If the cloning process in World of Tomorrow existed right now, would you go through that process and create clones of yourself to prolong your life? —tim
probably not, that process doesn’t seem to work so well.
If you were put into the world you’ve created, would you buy gills? —Lauren Torres
i tend to avoid putting my head under because i almost always get water in my ears so i guess i wouldn’t need them. gills also seem like they’d be a real nuisance to keep clean.
What does love mean, and why do your characters go through so much effort to find it? —Andrew Michalko
oh man.
In this year of years, what do you hope people will understand about death and its inevitability (or is it all there on the screen, and if so, that’s okay too)? —Letterboxd
understanding death and its inevitability is maybe the most valuable thing a person can do for themselves.
Was the absence of Emily Prime in Part Three a practical decision [Don’s then-four-year-old niece Winona provided Emily’s voice] or an intentional departure from the first two films? —Michael
it was both. i couldn’t find a way to fit her in naturally and i also felt like the series needed to start growing in other directions and not rest on the past. episode two had also been really difficult to write, it was so reliant on winona’s recordings, and it felt like the dam was really broken when i was finally able to write without any restrictions this time.
In a series like World of Tomorrow, where you headed in a direction that is a lot more plot-driven than your previous work, how far in advance do you plan? Did you always know this was in David’s past, or are these stories told one at a time? —Ryan Welch, Kodiak J. Sanders, julius, Alex Leon
i could tell early on that this wasn’t a story like it’s such a beautiful day with a clear beginning, middle and end, but a much wilder thing that could continue to grow. the openness of it is still what makes it so interesting to me. i have all sorts of notes for the next episodes but if i already knew what would happen in episode nine i think that would take a lot of the air out of the tires and i’d start to feel like i was just connecting the boring dots. while writing, i’ve also had to be aware that there someday might be an episode nine so i can’t go wrecking the timelines before i get there.
What were the rocks and the gas pump that Emily fell in love with meant to represent? —Ekaneff
she was learning how to love, and like all of us, in her youth she gravitated to a bunch of individuals that were wrong for her.
Aside from the ability to release more frequently, is there something about the episodic structure that you prefer/appreciate, as opposed to creating one larger feature-length film? —SiddFinch1
there’s just more freedom. the traditional running time of a feature film, 90 to 120 minutes, is a totally arbitrary number.
Have you ever considered writing a World of Tomorrow book or graphic novel? —Jay Smith
the earliest ideas for world of tomorrow were sloshing around in a graphic novel called the end of the world that came out in 2013. but i don’t have any talent or much confidence in making another book like that. it’s a different world. when i look at someone like chris ware and then look at something like the end of the world, it’s like, “wow, baby made a mess”.