If the Angel original series The Wayfinders seems like wish fulfillment, that’s because it kind of is. The fantasy series puts ordinary teenagers in an extraordinary world, just like so many great movies, shows and even books from the 1980s and 1990s. But how did the show’s creative team recapture that feeling?

Kynan Griffin and Hans Rodionoff, who wrote and produced the series with Jason Faller, Adam F. Goldberg and Justin Partridge, joined TVBrittanyF.com to answer that question. They also spoke about how The Wayfinders came together across its first season. Plus, was there anything that they wanted that didn’t make the cut?

Brittany Frederick: The Wayfinders really is the kind of show that fantasy fans would come up with for themselves. Was that where the idea came from for you, wanting to just create something fun?

Kynan Griffin: I think wish fulfillment is the really key word there. You know, we grew up loving Dungeons & Dragons, all the ’80s fantasy [movies]… When we came up with this concept, as we were discussing it, we all looked at each other and [said], this is kind of like the ’80s Dungeons & Dragons cartoon.

Hans Rodionoff: The great thing is that we all collectively share the same DNA of adventure and fantasy and all these kind of things, and you see it in the show. There are so many things where you can clearly see that we all love Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars and Lord of the Rings.

I think the the spark of it was Kynan and Jason [Faller] sort of came up with this wonderful kind of framework of, I call it The Breakfast Club meets Princess Bride. But the idea of a bunch of kids that are isekai’d into a fantasy world. They started with that premise, and then as soon as we started talking about it, it just became really clear that we all had the same loves. So if it feels like wish fulfillment and it feels like it harkens back to the adventure and fantasy movies of the ’80s. That’s because it’s our love letter to those projects.

What are the conversations you had about the actual production of the series? Wanting it to feel fantastic, but obviously there are real-world limitations you have to adapt to?

Griffin: We kind of dream big first. I think that’s where we we always start, is unconstrained by reality. We bear it back. But Hans also comes from the same background as Jason and I; we come from an independent film background. And so we’ve always kind of written with the lens to produce it. It’s probably just part of our writing DNA, that we know where we should go with this in a way which can actually end up on screen.

Rodionoff: The other thing that really helps us is that even when you watch big spectacle movies, big epic science fiction/fantasy movies, while they may have more money and they may have great special effects houses doing all that kind of stuff, ultimately, the audience doesn’t care if you’re not invested in the characters. It doesn’t matter how big the monsters are or how awesome the set pieces look if we’re not invested in the characters.

Our true north is always, let’s rely on our characters. Let’s make sure that everybody cares about what’s happening to them, and then you don’t have to show as much, if people are really invested in the ride. You can get away with showing less of those gigantic battles and multiple dragons flying around in the sky, if everybody feels like it’s grounded and it’s real and it’s emotional.

Griffin: Adam Goldberg is very good at that. I think some of us get carried away, you know, and he’s like whoa, what’s the character story? What are our characters doing? It’s good to have those different influences in the room.

Were there any particularly wild ideas that you had, that just were not going to work for whatever reason?

Rodionoff: Because we come from independent film, we immediately know like that there are ways to do it, no matter what. The only thing that like is really, truly very expensive, and there’s really no way to get around it, is shooting on the ocean, or on the water. There’s really no way to get around that. But everything else is fungible. Everything else is sort of malleable.

But it usually is Jason and Kynan and I and Justin dreaming really big. Well, Justin’s a little bit more of a realist, but we dream big, and then Adam comes in and goes okay, but let’s make a producible episode of television. [Laughs.]

Griffin: I will point out that I do believe it was Hans who was responsible for this year’s writers’ room dragon tornado, which I don’t think is happening.

Rodionoff: I did pitch a dragon tornado. I did. [Laughs.] I’ve had a wonderful career in graphic novels and comic books, and I don’t understand budget. There’s a huge part of me that’s just like, well, if I want to have an armada attack, I can have an armada attack. My imagination is sort of unfettered, and so I do rely on everybody else to kind of bring me back to ground and say we can’t do a dragon tornado. It’s not going to happen. And if it does happen, it’s not going to look good. It’s not going to look the way you want it to.

But that goes back to what you were saying about character. What was it about your three lead actors that made them stand out for The Wayfinders?

Griffin: Some characters just came very easily, and then others were super difficult. Flynn, once we saw [Evan Nikolas Fields], that was a go. He was easy to cast. Kavan was a super hard one to cost. In the writers’ room, we knew who this character was. It was so obvious to us, but we went through probably like a couple hundred dudes doing various caveman impressions. And it was just really, really painful, until Sam [Buchanan] showed up with genuine emotional vulnerability.

We actually did a few chemistry reads, which changed up some of the casting choices that we did. We also had the benefit of shooting the pilot first before we shot the rest of the series, and that kind of helped us. As we were going through the editing of that, we could really tell what was working well and adjust our writing going forward based on that.

It’s always an interesting process. And it’s always a magical process, because you know when it happens. Oh, this person, they got it; they made this character come to life.

Rodionoff: The cast is so great. The trio is so great, and everybody that’s around the trio is so fantastic. And one of the other things that I appreciate is that there’s a lot of humor in the show. There’s a lot of levity to the show.

Even though there are real stakes and dragons and danger and all this kind of stuff in the fantasy world, there’s still a humorous aspect to it. And so I think the thing that I love the most about the cast is that they’re able to turn a joke. They understand timing, and they deliver those moments with with not only a lot of heart, but a lot of humor.

So do you have specific favorite moments from The Wayfinders so far, either from an entertainment or production standpoint?

Griffin: Without saying what the joke is or anything, Adam and Hans have a fun creature joke, which we’re all happy with in Episode 5.

What our favorite episode is kind of changes all the time. Right after the edits were done I was like, Episode 3 is my favorite. Then you get to Episode 5 [and] you’re like Episode 5 is my favorite. And then, I think Episode 6 is my favorite. [Laughs.]

Rodionoff: I’ll point to conceits and relationships that I love. I love Oaklee and Kavan. I love their dynamic. I love the way that they are together. I also love Flynn and Calibor. I love the way that their relationship evolves. I really like Cash and Aurora. We have these great relationships that evolve throughout the series, and they create so many great moments and so many fun things. Cash as a bard is one of my favorite moments.

Griffin: Cash does [have] some football skills.

Rodionoff: Oaklee plays a card game with high stakes. I think that’s my favorite moment… But there’s so many moments in the show where we watch it, and we’re like this is The Wayfinders. This is what the magic is.

The Wayfinders Season 1 is now streaming. For more information, visit the Angel website. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Angel.

Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.