Benny chats with Adi Shankar

As someone who’s been following the work of Adi Shankar since 2012, it’s been on my list of goals, to be able to meet and chat with him. Many years ago, we connected on Facebook and shared some similar interests like the band Gunship. This year, we have finally been able to connect and have a digital interview with the man behind “The Bootleg Universe”. Netflix’s “Castlevania”, “Guardians of Justice”, and his most recent show “Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix”.

Here is the interview where we ask about his earlier work, being a director, and more about the video game collaborations he is working on.

Benny
From the Bootleg Universe to officially licensed adaptations. You have an impressive portfolio showing your love of pop culture and video games. How does it feel to be able to work with some of the most popular video game IPs like Castlevania, Far Cry and Devil May Cry and being able to have some creative freedom to bring these to a new form of media?

Adi Shankar
I’ve been a fan of these properties for as long as I can remember, so it’s an immense privilege to not only work with these properties, but to be able to bring them to the public in an accessible way. It’s a creative lineage that I feel immeasurably proud to be a part of.

Benny
With Captain Lazerhawk, was there an opportunity to use the existing story and character like Rex from the Blood Dragon DLC?

Adi
Everything in Ubisoft’s catalog was wide open to us, but in the case of Blood Dragon what I wanted to borrow wasn’t the characters or worldbuilding, but rather a stylistic intent and vibe. The larger-than-life, synthwave, X-treme action aesthetic is core to the game and also to Captain Laserhawk.

Benny
Did you need to have a fresh slate or prefer to have your own story with the characters and story?

Adi
It’s always a pleasure to create a world and characters from scratch when you have the opportunity to do so. Especially in the realm of adaptations, where expectations surrounding peoples’ favorite characters can be intense and difficult to balance. Creating an original world for Ubisoft’s characters to exist in freed us of a lot of those things.

Benny
With the existing shows like Captain Lazerhawk, were you approached for these opportunities or were these franchises you were interested in and pitched to the appropriate teams?

Adi
I was approached by Ubisoft to do a different type of show entirely. I came back to them with the pitch for Captain Laserhawk. Nobody was more surprised than me that they were on board with it.

Benny
Do you have a process when it comes to pitching for a specific franchise/IP?

Adi
As a fan of these titles myself, I’m always thinking about fun or crazy things I’d like to see game publishers try with their next release. When I’m pitching, I’m basically just telling them what I would want to see from the IP as a consumer.

Benny
Will we see more content from the Bootleg Universe One Shots?

Adi
It’s always in the back of my mind as a possibility, if the right idea comes along and youtube seems like the best place to put it.

Benny
Back in 2018, you worked with Synthwave band Gunship on their Music Video for Dark All Day. How was this experience and were you able to meet with the band or was work all done remotely?

Adi
I was a huge fan of Gunship’s music. I met the band back in 2017, when they came over to my home in LA to hang out with me. Luis and Enol Junquera from Angry Metal Studios directed the music video and did 99.9% of the heavy lifting.

Benny
For “The Guardians of Justice” is this a show you would like to revisit or would you prefer to create something new with all the talk of “Superhero Fatigue”?

Adi
I love the Guardians of Justice and absolutely intend to do more with it, in one medium or another. ‘Superhero Fatigue’ is just Formula Fatigue. I think as long as you’re maintaining a high level of creativity and doing something new with the storytelling or the medium, people are always ready to come back for more.

Benny
As a Producer, you have your hands in a little bit of everything. Is there a role you have not taken on you would like to take part in?

Adi
I haven’t done as much directing as I would like. I’m actively keeping an eye out for projects that would fit me as a director.

It was a pleasure to connect with Adi Shankar and look forward to his many projects in the works including Assassin’s Creed and PUBG.