“If you’re not willing to compromise, you might not have the same opportunities. But always advocate for your vision and seek out the people who say, ‘I see what you’re doing, and I want to work with you.’”
Brandon T. Snider is an actor and author working in licensed publishing. He is originally from Ohio, earned a B.A. in theatre from Coastal Carolina University, and has lived in Astoria/Queens, N.Y., for 25 years. His work includes the award-winning Dark Knight Manual; Avengers: Infinity War: The Cosmic Quest series; and the Rube Goldberg and his Amazing Machines series. Snider has also written books featuring characters from Adventure Time and Regular Show, Marvel’s Spider-Man and Black Panther, and the Justice League, in addition to many character-themed Mad Libs games.
Interview
Transcript
Brandon Snider
There we go.
Sara Sabota
First, can you tell me your name and spell it please? And your title, your job title?
Brandon Snider
Yes, my name is Brandon. Schneider. B. R. A. N. D.O. N, middle initial T. S. N. I as in iris, D. E.R. And I am an author and actor.
Sara Sabota
Okay. I’m sorry about my dog in the background.
Brandon Snider
By the way. Is that a beagle?
Sara Sabota
No, she’s a foxhound. She’s like a beagle Dulux.
Brandon Snider
Got it. My partner has a history with beagles and also believes that I’m partially reincarnated his childhood, Beagle.
Sara Sabota
I can imagine. All right, so um, where are you currently working from?
Brandon Snider
I’m currently working in Astoria, Queens in New York City.
Sara Sabota
Okay, and how long have you been working there?
Brandon Snider
I have been in Queens for 25 years. I moved here in September of 1999.
Sara Sabota
Okay, okay. How did you end up in this field? And how did you hear about it?
Brandon Snider
I ended up being an author, as a. So, I moved here to be an actor. I have a degree in theater. And you know, moving to the city and wanting to be an actor is something that a lot of people do. And creatively, I had all this energy, but I was relying on opportunities to come to me, you know, via auditions and things, and it just wasn’t, you know, wasn’t, I thought people would be waiting too, you know, for me, I’m here. But that really wasn’t the case. So, writing became this thing that I had always loved and always done privately for myself, that I was like, maybe it’s time to work that muscle because I have all this creative energy. And so, I started doing sketch comedy. And then that dovetailed into one-act plays. And then the one-act plays that I produced, were seen by people in publishing. And that’s how I kind of segway into the publishing world.
Sara Sabota
Okay, okay. Well, you kind of answered this, but what background did you have that helped you land that role?
Brandon Snider
I think of my acting background, as really the thing that that did it. For me, you know, getting into a character’s head through, you know, script assessment and all that stuff. Similarly, with writing, right, you know, you have to know the motivation, and you have to know what you’re doing. And, so I had this, like, toolbox as an actor that I was like, let me like, apply that to writing. And it worked out well.
Sara Sabota
Yeah, yeah. this might be hard to do. But can you walk us through a typical workday? What does your work process look like? And what is expected of you on a daily basis?
Brandon Snider
So, a typical workday for me workdays for me tends to vary; it depends on the project, and it depends on what I’m working on. You know, if I’m at the beginning of a process, you know, idea generation can be sort of gelatinous. But once I, once I am started into an actual process, once I, you know, I’ve submitted an outline to an editor for approval once I’m in the writing process. I tend to say this: my process is the same every time, but I never I never have like the muscle memory for it. So, I’m, oh, you know, hit that place where, you know, it starts off and I’m like, I’m loving it. Everything’s great.
Brandon Snider
This is great. And then I’ll start to go okay, well, let me just let me question this. And then I’ll get to Oh, my God, everything I’ve written is horrible. I’m a hack, like, and I will forget that that’s how it is every time. And so, all I have to I don’t really have to just like wait it out a day. You know, I can go to bed being like, this is disgusting. And then if I just wake up the next day, like, oh, actually, it’s fine. Now it’s fine. I just, I know how to fix what I thought I needed, you know.
Brandon Snider
For me, it’s about sort of setting. When I have a deadline, I’m working towards something, so I know what the structure needs to be to hit that deadline. So, waking up and knowing that I’m going to be working on chapter X and that I need to finish chapter X, but also, I am a tinkerer. So, if I start to, you know, in chapter five, something new emerges, then I need to make sure that let me go back to chapter one, and layer in some things so that chapter five has the payoff that we want.
Brandon Snider
So, I’m always tinkering, I’m tinkering in the evening. And it’s been hard for me sometimes to set an actual daily schedule. But again, when I have a deadline, it makes it a lot easier because I just work my way backward. So, if I want… if the deadline on this Monday, I need to know that the previous Monday is when I need to be done writing. And then I take that week to, you know, Tinker, and finish and, do whatever. But yeah, giving myself space, but not too much space.
Sara Sabota
Yeah. What was the defining moment in your creative journey? Was there a particular project that made a significant impact on you, or something you produced that really showcased your creativity?
Brandon Snider
Oh, that’s a good one. I’ve had a few over the years, you know, having written characters, that I grew up reading their adventures, that has always had a really nostalgic… that has always been really powerful for me to be able to say, these characters that I loved and grew up with that I dreamed of writing, I’m actually writing, and but you know, but there’s also a lot of work involved. So, I can’t sort of simmer in nostalgia for too long because there’s work. And I’m also not trying to recreate my childhood. But I think a lot of times, especially with superheroes, and the kinds of characters that I’ve written, that for some people they like, just want to get back to when they were a kid and tell the stories, but I’m like, No, it’s 2024. We need to do as new things as we can. For you know, with these characters.
Brandon Snider
I will say that a powerful moment that I had in my career was the first time that I had to say no to a project. Because, a lot of times, especially in the type of work that I do, which in some cases, is called licensed publishing. So, its characters are being licensed out for, you know, by bigger companies for different types of work. And years ago, and not a ton of people did licensed publishing. So, there’s, there’s there, when somebody needs something done quickly, you know, they might go to another editor. And that’s how I got a lot of jobs. Go to Brandon Snyder, he can do it, he’ll do it in three days, whatever. And I’ve taken jobs that I was overwhelmed. And I’m like, I’ll just say yes. But sometimes, the first time that something came to me that I needed that money so badly, but when I looked at the specs of the job, I was like, this is not doable. I will lose my mind trying to write this.
Sara Sabota
Wow.
Brandon Snider
It was, um, it was Ripley’s Believe It or Not book. And it was about… I had to, like, work in an outdated database and try to take things and make them sound fun and fun. And it was just like all of the specs, like the money was fine. But all these other specs, I was like, I’m going to lose my mind. And I didn’t have support from the licensor or the publishing company the way that I needed it. And I was like, but I need that money so bad right now. And I started to work, and I and I went to my editor, and I said, you know, this actually, is not the way that you explained it to me. It was misrepresented.
Brandon Snider
And in order for it to work for me, it would need to be this and this. This will need to be fixed at your end. And the editor was like, so are you going to stay or what? And I was like I am not, thank you so much. I’m going to step out. And I hadn’t signed the contract yet, it was I’d sign an NDA, and I was just sort of like if she was sort of gave me all this stuff and was like, see, you know, check it out. And I had started to work, and it was so freeing. Cuz, I recognize my value as a writer and my time is valuable.
Brandon Snider
So, like, so any, you know, and since then, I have turned down things that were sort of not what they needed to be. But the second part of that was very empowering was when somebody came to me with something that I liked and wanted to do, but I couldn’t because of time and energy to be able to give that editor another writer to put people who needed that opportunity in front of them. And to, you know, to lift them up. That was another part of that moment that I realized the power that I had, and to watch authors that I know go and run with the ball, and then like, it’s just like, amazing.
Brandon Snider
And so, fulfilling was, so I know what it means for people to have been like, oh, you don’t call Brandon Snider for that job. And then for me to do it and be like, oh my God, now I’m working for this company, and I’m going to add more for them. So, for me to be able to be like, you know, sometimes with timing and with deadlines, and things are so tight that people don’t have time to look. So, they’ll be like, right, you know, if I have to say, no, I love to be like, I cannot do this. However, I’ve got the perfect person. This is what they’ve done. This is who they are. This is their contact information. And like, there’s no, in some ways, there’s no other choice but to go with that person.
Sara Sabota
Right. Right. Right.
Brandon Snider
Because not just because the person is perfect, but because of all these other factors. And so that was a time that I recognized. There was, like, a turning point. And, you know, as far as work, turning points, I would say working with like Marvel Studios, okay, working with Warner Brothers. These giant corporations and find it, you know, their cultural institutions, so be allowed to see secret things and read secret things. And I’m saying we trust you to, you know, interpret our beloved and highly guarded characters.
Brandon Snider
It’s very exciting and flattering, you know, getting to go to Marvel Studios. Getting to go to Warner Brothers, like, people fly your places. And I’m like, yeah, like, all of a sudden, like, you know, a Beverly hillbilly where I’m like, oh my God, I can’t believe it I’m out here in Hollywood. But it’s like, you know, and then at the end of the day, it’s work. So, you can’t sit in that. You can’t sit in the fanboy ness of it; you have to get to work. So, you have that moment of recognition, and then you turn around and you dive in.
Brandon Snider
Bust yourself. Yeah, I’m going to have to ask your forgiveness because my computer is going to die if I don’t plug it in. So, I’m really sorry. Just really quick.
Sara Sabota
Okay. Thank you. Okay, great. Um, okay, so next question. Now I have lost. Okay, we go, here we go, here we go. Okay. The next question is: what kind of skills do you have that a person who wants to go into this field should have if they’re interested?
Brandon Snider
You should be able, you should. You need to be able to roll with the punches.
Sara Sabota
Okay. Yeah.
Brandon Snider
Especially if you’re writing other people’s characters that you don’t own, okay. They’re closely guarded. And there’s a lot of money riding on them. So, you might want to take a risk and do something that’s a little bit outside the box and just know that somebody may be like, absolutely not. So, you know, there are things that you have to sort of be able to know what risks you’re taking and then advocate for them. And sometimes, you know, if you get to a certain point in your career, well, where you are, you know, a name, they’re going to be more receptive to letting you do something with Batman that other people haven’t done. But, you know, but if you are a younger writer, if you’re somebody who, you know, you’re just a hustler, they’re not going to say let you, you know, blow up the world.
Sara Sabota
Yeah, yeah.
Brandon Snider
But I also think, you know, not taking things personally. Okay. You will get told no. And one of the things that I used to think as a younger writer, when I, when I, when I, when I, when I would read stuff about comic book writers, I thought that, you know, it was like, they would pitch their ideas and it was all beautiful. And now that I’m in that world, and I commune with my writer, brethren, about certain things, you recognize that sometimes even big-name people have to deal with a lot of bullshit. Like, people who move units, and I think too, in this day and age, sometimes you think like, oh, well, this person is so big. Yeah, they don’t have to worry. No, big people are worrying. When you see actors doing commercials for Candy Crush, it’s not because they love it.
Sara Sabota
We talk about that all the time. Yeah.
Brandon Snider
Writers with big names are using Kickstarter because it’s just easier. And it’s, you know, working with giant companies is more difficult for them. And, you know, I ultimately, what I think is, you know, if you have a story to tell, you’ll find a way to do it. And it sounds so open-ended. Kind of, you know, be kind to yourself and be patient with yourself. And the business. Because there are a lot of beautiful success stories of people who have put together stories that took them a long time to craft with love. And sometimes they don’t get made, and sometimes they do.
Brandon Snider
And you know, who’s to say how it all shakes out in the end? You know, as far as you know, some people, um, how do I put this: you have to think of things practically; you can’t; you have to sit in a very state of like equilibrium, where you are understanding of the business of these things, and then also understanding of the creative. In the creative space, you have to advocate for your vision but know that you may have to compromise and what that compromise might mean to you. Because if it’s something that you’re willing to compromise, then you might not have that opportunity with that company. But it doesn’t mean that there isn’t somebody else that sees that vision and says: See what you’re doing. And I want to work with you.
Sara Sabota
Yeah, that makes sense. Okay. Okay.
Brandon Snider
And also, yeah, to go back to taking things personally, you know, um, because writers are so invested in the stories that they tell and put so much of themselves in their stories, it can feel very dismissive to have somebody say, No, it didn’t do this. It didn’t do that. I didn’t feel this because you’re like, that’s me. You’re saying it to me. But it’s important to know that, you know, people in business are looking for different things. And it’s not a reflection on you as a person. It is also just this, this business.
Sara Sabota
Yeah, okay, good. Um. Are there any organizations, programs, or events in South Carolina that you recommend for expiring creatives? I know you haven’t been here in a while.
Brandon Snider
I don’t know of any in South Carolina. Um. Yeah, I don’t know any in South Carolina.
Sara Sabota
Okay. Any national ones that you would recommend?
Brandon Snider
I mean. I think there are, I guess it really sort of just depends on, I think it just depends on where you are in your career. You know, for things like, like comics, you know, at Comic-Con people mingle, and they, you know, there’s a creator community. So, you know, places like Comic-Con, you can sort of find your people. As far as writing goes, you know, I always say like, it cobbled together a writer’s group. It’s hard sometimes because people will be at different levels. Right. So, like, you know, ideally, you want to be surrounded by people who are better than you, who can challenge you, and who are not just there to be heard, you know.
Brandon Snider
Sometimes, with writer’s groups, people are just trying to be heard, they don’t want critique, or they don’t want criticism. You know, they just want whatever. But at the same time, you know, being a part of those communities can be comforting. So, yeah. Hit up people that you like, and say, you know, I’ve had, I have had people who I’ve sent my work to who are not necessarily writers, who I’m like, I trust her.
Brandon Snider
I like the way that you think, and I like the things that you are into, you know, and I think that I would love to hear what you have to say. I have a friend of mine, who used to be a casting director. Back in the day, she cast SVU [Special Victims Unit], and she was cast House, and now she’s a big fan of, like, my Rube Goldberg series. And so, like, she also works with LGBTQ, like at a camp and I want to say, North Carolina. So, she just likes there’s certain things that I go to her and I’m like, can you? Would you just read this? And let me know if this sort of hits all the marks. I guess or of these types of stories. So, things like that, I think, are also, you know, really valid.
Sara Sabota
Yeah. Okay. Okay. That is the last of our questions.
Brandon Snider
So, let me also say that when you put all this together, I know that I ramble and whatever. But if you put this together, and if you send it to me, I can also like… I prefer. I’m a writer, as opposed to, like, I can do this. But like, when I’m like writing, I can be like, let me craft-Not craft it to where it doesn’t sound like me. But just to make it sound like it to fill it in. So, if you, when this is over, and you have something written, please feel free to write and send it to me because I’m happy to fill in any gaps or give a little bit of elaboration. You know that I can sit with and be like; let me give this a bit a little bit more.
Sara Sabota
Yeah, no, I’d be happy to do that. It’ll be in the next week, probably.
Brandon Snider
Okay, cool.
Sara Sabota
Okay, good. Good. And we need to stay in touch as writers, I think too.
Brandon Snider
Absolutely, I would love to, like, keep in touch as writers. Because, like, what you just told me about your story is like, really amazing. And I think that it’s like, yeah, I would love to write or read that. I would love to get down to see it, so I was communicating with Easton Selby about us, the collective, coming down. But now Kevin Kane is on Law and Order, SVU [Special Victims Unit]. So, I’m like, I don’t know that he’ll ever have time to do that. But I’m like, I’m going to see him in a couple of weeks. And so, I’m going to be like, What? What can we do? Like, because yeah, I would love to get down to college, like, Coastal.
Sara Sabota
That’d be amazing. That’d be really great.
Brandon Snider
I really had a great time coming in the fall last year, so thank you again. Yeah, like it just to see how much it’s how much it’s grown is amazing.
Brandon Snider
And to meet current students, I always think that’s so fun. Able to do that.
Brandon Snider
Yeah. I mean, even now, like some of the students that we worked with, when we were there back in, like, 2017. Have gone on and done things that I’m like, Oh, my God, like Wes Williams. He’ll post things on Instagram, where he will be, like hanging out with somebody who I know; it was part of the Broadway game. And I’m like, look at him. Moving and shaken, like, it’s just, it’s really, it’s really wonderful.
Sara Sabota
That’s very cool. Okay, good. Well…
Brandon Snider
A couple of them do actually reach out to me sometimes just for little bits of guidance.
Sara Sabota
Good.
Brandon Snider
That’s just like, and I’m just, like, flattered that there’ll be like, hey, can you, like, T.J. little recently got in touch with me and was like looking for a writer’s programmer, writers class. And there’s a guy that does screenwriting, and you know, just like little things like that, where I’m like, oh, I’d become an elder.
Sara Sabota
And that’s how the network is supposed to work. So, that’s awesome. Good. Okay. Well, we’ll be in touch. You’re leaving Wednesday for Ohio? Right. Oh, you froze a little bit.
Brandon Snider
Yeah. One day.
Sara Sabota
Okay. Okay.
Brandon Snider
Leaving Wednesday morning and then back on Monday.
Sara Sabota
Okay. Well, I’ll be in touch sometime. And I hope you have a great trip.
Brandon Snider
Awesome. Thank you very much. And yeah, I look forward to hearing from you.
Sara Sabota
That sounds great. Thank you, Brandon.
Brandon Snider
Bye.
Sara Sabota
Okay, talk soon. Bye.