Award winning director Braden Brickner is going into another round of Storyhive with hit web comic WOLF HANDS. The decidedly indie filmmaker behind There are Strange Things Done in the Midnight Sun and The Shooting of Dan McGrew competed in the previous series with his devoted crew on SWAGGER, a series documenting the self destructive behaviour of a fringe film producer.

Braden kindly put aside a few minutes of his precious time to answer some questions about his upcoming adaptation of the hit web comic.

Caotica: When you look down at your hands, what do you see?

Braden Brickner: My hands, they are holding a twenty-sided die. It’s Monday night and I’m playing Dungeons & Dragons.

C: Excellent pick! Now what made you want to produce Wolf Hands?

BB: (I’ve wanted to) ever since I saw Nick Johnson’s awesome artwork while walking down a hallway in ACAD, and working with him on some concept illustrations for one of my previous films, The Shooting of Dan McGrew.

I’ve been a fan of Wolf Hands, the book, since he and Justin Heggs released it a few years ago, and thought as a film it’d be a great opportunity to emulate some of my favourite filmmakers: Peter Jackson and Sam Raimi.

C: Nick Johnson was a student at ACAD at the same time as you? How did you meet?

BB: Nick was a student at ACAD around the same time I was a student at SAIT. I had graduated and just started development on The Shooting of Dan McGrew and saw an assignment of his hanging on a wall at ACAD. Somehow I got a hold of him, we worked on some concept art together, then I became a fan of his new (at-the-time) comic book: Wolf Hands.

C: What’s challenges do you expect in making the film?

BB: (The) biggest challenge I’ve found with this adaptation so far is fitting what I want to showcase within the budget and run-time. I wanna show off tons of crazy effects made by my insanely talented friends.

C: I mean, how do you expect you’ll make the wolf hands?

BB: That’d be a question for Jenni MacDonald, our talented make-up artist! She’s the expert, I just ask for crazy things and pray she can deliver!

C: Then what is the craziest effect you’re hoping to fit in the film?

BB: Having Vaughn use a cyborg’s spinal cord/electrical conduit as an Indiana Jones bullwhip, then use it to pull another enemy’s arm off.

CYou say in your profile you love to tell stories about home (Whitehorse, the Yukon). Do you consider Wolf Hands to be a departure? 

BB: Wolf Hands is definitely a departure in terms of setting and genre. But thematically, it’s about growing up, changing, and how we adapt to new circumstances, all of which I’ve featured in my other movies. I think every one of my previous projects has given me more and more confidence in my ability as a filmmaker.

C: Wolf Hands, as a comic series, is a now entering it’s third series. What are you hoping to add onto this world with the film? 

BB: I wanna add another level of texture to the Wolf Hands mythos. My main goal is to get more people into the source material, hopefully the film and it’s craziness will attract more to the book!

I hope they’re surprised with the amount of comedy. Having such funny people like Shane, Sarah, and Nick breathing life into an already hilarious book will be such a treat to see.

C: Can you elaborate on that, “another level of texture”?

BB: I definitely want to stick to the lore that’s been set out in the book. So yeah, bringing it to life, giving audiences something they feel like they can smell and taste, but sticking close to the source material.

C: Who in the cast is closest to their character then? 

BB: Definitely Darryl. He’s a fellow filmmaker and ardent fan of the Edmonton Oilers. He plays an Oilers jersey-wearing Frankencrime monster named Darryl.

C: Without giving anything away, what’s your favourite line?

BB: When our sinister foe, Professor Orchid (played by Nick Haywood), greets our hero,

“Vaughn Miller, I’ve been howling to meet you…”

C: How you spend your time, when you’re not filmmaking?

BB: Other than watching movies whenever I find the time, you can find me at comic book sales searching for old Doom Patrol issues, playing Jak 2 on PS2 over and over, and working at my aunt and uncle’s wide-format print shop.

C: May as well get a plug-in, what’s the name of that wide-print format shop?

BB: YNOT Digital.

C: And how about a plug for your favourite Storyhive project.

BB: I’m really pumped about my good friend David Hiatt’s project called “Psy-borgs”. In my opinion, the best video of all Storyhive projects ever conceived ever. It would be a blast to see it funded and made!

C: What will the audience be thinking about in the car as they drive home afterwards?

BB: I hope they’re talking about the supremely corny hockey reference we make after one of the bad guys gets beheaded.

WH Storyboard 1

You can vote every day for Wolf Hands HERE on their Storyhive page. We urge you to do so.

In the meantime, you can find more Wolf Hands film info at:

And don’t forget the original comic!