Exclusive Interview with Brains’ Michele Austin

When you think about the zombie genre, you typically don’t pair love, friendship, and neuropsychology with it, but the web series Brains does just that. Set three years after the zombie apocalypse, the series follows Alison Sumner as she delves back into vlogging, and well, life in the post-apocalyptic world is a little a more humorous than one might think.

Michele Austin, who is the executive producer of season 2 and director of season 2 episode 3, filled us in on what we can expect for season 2 and the obstacles that the characters may face.

What can you tell us about season 2? Is there anything that you can tease?

Without giving too much away, I think you’ll find that we really outdid ourselves this time around. Everyone involved in this season worked their hardest through the entire production process, and I think that really shows with the work we’ve been able to do this season. The stakes are much higher now that Alison knows the truth about Sherman, and all kinds of other challenges keep getting in the way of what (or I guess, whom) Alison has wanted since the beginning- Damian.

Also, there are more boobs and more blood, so that’s a big plus.

What kind of problems will the characters be facing in the upcoming season?

Season 2 picks up immediately after the season 1 finale, so we’re dealing with Alison being pulled from all sides between her budding relationship with Damian, battling her newfound disgust towards her mentor Professor Sherman, and attempting to repair her relationship with Greta.

There’s a lot happening this season, so it’ll be a roller-coaster for sure!

How does season 2 differ from season 1?

The first thing our viewers will notice (other than the re-casting of Carl) is that our production values increased significantly between seasons. We also filmed this season with a kickass fancy camera and an equally kickass Director of Photography [Brandon Smalls], so this season looks amazing. We’ve also added ten shorter minisodes to correspond with each main episode that will go up each week, so our viewers will be getting double the content, which is super cool.

As of right now, there are three characters that are actually zombies, two of which are keeping it a secret. Do these characters pose a potential threat?

I would say that Damian is the bigger threat more so than Sherman. I mean, yeah, Sherman did some pretty terrible things, but I think Damian is much more emotionally volatile than she is, so if word ever got to him that Alison was filming their intimate conversations (and as such outing him as a zombie) without him knowing, I don’t doubt he’d be a loose cannon.

You direct season 2 episode 3. What can you tell us about that episode?

I had so much fun with this episode! In a way, this season mirrors season one in with its first four episodes, as we’re using the same title structure and basic episode structure as we did in season one for the first four episodes in season 2. With that, since episode 3 is a lab episode, I got to refer back to that episode in season 1 and decide, “okay, this is what I loved about this episode, how can I translate that into mine and make it work?”. It also introduces a new supporting character, Edgar Davison (played by series director/EP and dear friend of mine Andrew Williams), so it was a fun time getting to be silly and letting the cast have fun with the material. Between that and the comedy in Bri’s writing, it’s easily one of the more comedy-heavy episodes this season, so I think viewers will really get a kick out of it!

What would you miss most if there were a zombie apocalypse?

Honestly, probably pizza. I have the feeling that there wouldn’t be good, real pizza if we’re all likely going to be living off non-perishables for at least the first year post-apocalypse.

Also TV/the Internet. I’m almost always plugged in so I’d miss catching up on my shows and binge-watching Netflix and that type of thing.

Do you think that you’d be able to survive a zombie apocalypse?

Not at all, since I’m a huge wimp in the grand scheme of things. I’d last maybe a week. Unless I had a good team beside me, then I guess I’d last a bit longer.

Our website is called Talk Nerdy With Us, so what do you nerd out about?

Such a great question, as I am a MASSIVE nerd. I love video games (Kingdom Hearts, Until Dawn, and the Batman Arkham series come to mind as favorites), and the gaming community on YouTube (I adore Markiplier and the GameGrumps- they never fail to brighten my day); podcasts (Welcome to Night Vale is one of my favorites); anime when I’m in the mood for it; my dad’s been in the music industry for a long time so music has always been a big part of my life too. I have a BFA in theatre, so I’m a big geek for plays/musicals: give me a title and I can probably bust out a tune or at least give some trivia on it.

 

Catch up with season 1 of Brains before season 2 is released in September!  And don’t forget to visit their website to learn more about the web series. Watch a preview of season 2 below.