Big Wow! ComicFest 2012 Recap

(L-R) John Gillette, Reyna Young, myself, and Dylan D Walsh
on our "Horror Filmmaking 101" panel at Big Wow! 

This was my first time attending San Jose's Big Wow! ComicFest. More importantly (to me, at least), it was my first time ever speaking on a convention panel.

I have to admit, I've dreamed about sitting at one of those long, tablecloth-draped tables since the first convention I attended. It just seemed so cool, that all those people would sit and listen to what knowledge you had to share. So when my friend Reyna Young (horror hostess Miss Misery) asked me to participate in her "Horror Filmmaking 101" panel, I was over the moon.

Also on the panel were her husband/partner-in-film John Gillette, and one of her regular actors/production assistants, Dylan D Walsh. We covered everything from where to get screenplay ideas to how to distribute your film once it's done. The panel had a great energy, and it felt more like a group of filmmakers chatting over coffee than a formal panel.

Proof that I actually said something.

Honestly, a bit of that might have had to do with the crowd. You see, there was a little SNAFU with the scheduling, which led to a last-minute switch in the programming that didn't make it into the printed convention guide. So, unfortunately, most of our audience showed up at the wrong day and time.

However, the crowd we did have was awesome. Family, friends, a few devoted con-goers, and a sea monster. What we lacked in quantity, we made up for in quality.

Really, how many audiences have a sea monster?

I was especially touched that my friend and Everything I Needed to Know About Zombies I Learned From the Movies's Director of Photography Erin Castrapel (Mr. Thumbs Up in the photo) made a surprise trip up from Los Angeles to see the panel. It made the day all the more special, especially when he coordinated an impromptu lunch reunion with another old friend.

As for the convention itself, I liked Big Wow's vibe. It had enough clout to draw in some big names (Jim Lee and Terrance Zdunich, for example), but it also had a casual, local con feel. I love conventions where you can stop and chat with the artists and creators and really get to know them and their art. I'll take that over the big budget cattle-stampede the Comic-Con conventions have turned into (and no, I'm not bitter at all that WonderCon abandoned the Bay Area for freakin' Anaheim). We didn't stay long, but we had a great time, and consensus was that this con was a definite keeper. I'll be back next year!

For some more thorough reviews of Big Wow! as a whole:

Oscar Benjamin's Examiner review (with LOTS of gorgeous photos)

Graphic Novel Reporter

ConventionLife (shout out to Michael Tang for photographing our panel)

Big Wow! ComicFest 2012

Exciting news! Looks like I'll be speaking on my first panel ever this weekend at the Big Wow! ComicFest in San Jose, CA!

On Sunday, May 20, from 12pm-1pm, I'll be joining Miss Misery and other filmmakers to discuss the (artificial) blood and (very real) sweat and tears that go into making independent horror films. We'll be in room C of the San Jose Convention Center, Hall 2. (There's been a recent change to the schedule. We are indeed speaking Sunday, not Saturday.)

I'll be talking about the making of "Everything I Needed to Know About Zombies I Learned From the Movies." It should be a great time, so stop by and hear the war stories!

Massacring Movies

Bay Area horror hostess Miss Misery is one of the hardest working dames in horror business. Not only does she host her own local access television shows -- Movie Massacre and the Last Doorway Show -- she hosts a segment on Creepy KOFY Movie Time for the KOFY station in San Francisco, runs her own film festival, and has a horror convention slated for later this year.

I met Miss Misery at WonderCon in San Francisco last year, and I was immediately taken with how friendly she is. She's a charismatic lady, who knows her horror history. I had the privilege of appearing on the second episode of Movie Massacre (with Everything...Zombies screening before Night of the Living Dead...more on this at a later date), and she and her partner-in-crime John Gillette made me feel as at home as a girl could feel while sitting in a fake electric chair.

Hangin' with Miss Misery at Sac Con in October

So, when I got the call that she wanted a few extra hands on deck to help her film an episode of Movie Massacre, I jumped at the chance to help out. I haven't been on a live film set since I shot Everything...Zombies back in 2008!

Funny enough, Miss Misery's film set is no more than a 10 minutes drive from my new digs. She was interviewing John Stanley, veteran horror host and author, and it was quite the moment to be watching two generations of Bay Area horror hosts at work.

I also got to help out with filming some of the show's "Mr. Torture" segments. The actor who plays him is not only a talented executioner (kidding! I think...) but a cracker-jack carpenter, responsible for some awesome props, including the aforementioned electric chair (seriously, I want one for my home. Most comfortable chair ever).

I mean really, check this guy's talent out! What goth child wouldn't want their own home-made guillotine to play with?

It was a really great night. I've missed the camaraderie of working on a set, of watching everyone's talents and skills click to make something greater than any one person could do alone. Not to mention, it was a really inspiring set, being surrounded by horror fans and paraphernalia, and it made me want to get cracking on breaking down the script for Inner Critic.

I'll let ya'll know when my episode of Movie Massacre hits the air! I have a copy of the DVD sitting here, but I'm still too nervous to watch. It's one thing to be interviewed via internet...it's another to be on TV!