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Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

Joss Whedon - "Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog" Web Series - Wired.com Interview

Tuesday 15 July 2008, by Webmaster

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, a direct-to-the-web musical from Joss Whedon, tells the story of an evil wannabe villain who vlogs, bungles experiments and takes regular lessons from a voice coach to finesse his evil cackle. Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly and Dollhouse, came up with the idea for the internet musical during the Hollywood writers’ strike earlier this year.

Shot over six days on a shoestring budget, Dr. Horrible will stream online starting Tuesday in three short segments through July 20. After that, fans can pay to download through a service like iTunes and purchase a DVD jampacked with extras.

Wired.com recently caught up with the geek maestro via e-mail to discuss his latest creation, the changing face of web content and pirates who might be eyeing his three-act phenomena. (His advice for content thieves? Watch out for scurvy.)

Wired.com: How did you rope Neil Patrick Harris (who plays the bumbling, third-rate villain Dr. Horrible, pictured), Firefly’s Nathan Fillion (cheesy-suave superhero Captain Hammer) and The Guild’s Felicia Day (leading lady Penny) into working for free on an internet musical?

Joss Whedon: It honestly never occurred to me to cast anyone else. Why would it?

Wired.com: Do you think Dr. Horrible will have any sway over influencing other major creators in Hollywood to start churning out web content?

Whedon: That’d be cherry, but I’m not the boss of them. I just like all the singin’!

Wired.com: What about changing perceptions about web content?

Whedon: Everybody’s working from the models they know, either from TV or from the nascent internet entertainment structures. Throwing some of that out meant we can hopefully broaden people’s perceptions about what the internet represents.

Dr. Horrible’s nemesis Captain Hammer, played by Firefly and Serenity’s Nathan Fillion, strikes a do-gooder pose during shooting.

Wired.com: To what do you attribute the far-flung coverage and buzz about Dr. Horrible, considering there’s been little to no press for the series?

Whedon: Fact is, there’s been some buzz, but it hasn’t reached the places it would normally. Where’s our write-up in Crocheting Monthly? (I did a very sexy shoot for that one.)

Wired.com: Although plenty of fans are going to want to own the DVD, which has extra features like musical commentary tracks, you have to anticipate others obtaining Dr. Horrible through file-sharing networks. Are you concerned about illegal torrenting at all?

Whedon: I think if you want [DVD sales], you have to expect [illegal downloading.] If you incite passion in your fans, you get both sides of that coin. But what else would you want? A note, though, to all you would-be pirates: Scurvy is a serious issue. Eat some limes.

Wired.com: How well do you think Dr. Horrible would have to do — in downloads, views or DVD sales — in order to get recognized as a commercial success?

Whedon: It would take a very complex schemata of integrated developmental redistribution models based on a per — oh, I’m sorry. I meant to say "profit.".... We make back our costs, the rest is gravy. Delicious gravy. With lumps! Hideous lumps! No, wait — that’s a cranberry. We’re good.

Wired.com: Would you consider doing a sequel to Dr. Horrible or cooking up another indie web series?

Whedon: Hells yeah! There’s nothing I’d like more than to become a micromogul, just layin’ down ridiculous content for all to stream.

Wired.com: Can we expect to see any experimental or unusual distribution of your upcoming projects like Fox TV sci-fi show Dollhouse or Cabin in the Woods, the recently announced horror movie project with long-time collaborator and Lost scribe Drew Goddard?

Whedon: They’re more traditional in format. The mediums all work together now, but I’m interested in their primary formats, i.e. TV and movies. I love all mediums.