SDCC 2015: Judd Lynn, ‘Power Rangers Dino Charge’ Executive Producer, Finally Has His Way

When you grow up obsessed with pop culture, you begin to recognize the names that aren’t that of the stars. Hip-hop fans know names like Rick Rubin or Erick Sermon. Sports nuts know the coaches and agents of the superstars on the field. As a Power Rangers fan, I grew up knowing names like Doug Sloan, Jonathan Tzachor, and Koichi Sakamoto.

But one man’s name inspires Power Rangers fans like Steve Wozniak with Apple fans (or Jobs (no, actually, Wozniak is correct)): Judd “Chip” Lynn.

A real chip off the old block, Judd Lynn began as a staff writer on Power Rangers Turbo. He took on the reins as show runner in 1998 for Power Rangers in Space until 2001’s Power Rangers Time Force.

If only people watched his work.

Let’s be honest: Mighty Morphin’ was the  peak of the franchise’s pop culture status. But the reason why you may know a hardcore Power Rangers fan or two still watching today is because they stuck around for Judd Lynn’s seasons; he made the show as deep as any other sci-fi or fantasy. In Space, Lost Galaxy, Lightspeed Rescue, and Time Force are loaded with some of the most compelling, interesting characters and episodes in not just Power Rangers but all geek TV. If the rest of the world stuck around to watch Lynn at work, Power Rangers wouldn’t be the campy laughingstock its mostly remembered as.

Judd Lynn returned briefly to oversee the absolutely incredible Power Rangers RPM (seriously, watch it, it’s on Netflix) in 2009 before leaving once again… until the 2014 Power MorphiCon. There, Judd Lynn took to the stage at the convention to announce his return to the helm for Power Rangers Dino Charge to the delight of everyone. I remember that energy distinctly because I was there, and so far that positivity has been validated: Dino Charge rocks, and if you have a little cousin or nephew (or niece! Dino Charge is a great kid’s show featuring kick-ass girls) you should absolutely watch with them.

At this past San Diego Comic-Con, I had the chance to speak to Chip about his role as the returning prodigal son of Power Rangers.

What’s it been like for you to return as the head-honcho of Power Rangers?

Judd: What’s really unique about my involvement this time, because it used to be there was I worked with a couple of producers, and we had kind of different ways, different ideas of how it was supposed to happen. Now, being the executive producer, it’s kind of just my way. You know what I’m saying? The people that I work with, [Saban Brands Senior VP of Development and Production] Brian Casetini, he and I are really in sync. It used to be like this [hands out], and now it’s like this [crosses fingers].

What do you think has changed?

Judd Lynn: When you have several producers on a show, you can either have synchronicity, or it can be a negative effect. It can either be additive or subtractive. I think previously, it was probably … me and other producers and we’d have a different style. You hope sometimes one producer plus another producer equals three, right? That’s how good ratios are made. They’re never made by one person. They’re made by one person in a team that shares that same vision and it turns out that vision, instead of just two people working on it, it has the effect of one hundred people because they all become passionate and they’re all focused on the same goal.

Coming back, I can work with Brian Casetini and also Haim Saban. Truly, those three minds put together equal five. In the past, three minds used to total three. There was no exponential growth because of the synchronicity of our ideas. But now, there is. Brian shares my enthusiasm and my way of storytelling. The first time that I pitched the idea for Dino Charge to Haim, it was a crazy idea. A story about a spaceship and we have these dinosaurs and we have asteroids. I’m sitting down in this fancy boardroom with Haim Saban and some other executives and I start to tell my story. Two minutes into it, I’m looking at them, and they’re all still awake. That’s not always the case. I remember one time with Saban, I pitched an idea to twenty executives and ten minutes in, half of them were asleep. That was, I think, maybe, Power Rangers in Space. I think it was because they were overworked. [laughs] Hopefully not because it was a bad idea.

Really? Power Rangers in Space rocked!

Judd: But this time, Haim was riveted. Brian was riveted. [Saban President] Elie Decker was riveted. They all were very enthusiastic about the idea. Haim, after I told the whole thing, said, “I like it.” Everybody kind of was shocked because Haim doesn’t usually say that the first time. But, he liked it very much. He liked the idea of a caveman. He liked the idea of these inner gems that made you immortal while you were binded to them. We were able to take all of the Japanese footage, which were some really strange elements, and put them all into a story that worked. Space elements and dinosaur elements, and it wasn’t easy, but I think we kind of did a pretty good job of making it work.

Then, what’s really cool is Haim Saban and Brian Castletini, who were really busy with other things, they say, “Okay, great. Go away and let us know how the story’s going to unfold.” I knew, like, “Eh, no problem,” and inside, you’re thinking “Oh my God, how am I going to make that happen?” Right?

As if that’s easy!

Judd: You go away and you start to work out your first idea and this is it right here. This is the first episode. This is almost exactly what I pitched. It didn’t change very much. It was an idea about a real alien who’s being chased by this evil bounty hunter. He lands on this earth and he has these inner gems and he has to get them to safety quickly. Sure enough, it all appears on the screen now. It’s an awesome process.

Not like before? It was very different before?

Judd: Well, before it was a bit of a struggle. I had an idea and somebody else had an idea and we had to compromise with each other to reach something that we both agreed was going to be do-able.

Compromise is kind of a nasty thing. Now, I’m in charge. I don’t have to compromise. The writers have to compromise. Anyone who works for me has to compromise. But I don’t have to. I can take my idea and I can take it to Brian and take it to Haim and say “This is what I want to do.” They’ll say, “Well, maybe adjust this,” or “Adjust that,” but they’ve been really really deferential to me, which is a blessing. It’s because we started off already thinking in the same way. They say, “Hey, that’s cool. That’s great.” Or they say, “What about this?” Or “What about that?” They have great ideas. I say, “You know what? I didn’t think of that.” It makes it even better. That’s what I want. That’s what we want.

And isn’t that what the Power Rangers are about? Teamwork?

Judd: Exactly. That’s what it’s all about.

Not to sound hokey there.

Judd: No, but it’s absolutely true. If you go to New Zealand, we have 120 people on our 2 crews. We have a first unit and a second unit. 120 people. You walk on, and you never – It’s unbelievable. It’s like a family. You never hear an argument. There’s never backstabbing. The people came to me and they said this is like one of the first seasons there’s never been a culture of he-said she-said or blaming or unhappiness or ‘Why are you late?’

Everybody’s been optimistic and proactive and really pushed into doing, into making great episodes because they’ve read their scripts and they saw me on the set and they could tell that I cared about it. From the top down, everybody else says “You know what? Wow. This is worth caring about.” Next thing you know, they’ll go in extra. “We should wrap now.” Nope. They’ll go 15 more minutes. “Don’t do another take.” No, no no. We’re going to do another take. We’re going to get it right.

You said something very interesting there, that people care. Not to throw shade at whoever has worked on the show before, but fans have noticed an uptick in the quality in the show. Fans are very enthusiastic about Power Rangers more than they’ve ever been before. Is it because of that factor, that x-factor? There’s a little more heart.

Judd: You know what? It has a lot – First of all, Haim Saban has always demanded humor and heart.

Of course.

Judd: He wants stories that will tug at your heartstrings and make you laugh. He wants them to appeal to the 4 to 8 year olds that are actually watching it for the first time and he wants it to appeal to kids who are 18 to 30, like you and me. Well, I’m a little older than you. [laughs] But, he wants it to appeal to everybody. That’s a really tough request.

To say the least.

Judd: Yet, somehow, we try to do it. Now, why are some seasons more successful than others? Probably the largest factor is just the person who’s in charge. But that’s not the only factor. There’s a lot of other ones. For instance we [had to adapt] Kyoryuger, which was a fantastic season. We had dinosaurs, they have great Zords, they have great toy elements. It really was kind of a … I hate to say it, but I got very fortunate because dinosaurs are always more successful than other ones. Kids just love dinosaurs.

You guys picked a great year. Jurassic World just came out.

Judd: Right, exactly. It’s kind of a perfect storm of things that worked out really well. I happen to be fortunate enough to be there. But also, like I said, it comes back to that team. If you have people who make the team better than it would be as individuals, then it’s going to work out better. It just turns out that my storytelling style is different than the previous producer and the guy before him and the guy before him. It’s different than Doug Sloan, and Bruce Kalish, and Eddie Guzelian, and Jonathan Tzachor. Every single one of them, I know. Every single one of them was in the office at midnight and they all tried to make the best show they can, but not everybody can make a perfect show and not everybody can even make a great show. Some of my seasons were not great. Sometimes you get really tough footage and it’s hard to come up with a story. Really hard.

It’s very different way to produce television.

Judd: It’s a really weird way.

You’ll never see a show like Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones being made this way.

Judd: Well, nobody would, because we have that footage to deal with. We have toys to sell and we have a broad age range of audience to appeal to. It’s a really tough order.

Are you by any chance privy to the upcoming movie in 2017?

Judd: I don’t know much about the movie. Honestly, I’m at the office twelve hours a day, seven days a week working on Dino Charge. I just hope that, like everybody, we all hope that they keep in mind that humor and heart and that action that’s all organic to the story. I can tell you that the people who are involved in it are some of the best in the business. Lionsgate and Brian, these guys have been doing it for a long time. I have high hopes that this is going to be a really good movie.

Other than that, I don’t know too much. I know that Haim is really involved, really enthused about [Dean Israelite] being the director and his enthusiasm.

Will we see you again for after Super Dino Charge? What can we hope for in the future?

Judd: We just finished filming Dino Super Charge, and it’s going to be really good. There are some episodes that are coming up that will be the best of any episodes that have ever been done with Power Rangers. I know a lot of the episodes, and I’ve written a couple hundred of them, and I can tell you that I’ve never been as enthusiastic about the entire season as I am about these seasons.

Power Rangers Dino Charge returns to Nickelodeon on August 29th. Stay tuned to Geekscape for my interview with the cast of Power Rangers Dino Charge from San Diego Comic-Con later this week. A special thank you to Paula Gaetos of Tokusatsu Network for taking the photos!