Dan Goldman Talks Penning Comic Book, Video Game, and AR Stories Ahead of Mar 11 Bookworm Talk

If you can name it, Dan Goldman can write for it. From comic books to AR, video games to prestige TV, there seem to be no limits for the Detroit-born, Los Angeles-based writer. That eclecticism has helped him gain plenty of acclaim and buzz, be it the awards and positive press for the empowering augmented reality comic book series Priya's Shakti, the enthralled fans of Facebook-based role-playing game based on The Walking Dead that he wrote for the AMC cable network, and the onlookers waiting to see what he comes up with after finishing the screenplay for a cable series of his own. Ahead of his Mar 11 talk at The Bookworm, Goldman tells us about his multidisciplinary mastery. 

You’ve worked in many different disciplines- graphic novels, webcomics, augmented reality, video games. Tell us about how working in different mediums is exciting for you.
I think the constant across all these different mediums is the story. It’s the part that I always fall in love with – the characters’ struggles hook you in, through them you explore their world and fight their battles – no matter what medium or form the story takes. I talk about media as containers that hold the story. And as the containers change, the story naturally takes different shapes, and presents itself differently to you, the reader, audience or player. What’s really juicy and interesting is how the form limits or expands what you can do with that story. For example, a movie is a tight affair that removes much to make its story complete, whereas a television show has a lot more time to explore relationships and its world.

I’ve been playing video games since I was a kid, but didn’t start writing them until around 2012. Until then I had no idea how much fun writing a “branching narrative" that lets the player choose options to take the story into multiple directions, or what the challenges of making a satisfying story would be. It was like making music on an all-new instrument, with the story remaining the constant.

Your collaborator Ram Devineni was recently in Beijing for an exhibit about Priya's Shakti (read more about that here). What did you enjoy most about working on that project?
The most rewarding thing about co-creating Priya's Shakti has definitely been reaching people on a deep emotional level, especially young people. The comic books are designed to represent an equal-gender vision of India’s future and create solidarity among survivors of violence. And from the reactions the work has gotten – and continues to get, which is astonishing – it’s become one of my favorite things I’ve ever done. It’s allowed me to meet so many wonderful people around the world, some readers and some allies, to a point where I feel I’ve grown so much as a human being myself.

It has been said that you produce "'stories galvanized for social change': research-driven fictions to be used as tools/weapons by their activist partners in the field to have maximum impact.” So, what world issues have come across your radar lately that you’re itching to tackle with your fiction next?
The more research I do into the global under-economy of human trafficking, the more odious and pervasive I understand it to be. The third Priya book will speak to this in India. It’s called Priya and the Lost Girls – but I’ve also met new allies at several other trafficking-focused NGOs who I am building work with that addresses trafficking in the USA, Eastern Europe, and other nations. These projects will span a variety of media: From animation to augmented-reality posters to video games, all designed to entertain and enlighten. 

Tell us more about how, as the quote says above, these “fictions” can “be used as tools/weapons by their activist partners.” Specifically, I’m wondering: why are they so effective as tools and weapons? 
There’s something about “fictions-as-weapons” for activism that goes back to my very first graphic novel Be the People, self-published in 2004. I’ve always felt more moved by inhabiting someone’s skin than reading objective studies. And I feel maybe that’s generational but it’s certainly true the younger the audience gets. I believe in the power of story – something so deeply human, going back to our cave-dwelling days – that connects us to each other, to our past and future. And when you use a story to entertain while transmitting information, it becomes an incredibly powerful tool.

And why “weapon" …? Because, dear Beijinger, humanity is at war with itself and its own progress, and we must care for each other and celebrate each other before we’re all gone. Stories are the perfect weapons to point at those who mechanize and exploit, to make them see each other anew and evolve.

Word is you've been writing the script for a cable series of your own. How's that coming along? 
It is – as we say back home in Los Angeles – “in development.” Which means it’s in a preliminary phase where writing is being done and business relationships are being mapped out. The reactions to my work – and its story in the TV format – are very promising and I hope to have more definite news I can talk about publicly soon.

Goldman will speak at the Bookworm at noon on Mar 11. For more information, click here. 

More stories by this author here.
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Photos: NBC News, Fivars.net