Interviews Archives | Otaku No Culture

Rock and Rule Behind the Scenes Bonus Cut! And Captain Cannabis (Part Two)

Rock and Rule Behind the Scenes continues with Verne Andru tackling long-standing fan debates, from production myths to lost material, while outlining how his documentary aims to preserve a fragile piece of Canadian animation history.

Verne Andru and Captain Cannabis — Part one of our interview can be read here.

Support Rock and Rule Behind the Scenes, and get some wild extras!

In part two of our interview with Verne Andru, we look at questions fans hope the documentary will answer. Long-time fans have burning questions, and given that most of the original material was lost to a fire that Verne confirmed, what remains needs to be more than a nostalgia hit. It is a chance to look back at how technologies merged to create the cult work that Rock and Rule became, right as Hollywood was running its own experiments with transitional optical effects in films like Tron and The Last Starfighter.

What is the biggest myth about Rock & Rule that you want to address?

The studio said that the launch failed because of MGM/UA not backing it. While there may be some truth to that, it misses the point that they delivered an unfinished film years late and millions over budget. It was Nelvana’s fault, nobody else.

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Rock and Rule Behind the Scenes, The KickStarter. An Interview with Verne Andrusiek (Part One)

Rock and Rule Behind the Scenes dives into the legacy of the cult Canadian animated film through Verne Andrusiek’s firsthand insights, exploring its production struggles, analog artistry, and why a true restoration may never happen.

View the Kickstarter here

Verne Andrusiek is just one of the amazing talents who helped breathe visual life into a seminal Canadian animated classic, Rock and Rule. For the later part of his entertainment career, he went by the shorter version of his last name, and not everyone made the connection. With this Nelvana Entertainment film recognized as a cult work in the Canadiana hall of fame, anyone asking for a release will be in for a disappointment. A remaster is not likely to happen. What Verne preserved at home, though, will become part of the backbone of Rock and Rule Behind the Scenes, a video documentary that includes interviews with the directors and writers of this project. He announced this project to folks visiting his booth during Fan Expo Vancouver 2026!

With a crowdfunding campaign launching April 6, 2026, he also hopes to put some long-running fan debates to rest. He put it this way: “I became a bit of a jack-of-all-trades over my career going from music to electronics, art, film and computers in large part due to times, the 1950s through to 1980 were a period of dramatic change when not much of anything we take for granted today existed. Basically, if you wanted something you had to figure out how to do it yourself because there were no off-the-shelf solutions.”

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Keeping the Theatrical Spark Alive, An Interview with Ira Cooper, Artistic Director of Spec Theatre

A lively chat with Spec Theatre’s Ira Cooper on collaboration, community, and The Strange Hour—a 19+ brunch variety show uniting wrestlers, burlesque, comics, and more. Victoria’s shrinking venues meet DIY spirit, and the result is electric.

Ira Cooper and The Strange Hour Ira Cooper is the artistic director and founder of Spec Theatre, a small but mighty independent collective that’s relatively new to the local city scene. But for this individual, who spent the past decade honing his craft far and wide, what he offers with The Strange Hour live-action theatrical variety show is a safe space for talents from various sub-disciplines to interact with audiences, and show them why their craft matters.

When asked about how he likes to describe himself, he says he’s a self-described white settler with Jewish and Eastern European roots. After a hearty chuckle, he revealed he wanted to craft a company grounded in humour, collaboration, and community connection. As a local Fringe theatre artist, he knows what’s important. He’s also said that his appreciation developed even when he was a wee lad—ever since his mother first enrolled him in acting classes at five.

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(Re)introducing Casey Walker. From A Little Bit Zombie to Ithaqua, What Can We Expect?

Although there isn’t a lot of new updates on Hammer Films’ upcoming horror feature Ithaqua, directed by Casey Walker, this work is still labelled currently in production, and we revisit this filmmaker’s past work in A Little Bit Zombie.

Casey Walker Filmmaker When websites I’ve contributed to in the past go offline, it’s time to resurrect and update some of those favourite pieces here. More than 10 years ago, I discovered A Little Bit Zombie (ALBZ) by an up-and-coming filmmaker, Casey Walker. Since then, he produced The Void, an excellent Lovecraftian-style movie, and directed a few episodes of The Hardy Boys.

In his latest work, he’s reworking a tale based on the Ithaqua indigenous legend. This film stars Luke Hemsworth, Kevin Durand, and Michael Pitt. A lot has changed since it was first announced. The website Upcoming Horror Movies suggests it may debut late 2025 or next year. At the time of writing, all we know is that Hammer Films picked up the rights.

According to HollywoodNorthbuzz.com, the story is as follows:

Cole Franklin, an American mercenary, is recruited as a hired gun and guide at the remote outpost of Fort William, which is struggling to survive the decline of the fur trade. With dwindling supplies, the keepers of the Fort blackmail Cole into leading a trading party to a nearby Indigenous village where they discover a massacre and encounter the remaining half-crazed inhabitants for the bloodshed.

Though the trading party survives with minimal losses and returns to the Fort with a bonanza of food and furs, the supernatural force responsible for the carnage follows them back. As the casualties stack up, it becomes evident that something unnatural is driving the residents insane with murderous hunger. The rag-tag band of survivors forces Cole to put his military expertise to use in organizing their last stand against what can only be described as some kind of madness.

Although I haven’t found further updates since this announcement, I’ll share more information as it becomes available. In the meantime, please enjoy this interview I conducted when he and the cast came to town! This film made its worldwide debut at the Victoria Film Festival. Interview follows:

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Getting Behind the Scenes on 31 Iguana’s Spectacular High Moon, An Interview

The best thing about 31 Iguana’s High Moon is that everyone is excited in taking a bite to revive Victoria, BC’s Halloween Scene!

To buy advance tickets, please visit https://31-iguanas.tickit.ca/

The Giggling Iguana is back and is now known as 31 Iguanas. It’s a wonderful merger with Outpost 31 as the creative minds behind these two local theatre companies aim to bring more pop culture into the scene. Their first production was Welcome to Croglin at the Victoria Fringe Festival, and now they’re organizing site-specific works, like High Moon: A Werewolf Western!

In the past, Ian Case‘s Halloween-themed productions at Craigdarroch Castle were very well received. He knew how to deliver atmosphere. They helped make productions like The Fall of the House of Usher and Dracula: The Blood is the Life sing. Also, when the weather cooperated, spooky moments like witnessing the narrator emerge from the fog were unforgettable. But his work is not limited to just putting on local productions. He’s also performed, represented and managed other acts. After receiving a job offer at the University of Victoria’s Farquhar Auditorium, he shifted gears.

David Elendune is equally prolific as a writer and producer and is well known on the island and off. His works are often a part of the Victoria Fringe Festival and most of his plays are available to license online for other groups to perform. Good Night Uncle Joe is a play that, he says that refuses to die. He said, “It pops up often. Even my take on Winnie the Pooh was produced and staged in the States.”

When I met up with the two, I asked how they first made contact and decide to collaberate?

DE: Janet Munsil is to blame. Years ago, I took a playwriting course when Ian ran Intrepid Theatre. I wrote a Sherlock Holmes pastiche called Bucket Full of Bees, which eventually became Sherlock Holmes and the Curse of Moriarty. Janet suggested Ian read it, and we had to meet.

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Updates on What the Astronots Are Up To

Until a feature length film finally gets off the ground (pardoning the pun), the short film AstroNots is ready to launch on streaming platforms.

AstroNots is finally landing after playing at twenty more film festivals worldwide! Anyone who has not seen this hilarious short film at their local event or Fantasia Film Festival 2024 can now stream it through Film Shortage, beginning June 23, 2025. When I interviewed the creative team last year, producer Andrew Seaton said they want to make a feature film length version of this film. Although not much has progressed since, he confirmed writers Adam Dunn and Aaron Glenane are working hard on putting a script together.

He said, “We are excited about the prospect of taking these characters and their unique dynamic even further. What we love is that we have an odd couple road-trip movie, set in space. Something truly hilarious and unique.”

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