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|title=
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"It’s never the same. I mean - it is the same but it’s never the same. You go to new locations, you go to a different set that’s been built… it was one thing last week; it’s entirely new this week. There’s always something different in the film world and that’s kind of what kind of what got me into the work in the first place."
|author= [[Kevin Parks]]
|source= Supernatural First Assistant Director
}}
''Supernatural From Script to Screen is a series of interviews with the crew of Supernatural by Jules Wilkinson, Supernatural Wiki Administrator.''<br>See also:* [[Supernatural From Script to Screen: Director's Commentary on "Trial and Error" with Kevin Parks]]* [[Supernatural From Script to Screen: Director's Commentary on "Bad Boys" with Kevin Parks]]
<br>
Fans of ''Supernatural'' know that many teams are part of making an episode – camera crew, wardrobe, VFX, SFX, set design, the art department, construction, transport and of course the actors and director. Key in making all that hard and creative work comes together in the right place at the right time is First Assistant Director [[Kevin Parks]] who has been on Supernatural since Season One. <br><br>
==MAKING AN EPISODE==
[[File:Kevin parks editor.jpg|right|frame|Kevin at the WB Studios in L.A. to edit his episode]]
'''Jules:''' ''As the Assistant Director, you are like the project manager for the crew, coordinating all the production activity and making sure that everything is ready for when the Director starts shooting, and that it all runs smoothly during the shoot. Where does that start for you?'' <br>
'''Kevin:''' When people get paid for their job then they have to step up to play. If it doesn’t happen, I go talk to them later, like how can we fix this for the future? I mean we all make mistakes and mistakes are made. But what is more frustrating is when people make the same mistakes. If you make the same mistakes you haven’t learned from making the first one. Basically it comes down to proper communication and prep of what you want and when you want it. <br>
In the crew in Vancouver here, we have onset about 120 people. I have my team too, I have [[Debra Herst|Deb Herst]] as my second, and we have my third. So I mean in the grand scheme, the first A.D. oversees all of that. I stay on set and run the set and Deb will be basically in or off set and getting the next day ready and deal with departments for the next day's requirements. We have an eight day schedule. So Deb’ll go day to day and make sure people on set know what’s coming up next. My third A.D. runs the hair and makeup trailers, so he knows when the cast are coming in for that day and keeps that flow going through. I'm overseeing all that with the help of my AD team to make sure that the day to day is flowing through. And as you said before, communication is the key thing here. Without communication you’re not going to do anything. <br><br>
'''Jules:''' ''How do you make that communication work well?''<br>
'''Jules:''' ''So what makes you happy about working the show?''<br>
'''Kevin:''' It’s never the same. I mean - it is the same but it’s never the same. You go to new locations, you go to a different set that’s been built… it was one thing last week; it’s entirely new this week. There’s always something different in the film world and that’s kind of what kind of what got me into work in the first place. <br><br>
'''Jules:''' ''This is a geeky question but when you do your schedules and that, what are you creating them on?'' <br>
==DIRECTORIAL DEBUT==
[[File:Kevinparksdirector.jpg|right|frame|Kevin with the back of his Director's chair]]
'''Jules:''' ''So how did the opportunity to direct come up?''<br>
'''Jules:''' ''You've worked with a huge number of Directors, how did they influence your vision of how you wanted to direct?''<br>
'''Kevin:''' I did a lot of work, not just on this show, with [[Kim Manners ]] on the The X-Files. I had a lot of Kim Manners’ influences, in terms of how I approached the script, how I wanted to shoot things. I also got a lot from Bob Singer in how to deal with the talent and keep the story with them. Not to say Kim never did that as well, but Bob was really coming from a writer background on the story.<br><br>
'''Jules:''' ''So what do you mean by that when you say that you want to keep the story with the actors?''<br>
'''Kevin:''' Well the story comes out with the actors. I mean my biggest Achilles heel in this whole process is actually dealing with the talent. Because as an A.D. I deal with them but just basically saying "you go on next" or "by the time you get here you should finish your dialogue" opposed to what are you trying to get out of them emotionally in the dialogue, and also help progress the story a lot. So I tried to blend in a lot of [[Kim Manners]], a lot of Bob Singer, and what I'd learned from [[Phil SgriccaPhilip Sgriccia]] about the whole post-production and the visual effects things.<br>
Also understanding how editors can cut shots together allows you to not get stuck thinking I’ve got to make this one shot perfect. I think, well the cutaways are going to make it work so it’s only going to be this portion of this particular shot that will be used.<br>
'''Jules:''' ''So what are you looking for?''<br>
'''Kevin:''' You’re looking at what the part should be. You’re looking for whether or not they can understand the idea of the character from the pages you give them to read. You always go for the better actor to pull it off. A look you can always change with wardrobe and hair and make-up but you want the best actor you can possibly get. We had some people read that were just way off base. It was like - "oh really, how did you get that out of that page? " Those ones you can cut away right away. It was it was valuable to do and to see who [[Jeremy Carver]] and Bob pick. I put my first and second choices up and then they pick their choices.<br><br>
'''Jules:''' ''Sounds like American Idol!''<br>
[[File:Kevinprepares.jpg|right|frame|Kevin at home prepping for the episode]]
'''Kevin:''' Yeah it is. They do casting in L.A. and I view the tapes and again give the first and second choices and we decide on that. But it’s weird... for people who are supposed to be so involved in the storytelling, which is the actors telling the story, the process of getting there is so removed. Actors don’t get feedback out of it. They’re there for about five minutes and if they nailed it in five minutes, great. And if they haven’t, they don’t know why.<br>
Ty had never watched his episode from Season Two. So when he came into the show and then he wanted to know more about the [[Vampires|vampire lore]], I went through it with him but I also got him his episode to watch. It was good for him because actually was able to get an understanding of what a vampire is. <br><br>
'''Jules:''' ''Jim Michael always refers to you as "Parksapedia". Your legendary knowledge must come in very handy when you’re going to get fired all these questions from all the new people on set, to have that at your recall must be very handy.'' <br>
'''Kevin:''' Working with the talent is where the creative side of directing comes in. Right when they’re coming for the blocking, I mean I’ve already sketched out where I want people to go, and then you start hearing them read it and you go through and then you start going on points you want to pick up on and once the blocking’s done and everybody’s off lighting, then I kind of pull them aside and we go through a bit. And that was a new process doing that because that was something I’m not normally ever involved in.<br>
'''Jules:''' ''What have you seen of what you’ve shot so far?'' <br>
'''Kevin:''' The only thing I’ve seen right now is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dailies dailies]. I talk with the editor probably every couple of days about how things are going and the things I want to see. The shots are in my head, so I know what cutting order I want to do it. So I talk to him a little bit to help streamline that process. I won’t see anything until Saturday morning when I get to L.A.
I’ve given them a couple of options of some music to slug in right now just to get an idea of it. But in the end it will come down to whether they can afford it or not. If it costs too much money, then they will put something else in. Once you start getting into some really high-end bands it... I mean it’s like I don’t know how much money Glee has but when you start buying some of those record libraries that’s a huge amount of money. <br><br>
==THE EVOLUTION OF SUPERNATURAL==
[[File:BSK Kevin P.jpg|frame|right|For part of Season 8, the shooting location signs for the show read "BSK" standing for "Bike Shorts Kevin"]]'''Jules:''' ''How is it different working on ''Supernatural '' now than it was in those first couple of years?'' <br>
'''Kevin:''' Well there were challenges like trying to figure out what it’s like when a vampire’s teeth descend, or how a demon disappears with black smoke…I mean the first few times of doing that, it was a big deal. You have to frame it differently for all of the black smoke or when the eyes flip and change in and out to demon eyes. It’s amazing how much easier the visual effects have become, too: we do far less green screen now than we ever did because you can actually do just more right on set. <br>
That’s how we’ve evolved from season one to season eight. And we’ve got a really good machine up here. I mean it works well. <br>
The springboard for the show is basically built on the fact that [[Eric Kripke]] had a very good five year plan. [[Sera Gamble]] came in; she did a good job for the two seasons of keeping it going. [[Jeremy Carver]] used to be one of our writers back in seasons four. Now he’s come back as a show runner. <br> Jeremy’s done a really good job of reinventing this season. I mean first five years we were basically working on what’s going on with Sam, what’s going on with the demons and all of sudden oh now the angels come in and it’s the apocalypse to win. Then we came back in season six and seven and so now Cas is trying to rebuild heaven, he’s going to take over, he blows up and then season seven ends up having the Leviathan. Now it’s like what do you do with the mythology. He’s re-measured the stuff with the tablet, picking up what was last season, the tablet and the other storylines and he’s doing a great job. And it’s evident because our ratings have gone up. <br>
==GETTING STARTED==
[[File:Kuma.jpg|right|frame|Kevin & Jill's new Samoyed puppy Kuma. Their last dog [[Chilko]] appeared in 3 episodes of Supernatural]]
'''Jules:''' ''So how did you get started in the business?'' <br>
'''Kevin:''' I always liked movies, but I was more into high school theatre so I worked quite a bit in high school theatre on the technical end. I got accepted into Concordia in Montreal in their film programmes. I got a film studies degree. That wasn’t actually a great degree to get because it’s like an English degree, instead of reading books you end up watching a lot of movies which is a degree that I didn’t really use in the first part of my career; it became more useful as a first AD A.D. and definitely as a Director. <br>
But then in my first year back from university, went to look for a job in the film industry and I walked into a production office. I was pretty much dressed in a three piece suit because I didn’t know whether the company was casual or not. And the production coordinator was quite impressed by that. She just talked to me for a bit, took my resume and I went on my merry way thinking, okay, well I'm going to be painting houses this summer because that's not going to happen. And a day later I got called to come into work as an office production assistant. <br>
They liked me so much they kept me for prep shooting and wrap up. So I was there for two months in the end, and that got me my first job in the film industry. And I went back to painting houses for the rest of summer. Each summer coming back from university, I got one more show down; got one more… got one more... a foot in the door kind of thing.<br>
Upon graduating I was able to parlay working pretty fulltime as a PAP.A. I pretty much knew I wanted to be in the film industry, so I had no intention of wanting to be in an office, or like my father who was a police officer and my brother is a police officer and one of my other brothers sells computer hardware and stuff. <br>
So from the PA P.A. side of things I’d gotten membership to the Directors Guild of Canada and I got my first show in 1991 as a Trainee Assistant Director. And that’s the last time I ever worked on locations. I was pretty consistent as an AD A.D. all the way through. Moving from trainee to third A.D. was easy; third to second was kind of harder because you try to get that second job. Once I got the second job that went quite easy. Going from second to first was really easy.<br>
I started in 1987 and 26 years later I’m here. All in Vancouver. <br><br>
'''Kevin:''' It’s grown down from a smaller industry to what it was in the 90’s which was huge, and now it kind of ebbs and flows a little bit. It’s up and down. Which is where Supernatural ’s been great because I haven't had to worry about work for the last eight years!<br>
[[X-Files]] for example came from nowhere, proved this big monster. Same with [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0279600/ Smallville]. We have a lot of old X-Files crew here. The experience of the people who do the sci-fi shows kind of follows through, so you don’t have to go from square one on day one. All you have to do is get the rhythm of how this show works, how these actors work, how the sets are going to be made. So once you get that rhythm established which is like seasons one Seasons One and two Two and part of threeThree, then it just comes into its own.<br>
==RIDE TO CONQUER CANCER==
'''Note: You can donate to Kevin's team Supernatural in the 2013 Ride to Conquer Cancer [http://www.conquercancer.ca/site/TR/Events/Vancouver2013?px=2242279&pg=personal&fr_id=1441 here].'''[[File:Rcc.jpg|right|frame|With Jared & Jensen's support, Team Supernatural was being honoured at the Ride to Conquer Cancer Ambassador party with $15,150 raised]]'''Jules:''' ''One thing that brought you to the broader notice of fans was your involvement in the [http://www.conquercancer.ca/index.html Ride to Conquer Cancer]. How did you get involved in that?''<br>
'''Kevin:''' It was primarily for Kim Manners, but we’ve had lots of friends in the film industry pass away of cancer. Both (my wife) Jill’s family, and my family have been affected by it, so we wanted to do something for the ride, and to do something for Kim. So after Kim Manners passed away I got into doing the ride. <br>
We started emailing friends about donations in January /February. Then [[Jim Michaels ]] got our office to put it onto a fan page. I was overwhelmed with what the fans do. I was almost speechless because when Lesley put it on the page, I was still here in at work and the episode aired and it was like only about $20 to come in. In an hour of getting home, it went over $1,500. I was just like Wow! I was blown away by it. And, you know, everything from $10 to $500. I’m surprised at just how generous the fans are. <br>
That was the biggest overwhelming thing - just to see what the fans actually do for these causes. I mean I’m just a guy riding a bike and yet that's really easy for me to do that. It’s not hard for me being able to ride the 240k from here to here to Seattle. My wife volunteers too and she does actually more work than I do. She’s on the course the whole time driving up and down, picking up riders of broken bikes or any injuries and take them to the next pit stop, or wherever. I’m on the course for five hours, five and a half hours. Jill’s on there for probably eight to nine. It’s basically a way for us to give back and something simple we can do to give back. <br>
==FANDOM==
[[File:Kevinandrusty.jpg|right|frame|Kevin makes a surprise appearance for fans on [[Russ Hamilton]]'s Location Tour in 2012]]'''Jules:''' ''So what’s it been like for you, being on [[Twitter ]] and having that interaction with the show's fans?''<br>
'''Kevin:''' I got on Twitter because it was an easy way to thank the fans for the support and the ride. It’s a good avenue to keep in touch with the fans and the surreal part of this whole thing is people are actually sending me fan mail.<br><br>
'''Jules:''' ''Which I think is an amazing thing about our fandom, it’s not just the people on the screen that we are interested in, it's everyone involved in making the show.'' <br>
'''Kevin:''' Well definitely. One of the most surreal moments was when I was at the [[Salute to Supernatural Vancouver 2011|Supernatural Convention in Vancouver 2011]], and I walked in and then all of a sudden it was like I was giving out autographs. I think, really? I’m just a crew member. I’m not one of the guys on camera, and you want my autograph? I’d never given an autograph out before because nobody’s ever asked for them before. It was a very surreal moment when I was like, oh, okay. It was fun. <br><br>
'''Jules:''' ''One thing with the show's longevity and popularity is that more and more you have fans turning up to see you shoot when you're on location...''<br>
'''Kevin:''' Well if you weren’t out there we wouldn’t be here right now. When we’re out in public places people are always welcome to watch. And when the fans come out it’s like… it’s worth our while to go and say “hi” to them. Like I do. I know Guy Bee does too. I go and say “hi” to the fans. Because if weren’t for fans we wouldn’t be here right now. If a lot of fans didn’t watch this show, we would’ve be cancelled after season one. <br>
The really hardcore fans that would actually show up in a rainstorm, they're dedicated. One time in Season Two, and we were in the driving rain, we were doing a scene at Boundary Bay and off in the distance we saw the fans. It was a driving rainstorm and they’re watching us at about quarter mile away. It’s like, really? Wow, that’s dedicated. And with fans like that? I give then them all the gratitude and all the thanks to actually watch the show because if they didn’t watch it, didn’t support it, we wouldn’t be here.<br> ==Acknowledgements==Interview by Jules Wilkinson, Supernatural Wiki Admin Many thanks to Kevin Parks for his generosity in doing this interview. All photos are from Kevin's Twitter account, except for the last one. Nothing in fandom is a solo activity, and this work was made better by betaing input by counteragent.<br><br> You can comment on this interview on the ''Talk'' page for this entry, or to Kevin at [https://twitter.com/#!/SNKevinandJill @SNKevinandJill] or Jules at [https://twitter.com/#!/SuperWiki @SuperWiki]<br><br> This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Please link back to this article if quoting from it. <br><br> For inquiries about the Supernatural Wiki, you can contact Jules at admin@supernaturalwiki.com<br> ''Interview conducted 13 December 2012 ; posted 4 February 2013''[[Category:Production]][[Category:Cast & Crew]] [[Category:Crew]][[Category:Interviews]]
