Still Flying: An Interview with Tim Minear, Part I

PopMatters has posted an indepth interview with Firefly co-creator, Tim Minear.

At just 23 years old, Tim Minear was working side-by-side with Oliver Stone as an (uncredited) assistant director on Platoon (1986) and beginning a thus-far full career of mostly short-lived television series. So short-lived, in fact, that when he signed up for a Twitter account, he chose “CancelledAgain” as his handle. Yet, he swears he’s neither bitter nor defeated, having had, among his writer/director/producer peers, a unique experience of working on many and varied series, series that though fleeting are also some of the sharpest around: Firefly (2002-2003), Wonderfalls (2004), The Inside (2005), Dollhouse (2009-2010), and Terriers (2010), among others. In fact, much of his work could be described as small-screen poetry—condensed, potent. When I had the pleasure of speaking with Minear via phone on January 12, 2011, we casually yet seriously reasoned that he might be a better fit for the British model of television. Though our conversation came soon after he had learned of Terriers’ cancellation, Minear was hopeful about his new series The Chicago Code, which premiered on Fox at the beginning of February, and was happily reminiscent about his work with Joss Whedon. In this first part of two, Minear talks about Firefly and Angel (1999-2004), the role socio-political and cultural issues play in his creative work, writing strong female characters, and what he learned while working alongside Whedon.

Read more at PopMatters.com.

Tim Minear further clarifies some points from the interview on Whedonesque.com.