Jane Espenson

Jane Espenson joined the writing staff of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the show’s third season, penning such memorable episodes as "Band Candy", "Earshot" and "Gingerbread". She has since gone on to become one of the series’ most popular writers and even won a Hugo Award for her contribution - with Drew Goddard - to the fan favourite episode, "Conversations With Dead People".

She has also been a consistent and dedicated contributor to the comic book adventures of the Scoobies, penning a half-dozen stories or more for Dark Horse Comics, and collaborating with comic art legends like Gene Colon and P. Craig Russell to boot. Her last effort for DHC were three stories in their Tales of the Vampires mini-series and there continue to be rumours that Jane’s days in the four-colour Buffyverse have yet to come to an end, even if the monthly series as we knew it has gone.

The following is an interview I conducted with Jane discussing her time on Buffy, her feelings on the end of the series, her comic book work and what she has been up to since leaving Sunnydale.

MIKE JOZIC: So, you know I have to ask, what did you think of the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Was it a satisfying end to the story in your mind?

JANE ESPENSON: I loved the concluding season of Buffy. I think we did a pretty good job of tying up loose ends and bringing the show to a satisfying ending. We had put Buffy through so much emotional trauma over the years, and we had shown her making so many wrong choices, I loved really exploring the effect that had on all her relationships. And I felt that her final "I’m not cookies yet" revelation was exactly right for the character. And the passing on of her power to Slayer-kind, to girl-kind was the perfect way to wrap up the legacy of that power.

JOZIC: Despite having died twice before, I think a lot of fans believed that Buffy would meet her true and fatal end at the conclusion of the series - a la the clues Joss planted over in his Dark Horse Comics mini-series, Fray. Considering how things turned out on the show, I wondered if that was the way it was originally going to end but changed gears somewhere during Season 7?

ESPENSON: Well, Joss really would be the guy to ask, as my own memory seems dim on this point. But I don’t think he ever seriously considered killing Buffy - especially if there were cryptic hints to that effect.

There was no other ending to the series independent of Joss’ invention of the mythology. The image of Sunnydale collapsing into the Hellmouth was always supposed to end the series and was already in place at least two full years before the series ended. Details about the specific origin of Slayer power were refined as we went along.

Joss loves to fulfill cryptic hints in an unexpected way, not a straightforward one.

JOZIC: Now that the series done, what do you miss the most about working on Buffy?

ESPENSON: I miss working with Joss and the other writers every day. It was a special workplace and we felt the merry weight of what we were creating.

JOZIC: Many of the writers, including yourself, have since contributed to the Tales of the Vampires mini-series from Dark Horse, featuring stories taking place in the Buffyverse, but told from the vampire’s point of view. Was it your experience writing other minis and one-shots for the Buffy comic books that led to your being called for the project?

ESPENSON: All of the Buffy writers were invited to submit stories to Tales of the Vampires whether they had done comic book work before or not. We’d become a bit of a Buffy comic rep company at that point.

JOZIC: How different is it doing the comic book work compared to the television scripts you normally do?

ESPENSON: I find the comic writing to be harder, because it’s so very visual and because the story always takes up so much more room than you think it will.

JOZIC: Did you find it difficult getting back into that Buffy vibe for the mini?

ESPENSON: I didn’t find it difficult at all to go back to that world. I think it’s like a musician in that if you go from playing in a jazz group to playing in a classical orchestra you don’t forget jazz, or even have to make some kid of adjustment to play it again. They’re just two different ways to do what your enjoy.

JOZIC: Can you tell me a little about the genesis for your first story in Tales of the Vampires?

ESPENSON: I guess that would be "Spot the Vampire"? It really was just a kind of a lark - a funny little idea that just came to me. I guess I was in a comic-poem kind of mood and thought I’d give it a try.

JOZIC: Now, Scott Morse illustrated "Spot the Vampire" - a great artist in his own right but someone I wouldn’t have pegged for a Buffy-related project. Was he someone you had selected to draw the story, or was he assigned to it by editor Scott Allie?

ESPENSON: Scott Allie found Scott Morse for me, and the choice could not have been better. I requested a splash page that looked like a New Yorker cover, and I got that and beyond. Fantastic.

I actually contacted Morse and bought some of the original art because I love it so much.

JOZIC: So, the work Scott did was based solely on your request for a New Yorker cover? There was no communication between the two of you?

ESPENSON: The communication between Scott Morse and me went entirely through the capable Scott Allie, who usually knows what I need from an artist far better than I know it myself. I’m sure the Scott-to-Scott communication was rich in content, but all I ever said myself was New Yorker.

JOZIC: Considering the kinds of stories you’ve told in the past, I’m curious why you chose to pull one out of left field and do a poem?

ESPENSON: I was tired. I wanted something small and light and fun and different. And I wanted something a little funny, too. Vampire stories can be dark, as "Father" and "Dust Bowl" turned out to be, and I felt maybe people would want a little leavening.

JOZIC: And what did you think of the artists assigned to your other stories, "Father" and "Dust Bowl"?

ESPENSON: I liked the artist for "Dust Bowl" a lot. The artist for "Father" was Jason Alexander, who did a great job. "Father" looks fantastic. Really lovely and dark...perfect.

JOZIC: Considering the centerpiece of Buffy was the emotional journey the characters took and the metaphorical situations they dealt with, how do you approach a Tales of the Vampires story?

ESPENSON: I don’t know how other writers go about it, but I just look for the interesting implications of the vampire world and then think about how they would affect people emotionally. Like, in "Father," I was just thinking about the practical issue of a father who doesn’t age and a son who does. And in "Dust Bowl" I was thinking about the practicalities of being a vampire without a sire to educate you - would you intuitively know about crosses and sunlight or not? Then I tried to put in characters to make the issues emotional.

JOZIC: Do you think you will have any more Buffy comic projects in the future, or is it too early to tell at this point?

ESPENSON: Oh, I hope I do. When I finished writing "Dust Bowl" it made me eager to do more. I hope I’ll have the chance again.

JOZIC: Would you ever consider writing a comic book that was not Buffy related? Possibly something of your own devising?

ESPENSON: I would certainly consider it, but I would have to have a perfect idea, and so far I haven’t had it. I hope inspiration will strike.

JOZIC: You write comic books on a semi-regular basis, but do you read them on any kind of a regular basis?

ESPENSON: While I was in Joss’ daily sphere of influence I read a lot. Lots of Alan Moore, especially. And Jeph Loeb’s Spider-Man comics. But now I find I’m out of the loop. I like having a friend like Joss put the best comics in my hand and say, "Here, you’ll like this." It’s harder without a guide.

JOZIC: You and a few other Buffy writers have made yourselves very accessible to the public and the fans at large through websites, con appearances, audio commentaries and interviews like this one. Do you see that as an essential part of your job, or do you just really enjoy the interaction with the people you’re actually writing to?

ESPENSON: I enjoy it. I think the job is just writing and anything on top of that is simply fun for us.

JOZIC: I was thrilled that when you left Buffy you were writing for one of my other favourite shows, Gilmore Girls. How did you move from one show to the other?

ESPENSON: Buffy was ending, so I obviously needed the next job. Amy Sherman-Palladino, the creator and show-runner of Gilmore, was a tremendous Buffy fan who knew my work. I was delighted to have an opportunity to move to another hour-long show at which humor was valued. It felt like a natural move and I was happy to make it.

JOZIC: It was interesting watching your first episode of Gilmore when it aired. While it very much felt like a Gilmore ep, after so many years in the Whedonverse, I wondered how much effort was expended to find the equally unique voices of Stars Hollow?

ESPENSON: I love getting the voices right. I always enjoyed writing spec scripts when I was a younger writer, because I liked trying on all the voices of a show. The voices here at Gilmore are very specific, and I was thrilled to give them a try. I hope I [did] all right!

JOZIC: Danny Strong also made the move to Gilmore Girls last season, appearing in the episode, "Die, Jerk". Is that just a happy coincidence that you both landed in the same place post-Buffy?

ESPENSON: I’m so happy that Danny has become a recurring cast member on Gilmore Girls. He was in at least two other episodes last season as Doyle, the student-editor of the Yale Daily News.

It’s not entirely a coincidence that he ended up at Gilmore; I mentioned him to Amy Sherman-Palladino early on as an actor we might want to consider. But it turned out she was already very familiar with his work and already liked him. In fact, she and Dan Palladino had worked with him years before on a sitcom. So I like to think that Danny would have found a home at Gilmore with or without me. His talent wins him more work than my mere enthusiasm could ever win for him.

JOZIC: What’s the attraction for you to characters like Jonathan and Andrew?

ESPENSON: I like comedic characters that live at the edges of a show. And I like bringing them toward the center and revealing more of their character. The closer that a character gets to the center, the closer they get to Buffy, the more complexity is revealed. I feel that even in real life, a lot of people see certain people in their lives as fringe characters, as people who don’t live lives as real and complex as their own. I personally enjoy those moments of reveal that show there’s a person there. I wish I had the power to do it in real life as well as in a script. The guy that’s overlooked by the beautiful girl has feelings just as deep as the leading man type that she accepts... but I’m not sure the beautiful girl ever really understands that.

JOZIC: Why did you only get two episodes over the course of the season? Was it because you were new to the show?

ESPENSON: Two episodes...is normal for a member of the Gilmore writing staff.

JOZIC: What’s the process for breaking stories like on Gilmore Girls? Is it similar to how you used to do it on Joss’ shows?

ESPENSON: Ooh. Good question. Buffy was the first hour-long on which I’ve been staffed, so I thought the Buffy way was the only way to break stories. I was surprised to find the process really different at Gilmore. The stories are broken in much greater detail at Gilmore. And the stories tend to change less during the breaking process. Obviously, these are related: it takes longer to break the story in so much detail, so there is less time to change it. I see the advantages in both ways of doing it. It’s simply a matter of the showrunners’ personal preference. I’m glad that I [was] exposed to both systems.

JOZIC: Why the jump from Gilmore to Tru? I was a bit surprised to see you do only one year of that show before moving on. Was it an awkward fit for you, or was it the development deal offered by FOX?

ESPENSON: I loved my experience at Gilmore Girls. Amy Sherman Palladino was extremely kind to me and I adored the staff. It is a system, however, that emphasizes using the writers heavily for story construction and less for writing of dialogue. I found that I missed the writing. And, yes, there is that 20th development deal.

JOZIC: Can you give us a rundown of what this development deal entails for you?

ESPENSON: I’m still finding out what the development deal entails for me. Money, which is lovely, but more importantly, a chance to come up with ideas for my own shows that 20th can then shop around to various networks. It’s fun but scary, because the stakes suddenly seem very high.

JOZIC: So, we’re hearing that Tru Calling is basically cancelled - removed from the schedule is the term, I believe. Can you confirm or deny this and is there any hope for fans of the show to see Eliza and crew back for a second season?

ESPENSON: I’m sure this has been widely reported by now. The series’ second season order has been cut back to six episodes. This essentially meant that we closed down immediately because we were already working on the story for episode nine when we got the word. So, six episodes have been filmed, but we don’t know if they will air, or perhaps be included in the Tru DVD set or what.

JOZIC: Your website says that you are also working on a Pilot that we may be seeing sometime this year. Any details you can divulge on that project, or is it still very hush-hush?

ESPENSON: The website is not precisely "mine" but it is run by a wonderful fan of mine, who keeps it updated with all the details of my career - I wouldn’t do nearly such a good job if it was up to me!

About the pilot, I’m not sure how much I’m supposed to say about it, but it is an idea that I took to 20th, which they liked. I developed it into a pitch, with their guidance, and I was able to pitch it to Gail Berman at Fox a few weeks ago. Apparently it went well, since I was told to begin writing an outline.

This is the first hoop of many that have to be jumped through before there is any hope of something hitting the airwaves, but it’s an adventure that I’m loving.

JOZIC: The Buffy writers seem to have scattered all over the television landscape working on a number of very good shows. Do you guys still keep in contact at all?

ESPENSON: Oh, absolutely. I talk to Drew Greenberg and Rebecca Kirshner and Doug Petrie all the time - Drew shares my guilty passion for some trashy television and we have to check in frequently to ask, "did you see that?!"

And I was lucky enough to get to visit Joss on the set of the Serenity movie a month or so ago - he and I correspond by e-mail fairly often.

JOZIC: Have you spoken with Scott Allie about doing any more comic book projects in the near future?

ESPENSON: I have. Scott has been very eager for Joss and me to work on new books that take the Buffy saga beyond the end of the show. And just in the last week, Joss and I have begun talking about starting the conceptual work on this. It’s early days, but I think this will happen.