Horror fans have started seeing an increased attempt by studios to adapt horror literature in all its forms. Revival is one of those special comics, and brought on director and producer Aaron B. Koontz to adapt the series. With his creative partner Luke Boyce, the two adapted the series for SyFy and brought together a very fun cast. FandomWire spoke to Koontz about the process of that adaptation, as well as his upcoming project, Shelby Oaks, with popular YouTuber Chris Stuckmann.
Aaron B. Koontz Interview with FandomWire about Revival and Shelby Oaks
FandomWire: The show absolutely rules. I had so much fun watching it. When did you begin the process of adapting this comic into a TV show?
Aaron B. Koontz: My partner, Luke Boyce, had known Tim Seeley and Mike Norton for a little while. He’s from the Chicago area, where they are, and he got the rights to the comic many years ago. I had read Hack/Slash but not read Revival. That first issue feels like a pilot. I was so attached to this material. It’s very timely, has interesting things to say, and the tone is my vibe. So I was like, “I want to make this thing, and I want to create it with you.”
FandomWire: Tell us about how you go about making the visual aesthetic for Revival versus how it compares when you do it for a movie.
Aaron B. Koontz: The first thing I would say, not necessarily just in the visual aesthetic, but that you can take the time to develop your characters, versus here’s the one scene of backstory I could do in the movie. That was so creatively fulfilling. You’ll be able to re-watch a scene and realize that that scene also meant this or also was doing these things. These conversations had a double meaning.
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You have a comic with amazing visual art, so we wanted to get that look. We went with a wider aspect ratio. We literally had to ask SyFy and NBC to allow us. They’ve never allowed the aspect ratio we use. There are all these weird aberrations from the lenses. I’m putting the dollars on the screen. If I’m gonna fail, I’m gonna fail big. I’m not gonna fail safe, we’re gonna go for it.
When you’re a producer, it helps you with the management and the duality of managing so many people as a showrunner. I finally got to use both sides of my brain to push myself to the absolute limits. It was worth every second of it.
FandomWire: It immediately jumps out as being visually unique. A big part of the show is experiencing what this town is going through, but specifically, the Cypress family. Tell us about how you balance those two things.
Aaron B. Koontz: I think that’s the beauty of genre. This is a family story about a broken family. When we talked about the main questions of Revival, [we asked] what is Revival Day? Who murdered someone? What’s in the woods? Is the Cypress family going to heal? This is just as much a driver as what caused Revival Day.
It allows you to have this throughline. You have the insane shit going on the other side, but everybody can connect with family. If you care about the family, it gives you balance. That’s what’s so great about genre, and why I love making horror, thriller, and sci-fi projects. The show is about the Cypress family, and it’s a murder mystery where the person is still alive. That’s not a zombie show, but it’s about this family trying to figure themselves out.
FandomWire: Melanie and Romy are perfect to lead the show. Then you also have Steven Ogg and CM Punk as outside instigators. Tell me how you chose to cast those roles.
Aaron B. Koontz: It all started with finding our Dana. You read the comic, and I can see her, literally. That was the domino, and everything else had to fall into place. Luke knew more of Melanie’s work than I did, and he was really excited about her. I knew Ready or Not, Letterkenny, and some other stuff. I didn’t know much beyond that. When we saw her reel, this was Dana. It’s her actual personality. Some of the funniest lines in the show are just Mel being Mel.
We were going a little bit younger for our Em Cypress. We did a wide casting call. We saw hundreds and hundreds of people. Romy came in, and she was someone that I wanted to protect immediately. This character is going on a pretty crazy journey, but it has to start with a place of empathy. She leapt off the page.
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Andy McQueen, who plays Ibrahim, I saw him on Mrs. Davis, and he just blew me away. So we started to put these pieces together. David James Elliott plays Wayne, is Wayne. He’s just a big teddy bear, but boisterous and loud.
When it came to Steven Ogg, I literally wrote a letter. I didn’t know Steven. I didn’t have any ties to him. I wrote a letter to his agent. “Listen, I’m picturing him in this part. It’s really important to me. Just let me talk to him.” He read my letter and was very taken by it. He agreed to Zoom with me and was still like, “You can’t afford them.”
But Steven read the script, and he really took to it. Now we’ve become dear friends, and I’ll be so grateful to Steven for taking a chance on us. CM Punk was a fan of the comic. He’s from Chicago, and so was Phil. When we pitched the show, we said Phil Brooks might be able to get CM Punk. We didn’t know for sure the timing.
It was completely crazy because he had to be at Survivor Series. We’re shooting until two o’clock in the morning, and he has to get on a flight at like four. We keep going later and later, and he’s like, “I can’t miss this fight. I cannot miss this fight.” His schedule is so nuts, but we worked it out. He’s such a trooper. That guy did everything. There are some moments with some actual wrestling. It’s completely crazy.
FandomWire: One of the other projects your team is working on is Shelby Oaks, which is coming out later this year. Tell us how that process came about, with Chris [Struckmann] and your team stepping in to produce it early.
Aaron B. Koontz: When Chris pitched me, I was drinking at a Fantastic Fest. He’s like, “Hey, man, let’s talk movies.” And we just talked movies and hit it off. He pitched a different movie, but I was like, “Man, I really like this script. This is just way too big. This is a $20 million movie. I don’t think we can do this, but you’re a talented writer, and let’s talk about making something small.”
So we developed Shelby Oaks together during COVID. For two years, we would jump on Zooms and talk about everything. We played at Fantasia, and it played great. And then Neon comes on board, and they let us reshoot some stuff and add some extra things. They’ve been such an amazing partner. I can’t say what the release date is, but it is later this year. I’m gonna announce that very soon.
Chris absolutely killed it. It is a dark movie. It’s definitely got Hereditary vibes, but, man, it’s a rad movie. I’m so proud of it, so proud of Chris. I love the partnership, and it’s just been a dream.
FandomWire: Going back to Revival, it is funny, violent, and all the great things that make horror comedies excellent. What are you hoping the audience takes out of Revival?
Aaron B. Koontz: I hope they can have an escape. I think it’s hard; there’s so many things competing for someone’s time. This has to be worth it to the audience, like this can’t just be a filler scene. Everything’s going to come back around. We’re giving the audience the benefit of the doubt. This isn’t meant to be a pandering show that’s dumbing something down.
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We had a lot of conversations where the network said, “This is too complicated.” No, they’re smart. I’m telling you they’ll get this. I asked, “What would I want as a cinephile? As a person who’s watching this stuff myself?” If you make it to Episode Six, a huge thing happens. It’s my favorite episode of the season, and there’s so much going on. I think it’s really special because just when you think you have what the show is, we’re going to pull the rug out from under you.
FandomWire: I agree with that!
Aaron B. Koontz: I appreciate that, because that’s something we meant to do. Many times in the writers’ room, it was like, “You can’t do this.” I’m like, then that means we have to. I want it to be surprising. I want it to be fun. It’s not going to be a downer of a show. It’s something I would want to watch, and that’s all I could ever ask for. That’s where our North Star always was.
Revival airs on the SyFy network on Thursdays. New episodes are available to stream on Peacock. This interview was edited for length and clarity.
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