Where did the idea of Kyle the Coyote come from?
One of the most common questions when people hear I wrote "Kyle the Coyote" is, where did the idea come from?
Creating a children's book is something I wanted to do. It's always been in the back of my mind. However, that's not the answer.
The answer can be explained in two stories that eventually mesh into one.
1.) Over the last several years I have been restoring a film. Part of the restoration process was creating comic book transitions. If you think about how George Lucas restored "Star Wars" then the horror film "Creepshow" it is told through comic book transitions. That would be the process to fully tell this film's story. I don't have de-aging software or a time machine.
What was required was for me to find comic book artists. An acting buddy of mine named Eric Spudic suggested that I should contact Kevin Van Hook. Kevin was one of the creators of the comic book "Bloodshot" which was turned into a film with Vin Diesel. Through this process I was introduced to Alex Sarabia. Alex did a large chunk of the comic book sections in the restored film. He draws everything by hand. If you want to see some Alex' work check out the comic book "Leave on the Light." Let me warn you that this is not a children's friendly comic book.
Drawing is only one section. The other part is color. We had an artist nicknamed Munster Maverick do the color for Alex' pencils including "Kyle the Coyote."
Going through this process of creating 100+ comic book panels or individual drawings, for the restoration of the film, made me know it was possible to do a children's book.
2.) During the restoration of the film I purchased about 2.5 acres of desert property on the outskirts of Palmdale, CA. If you are interested in the reason for purchasing property for filmmaking, check out my Self Reliance piece I wrote for Filmmaker Magazine.
The major reason to purchase a property is to have control of a production if anything unforeseeable were to happen. I never thought it would be Covid. This property of mine is gated, protected by mountains, and an aqueduct. It's hard to drive on to the property but anything could walk on to it, either be it human or animal.
The next logical process was for me to put some kind of camera out there. The problem is there is no power. That's when I was introduced to solar powered, cellular trail cameras. I'm no hunter. This was for security purposes.
The way these trail cameras work is you charge up the inner battery, find signal (either Verizon or AT&T), and download the trail camera's app on your phone. I did two transmissions per day to my phone's app. The reason is the less transmissions you do the longer the battery will work. Less transmissions mean the sun has an opportunity to charge up the battery. The cameras are motion activated and even work in the dark. Sorry for the mansplaining but I knew nothing about this stuff until I got one. Thankfully, Cherrae was out there helping me setting up the camera. Cherrae also did the editing and layout of the book. More on her in a moment.
It's windy in Palmdale so many of the photos were of the desert brush swaying around. The images sent to the phone's app are low resolution. If there is something worth seeing you can request a "high definition" photo to be sent. Again, the larger the photo, the more the cellular service is used and it will drain the camera's battery.
Then 1 day after having the trail camera capture nothing for about 2 weeks, an image popped up. It looked like a lost dog so I requested a high definition photo which would arrive in the next 12 hours. It was kind of exciting to get these photos twice a day.
The photo that popped up was a Coyote walking towards the camera with his tongue out. This coyote would pop up again a few times in the next couple of days. Every time I would see him I turned to Cherrae and said, "Hey, Kyle the Coyote is back."
Kyle would disappear and not show up for a few weeks. Then I saw something new and rare. A bobcat! I turned to Cherrae again, "Oh no! I hope Kyle the Coyote isn't lost. Now we have Bobby the Bobcat." If or when you get a chance to read my book "Kyle the Coyote: Lost in the Desert" it's pretty easy to see how the idea manifested.
Switching gears. The movie was almost 100% restored. The artists were done with all their work. We had some down time while the color correction and sound design was being completed.
I wrote the layout of Kyle the Coyote with my desert property in Palmdale, CA in mind. I asked Alex Sarabia if he wanted to work on a children's book. I wanted him to do it because his process is similar to one of my favorite children's books "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie."
Kyle was not a biped but a real coyote. The story basically wrote itself and I could easily see how it paralleled what would happen if a child got lost. Beyond the rhyming story I wanted to include information about desert animals so the all knowing character Oliver the Owl would chime in to hoot out facts about these animals and their home. Many of these "characters" showed up on my trail camera at one time or another.
So there you have it, the creation and evolution that would turn into the children's book "Kyle the Coyote."
At the end of the book look for the artwork of Alex, Maverick Munster, Cherrae and myself. Check out my TikTok @KyleTheCoyote you will get a first glimpse inside the book to see what I am talking about. It's really cool.
Creating a children's book is something I wanted to do. It's always been in the back of my mind. However, that's not the answer.
The answer can be explained in two stories that eventually mesh into one.
1.) Over the last several years I have been restoring a film. Part of the restoration process was creating comic book transitions. If you think about how George Lucas restored "Star Wars" then the horror film "Creepshow" it is told through comic book transitions. That would be the process to fully tell this film's story. I don't have de-aging software or a time machine.
What was required was for me to find comic book artists. An acting buddy of mine named Eric Spudic suggested that I should contact Kevin Van Hook. Kevin was one of the creators of the comic book "Bloodshot" which was turned into a film with Vin Diesel. Through this process I was introduced to Alex Sarabia. Alex did a large chunk of the comic book sections in the restored film. He draws everything by hand. If you want to see some Alex' work check out the comic book "Leave on the Light." Let me warn you that this is not a children's friendly comic book.
Drawing is only one section. The other part is color. We had an artist nicknamed Munster Maverick do the color for Alex' pencils including "Kyle the Coyote."
Going through this process of creating 100+ comic book panels or individual drawings, for the restoration of the film, made me know it was possible to do a children's book.
2.) During the restoration of the film I purchased about 2.5 acres of desert property on the outskirts of Palmdale, CA. If you are interested in the reason for purchasing property for filmmaking, check out my Self Reliance piece I wrote for Filmmaker Magazine.
The major reason to purchase a property is to have control of a production if anything unforeseeable were to happen. I never thought it would be Covid. This property of mine is gated, protected by mountains, and an aqueduct. It's hard to drive on to the property but anything could walk on to it, either be it human or animal.
The next logical process was for me to put some kind of camera out there. The problem is there is no power. That's when I was introduced to solar powered, cellular trail cameras. I'm no hunter. This was for security purposes.
The way these trail cameras work is you charge up the inner battery, find signal (either Verizon or AT&T), and download the trail camera's app on your phone. I did two transmissions per day to my phone's app. The reason is the less transmissions you do the longer the battery will work. Less transmissions mean the sun has an opportunity to charge up the battery. The cameras are motion activated and even work in the dark. Sorry for the mansplaining but I knew nothing about this stuff until I got one. Thankfully, Cherrae was out there helping me setting up the camera. Cherrae also did the editing and layout of the book. More on her in a moment.
It's windy in Palmdale so many of the photos were of the desert brush swaying around. The images sent to the phone's app are low resolution. If there is something worth seeing you can request a "high definition" photo to be sent. Again, the larger the photo, the more the cellular service is used and it will drain the camera's battery.
Then 1 day after having the trail camera capture nothing for about 2 weeks, an image popped up. It looked like a lost dog so I requested a high definition photo which would arrive in the next 12 hours. It was kind of exciting to get these photos twice a day.
The photo that popped up was a Coyote walking towards the camera with his tongue out. This coyote would pop up again a few times in the next couple of days. Every time I would see him I turned to Cherrae and said, "Hey, Kyle the Coyote is back."
Kyle would disappear and not show up for a few weeks. Then I saw something new and rare. A bobcat! I turned to Cherrae again, "Oh no! I hope Kyle the Coyote isn't lost. Now we have Bobby the Bobcat." If or when you get a chance to read my book "Kyle the Coyote: Lost in the Desert" it's pretty easy to see how the idea manifested.
Switching gears. The movie was almost 100% restored. The artists were done with all their work. We had some down time while the color correction and sound design was being completed.
I wrote the layout of Kyle the Coyote with my desert property in Palmdale, CA in mind. I asked Alex Sarabia if he wanted to work on a children's book. I wanted him to do it because his process is similar to one of my favorite children's books "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie."
Kyle was not a biped but a real coyote. The story basically wrote itself and I could easily see how it paralleled what would happen if a child got lost. Beyond the rhyming story I wanted to include information about desert animals so the all knowing character Oliver the Owl would chime in to hoot out facts about these animals and their home. Many of these "characters" showed up on my trail camera at one time or another.
So there you have it, the creation and evolution that would turn into the children's book "Kyle the Coyote."
At the end of the book look for the artwork of Alex, Maverick Munster, Cherrae and myself. Check out my TikTok @KyleTheCoyote you will get a first glimpse inside the book to see what I am talking about. It's really cool.
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