Tag Archives: Interview

The people behind the fascinating LEGO models we feature here are just as interesting! Read interviews with notable LEGO builders, LEGO book authors, LEGO set designers, and many others right here on The Brothers Brick.

A follow-up interview with actor Will Arnett about hosting LEGO Masters [Interview]

The Brothers Brick was invited to visit the LEGO Masters set in December ahead of the taping of the finale and had the chance to interview actor Will Arnett about his new hosting job. Last week, we had another opportunity to chat with Will to see how things have changed since the show started airing, and we specifically asked him questions suggested by you, our readers!

In the follow-up interview conducted jointly by The Brothers Brick, Brickset, BZPower and True North Bricks, Will talks about how nervous he was to destroy LEGO with a baseball bat, what challenge he thinks he would do well on, and what show he has been on would make the best LEGO set.

Read our second interview with actor and LEGO Masters host Will Arnett

Leaving LEGO Masters: An interview with the first contestants to leave [Feature]

LEGO Masters has aired its second episode, and the first team has been chosen to go home. The Brothers Brick had the opportunity to sit down with them and talk about their experience, what it was like to build under pressure, and what the reaction has been to appearing on the reality show.

In the interview conducted jointly with BZPower and True North Bricks, the team talks about how it felt to change directions halfway into a challenge, what they would have done differently, and what advice they have for contestants on LEGO Masters Season 2. If you haven’t yet watched the episode, be warned that there will be some spoilers!

Read our interview with these LEGO Masters contestants.

Everything you want to know about LEGO Masters judges Amy Corbett and Jamie Berard [Feature]

LEGO Masters premieres tonight, and LEGO fans in the US will finally get the chance to watch the hotly anticipated show. Earlier this week, we sat down with LEGO Masters judges Amy Corbett and Jamie Berard to talk about the premiere and what life has been like since filming the reality show.

In the interview conducted jointly with Brickset and BZPower, Amy and Jamie talk about the unexpected challenges involved in being judges, how the three million LEGO parts were chosen for the show, what it was like to spend time with the guest stars, and what they brought back with them from the set!

Read our in-depth interview with LEGO Masters judges Amy Corbett and Jamie Berard

Visiting LEGO Masters: Behind the scenes tour with Challenge Master Brent Benedetti [News]

LEGO Masters arrives in the US in less than two weeks, and anticipation for the brick-building reality TV show is reaching a peak in the LEGO fan community. The Brothers Brick was invited to visit the LEGO Masters set when they were filming last month, and we got a behind-the-scenes tour of the studio.

Our day visiting LEGO Masters started early in the morning. Megan from Brickset and I headed to a non-descript studio located in a light-industrial area near Burbank, CA (apparently next to the building used for the exterior shots for the US television series The Office, we were told). Arriving at the studio by car, we provided our names to the security guard and were allowed onto the lot. The production staff excitedly greeted us and ushered us inside. After passing through a reception area, we stepped onto the massive set.

Click to read about and see photos of the LEGO Masters set

Making LEGO Masters: Exclusive interview with executive producer Anthony Dominici [News]

Continuing our series of behind-the-scenes articles about LEGO Masters, we chatted with showrunner and executive producer Anthony Dominici about what goes into making a feel-good reality TV show. Anthony has previously worked on Making It, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and The Amazing Race (which he won two Emmys for).

Anthony is no stranger to LEGO–his cousin Phil Lord co-directed The LEGO Movie (and coincidently is a guest on the upcoming season of LEGO Masters). We chatted about why the time is right for LEGO Masters, how the show is run, and his own personal history with LEGO.

Click to read our interview with LEGO Masters executive producer Anthony Dominici

The Brothers Brick Explore: LEGO Classic Space [Feature]

Classic Space – one of the perennial LEGO building genres, ever-popular amongst fans for its nostalgic nods to iconic official sets of the past, and the opportunities it presents to depict an optimistic expansionist vision of humanity’s intergalactic future.

This building genre takes its primary influences from the LEGO Space sets released between 1978 and 1987, and the follow-up themes released during the late-80s and beyond, when factions like Futuron, Blacktron, and the Space Police were introduced to the universe.

But the genre is about much more than just the official sets. Take a trip with The Brothers Brick as we blast off on our grand tour of LEGO Classic Space…

Click to read our in-depth overview of the Classic Space building genre

News: The LEGO Group acquires BrickLink from Nexon founder Jay Kim for undisclosed sum – interview with LEGO CMO Julia Goldin

The LEGO group announced today that it is acquiring LEGO marketplace website BrickLink. BrickLink was founded in 2000 by the late LEGO fan Dan Jezek, and was purchased from Dan’s family in 2013 by mobile game company Nexon founder and entrepeneur Jung-Ju “Jay” Kim. Over the past six years, the new owners, via Mr. Kim’s investment company NXMH, have taken the website in a number of new directions, including a “MOC Shop”, Stud.io virtual LEGO design software and the AFOL Designer Program earlier this year.

Although the official press release is fairly light on details, prior to the announcement today, LEGO invited The Brothers Brick to conduct a one-on-one interview with Julia Goldin, Chief Marketing Officer for the LEGO Group. We asked Ms. Goldin about potential conflicts of interest in LEGO now owning a large proportion of the secondary market for its own product, the future of the community-driven BrickLink catalog, and more. Read our in-depth interview in the article below. We’ll also have more analysis and discussion in the coming days.

Read the full interview and press release about LEGO’s acquisition of BrickLink

LEGO Originals – gallery opening and interview with Sine Klitgaard Møller, LEGO Design Director [News]

Seven Dials is a small area of London, squeezed in between the city’s theatre district and the nightlife of Soho. It’s one of the cool parts of town, narrow streets stuffed full of quirky shops and art galleries. One of these galleries is playing temporary host to a new LEGO launch — the Limited Edition large-scale wooden minifigure, the first release in the new LEGO Originals line, and we attended the gallery’s opening this morning. We also had a chance to sit down with the project’s design director for an interview.

Fans were invited to register for a timeslot to visit the gallery through the LEGO VIP loyalty programme, and the first session was booked up almost immediately. Although guaranteed admission, these first visitors still arrived early, and there was a good-sized queue well in advance of the official opening time. A further “standby queue” had also formed — people hoping some of those registered to attend might not show up. LEGO’s PR proved to be on-point, with the general air of excitement wafting off the line of adult fans and kids prompting photos and questions from passers-by.

Click to read more about the LEGO Originals gallery and read our interview with design director Sine Klitgaard Møller

VESTIGE – A LEGO space exploration short film documentary [Feature]

Most of us can probably think of iconic LEGO advertisements from when we were kids, whether it was the little red-haired girl proudly holding her creation, or the Brick Maniac’s zany exploits from the 90s. But it’s not very often that you get to see a LEGO campaign pitch that didn’t come to fruition. In 2016, Brian Ellis pitched a new branding concept to LEGO that unfortunately wasn’t chosen. However, Brian has shared not only the video pitch, but also a full 20 minute documentary of a behind-the-scenes on how it was created. With 5 years of effort put into this bringing friends and like-minded individuals together, it also offers an insight into just how much work needs to be put in for a 60-second production.

If you’re thinking, what so special about it all? There are several. For one, it’s always admirable and insightful to see how fans of LEGO go the extra mile — putting more blood sweat and tears into a production for the toy company whose products we love so much. It also features no computer-generated graphics (CGI), something rare in this age of digital. The stage and models were built by hand, including the costumes, and put together in post-production with traditional non-linear editing software. The LEGO builds were made by LEGO Designer Mark John Stafford, who we recently interviewed for the Jurassic Park: T-Rex Rampage release. Everything down to the soundtrack, which has a Blade Runner-esqe feeling, was composed specially for the one minute feature.

Click to read our interview with the creator and watch the full video production and documentary

LEGO 75936 Jurassic Park: T. rex Rampage, the biggest LEGO dino ever [Review + Interview]

Last week, LEGO announced the biggest set yet in the Jurassic World license, 75936 Jurassic Park: T. rex Rampage. While most of the LEGO Jurassic World theme has centered around the new films starring Chris Pratt, this is the second time LEGO has revisited the 1993 Spielberg classic film, following 75932 Jurassic Park Velociraptor Chase last year. With 3,120 pieces, this new set banks on scale with a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex and Jurassic Park gate, which are much larger than minifigure scale. In addition to our usual review, we also had the chance to speak to LEGO Senior Designer Mark Stafford about the set. T. rex Rampage will retail for US $249.99 | CAN $299.99 | UK £219.99 beginning June 19th for LEGO VIPs, with general availability beginning July 1st.

Click to read the full review

Ask LEGO anything: We’re talking to LEGO, and we want your help! [News]

Next week The Brothers Brick will be in Billund, Denmark at LEGO’s headquarters to talk with LEGO about how the company interacts with the fan community. That’s not all we’ll be doing though, as we’ll also have an opportunity to sit down with a handful of LEGO designers to pick their brains about your favorite themes. We want to give our readers a chance to get in on the action, so if you’ve got a burning question about one of these themes, you can fill out our form to submit your question. Just remember, LEGO designers can never talk about unannounced future products or plans, so there’s no point asking “will LEGO ever make Monorail again?” or “what sets are planned for next summer?”

Click to read more about how you can submit your questions

Exclusive interview with LEGO Star Wars head of design Jens Kronveld Frederiksen [Feature]

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of LEGO Star Wars, I recently sat down with Jens Kronveld Frederiksen, the Director of Design for the LEGO Star Wars line. Jens has been with LEGO for more than 20 years, and shares his insights on how he joined the company, what lessons he’s learned over the years, and how LEGO balances input from both kids and adults. Read through to the end to learn a really cool detail about the movie Millennium Falcon Jens saw during a visit to Pinewood Studios during the filming of The Force Awakens!

The Brothers Brick: Just about every LEGO builder’s dream is to become a set designer. How did your career as a designer begin?

Jens Kronveld Frederiksen: A little bit of a weird story and coincidence. LEGO has been a great part of my life for as long as I remember. I really, really loved LEGO but I was never thinking of it as a profession or a career to be honest. In 1998 I was participating in a model building exhibition. I have a hobby building plastic model kits, which mainly is of World War II stuff. At that event in Copenhagen, there were some LEGO people there, and they were looking to hire designers not for model builders but for making new prototypes for new elements, and well I was of course interested in that. And then before I started on that, I saw a job application for a permanent position as model builder and I got the job. That’s how I got into it.

Read our exclusive interview with LEGO’s head of design for Star Wars