PROJECT: Nature's Guard

WHAT IS IT: A new animated project.

WEBSITE: http://www.naturesguard.com

SYNOPSIS: On the distant world of Forestya, a civil war is being waged. The heroic forces of the Natures Militia are fighting to uphold peace and freedom for their people against the vile SpiderSect Empire. Knowing of the bloodshed this war will bring to their people, the Natures Senate secretly make ready a covert team with but one mission;

To bring about the end of the evil plans of the Spidersect Empire.

Housed in a secret base known only as FORTRESS IRONWOOD, this highly trained team of specialists are ever ready to defend peace and freedom wherever and whenever they are called upon...

This group is known only as... NATURES GUARD.

Biography of Jonathan Robert Bryans (creator of Nature's Guard)

Jonathan Robert Bryans was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland at 7:30pm, on February 18th, 1971. He is the only child of Ken and Mary Bryans.

At the age of 2 ½, Jonathan moved with his mother and father to Canada to avoid the troubles that were brewing in Belfast at the time.

Jonathan has lived in the Hamilton and Niagara area all his Canadian life.

Jonathan has a degree in English from both Niagara College and Brock University.

In 1989, Jonathan met his wife to be - she was truly the girl next door (or as it was, across the street). In 1995, Jonathan and Erin were married.

In 1998, Jonathan and Erin were blessed with their first child, Aalia Kelly Gibson Bryans.

In the summer of 2001, Jonathan and Erin will be blessed with the birth of their second child - this little bundle will be called Quinn Michael Grayson Bryans (if it's a boy), or Quinn Morgan Grayson Bryans (if it's a girl).

Jonathan has work for many of the major toy companies as a freelance designer - story developer.

In 1998, Jonathan felt it was time to create his own company - he formed LegendWorks Entertainment Group to handle properties that he was developing. LegendWorks' main focus is TV and Feature Film Development - however, as seen here, we have no problem tackling the world of comic books and toys.

Hello Jonathan, welcome to The Bothan Spy. Thank you for granting me this interview with you.

Thank you, it is a pleasure to be here.

As the creator of Nature's Guard, could you please tell me a little bit about the background of Nature's Guard? How long has this idea been kicking about?

Nature’s Guard was a project I started for fun back in 1989. I was slowly becoming addicted to PC games, mainly the King’s Quest series by Sierra. Due to that, I began writing fan fiction based on the game series. From that, I began to develop this project. Over the years, there have been many different names and stories for the project, but they were never the right one. Two years ago, I started re-writing the project and it became the project you see today. Many of the elements from the old stories have made it into the project in one for or another.

What are your other titles do you wear on Nature's Guard besides creator?

Other that creator, I will serve as one of the executive producers on the series. I will also be creative consultant. I will be co-plotter ( Larry Hama has signed on as Story Editor – he will also be my co-plotter, and he will write some of the episodes. Mr. Hama wrote the G.I.Joe comic series for Marvel Comics for 97% of the 14 year run, and was co-creator of Bucky O’Hare. ) I will also write some of the episodes.

How did you come up with the idea for Nature's Guard?

I was inspired by G.I.Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Thundercats, Transformers and of course, Star Wars. I always knew I could create a world that exists outside our realm of existence. I had a story to tell, and now on the web site, people can begin to read that story, and soon the comic book will help to reveal the rest of the story. I created Nature’s Guard to tell a grand, epic style story that will be my Star Wars, in a matter of speaking.

Where did you draw your inspiration for Nature's Guard?

G.I.Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Thundercats, Transformers, Masters of the Universe and Star Wars. Star Wars gave me the foundation to build this project from. George Lucas was the man who dared to dream the first dream within in this realm of fantasy, science fiction, then, like a true teacher, he taught us how to create from his crafted skills. From there, many project, great, great projects have been created. I am just honoured to be within the ranks of that group, and to George Lucas, I send my thanks .

From what I have seen of the trailer, which I loved, it appears that this is a graphically intense project. How long has it been in creation?

Nature’s Guard is now just about 13 years old. Over the years there have been many versions of the story bouncing around in my head. Over the years, due to creative block, I have had to shelve the project and work on others just to get my creative juices flowing again, and I have always returned to the project. Sometime it would make me mad, and other time, I would have the time of my life, but over the years, I learned to be patient, learn along the way. The project became my first child and I had to become a parent, I had to give the project unconditional love. Projects of this level always seem to find a way to work themselves into your way of living, so you must help it grow, as it goes from rough idea to finished product. You need to be with it, work with it and mould it, slowly creating something to be proud of.

What have been your influences in life?

G.I.Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ( the Eastman and Laird black & white comics ), Thundercats, Transformers, Masters of the Universe and Star Wars were my inspirations when it came to TV and Feature Film. Lord of the Rings ( good lord I can’t wait to see that movie ), the Myth series, the G.I.Joe comic book series, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6 and mostly any Tom Clancy novel have been my written inspiration. My teachers ( school is very important ), my family, my wife Erin and my two children, Aalia and Quinn. I believe without all of this inspiration in my life, Nature’s Guard would have died an untimely death. To them all, I am forever in your debt.

Be-sides yourself, how many people do you have working on the project?

16, including the animation house and all LegendWorks Entertainment Group employees.

The graphics are absolutely stunning! How were these achieved? What type of systems do you operate with for this project?

Keyframe Digital Productions, Inc. ( www.keyframed.com ), a small animation house owned by two very good friends of mine, Darren Cranford and Clint Green, have the sole rights of doing the animations for the Nature’s Guard animated series. They mostly use 3D Studio Max to create the characters and the backgrounds, but in regards to their systems, I believe they would be better suited to answer that question than I would be. At present time, they are hard at work on a new animated trailer ( though, more like a mini movie, which I am dubbing a Micro-Movie in CGI ) for the web site. This time, it will be at least 2 and a half minutes long. It will also have a musical score written and orchestrated by Chris Walden ( www.chriswalden.com ), look under his music download music section under film scores, it is named adventure – I think all Star Wars fans will be very surprised at what they hear.

In regard to the Sneak Preview trailer; I have noticed that the look is similar to the SW E1 trailer. Was this something that you intentionally set out to do?

When I first saw the trailer to Episode 1, I have to say, I was awe struck. I loved it. I felt it had such a raw feel to it, and it captures the whole feel of the movie in the 30 seconds, or two minutes they had to play with. I so wanted to have that same feel in my animated trailer, that’s why we added the text and the narration ( which was provided by one of the sweetest men I have ever met, Mr. Jeremy Bulloch ), we knew it would only add to what was already there in terms of animation, and I believe we have succeeded in capturing the mood we were going for.

The character designs are very cool! Are these all-original designs?

All of the characters have gone through many cosmetic and structural changes over the years. I believe that if you had seen what we were doing when we first began, this interview would not be taking place today. We got older, the project got older, so with it, to stay with the time, the characters grew up also. Trust me, you are seeing them at their best right now, but don’t get me wrong, I am as proud of the first version of the project as I am of this final version, and maybe one day, all the fans will get to see those first drafts… MAYBE!?!?!?!?

Which character can you most relate to and why?

Boon. I am he, he is I in every way. He will talk like me, he will act like me, as a matter of fact, the only thing of Boon that will not be me is the actor who is providing the voice. Bryan Liddiard however is a long time friend of mine and he is in many ways just like me. I believe people will see reflects of myself in Boon, for as I write a scene, I basically think, “How would I do that?” and that’s most likely how Boon handles the situation.

It appears that a few of the characters have been directly influenced by Star Wars. Did those movies leave a lasting impression on you as far as the way characters were designed?

Yes, my ShockSpiders were created with Stormtroopers and Boba Fett in mind. I would be a fool not to use Star Wars as a guide to help create my project. We are talking about one of the greatest success stories in history. I am flattered that people compare Nature’s Guard to Star Wars. I only hope Mr. Lucas like my project if he has ever seen it. I have always planned on dedicating the first issue of the comic book to him. He is to me, and many like me, the greatest source of inspiration. I am very honoured to have my project even be thought enough to have people say, “You were truly inspired by Star Wars when you created this. We can see it in…” That gives me more reason to hold my head high as people like you come to me with these interviews. You honour me with your questions, I only hope I can do George Lucas and yourself justice in my answers.

What can you tell us as far as the status of Nature's Guard is concerned? Will we be seeing this on TV soon?

Yes, you will be seeing a cartoon. As to how soon, we hope to make an announcement early next year, but we will have to see. As it is said, “Good things come to those who wait.”, I believe this project will be one of those things.

Has there been a buzz circulating about Nature's Guard and how have you been handling it?

Yes there has been, and from day to day it just keeps right on growing. The web site is now an “Internationally known site”, with an average of 45,000 to 75,000 visitors coming in per month from all around the world. Right now I believe Canada and America make up 50% of the visitors, while the rest of the world make up the other 50%, and I am sure it will just get better. We are, right at this moment working on a totally re-designed web site. We hope to re-launch the site on Christmas day. We are honoured to have so many people visit the site, so we felt we should do something for them, so we are giving them a little Christmas gift in the form of the new site. They will be able to reach the site through www.naturesguard.com - www.naturesguard.org - www.naturesguard.net - this will be the beginning of some very big steps for the Nature’s Guard project. As one of our investors said in the guest book on the site, “The best is yet to come.” we believe that to be the honest truth, and we will not stop until we have the best product out there.

I can imagine there are a billion or so things involved with this. How do you keep yourself sane dealing with all the pressure?

How do I keep myself sane? That depends on your definition of sanity. I work, I work very hard on this project, and I work in the greatest industry in the world to work in… the animation industry. Sanity is just a state of mind, and my mind is so busy working on Nature’s Guard, I don’t have the time or want to think of anything else but Nature’s Guard.

What are your long term plans for Nature's Guard?

To turn it into a household brand name. I want mothers and fathers to know the name, so that when a kid says I want “Aqua-Gear Boon”, the parent knows exactly what there child wants. I want Nature’s Guard to be better than G.I.Joe, Transformers and Thundercats. Call it a revolution, call it ego, but I do believe Nature’s Guard will change the face of animation for a long time to come.

Tell us about Legend Works. What is the history of your company and why was it founded?

I work free-lance design for many of the major toy companies for a number of years, but I was only lining their pockets with my ideas. I left the industry for a while, but then returned with my own ideas. I formed my first company, JeBRY Toy Development Group, and found the name was hard to say, so in turn, it was hard to remember. With a name change, LegendWorks Entertainment Group was born. We focus mainly on TV and Feature Film development, with a minor focus on toy development.

I know that you have a project called Tech-Rangers in development. What can you share with me regarding that?

At this time I am not ready to reveal any information on Tech Rangers. We are still in the early development stage, but know this, it will be very cool. We believe we have come up with a very original story for the Wild West, but you will have to wait and see. We will however be making an announcement about Sand Riders by year’s end. I believe many Star Wars fans will be very happy when they hear about this Sand Riders. Its story is a mix between Star Wars and Dune. Very grand in scale, very epic in telling.

Any other projects in the works?

We have a number of projects in the works at this time. Some of our own and some for other companies, but due to copyright and trade mark issues, we are not willing, nor ready to make any announcements at this time, however I will say this, LegendWorks Entertainment Group will be very busy over the next 5 or so years.

I see that Warpton Comics will be publishing a comic book featuring Nature's Guard in 2002. How is that going?

It’s going very well. The art is underway. It will be a three-issue mini-series, which is already fully written. You should start seeing some previews on the Warpton Comics web site ( www.warpton.co.uk ) very soon. We have our own page on their site and all information about the comic can be found there.

Do you keep involved with the comic too?

I wrote the three-issue mini-series, and I also keep in daily contact with the rest of the crew on the book. Also, just a side note to all who are looking forward to the comics, I have already started writing the second mini-series. It will be called Nature’s Guard: In the Iron Grip. Baron Ironweasel will be the main antagonist in this story.

When can we expect to see the first issue?

The first issue will arrive in comic book stores in March or April of 2002. We had originally wanted to release the book in February, however, Leonard (Kirk), the artist had to have an operation performed on his eyes. That set us back a few weeks. But Leonard is now hard at work on the book. Also, I just want everyone to know. I have issues a challenge to everyone who visits the web site. I want you to sign the guest book. I will pick 10 people from the entries over the next 2 months. These people I pick will win a copy of each issue of the comic book mini-series (the first series only) and a copy of my script signed by the whole creative crew. All you have to do is sign my guest book. I want you to tell me what you honestly think of the site, the project and life if you want.

I see by way of the Nature's Guard cast sheet that you have secured quite a few Star Wars actors. How were you able to achieve this?

Honestly,.. Dumb luck. That’s all. I am honoured to have the cast on the project that I do.

Were there any actors who you wanted specifically for a certain voice?

I would meet and speak with actors and from there I would determine who would provide the voice of who, however, I had always thought of Peter Mayhew for the voice of Klondike.

Are there any other negotiations going on to add to the cast? I noticed that there were still some characters without a voice.

At the moment we are waiting to hear back from Kenny baker. I love his voice. We are looking for him to join the cast and provide the voice of Chirp, the cricket communications expert. We have also spoken with Mark Hamill’s agent. From the sounds there, mark is very interested in the project, however he will not sign on until a network has picked up the show. No information is up yet, but Chase Masterson has joined the cast. Chase is famous for her role of Leeta, the Dabo girl on Deep Space Nine. Chase will be providing the voice of Empress Webula. You should see information on the site about her very soon.

Have you personally met any of the actors lending their voicing talents?

If so, what did you think of them?

( answer to both questions above ) I have met with most of them and they are all very delightful.

Is it safe to assume that you are a Star Wars fan?

Yes, very much so.

What do you think it is about Star Wars in general that so many people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds can all relate to?

Star Wars is like a great song. It carries you along, holding you in the melody while captivating you emotions always knowing when to change and how to keep you hooked. It is beyond classic, it is timeless. It is a myth, a fairy tale while at the same time it is fresh, cutting edge and interesting. It is everything we all want to watch. There is no generations, there is no religion and mostly, all are equally sound characters weather black, white, alien or droid. Star Wars as a movement will carry on for a very long time. It will continue to engross us adults, while at the same time, it will entertain our children. It, as a movie is the true meaning of cinematic escapism. You pay your money for your see on a spaceship ride that will effect you for the rest of your life.

Have you seen any of the EPISODE 2 trailers? What is your take on them?

I have seen them all and all I can say is… “May won’t come early enough for me!”

Which of the Star Wars movies is your favourite?

Empire Strikes Back, but I think that might change come next May. Attack of the Clones is looking very powerful in regards to is scope and feel. I like the darkness it seems to convey through the trailer. We can see that George Lucas has always had a plan. Episode one was all it was supposed to be, a set up story, not comes the true Star Wars story telling.

Which character?

Boba Fett.

Are you a collector of Star Wars merchandise?

Yes.

What do you hope to achieve with Nature's Guard?

If it was all to end tomorrow I have achieved enough to make me happy… Fans. This is for them as much as it is for me. I want good solid toys and cartoons on the air again. I remember growing up in the eighties with all our afternoon and Saturday morning cartoons. Those were the days. I think it is time to bring those days back.

What advice would you give someone who is looking to pursue something along the lines of Nature's Guard?

Don’t ever give up on your dreams. No matter what anyone says you can achieve them, you just need to focus and stay true to yourself and your project. Always remember that it is your project. Don’t give in. You will have more pride in yourself and your project if you keep your vision, and with that added pride you will have the energy to continue and be able to reach those final goals. Good luck to anyone out there doing, or even trying this. If you have any questions, please contact me at ( info@naturesguard.com ) and I will be more than happy to answer your questions for you as fast as I can.

Any final thoughts that you would like to share?

I would like to thank my investors, Donna Cook and Mark Muench, without them, this would still be a dream in my head. My partners, John Paul Brisson and Mark Muench, guys, you are the oil in my cogs, you keep me working. The cast of Nature’s Guard. You will never know truly how proud I am to have you on the project, but let me say this, you are now the soul of Nature’s Guard, you are my voice to tell my stories, I deeply thank you. My children, Aalia and Quinn. What more can I say. You are my morning sun and my nigh time moon. You are my thoughts, you are my limbs. Every choice I make, every road I take is for you. I am so proud to be able to give this to you. Daddy loves you so much. And finally, to the characters of Nature’s Guard. I thank you for being my freedom. You have all given me a way to dream while I am awake. Not many people get a chance like I have been given, and for that… I thank you one and all. A special thank you goes out to the fans. This will be a fun ride, I just hope you can all hold on. Thank you from my heart. I am proud to call you all my friends.

I want to sincerely thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to take part in this. It has been a pleasure!

It has sincerely been my pleasure. I look forward to future talks with the fans of www.thebothanspy.com