What inspired you to create Hazbin Hotel?
Hazbin was inspired by everything I love in one blended soup: villains, mythos, demonology, musical theater, and drawing non-human creatures!
Why did you choose a musical format for this series?
It wasn’t as much of a choice as it was something that was always going to happen. I’ve always been a big fan of musical theater so when I started developing this world, as bizarre as it sounds, that musical theater identity was always there. Between Hazbin and Helluva Boss (the other show set in the same world), musical songs are just so crucial to expressing the characters and their headspace. Plus it doesn’t hurt that our songwriters Sam Haft and Andrew Underberg are wildly talented at what they do!
Please share a bit of the process of creating the pilot independently.
Creating the pilot was a fun challenge, I really didn’t know what I was taking on so it was a HUGE learning experience! I learned how to work with a massive group of people and steadily created a more streamlined process as we went along. There’s something so nice about making something together with a small passionate talented group of people!
How did the series make its way from YouTube to Amazon?
It’s been a long journey but very gradual. After the pilot, the first step was developing it with A24, and then once we created a lot of the season, Amazon came into the picture and gave the show a bigger life. It feels so crazy that it’s hard to quantify, but it was these big milestones that led it there.
What have you enjoyed most about bringing your series to viewers?
My favorite part is seeing how much these characters matter to people: the fan art the cosplays, the music videos, the fan songs, and now even DRAG SHOWS! It’s the coolest thing ever to see my world inspire so much real-world creativity! It keeps me going when work gets hard, and it helps us remember why we do it!
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