Corey Blake

Dig Comics

Is the American art form of comics dying? Comic creators, retailers, and historians weigh in on why the popularity of comics has waned over the past five decades and whether it’s too late to reverse the trend. The battle is on to get America to Dig Comics!

I was the associate producer for this short documentary Dig Comics, and I am still involved in PR and other efforts to get a longer form version made, whether it be as a feature film or a TV series or something else. The film features Miguel Cima (co-director/writer/host), Scott Shaw! (animator; artist, The Flintstones, Simpsons Comics), Jeph Loeb (writer, Batman: The Long Halloween, Batman: Hush; producer/writer, Lost, Heroes), and Dame Darcy (writer/artist, Meatcake). The documentary also includes the work of producer/editor Dirk Van Fleet (The Cook, Le Petomane: Parti Avec le Vent), co-director Ertuğ Tüfekçioğlu (Ya Tutarsa?), and animator Russell Calarese (Steven Spielberg Presents Pinky and the Brain, Where’s Lazlo: Camp Lazlo). For official announcements, news, and what-not, be sure to regularly visit DigComics.com. Also, friend/follow Dig Comics on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

I wanted to keep a log of our progress, and thought others might enjoy following along at home. So, in reverse chronological order (scroll to the bottom and make your way upward):

9/1/10: Seattle Weekly gives a quick review of Dig Comics in anticipation of its screening at Bumbershoot on September 6, 12 noon.

8/9/10: FlashINK interviews Dig Comics assistant director Chris Brandt.

7/25/10: Dig Comics screens at the Action On Film International Film Festival at the Regency Academy Theater.

7/22-25/10: Extensive shooting takes place at Comic-Con International: San Diego for the next phase of Dig Comics.

7/16/10: Ain’t It Cool News interviews director Miguel Cima about Dig Comics.

6/24/10: Dig Comics screens as part of the Fear No Film programming at the Utah Arts Festival.

6/23/10: The 1 Reel Film Festival selects Dig Comics for screening as part of Seattle’s Bumbershoot music and arts festival on Monday, September 6 at 12 noon.

6/18/10: The Salt Lake Tribune previews the Utah Arts Festival’s Fear No Film and calls Dig Comics “a highlight”.

5/31/10: Action On Film selects Dig Comics for screening on Sunday, July 25 at 4 PM.

5/29/10: Dig Comics screens at the Los Angeles Rock’n Comicon, followed by a Q&A panel with director Miguel Cima and animator Scott Shaw!

5/17-22/10: Dig Comics and Miguel Cima are in Cannes for 2 screenings: the Short Film Corner of Festival de Cannes and the Cannes Independent Film Festival!

5/13/10: The Utah Arts Festival selects Dig Comics for screening as part of their Fear No Film showcase on Friday, June 24, 4 PM and Sunday, June 27, 5 PM.

5/11/10: The Long Island International Film Expo selects Dig Comics for screening on Friday, July 9th, 8 PM.

4/23/10: The L.A. Cinema of Festival Hollywood awards Dig Comics with the Spring 2010 Award of Merit. This marks the tenth film festival to recognize our documentary.

4/8/10: The American Pavilion selects Dig Comics for screening at the Short Film Corner, part of Festival de Cannes.

4/5/10: Cannes Independent Film Festival selects Dig Comics for screening during their 2010 festival May 12-23.

3/31/10: Capes On Film reviews Dig Comics! Matthew Killorin calls it “passionate” and “thought-provoking”. Also, Indie Movies Online spotlights Dig Comics among Paul Martin’s article on New Filmmakers LA.

3/15/10: New Filmmakers LA at Sunset Gower Studios selects Dig Comics for their April 2010 program. Tickets are $5 and go on-sale March 19th. The screening is scheduled for 6:00 PM on Thursday, April 8th. A Q&A with Miguel Cima and an after-party follows the screening.

1/6/10: Comics Alliance, part of AOL’s Asylum Network, posts an interview with Miguel Cima by Caleb Goellner.

1/4/10: Dig Comics wins Honorable Mention in the Documentary Short category of the Los Angeles Reel Film Festival.

12/8/09: Panels On Pages podcast episode 34 streams live, featuring a lengthy discussion with Miguel Cima about Dig Comics and the comics industry.

11/30/09: Jim Hanley’s Universe posts exclusive pictures by Jeffrey O. Gustafson of the Dig Comics screening and panel.

11/27/09: Graphic NYC‘s Christopher Irving reviews Dig Comics and Jim Hanley’s Universe screening.

11/18/09: NerdGasm reviews the screening of Dig Comics at Jim Hanley’s Universe.

11/14/09: Dig Comics screens at Jim Hanley’s Universe! Miguel Cima moderates a special panel with Marvel Comics executive editor Tom Brevoort, The Beat‘s Heidi MacDonald, writer/editor Andy Helfer, writer/editor Danny Fingeroth and Graphic NYC‘s Christopher Irving.

11/11/09: Comic Book Resources’ Robot 6 column Talking Comics With Tim, written by Tim O’Shea, interviews Miguel Cima.

10/25/09: Jim Hanley’s Universe announces line-up for panel following Dig Comics screening of Nov. 14 – Marvel Comics executive editor Tom Brevoort, writer/editor Andy Helfer, writer/editor Danny Fingeroth and Graphic NYC’s Christopher Irving. The Beat’s Heidi MacDonald is later confirmed.

10/18/09: Dig Comics screens at the Royal Flush Festival!

10/13/09: Dig Comics screens at the Vancouver International Film Festival! (Third of 3 screenings)

10/10/09: Dig Comics screens at the Tucson Film and Music Festival!

10/7/09: Tucson Citizen interviews Miguel Cima in advance of the Tucson Film & Music Festival screening of Dig Comics as part of their Off the Marquee column by Billups Allen.
Jim Hanley’s Universe in New York City announces the screening of Dig Comics with a panel moderated by Miguel Cima and including Marvel Comics Executive Editor Tom Brevoort for November 14. Other guests TBA.
The Movie Blog senior editor Rodney Brazeau takes note of the trailer posted by TrailerAddicts.com in support of the Vancouver International screenings.

10/6/09: Dig Comics screens at the Vancouver International Film Festival! (Second of 3 screenings)

10/5/09: Producer/Editor Dirk Van Fleet gets the spotlight on the University of Arizona School of Media Arts News Blog.

10/4/09: Dig Comics screens at the Vancouver International Film Festival! (First of 3 screenings)

9/30/09: Ain’t It Cool News posts a review of Dig Comics! Kristian Horn calls it “terrifically entertaining” and “as fun and entertaining a documentary about comic-books as I have yet to see”. He closes with: “Hell, someone needs to save comics. Maybe the creators of DIG COMICS can do it.”

9/29/09: AOL’s Comics Alliance draws attention to our Meltdown Comics screening.

9/28/09: Dirk Deppey’s Journalista points readers to the LA Times article.

9/27/09: The Daily Cross Hatch again takes note of Dig Comics as Natalie Shoemaker runs an item on our Meltdown Comics screening in their Cross Hatch Dispatch.

9/26/09: Dig Comics screens at the Meltdown Comics store in Los Angeles. Edward James Olmos makes a special appearance to introduce the film. The screening is followed by a Q&A session with Miguel Cima and me. Producer Dirk Van Fleet, music composer Rodney McGlothlin, creative consultant Rob Forman and “actual girlfriend” Tiina Teal also attended.
Also Capes on Film blogger Matthew Killorin notices our LA Times story.

9/25/09: The Los Angeles Times runs a story by Yvonne Villarreal covering Dig Comics! She interviewed both Miguel Cima and Edward James Olmos, and also gave a great plug for our screening at Meltdown. The story ran on Geoff Boucher’s Hero Complex blog, which is part of the larger LA Times network of blogs.
The same day, ConventionScene.com runs our Meltdown screening press release.
Also, Meltdown Comics’ blog points to the LA Times story to promote the screening.

9/24/09: Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles issues a joint press release with us to announce the screening of Dig Comics with special guests Edward James Olmos and Miguel Cima!

8/18/09: Dig Comics screens at the Downtown Film Festival: Los Angeles!

8/11/09: Electric Playground airs a segment by Jose “Fubar” Sanchez on Dig Comics on the G4 Network in Canada and online. The segment includes an interview with Miguel Cima from the convention floor of Comic-Con.

7/26/09: Later that same day, our friend Dane Hill, who attended the Comic-Con screening the prevoius day, posts to YouTube videos of Edward James Olmos’ introduction and the Q&A panel.

7/26/09: Dig Comics wins Best Documentary at Comic-Con’s Independent Film Festival! Krystal Clark of ScreenCrave.com live-blogs the awards show, and includes a picture of Miguel Cima, “actual girlfriend” Tiina Teal and me accepting the award.

7/25/09: Dig Comics world premiere at Comic-Con International: Independent Film Festival! Actor Edward James Olmos makes a surprise appearance introducing the film and announcing the support of his production company Olmos Productions to have a long-form full-length version made. From our press release: “Olmos believes that as a medium, comic books not only increase literacy but also serves as an inspirational learning tool for both students and teachers.” A Q&A panel with Miguel Cima, animator Scott Shaw! and myself is held immediately following the screening.

7/24/09: ComicBookTrailers.com posts our trailer.

7/22/09: Comics Bulletin runs our Comic-Con press release.

7/21/09: KPBS Radio’s “These Days” with Maureen Cavanaugh interviews Miguel Cima as part of their live show spotlighting the 40th anniversary of Comic-Con International. Other guests include KPBS film critic and Comic-Con Film Festival judge Beth Accomando, Comic-Con Director of Marketing David Glanzer, and Palomar College Professor of English and author of This Book Contains Graphic Language: Comics As Literature Rocco Versaci. LISTEN to the full episode or read the full transcript.

7/20/09: Comic Impact‘s Simon Daoudi posts an article covering our announced Comic-Con screening.

7/7/09: Boston-based online site Blast Magazine features an article by Anthony Geehan reviewing Dig Comics.

7/1/09: Reuters (among other news outlets) runs a press release from Comic-Con International: Independent Film Festival announcing their official selections for festival screenings, among them Dig Comics. Also the Comic Book Resources blog Robot 6 mentions our press release in a Comic-Con themed news roundup by JK Parkin.

6/29/09: The Daily Cross Hatch runs an item by Athena Currier covering our Comic-Con press release in their Cross Hatch Dispatch news roundup.

6/26/09: Turks In Entertainment runs our press release about our world premiere at Comic-Con.

6/25/09: Comic-Con International confirms our entry into their Independent Film Festival! We send out a press release announcing the world premiere of Dig Comics, as well as news of the support of actor Edward James Olmos and his production company Olmos Productions.

5/12/09: Video of Miguel’s adventures in France (edited by Dirk Van Fleet) is posted to YouTube:

3/30/09: Miguel Cima attends MIPTV in Paris, France.

3/22/09: Trailer (edited by Dirk Van Fleet) is posted to new Dig Comics YouTube Channel: