'Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet' actor Ashly Burch's best advice to upcoming creators: 'Honor your voice'
This February 7, Apple TV+ gives you a scripted comedy series titled 'Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet' with nine episodes airing at its start. The show chronicles a team of video game developers as they explore the challenges of creating a popular video game. The comedy is set in a video game development studio but battling in make-believe worlds with brave heroes is not where the problems lie.
To tell us more about the comedy we spoke to Ashly Burch, one of the stars of the upcoming series. She plays the role of 'Rachel' in the comedy, and is known for her roles in 'Life Is Strange' (2015), 'Horizon Zero Dawn' (2017) and 'Attack on Titan' (2013). At the premiere of 'Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet', Burch spoke with MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) about her perspective on the show, how she began writing gaming themed scripted YouTube videos and how she is now part of one about to air on one of the largest streaming platforms.
Having started as a gaming YouTuber with her own scripted series, Burch has now come full circle and is going to be starring in one. She explains how it happened, saying, "I was talking to someone about this show and I was like, 'I never in my wildest dreams would I think that I would be on a TV show about a game company. I was on the writing staff first, so I got a call that Rob wanted to talk to me about writing for the show kind of out of the blue and that was sort of how it started."
Burch has also worked with her brother, Anthony Burch on a scripted series called 'Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin'' and says she pulled inspiration from that process. "Us working on, 'Hey, Ash' together was such a huge part of my development of comedy and comedy writing and that kind of thing. So I think I brought that sensibility into the writing process."
The show sheds light on issues in gaming using the limelight on the queer dynamics or relationships and underrepresentation of females, in general, using a comedic curtain. When asked how her character Rachel, represents the underrepresented demographics, Burch said, "Well, the one thing I'll say about our show that I love is that there are a lot of women in it, so you're not getting into the situation where 'here's the token woman that represents all of the gaming!'"
"We all get to have our own perspectives, which is great, but I think that's really special about Rachel's storyline is that her story with her co-tester, Dana, is the love story of the show. And so the main and only love story is a queer love story, which is really, really amazing and I'm so honored to be a part of that and be part of that representation," Burch continued.
Burch further gave advice to upcoming creators that are making their own shows saying, "I would say the most important thing is to honor your voice because there are so many ways to make something that's going to hit but the only thing that you have and no one else has is your perspective and your voice. So stick to that.
"If you have an idea, try to make it, because that just gives you so many more skillsets to pull from. And that may get seen, it may not but then you've also built relationships and you have something you can show, which is I think really, really amazing in this day and age to have."
'Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet' will premiere on February 7 on Apple TV+.
