In an exclusive interview with Villain Media, creator/director Omar Salas Zamora talks about his upcoming Dekkoo series, Here Comes Your Man. Find out what happens when two very different young men come together in a relationship, from beginning to end.
Plot: When Jordan (Calvin Picou) and Aaron (Jason Alan Clark) meet in person after exchanging pics and pleasantries on a hook-up app, it’s nervous attraction at first sight. Their initial tryst is fraught with the kind awkward tension that suggests they might not be a perfect match.
On top of that, Aaron is unaware that Jordan is, for all intents and purposes, “straight.” Confused about his sexuality and faking his way through a hetero relationship, Jordan blocks Aaron’s number. When they run into each other in a gay bar weeks later, the truth comes out… and they both find that there is something undeniable about their strange romantic chemistry.
Ahead of the June 24th premiere, Omar Salas Zamora opens up about how Here Comes Your Man came together, the meaning behind the title, and how the series worked for Dekkoo streaming service. Join us as we head off to the director’s studio and discuss the craft of making an original series.
Villain Media: Here Comes Your Man has its romantic attributes, could be a metaphor for drugs, or could be a reference to a Pixies song. What does the title mean to you?
Omar Salas Zamora: I wouldn’t zero in too much on how the song relates to the actual show – it doesn’t. It sounded romantic to me and it feels like a line of dialogue someone would whisper to the protagonist as his love interest approached him. The show itself does have a lot of 90s rock DNA, though. Jordan (played by Picou) wears a Violent Femmes shirt in episode 2. In episode 3, he holds up a Neutral Milk Hotel album, calling it the best ever. Later, he mentions he’s having conversations with Saddle Creek, a record company that housed Bright Eyes, Tokyo Police Club and ever Rilo Kiley briefly.
VM: Tell me about exploring a relationship, from beginning to end, through 5 episodes. Songs, movies, and TV shows have alluded that the best parts of a relationship are in the middle.
OSZ: I was interested in these big time jumps and letting the audience fills in the gaps. In the first episodes, Jordan looks at Aaron with such wonder, trying to understand him. In the later episodes, Aaron stares at Jordan with that same wonder, but it is lamenting something that has disappeared. There is no rhyme or reason but the pixie dust has worn off and the differences in long time goals are becoming too large of a chasm to travel.
VM: Tell me how you as the director saw Calvin Picou and Jason Alan Clark bring Jordan and Aaron to life?
OSZ: Jason had worked primarily as a stage actor; I had seen him in a couple of plays but his performance in Blue Window was the one that kind started those gears in thinking that he could work for Man. I had seen a lot of actors try for the part, but he had an effortlessness with the humor and the charisma but was able to pull off the tricky dialogue from the last two episodes as well. I am proud that Man will be his introduction into the world.
I’ve worked with Calvin multiple times in the past, but his name really never came up for the casting of Jordan. I had never really seen him do comedy or romance, so he just wasn’t in those initial conversations. Towards the end, we gave him a read and he definitely showed a different side of himself that I thought really worked for Jordan.
VM: Tell me about the streaming service Dekkoo and how Here Comes Your Man fits as its home.
OSZ: I’ve never been super attracted to television or that episodic format mostly because of the business of it all. I didn’t like the feeling of not allowing characters to fully complete their arcs at the end of a season because they want to get greenlit for another. When I started working on Here Comes Your Man, it became pretty clear that the only way to tell the story is in this five part structure and that would lend itself to a series. The problem is that when you’re pitching to HBO or Showtime or somewhere like that, you’re required to write out a blueprint for a three season arc and that was just impossible for Here Comes Your Man because I knew it had to have a definitive ending. Dekkoo had seen some test footage we shot and offered to greenlight and let me produce and showrun so it was a deal I couldn’t turn down.
VM: How can the readers of Villain Media find and follow Here Comes Your Man?
OSZ: It will be available everywhere you can get Dekkoo – Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, Xfinity, XBOX Live, Roku and online at Dekkoo’s website.
VM: How did Here Comes Your Man change you as a storyteller?
OSZ: When Dekkoo greenlit us, we had six months to turn in a final product. I only had two of five episodes written. I had to write faster than I ever had to write. I had to be open and vulnerable with sharing ideas with the actors before they were fully formed to kind of get second opinions on what direction feels right. I usually try to hang out with material at least for a couple of drafts before showing it and even then, I tend to take it back and develop it even further, so this accelerated schedule was definitely different for me and my process.
VM: What are you working on now?
OSZ: I’ve been working on getting a horror movie made for the last two years called Eyes On Joanne. Been having general meetings all over the place but particularly excited to get things going with a certain legendary horror company. Beyond that, I have a college party movie called Close As Strangers that I would like to do as well as a conspiracy thriller set in the world of militias called The Friends Of Tom Foster. I’m really interested in playing with different genres and styles.
The full first season of Here Comes Your Man will be available on Dekkoo starting on June 24th, 2021.