Sometimes you have the absolute pleasure of being introduced to someone who has such incredible views and opens your mind. And this month, that is Tony Weaver Jr, an award-winning creator, activist, philanthropist and educator. Weaver is the founder and CEO of Weird Enough Productions, a 100% POC creator collective production company that celebrates and tells stories that uplift underrepresented voices and empower new generations. He took the time to chat about his company, goals and his recently released WEBTOON series, The UnCommons. Find out what he had to share!
If you haven’t had the chance to read The UnCommons, get to it! The series updates every Thursday and can be read here!
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Tony Weaver Jr.
Julia Roth: It is such a pleasure to chat with you. Let’s dive in with a bit of background on Weird Productions. How did it all start?
Tony Weaver Jr.: Weird Enough Productions is a project that I started while I was a junior in college with the idea that diverse stories could be used to change the world. As a person that had always found solace and comfort in stories featuring characters even when they didn’t look like me, I thought that there was a unique opportunity to use diverse representation as a way to make the world a better place, and that’s why Weird Enough started.
With $500 that I got from a pitch competition as a junior, I was able to launch this enterprise that is now impacting millions of young people with a worldwide team of artists, technologists, and people really passionate about helping young people understand that as long as they pursue their personal truth, they’re never too weird, they’re just weird enough.
JR: What were your goals when you set out?
TW: I think we just wanted to tell stories. At the time, I hadn’t developed the confidence required to be a mangaka or comic writer. We were doing vines, short films, web series, and things of that nature, but the base goal was always that we wanted to create stories that got people hyped about being themselves. Stories where, when people were done watching them, when people were done consuming them, there would be this feeling of hope and positivity around who they were. The goal has always been to tell stories that uplift people. And not in that after-school special type of way, but in a way that really delves into the roots of core problems that people deal with to help them come out victorious on the other side.
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JR: Did you ever expect to find yourself in such an influential position?
TW: I don’t have enough of an ego to say that I expected things to look the way that they do right now in terms of my influencing people. I was always confident that people would like my stories and hopeful that people would give me a chance. I think very often, Black writers don’t get the chance to be prolific in ways that other people get to. When you think of award-winning writers, people that are able to sum up the human condition with the pen, very often, Black people aren’t included in that conversation because we struggle so much to get our humanity recognized in general.
That’s not just in the writing space– it’s in the influencer space, it’s in the publishing industry, it’s in film and TV, voice acting, everything. It’s such an uphill battle. I think that that caused a lot of doubt in me when we were just starting out, so it’s really exciting to see how we’ve overcome some of those barriers. Not all, but some.
JR: What were your thoughts when Rivet and Funko Pop included you in their Pops! With a Purpose campaign?
TW: I was so excited to get to work with Funko. Fun fact- I have over 500 Funko Pop figures! I’m a huge Funko fan. I think that what they’ve been able to do as an organization has just been really cool. Because when I think about Weird Enough, I want us to tell stories that are able to exist in this larger universe. That’s what gets me so excited about being able to work with WEBTOON, and Funko was another opportunity to do that.
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JR: What are Weird Productions’ future projects?
TW: I think we’re full speed ahead on The UnCommons. This partnership that we’ve set up with WEBTOON is one that I’m really excited about. Our big focus is just getting people to love the story and fall in love with the characters. We have a lot of ideas for other things that are rooted in the world of The UnCommons, but the only way that any of that becomes feasible is that people go get invested in the story in the universe right now!
JR: What was your drive behind creating The UnCommons? Where did you draw your inspiration from?
TW: I thought about this general feeling of doubt that a lot of people have during pivotal moments in their lives. I think there’s always a moment when we are on the cusp of really big change. Or something really huge is about to happen, and even though you should be excited about it, you wind up really doubtful. Our main character Iris, I kind of wrote Iris, at the beginning of that journey.
She has this vision of this incoming calamity, and at this catalytic moment, she has to do something about it. In that moment where you have to act, there’s doubt that appears, and I wanted to create a story that would help people fight through their doubts and help people find community. I drew inspiration from a lot of the shonen series that were fundamental and transformational for me.
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JR: What has it been like bringing the story to WEBTOON’s platform?
TW: It’s been so great to work with WEBTOON. I think they just have this expansive reach that people don’t talk about enough. As a storyteller, I think that the scrolling vertical comic format is just really ripe new ground for things that, frankly, you can’t do on the page. Being on WEBTOON allows you to get this weekly engagement as you’re talking to your readers. It also allows you to hear directly from them in ways that you can’t in traditional publishing. I think WEBTOON is just really the future of storytelling. So, as someone that’s trying to write progressive stories and trying to move the industry forward, being able to work with them not just as a creator but as a partner has been really fun.
JR: We are just a few episodes in, but what are you most excited for people to experience?
TW: I think I’m excited for people to watch the team come together. Very often, when we have teams of characters, either we start, and they’re already together. Or it’s going to take us about 100 episodes before they come in. One thing about The UnCommons is that it’s certainly crafted in a way that all of the main members of the group were on a journey of their own before they bumped into each other. Rather than everyone becoming a background character in somebody else’s plot, what we’ve really put together is something where these characters are growing together and walking along their journey together. I feel like that’s a message that’s helpful for people today.
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JR: Was there anything that needed to be adjusted to take into account WEBTOON’s scrolling format of storytelling?
TW: I wouldn’t say that something needed to be adjusted. I think if anything needed to be adjusted, it was my point of view as a writer that those are limitations that I’m not accustomed to. On a scrolling page, for example, you can’t scroll from the bottom of a structure to the top of a structure. So if you want to showcase something like that, there’s a certain type of perspective you have to take on. So it was really fun diving into this different format. I think it allows for very unique framing that makes fight sequences and things like that a lot more compelling.
JR: What is your creative process like? Does it differ from project to project?
TW: I write a lot, and I think that my goal is kind of giving the project what it needs. What’s fun about The UnCommons is that we have this expansive team of artists that are based around the world. The thing that I love most about that process is getting to work with them coming in with a script, and saying, “Hey, how do you feel about this? How do you feel about this?”
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We design a character that we think is going to be like a one-off character, and then we look at him, and we’re like, “Look at this cinnamon roll! We need this person in more places.” And suddenly, that character becomes a regular just because we liked the design so much. It’s a certain level of fluidity that comes with working with a team. Every day I’m grateful that I get to work with such an amazing team.
JR: Will we be seeing additional web series from you? If so, what genre would you want to explore?
TW: I’m full speed ahead on The UnCommons right now. I’m really confident about what the story brings to the world. I think that anyone that’s a fan of action, adventure, shonen, or someone that needs a confidence boost should read it. You’re certainly going to be seeing a lot more writing from me. But The UnCommons is going to be the base for a lot of projects I’m working on.
JR: What WEBTOON series are on your must-read list?
TW: I have to say City of Blank. I really enjoy City of Blank. I would also say Let’s Play, but I feel like everyone reads that. Lastly, I think Ordeal is pretty cool. But the one that you really really gotta read is The UnCommons! That’s what you gotta do; read The UnCommons!!
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Who I Am: A nerd by the strictest definition. I enjoy diving straight into my favorite fandoms without a care in the world. I live on video/board games, fantasy movies and TV, and all things geeky.
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