Bringing Passion to ‘Nimona’ with Graphic Novel Creator ND Stevenson and Animation Film Directors Nick Bruno and Troy Quane

When Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed), a knight in a futuristic medieval world, is framed for a crime he didn't commit, the only one who can help him prove his innocence is Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz), a mischievous teen with a taste for mayhem — who also happens to be a shapeshifting creature Ballister has been trained to destroy. But with the entire kingdom out to get him, Nimona’s the best (or technically the only) sidekick Ballister can hope for. And as the lines between heroes, villains, and monsters start to blur, the two of them set out to wreak serious havoc — for Ballister to clear his name once and for all, and for Nimona to…just wreak serious havoc.

Directed by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, NIMONA is an epic tale about finding friendship in the most surprising situations and accepting yourself and others for who they are. Based on the National Book Award-nominated, New York Times best-selling graphic novel by ND Stevenson.

Nimona is a fun ride from start to finish, and frankly, a refreshing flip of the script on villain archetypes - just watch and see. The animated feature is adapted from the award-winning and best-selling graphic novel of the same name, created by ND Stevenson, who also serves as co-producer on the Netflix film. Animators Nick Bruno and Troy Quane take the helm on this epic tale, bringing tonal and texture continuity, you can't take your eyes off of.

The creative trio recently spoke with Script about adapting the graphic novel, how their animation backgrounds influenced the storytelling, and what they learned during the process of making this film.

This interview has been edited for content and clarity.

Sadie Dean: How this story idea came to be initially, in that idea of taking that archetype of the misunderstood villain, that isn't a villain?

ND Stevenson: Yeah, I've always really gravitated towards villains. And just always felt like I was one of a kind with them that there was like a darkness in me that I was kind of scared of. And even at times, it was just like, is this something that I can even escape - a lot of those feelings went into Nimona. And it became this character who really helped me through a very hard time. And she was kind of a fantasy for me, because she could be anything she wanted to be, which is something that I still want - I still want the ability to shapeshift.

But she was also so assured of herself. She was really proud of who she was. And then she still had that pain and that darkness and that messiness, and that anger at her heart. And that's really what the story ends up being about. So yeah, she was a character that at first, I wasn't sure if everyone else was going to understand her or relate to her the way I did. And I just keep seeing how many people really see themselves in her, even if it seems like their experiences are very different. I think she's a character that everyone has a little piece of her in them. And that's been really cool to see.

Sadie: Yeah, absolutely. What was the process like of seeing firsthand your graphic novel being adapted into the feature film, and that collaboration with two directors Nick Bruno and Troy Quane?

ND: It was quite a process - I sold the option to the rights to the movie back in 2015. So, it's been almost seven years. And a lot has happened in that time. And long story short, at the end of things, Nick and Troy, they were so good about opening up that conversation to me, to the rest of the crew, like everyone was so personally invested, everyone had the chance to let their voices be heard and being able to just create something, and seeing what everyone else brought to that is one of the coolest parts of making anything is just seeing how that group of people comes together and brings their passion to the project.

At times, it was hard - I know this character so well. But it's also time for them to go and grow up and change and move forward into the future. And so, it's really exciting to be here now and just watch them go out and continue to grow and shapeshift through the world.

Sadie: What was your initial connection to the graphic novel created by ND [Stevenson] and then coming on board to direct and adapt the source material?

Nick Bruno: Well, I love the graphic novel The graphic novel is hilarious. It takes you to a new world that you haven't seen with these characters that you don't typically follow. They're sort of the bad guys, the villains of their realm, right? But at the heart of the story, it's a love letter to any of those people who've ever felt misunderstood before. And that is completely universal. But we also realized that the book has had such a profound connection with those members of the LGBTQ plus community. So, for us, it became very important to tell a story that leans into Nimona, leans into those themes, because it's a powerful story, but it's a lot of fun at the same time.

Sadie: In terms of developing the story, and both having animation backgrounds, what was that process like?

Troy Quane: The graphic novel is so amazing. It's so expansive, ND's created this incredible world that has so many different avenues of fun and comedy and exciting adventure and set pieces and so many places you could go with it. And it really was clear early on that Nimona was the anchor point, that this character was what was going to ground the thematic messaging and the journey of this film. So, once we knew that, we sort of had boiled down who the character was, we knew where to take the other characters, we knew where to take the story, we knew when we were going down a path that while entertaining, was taking us off point. So, it really gave us parameters in how to adapt it.

And ND's graphics was so great, and he's such an amazing collaborator. Having worked on, both of us, adaptations in the past, working with someone with such a personal story, you know, that was created for this graphic novel, and yet, he was always so open to the understanding of this as an adaptation, there's things that needed to grow or breathe, or expand in this new form of a film. But it was always because we knew who Nimona was, we knew what that message was, we knew how to stay true to what the book had been saying, even when we were maybe going into slightly different directions with characters or a bit of the narrative - but always we've tried to reflect backwards.

Sadie: What was the biggest learning curve when directing this?

Nick: I think the biggest learning curve, and it surprisingly happens with every film is that even though you're the director on it, there are 1,000s of people on this film, and it's so important to not justshoot from your own heart, but to understand and learn and listen to the other perspectives on that film. Because you have so many amazing artists and so many amazing hearts that beat along with it that can really help inform your story, that can really help bring this art to life in a way that you couldn't do with any other medium. And just constantly reminding yourself of that that you have all this talent to help you tell that story is something that you do have to remind yourself of often.

Troy: Yeah, it's something we definitely started to learn on our first film and just got more comfortable with embracing and living in on this one. I think Nimona is all the better for it. 

Nimona premieres on Netflix, June 30, 2023.