Ever wonder what the best place on Earth is?
Your childhood home? Your favorite bar? A secret place that no one else knows about?
Well, I'm afraid if you guessed any of the above, you'd sadly be wrong. The Aliens to Zombies Convention is the obvious answer. But what is, in fact, this monumental event?
Glad you asked 'cuz I was pretty much just gonna go ahead anywho.
The Aliens to Zombies Convention is held at the famously haunted
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel,
October 21st to 22nd 2011, which is being run by
Emmy-winning visual effects artist
Todd Masters and
Bruce Haring of
JM Northern Media.
Todd Masters recently spoke with
FEAR NET about the Convention...
"Well, my ol' buddy Bruce Haring phoned me one day, said... I got this idea, "Aliens to Zombies"...and before he even said it all, it was like, "DANG! I like this..." So we both just went rapidly into it... He having this great background in conventions, book festivals, story conferences... And me, with my history of these Halloween Bash's, monster-making and arts... We naturally jumped into making what this means to our unique association, into this event.And it's been a lot of fun putting together. It's like a monster itself!!" ~
Todd Masters,
Fear.netCheck out the FULL FEAR NET INTERVIEW right here.Confirmed participants include "
Dark Skies" producer
Bryce Zabel, "
Walking Dead" actor
Michael Rooker, and ADI Inc’s Oscar winners
Alec Gillis and
Tom Woodruff, Jr. One highlight will be the return of
Masters' annual "Monster-Makers Bash" costume party,
attended by top FX artists.
That's right. In addition to tons of special panelists, special events, and horror royalty being in attendance, there will be a
COSTUME PARTY HELD BY THE MOST TALENTED FX ARTISTS IN THE WORLD.
THAT is what heaven is like. And it
is a place on Earth.
Now, I don't have to tell you folks that frequent our
Penny Dreadful Diary that I absolutely adore prosthetic effects, make up effects, and the masters who create them. What can I say? I'm a 80s brat who was lucky enough to grow up with titles like
ALIEN,
JACOB'S LADDER, and
THE THING where gore~geous, practical effects were used and even the occasional amputee. I know I'm not the only one who cringes watching actors try to interact with CGI beasties who never quite match up to having the real deal.
And our
very favorite person attending? The Master of Horror,
Todd Masters, of course. (Sorry, Rooker)
FEAR NET: Another film you're working on is American Mary. How would you describe this movie? Todd Masters: Hey cool, glad to hear that you know this!! Working with the extra talented Twisted Twins... Their follow- up indie to Dead Hooker in a Trunk.... Just saw the ladies last night; we're moving into shooting (starts shooting Oct 31st!) The Twins will be at A/ZCon too!
We have the esteemed pleasure of working together on our upcoming AMERICAN MARY. Additionally, we will be attending the event as well. That's right, LA citizens and those within reasonable driving distance. Come on down and meet us Twisted Twins in the flesh.
It's the
only place to be from
October 21st to 22nd.
PROGRAMFRIDAY, OCT. 217 p.m. Aliens to Zombies kickoff party –
Halloween Book Festival Awards
SATURDAY, OCT. 22Aliens to Zombies Convention – Roosevelt Hotel
ACADEMY ROOM 11:00 a.m.
Aliens Keynote –
Bryce Zabel, producer of NBC’s “
Dark Skies” and author of “
A.D. After Disclosure: The People’s Guide to Life After Contact” in a conversation with
Alex Ben Block, Senior Editor, The Hollywood Reporter
OSCAR ROOM 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. Beginning of the EndModerator:
Bruce Haring, Aliens to Zombies
Panelists:
Martin Olson, author, “ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HELL”
Joe McKinney, author, “DEAD CITY”
David Moody, author, “THE ‘AUTUMN’ SERIES”
Scott Kenemore, author, “ZOMBIE, OHIO”
Matt Mogk, author, “EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT ZOMBIES”
Rhiannon Frater, author, "The First Days"
ACADEMY ROOM 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. – Aliens Among UsPanelists:
Steve Murillo, State Section Director, MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) Los Angeles
Alec Gillis &
Tom Woodruff Jr., ADI Inc. Oscar-winning FX creators, “Starship Troopers”, “Alien vs. Predator,” “The Thing”
Shane Mahan, “Aliens & Cowboys,” “Terminator” series, LegacyFX
OSCAR ROOM 1:10 to 2:00 p.m. Pro Monster-Maker $22. Halloween ChallengeHollywood’s top monster-makers are challenged to make a monster from simple household materials with limited budget. A great how-to for anyone seeking Halloween costume ideas.
Participants:
Dan Rebert, MASTERSFX “6 Feet Under, True Blood”
Shane Mahan/Legacy, FX “Iron Man”, “Aliens”
Andrew Clement, “Cloverfield”, “Nightmare on Elm Street”, “Sons of Anarchy”
Steve Johnson, “Ghostbusters,” “Species”
ACADEMY ROOM: 2:00 to 2:15 p.m. – “Beast Wishes” Trailer - Bob and Kathy Burns, Frank Dietz,
ProducerACADEMY ROOM 2:15 to 3:30 pm – The Cinema’s Simians: Monkey Men of the MoviesPanelists:
Jason Barnett, documentarian/producer
Bob Burns, special effects, “Aliens”
Todd Masters, “Underworld 4”
John Criswell, Hensons
ACADEMY ROOM 3:40–4:50 p.m. – Werewolf’s Bane – Howling to The UnderworldModerator:
Michael Dougherty, writer/director, “Trick or Treat”, “X-men”,
Panelists:
Steve Johnson, FX guru, “The Howling,” “Fright Night”
Kerry Gammill, artist, MONSTERVERSE (“X-men”, “Superman,” “Flesh and Blood”)
Todd Masters, President of MASTERSFX. “Underworld 4”
OSCAR ROOM 5:00 p.m Talking Dead –
Michael Rooker, “The Walking Dead,” “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer” in conversation with
James Gunn, writer,/director, “Slither”, “Dawn of the Dead”, and “Super”.
8:30 p.m -1:30a.m. ALIENS TO ZOMBIES - Monster-Makers Bash, presented by
MASTERSFX and
JM Northern Media at
Velvet Margarita.
For more info on the Convention, check out
ALIENSTOZOMBIES.COMYou can
get your tickets RIGHT HERE.See you there!! Better start planning your costumes for the MONSTER MAKERS BASH now...
Bloody Best!
Jen