It’s been a while since anything new in relation to THE BREED franchise has been made public. Starting a larger than life horror franchise on an indie budget is, well, it takes a lot of work! Still, I’m positive that Raymond Wade and Charles Barbin have the talent and integrity to bring their project to life. With that being said, THE BREED world is a complex world of creatures and artificats, a world that doesn’t always bode so well for the humans on Earth. As a way to keep readers and fans interested in THE BREED in the loop, and to clear the air on a few topics, here is an interview with the men behind the madness – Raymond Wade and Charles Barbin. In this interview they will explain the concepts behind the world of THE BREED, the films to be created within that world, and basically everything else you’ll need to know! Check it out!
Q: What IS the Breed?
Charles: The BREED is all of man’s dream, desires, fears and fantasies come to life. It is a collective of all that is outside the realm of what is real or explainable. The BREED is the Marvel Universe of the supernatural world. Vampires, werewolves, witches, zombies, fairies, trolls, dragons, banshees and shadow people are but a few that comprise the various ranks of our world.
Raymond: As Charles said, the Breed can be thought of as a dark version of the Marvel Universe. Each character in the Breed world has a very detailed back story about how they became what they are, and we could do a film, video game or comic book about each individual, but they are also part of larger groups, which we could also do films, video games and comic books about. In the Marvel Universe you have the Dr. Banner who was a scientist that was exposed to Gamma Rays. These gamma rays cause Dr. Banner to turn into a raging “Hulk” when he gets angry. The Hulk is also part of the Avengers. The Avengers are a group of “special people” who are recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. to defend the world against “super threats”. We have similar people who have gone through some sort of transformation and some of these individuals find others with either similar abilities or similar goals and they form the groups.
Q: There are many groups and people located on the Breed website, how do they all tie in together?
Charles: All BREED groups are watched over by their god through the dream world (Limbo) All groups either possess or have had in their possession various mystical, magical artifacts that they either attempt to keep possession of or they try to locate. All groups at least attempt to work together and maintain order.
Raymond: Their interaction can happen on many levels and for many reasons. Much like Ironman and Thor interacted in the Avengers. They can do battle with one another or they can help one another. They usually work together because through the years a Breed Council was formed and each group is represented by a council member, but as we all know some “rogue” people or groups may get a little power hungry and go against the others, but this is not always the case. Think of Mystique from the X-Men, she has the ability to change her appearance and can use that ability to “infiltrate or spy” on another individual or group without them knowing. That is also possible within the Breed ranks but is most often used to gain power or control over the human race in some way.
Q: Who is Kaja?
Charles: Kaja is the BREED God, he sacrificed himself to save his BREED and now resides in and rules over Limbo, the world of dreams.
Raymond: Nothing more I can add until his story is released other than you will have to keep updated to see how he develops and interacts with the rest of the Breed.
Q: How would a person know that they are Breed?
Charles: Being BREED in most instances is a life choice, one would know if they so choose to be BREED. This world is laced with a series of beliefs or practices that seem to have been forgotten or otherwise overlooked throughout the years. Even as dark as this new world may appear on the surface it possesses a certain beauty and love for life and all that exist that few seem to grasp these days.
Raymond: There are the few rare occasions where a person may engage in an activity that makes them Breed and they are unaware of the effects it causes, but once they become Breed they are usually sought out by already existing Breed. The old Breed may seek out the new member to educate and recruit the new member, or they may desire to combat the new member in order to gain power. Kind of like Highlander.
Q: How would a person know that someone else is Breed?
Charles: Anyone can be BREED, any sex age race religion or creed. Again, I stress that being BREED can be a life choice, so a human may never know who or for that matter what is BREED.
Raymond: Some Breed may have an ability to “sense” other Breed. They may sense them before the new member is transformed or their ability may be limited to only sensing the person after they have become Breed. Once again, kind of like Highlander.
Q: How did you and when did you come up with the Breed?
Charles: The idea came to me years ago while I was still in high school, it was supposed to be a more elaborate, more entertaining version of D&D which was still quite popular at the time. I wanted to come up with a game that was more physical and possible even more cerebral than just sitting in your friends basement having a self appointed Dungeon Master who could cast you into an abyss if he or she felt the desire to. I wanted the BREED to be played in real time like a town wide treasure hunt, in search of artifacts or weapons that would be hidden in random locations. An individual or group would have to solve a series of puzzles or tasks to WIN their prize.
Raymond: Charles came up with it and shared his idea with me back in high-school around 1987. He knew I was very active in things like Dungeons & Dragons so I got to provide some input on that level.
Q: What are these Breed artifacts that are located on the website and how do they tie into the Breed world?
Charles: The artifacts are objects or weapons from any of the various groups within the BREED that can be obtained through game play. Just think of Warehouse 13 and go from there. The more artifacts that any individual or group possess makes them a stronger opponent in the game.
Q: I’ve seen that the Breed is presenting a series of films with Feeding on Fear being the first in the series. What other films will be in the Breed and can you tell us a little about each film?
Charles: Well let’s see, we have the Midnight Carnival, The Wicked, The BROOD, The Black Sheep, The wolf Pack, Back from the Shadows and we are working on others. As far as telling you about any of them, HELL NO lol we will be posting film and group facts on the site as they are finalized. If anyone ever wants or needs to get up to speed on anything that is going on within the BREED world they are just going to have to log on…
Raymond: Not only do we have several films in development, but we are also developing comic books and video games that will either go further into the groups or individuals or they may introduce new individuals or groups. It’s an ever changing and growing world, so we could keep this going for the next 20 years or more. But as Charles said, you’ll have to look over the website extensively and keep checking back from time to time for new stories and updates.
Q: I see that the Breed has talent cast for Feeding on Fear, so talk about the cast?
Charles: The cast I leave up to my good friend and business partner Ray Wade. Ray handles all that side of things and I fully trust his judgment.
Raymond: Charles gives me a description of the individuals we need, and he may also give me images from the internet or concept drawings to show me what a character may look like. I then go through and find established talent that I think not only looks like the characters, but also talent that I think will be able to easily portray the role. It’s almost like the characters actually exist and can easily be found within the acting community. I have built a large network of talent thanks to facebook and IMDB so it’s easy to find and contact the right people. Sometimes there is only one person who fits the role, while other times there is a selection of people to choose from that would all be ideal, that is where auditions come in.
Q: Are any other Breed films cast?
Charles: We have prospects in mind for future films, yes, but again I’m not saying a word. We need to make sure that everyone is signed onto whatever project that they will be working on before we will release any information to the public. I will say this much, there are certain members of the SyFy family that have shown serious interest in one of the BREED projects. There are others that we have been in contact with that have shown or expressed interest as well.
Raymond: Because of the large network of talent that I have connected with, and the large selection of talent available through IMDB, we do have certain individuals we feel will be ideal people to fill the roles, we just may not have contacted them with the details yet. I have mentioned the possibility to certain people and they have said they may be interested . . . we just haven’t discussed details or made offers yet because we may not be far enough into the project’s development to start “officially” casting those future projects yet. We will attempt to cast talent from previous films in the Breed series as many of these characters are immortal. Although they are immortal, they may change identities and professions to keep the humans ignorant to their existence.
Q: The Breed website has a fair amount of merchandise listed, but very little available. Can you talk about the merchandise?
Charles: We are in the process of finalizing exactly what we will be producing for purchase and when everything will be released. This again is something that my partner needs to address.
Raymond: We are in talks with many different companies about making merchandise for us but we haven’t finalized anything yet. We are looking at doing energy drinks, action figures, trading cards, collectible weapon replicas, jewelry, clothing, and perfumes and colognes . . . we plan to have some merchandise available for every type of demographic. That is one of the key factors of the Breed, no matter your age, sex, financial status, profession or way of life; we have something that will appeal to everyone from sophisticated business men, to punk rocking teens, from elegant women to computer geeks.
Q: What is the current status of the Breed franchise?
Charles: LOL I have to say that it is in Limbo…
Raymond: Lol . . . Limbo is a good way to describe it. We have so many things that are in discussion or in development and we have lots of meetings lined up very soon that it is hard to say where things are at. We have the majority of our first film cast and we have lots of details laid out, but meeting the right person could change the entire plan. For instance, when we started developing the “Feeding on Fear” film, we were going at it with the idea that we might have to do it with an indie-film budget; however, some things are in the works that might make it possible to do it with a major budget. Same goes with the merchandise. We are trying to plan everything in two ways; indie, and major. If the major opportunities fall through, we can continue with our indie plans, if the major stuff pans out, then we are also ready with bigger plans. It’s all a matter of funding and investor backing. The more we get, the bigger it will be and the more that will be available, but we are planning all possible scenarios.
Q: Where can we learn more about the Breed?
Charles: Log onto the website as frequently as possible, you never know what will be added. We both have been busy with our home lives and school so production has paid the toll. We get back into business and get things done when possible, it may have some slow moments, but we have grand expectations for our future.
Raymond: You can also find us on several facebook pages. We have the Breed facebook page which gives a good overview of things, but we also have facebook pages for each individual project. There are either tied into the website or tied into the Breed facebook page. But I’ll pass on some links to get you started.
https://breed.sytes.net or https://the-breed.com
https://facebook.com/kaja.lives
https://www.facebook.com/FeedingOnFear
https://www.facebook.com/TheBreed.MidnightCarnival
