We have had so many great opportunities here at JohnnyDeppReads and last week we were given the chance to ask SWEENEY TOOD author Mark Salisbury a few questions. Keep in mind that Mark attended the SWEENEY TODD premiere last week and also moderated the SWEENEY TODD press conference the next day, I think we are very blessed that he found the time to visit with us over the weekend.

I asked you if you had any questions for Mark and many of you sent in ones that were very similar so I tried to combine those, and I added some myself. I knew that Mark’s time was very limited so I trimmed the numbers down to the questions that I thought would best represent us as his readers.

Many thanks to author Mark Salisbury and to Titan books for so kindly arranging this wonderful opportunity for us!





JDR: You have quite a long working history with Tim Burton and his projects, I think starting with the original "Burton on Burton" and with the "Planet of the Apes" and also "The Corpse Bride" books. How did your relationship with him come about?

MS: I first met Tim back in 1988 at a Beetlejuice/Warner Brothers Christmas party while he was shooting Batman in London and interviewed him for the first time shortly after. I met him again a couple of years later when he was promoting Edward Scissorhands in Rome. Then in 1994 I pitched the idea of doing Burton On Burton to Faber, approached Tim, and he agreed.

JDR: Since your books have been non fictional works, including books on comics and comic screenplay writing, would you ever consider writing a screenplay?

MS: I finished a script at the end of last year with a friend of mine who writes comic books. We got a lot of positive feedback on it, which has encouraged us to write another one.

JDR: What has been your favorite book project? Can you envision yourself doing more books like this about any of Tim's future projects?

MS: Burton on Burton was and continues to be the most fun because I get to hang out on Tim’s sets.


JDR: Is there a more memorable part about the making of ST and writing this book?

MS: My first day on set was when they were shooting part of The Contest between Sacha Baron Cohen’s Pirelli and Sweeney and I broke into a huge grin just watching it on the monitor and hearing the musical playback, and that smile didn’t leave my face throughout the rest of the shoot. You could tell, even then, that Sweeney was going to be something special.


JDR: Since you were on set during filming, do you enjoy that part of your research process? How did you decide what ended up in the final book version?

MS: I love spending time on film sets, seeing a movie being shot, watching the creation of moments big and small. Martin Amis once called being on a movie set (and I hope I’m remembering this correctly): repetition followed by boredom followed by more repetition. And in a way he’s right, but I still love it. And despite many years of visiting film sets I’m still amazed that a movie ever gets made, such is the small amount of footage shot each day.


JDR: How long were you on set? Filming happened earlier this year, ended sometime in May and your book was published a short seven months later. That sounds like a pretty short time frame. Is this the norm for you?

MS: I probably spent around two weeks on set in total, maybe more, spread across the shoot. “Making of” books tend to be very last minute, and while there was talk of a book throughout shooting, I didn’t get the go ahead till sometime in August and the book needed to be finished by September in order to meet the printer’s deadline to be in the shops before Christmas.

JDR: What was the first step in making this book happen? Did the book turn out as you'd envisioned it when you began it, or did it evolve into something different as you went along?

MS: Because of the fast turnaround (see answer above) there’s not much time for the book to evolve as such. You find the spine of the story first, then fill in the body of the book as it were. As someone who buys a lot of “making of” books, as well as having written a few myself, it’s fair to say these books tend to follow a certain structure but each film is different and each book must reflect those differences. In Sweeney’s case, the musical aspect was hugely important, so it became the thread for this story…


JDR: Do you have any idea what prep work Johnny did for the slashing scenes? Practices on dummies...that sort of thing?

MS:I have no idea. But I would think not.


JDR: I know that you've written a few books on comics, movie monsters, comic script writing... did you know that Johnny's production company owns the rights to Arvid Nelson's "Rex Mundi" graphic novel series? Any chance that you might be involved in that project?

MS: Funnily enough, I’d forgotten they’d bought that. And seeing as I’ve never read it, I’ve just ordered myself a copy from amazon.

JDR: What's up next for you?

MS: I’m currently in the midst of another script with my friend and there’s the possibility of a book project that I refuse to divulge any details about it in case I jinx it.

And our final question to Mark was: Who is the one person you would like to interview or write a book about?

MS: I’d have loved to have interviewed Billy Wilder, but sadly didn’t get the chance.

Our sincere thanks to Mark Salisbury for his wonderful answers and his time during such a busy period for him!

WOW!! What a wonderful interview!! woohoo

That is amazing to hear just how fast Mr Salisbury put the book together. I haven't read it yet, as it isn't out in the UK for another couple of weeks, but it is on order, and I can't wait to get my hands on it, especially since reading this interview.

Thanks so much for sparing your time to answer our questions Mr Salisbury, I, for one am very grateful. :bow

Anne x

What a wonderful interview.

A huge thank you to Mr Salisbury for taking time to answer our questions with such interesting and informative answers.

Like Anne, I'm still waiting for my copy of the book which is on order as well. I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'Burton On Burton' so I'm eagerly anticipating the arrival of my copy of this book.

Thank you for your answers once again.

That was a great interview Karen and how fortunate we are to have him spend some time doing it considering his schedule! :claphands
I found it fascinating that that magnificent book was completed in the short time frame he described!

I wish him luck with his new script and book! woohoo

Wow. Thank you Karen for a wondeful interview. It was very nice. I enjoyed reading it. :thanks

It's so enlightening to listen to interviews with authors.
The deadline he had shocked me. He must have been really organized to be able to do that.

Also interesting to see that movie making is really a mulititude of parts. He has no idea how Johnny practiced slashing throats! I thought he might have known, but I suppose the day he was onset were different ones from the scene mentioned.

I am just now seeing this with all the Golden Globe news out there. Sorry to be late.

:snoopy :thanks to Mark Salisbury for taking the time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions. I really appreciate this.

Interesting that it really did not take that long to get the book together, as it is such a work of art.

:thanks Karen for getting this interview to us and again to Mark for the interview. Thank you so very much.

Awesome thanks Mr. Salisbury woohoo Anne r

Wow--thanks for bringing us this wonderful interview Karen! I, too, was surprised at the short time taken to write and have the book ready to go. It is nice to get the inside info. and I'm so glad he focused on the singing because that part was very interesting---along with the great pics/sketches.

Thank you Mr. Salisbury for taking time of out your busy schedule to answer our questions.. :)

-Donna

Thank you Karen for bringing us this wonderful interview.

And thank you so much to Mr. Salisbury to take the time and answer all the questions. It definitely is appreciated a lot.

My copy of the book just arrived yesterday and I'm determined to start reading very soon. :)

Thanks, Karen, for arranging this treat for us, and thank you to Mr. Salisbury and Titan Books, too. We're a lucky lot here at :jdr !
Since reading this, I have requested the Planet of the Apes book and the Corpse Bride books from my library---can't wait to see them. Except for the maddening deadlines, Mr. Salisbury's job sounds like a dream job to me!
Rose