future holds.
Geek Mundo: Was The Dreamland Chronicles manner of storytelling informed by your family values as opposed to more ‘gritty realism’ that is prevalent in the industry today??
Scott C. Sava: Let me answer the question a bit more directly: Dreamland is the way it is (kid friendly) really because I love the nostalgic worlds of my childhood when everything is perfect and the good guy wins. I know that’s not so popular in storytelling these days. People want ‘realism’. But to me… movies, games, TV, comics, books… they were all meant to be ESCAPES. Something to take us OUT of this world. I have the news for realism. Give me superheroes, dragons, elves, space travel! That’s what I want from my entertainment.
GM: Very valid point. Yet, your philosophy must strike others in your line of work as a tad strange and dare I say, old-fashioned. How have you managed to stay afloat in the industry, with all of that skepticism?
SS: Marketing to kids. While there are a good amount of adults who seek out these types of stories as well… I need to explain that the books are family friendly and good for all ages. This helps, but I think it also stops a lot of readers from giving it a chance. Dreamland has a lot of layers to it. Stuff for kids. Stuff for young adults. And stuff for adults. I think what I’m doing… or what I have been doing works. For me at least. Can’t say it’s in any way mainstream. But maybe it will be one day.
Nastajia Ashenheart prepares for war in The Dreamland Chronicles
GM: Indeed, as a fan of Dreamland myself, I find that I can let my kid read it and know that he isn’t exposed to anything out of the way. As a parent, I can’t tell you how valuable that is in today’s world. Speaking of which: Would you like to believe that your collected works are in some way influencing a whole new generation of geek-lings Much like how Gene Roddenberry influenced our generation?
SS: “LIKE to know?” Yeah. Actually think I am? No. (chuckles). I think it’s great to hear people are loving the story. Truly. But I just don’t have anywhere near the success or recognition that Roddenberry has. Maybe… maybe one day. I can dream.
GM: OK, we come to the part where we talk about your inspirations and where you draw from. Lately you’ve been doing a series of Art Nouveau pieces. Can you tell us what was the impetus for the works?
SS: I was an illustrator… well… all my life. I’ve always been best at drawing what I see but not out of my head. When I got into college, even though I wanted to do comics, my talent was for doing likenesses. So I wound up getting work doing Star Trek covers for comics and games.
GM: Jackpot!
SS: Not a bad thing to do for a geek. But… I was using colored pencils and markers. It was the only thing I could work with. Never could use a paintbrush. And this always felt forced…stale. Anyways. Here I am now in my 40′s and I thought… let me try to teach myself watercolors. I started out with little postcards. Once I felt more comfortable I moved up to larger and larger sized paper. I was doing some Princess Bride pieces when I came across a photo of the scene with Miracle Max and his wife making the chocolate pill to wake up Westley. There was so much going on… I didn’t know how to keep the detail with watercolors. So I thought I would try inking it first. It was a fun experiment and I liked it, so I did it several more times and it felt comfortable. One day, I was looking through some of my art books… and really connected with Alphonse Mucha. I saw the graphical lines and thought… “I can do this.” So I just started copying this Art Nouveau style, just the flow of line and the attention to composition. I’m learning publicly, teaching myself in front of thousands of people. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail, but it’s been fun!
Scott Christian Sava’s 16th Alphonse Mucha inspired Art Nouveau Piece
GM: And as I can attest, it is a fantastic journey. It’s great watching you work!
SS: Thanks.
GM: Now, I seem to recall that you had a couple of other works that you had hoped to have made into films. Gary The Pirate leaps to mind. Is there any chance that we will see this or even The Dreamland Chronicles make it to the silver screen?
SS: Yeah. It’ll happen one day. Either through my own doing, or through the studio system. We’ve had so many close calls… it’ll happen. I’m always REALLY CLOSE to getting a movie going. I’ve sold 4 movies and a tv show already, just can’t seem to get the studios to get past development. So odds are it’ll happen, hopefully in my lifetime. (laughs)
GM: We here at Geek Mundo certainly hope that it does happen. It’s been great talking to you Scott, we wish you all the best. Perhaps one day we’ll see you, Alex and Nastajia and even Nicodemus on the red carpet!
SS: That would be amazing.
Geek Mundo: You sir, are knighted ‘Sir Awesome’. Thanks for taking the time out to talk with us.
Scott C. Sava: A pleasure.
Scott’s Alphonse Mucha inspired art can be found here, and you can follow him on twitter: @ssava. He will be making a guest appearance at the upcoming 2013 Baltimore Comic-Con as well, so look out for him at Booth 2406!