Molison Farmer, a recent Children’s Media graduate, worked with illustrator Mirka Loiselle to create an incredible children’s webcomic called Camp Coup, which was recently selected to receive funding by the Digital Originals initiative created by The Canada Council for the Arts. This initiative helps artists, arts groups, and organizations share their work online to the Canadian public during the COVID-19 pandemic. “I was gobsmacked when our project was selected. We loved Camp Coup so much, but it was incredible to hear that The Canada Council for the Arts agreed and thought that kids should get to read the comic someday,” Molison says.
Camp Coup covers important topics in new and creative ways with imaginative characters, all the while set at a summer camp called Camp Cooper. Molison says, “The comic is about a pair of misfit besties named Almond and Owl (who are an otter and a parrot, respectively) who rebel against a corrupt group of counsellors called the Alphas and defend their fellow campers from unfair camp rules and injustices.” The creation of this webcomic stems from some personal experiences. Molison says, “I created the world because I had a lot of formative experiences at summer camp - it is a place where you learn about where you belong in the world, learn to be independent, and discover who you really are and truly want to be. I thought that camp was the perfect micro-world to help kids understand how much impact they can have to be a positive force in the world around them. Camp Coup is all about sticking up for what you believe in and being 100% yourself. In the face of peer pressure, bullies, and injustice, Almond and Owl prove that true friends value you for who you really are and are definitely worth sticking up for. It empowers young folks to take up space in the world around them and to fight for fairness, equality, and understanding.”
Molison came up with the idea as part of a course assignment in her program that was aimed toward creating and pitching a kids’ TV show. “I wanted to make an animated show for ages 6-12 that was wacky, daring, and socially progressive. Typically, when developing an animated series, you need some illustrations or images to show the style of the series, so I called my friend and past collaborator Mirka Loiselle to do a few doodles. I believe I asked Mirka if she would be willing to do some illustrations for an ‘anarchist children's cartoon’ and she said, in short, ‘absolutely.’ Together we designed the five main characters and, as part of the school project, I created what is called a pitch bible which includes images, episode descriptions, and an overview of the style of the show. We were really in love with the world and the characters and we didn't want to let it go.”
A few months after submitting her assignment, Mirka brought up the idea to Molison of submitting the show to the Canada Council and CBC/Radio-Canada’s Digital Originals initiative. Molison explains that the funding the initiative provides did not fit within the scope of a full animated series, but creating a webcomic would be a great alternative. “We thought that a webcomic would be a great way to apply our tv and theatrical scenographic skills to a new digital medium. We also knew that summer camps were cancelled for most kids and we thought this would be a great way to encourage reading and help kids experience some classic outdoor adventures while their lives have moved primarily online.”
The work that went into the webcomic played to both Molison’s and Mirka’s strengths. “Because Mirka and I have worked together on theatre projects and I had studied screenwriting over the past year, we tried to stay as close as possible to that process. Instead of creating a traditional comic book script, I wrote the script as if it were a screenplay. Mirka then interpreted the script into pages and panels so that she can visualize how we can tell the story on the page. She draws out storyboard sketches and then draws the pages digitally and then adds the text.”
Working together remotely wasn’t out of the ordinary for the two, as most projects they’ve worked on together have been this way. Molison explains, “I love working with Mirka and I have hired her in the past to do drawings for theatre plays, web series, and even digital game concepts. She always adds a really fun and original flair that brings the characters to life, but this project is so much more fun because we are creating everything together, every step of the way. Mirka reads each draft of my script and gives me notes, and I do the same with her illustrated pages.”
The Children’s Media program provided Molison with a multitude of skills that helped her to create this comic and then some. “The Children's Media program really sharpened my abilities to structure a story. The sheer amount of writing we had to do - from multiple scripts, short stories, novel outlines, and episode springboards - prepared me for creating the first four episodes. If you had asked me a year ago, before the program, if I was a writer, I would have said absolutely not, but my first paid gig out of the program is to write this comic. The teachers' encouragement really motivated me and as one of our teachers, Therese Beaupre says, "to be a writer, you gotta write". I think that practical classes like Business and Licensing and Merchandising helped us look at how to get funding for your project and how to explain why your project is viable and marketable. I think this really helped to strengthen our grant application. In our Marketing Digital Media course, we got to practice making a social media strategy and discoverability plan which is coming in handy now that we are thinking about how to market the comic online to potential readers,” Molison says.
The first release of the four-part webcomic will be on September 19th, 2020, while subsequent releases will be on the 2nd Saturday of each month until December 2020, all of which can be found on campcoupcomic.com. Be sure to follow Camp Coup’s Facebook and Instagram @campcoupcomic for additional content and learning resources for readers.
Congratulations Molison and Mirka!
By: Alexandra Few