My second day at San Diego Comic-Con 2017: I saw the actors from the new Amazon Prime series “The Tick” in a press room, and then interviewed Joseph LoDuca, composer for all of the “Evil Dead” movies about how to create scary sounds, Kris Bowers about composing for the “Dear White People” series, Rachel Keller about acting on “Legion,” and Blake Neely about writing music for “The Flash,” “Arrow,” “Supergirl,” “Riverdale,” (including the musical episode of “Flash”). I saw Donald Faison moderate a panel about “Buddy Thunderstruck,” the stop-motion animation series about the adventures of a dog driver and his ferret mechanic, a panel of storyboard and pre-viz artists from movies like “The Matrix,” “Game of Thrones,” the Marvel movies, and the Jackie Robinson movie, “42.” The topics ranges from the most practical (“Can he raise his arms in that uniform?”) to the most conceptual (the reality levels for fantasy vs. the real world).
Of course I also so some great costumes, and I will be posting photos later. To the guy I thought at first was a cop, until I saw the smushed silver disks on your chest and realized you were Terminator 2: well played, sir. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to take your picture.
Yesterday’s first panel was one that has become an annual highlight: the composers of scores for movie superheroes. Ray Costa moderated a conversation with Mark Isham (the upcoming “Cloak & Dagger”), Brian Tyler (“The Mummy,” “Power Rangers”), David Russo (“Gotham”), and Ludwig Göransson (the eagerly anticipated “Black Panther”). I interviewed Stephen Lane from The Prop Store about his upcoming auction of movie treasures including Jack Nicholson’s purple Joker suit from “Batman” (did you know he picked that color because he loves the Lakers?) I also interviewed Jake Monaco, composer for the Scooby-Doo reboot and “Dinotrux,” and social media star Splack (more on them coming soon). I went to a panel on storytelling with Disney artists and another of my annual favorites, the MAD Magazine panel with the usual gang of idiots and the fans who love them. And I got to talk to Caldecott award-winning writer/illustrator Brian Selznick about his upcoming film, “Wonderstruck,” starring Julianne Moore and directed by Todd Haynes. More coming soon!
The annual MAD Magazine panel
Behind-the-scenes panels with designers, finding out about costumes, sets, and props
Superhero movie composers
The Simpsons panel
Women in Animation and Women Rocking Hollywood (women directors), hosted by my friend Leslie Combemale Marty Krofft and the new Sigmund and the Sea Monsters!
And, as always, the costumes and new technology and movie previews and surprises!
Ilya Tovbis on the Washington Jewish Film Festival 2017
Posted on May 15, 2017 at 3:07 pm
It was great to catch up with Ilya Tovbis to hear about this year’s Washington Jewish Film Festival. I will be hosting “A Classy Broad” and interviewing its subject, trailblazing Hollywood executive Marcia Nasatir and filmmaker Anne Goursaud following the film. The schedule includes a screening of “Clueless” with writer/director Amy Heckerling, and a 45th anniversary screening of “Cabaret.”
Once again, Tovbis found a theme emerging from the films selected, despite the wide variety of genres and countries of origin. “I think the most timely theme that we have identified, very much reflecting the current political moment both nationally and also globally is our Mechanism of Extremism series which is looking at extremism and governments and societies from 1899 through to today. We have also continued a theme from last year which we actually intend to make an annual one, our Rated LGBTQ series. And then lastly on a much lighter side we found a whole lot of comedies of various sorts so we have bundled them together in a series called Laugh Track.
Special guests this year include two Visionary Award winners that Tovbis says he is “thrilled about, Barry Levinson, who based films like “Diner” and “Liberty Heights” on his own experiences. “The other winner is Agnieszka Holland who was Oscar-nominated twice, most recently with ‘In Darkness.’ We’ll be doing a repertory screening of her rarely shown 1985 film ‘Angry Harvest.'”
The films will be of interest to Jewish and non-Jewish audiences. “I think we view ourselves first and foremost as a cultural artistic festival that has a Jewish interest. These films will appeal to a large audience that’s interested in great independent cinema. We do outreach to a whole host of organizations including arts organizations, nonprofits, issue driven organizations, different constituencies. As you dive deeper into the films you have this range of 136 events, with something for everyone. We have as always a lot of films on minority and Arab citizens of Israel and then we have some fun partnerships. We’re working with the local version of Comic Con, Awesome Con for our sci-fi films.
Tovbis has scheduled question and answer sessions following many of the films, with the filmmakers or with local experts. “We have a great partnership this year with the US Holocaust Museum and so many of the Holocaust films feature incredible experts from their museum which range from music historians and cultural historians and others dealing with issues of euthanasia and Romany treatment during the Holocaust.”
Many of the films are being shown for the first time in the US or in the area, and some of the older films are rare or recently restored. “And we hope that being in the festival will get distribution for some of the films that are not scheduled for theatrical release,” Tovbis said.
Another highlight is an evening celebrating Yiddish culture across artistic media. “We are starting out with ‘A Letter To Mother,’ which is a fabulous and also a really timely Polish film. It was filmed shortly before the Blitzkrieg and was the highest in this film in the American theaters a couple of weeks after the Blitzkrieg and it was the highest grossing Yiddish film in American theaters when it was released a couple of weeks after the Blitzkrieg. It is a really interesting historical document. The film itself, while it was shot then, takes place shortly before World War I and talks a lot about Jewish displacement for economic reasons from Europe to America and there’s a lot of relevance to the current refugee crisis.” The film will be followed by a live performance of Yiddish songs from a Dutch band called Nikitov.
Tovbis says, “I think one film that could fly under the radar is ‘People That Are Not Me,’ which is filmed by an Israeli woman named Hadas Ben Aroya who is really the entire force behind the film.” He compares it to critically acclaimed independent films like “Frances Ha” and Lena Dunham’s “Girls.” “It is very current, part of a new Israeli cinema of a kind don’t think I’ve seen come out of that country before, very sexually forward feminist, sort of wears its beliefs on its sleeve. It is not apologetic, it’s not tidy, it has this kind of really interesting take on modern romance or lack thereof or trying to find meaning for someone in their 20s or 30s but is very innovative in the way it’s shot. So I’m really excited about her as a new voice.”
Kid-Kon — A Comic-Con Just for Kids and Their Families
Posted on May 12, 2017 at 3:50 pm
Comic Conventions, which now encompass not just comics or even just sci-fi/fantasy but all of popular culture and lively arts, are thrilling but even the hardiest adults can find them overwhelming. Now there’s a Kid Kon just for children and their families, at the Pasadena Convention Center June 10-11, 2017, and it even has a quiet room (San Diego Comic-Con, take note); a special place for parents with babies and toddlers to chill out. There is a princess party, a superhero gathering, Jedi training, a superhero bash, and yoga for children. Special guests include “Yo Gabba Gabba’s” DJ Lance Rock!
Copyright Kid Kon 2017
Founders Jose and Jessica Prendes write:
Kid Kon is the first-ever fan convention of its kind; a convention with the young fans in mind. As fans of popular entertainment ourselves, we take our two kids to conventions all the time, and half the time they are bored out of their minds because the programming is usually skewed toward an older audience.
We decided that this needed to change.
The goal of Kid Kon is to throw the biggest fandom party any kid has ever seen, celebrating the popular arts like comic books, movies, books, video games, and tv shows that kids are rabid fans of, and giving them a once in a lifetime chance to meet their favorite celebrities in person.
Join us at Kid Kon, where kids of all ages can kick the summer off right!
