Tag: Interviews

What’s Next after Arcana Studios’ Howard Lovecraft and The Frozen Kingdom?

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By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom can make a great holiday gift for fans of Cthulhu and H.P. Lovecraft’s works. The adult self may well be morbid with his harsh opinions about the people he’s met and the Jazz Age he lived in, but for the youth, his innocence has yet to be tarnished. With snow hitting parts of the Pacific Northwest, I have the print volume, video releaseHoward Lovecraft and compilation hardcover (amazon listing) to cozy up to and the Dreamlands to visit as I lay snuggled up in my blanket. Some comic book stores may not be able to order them in, and thankfully they can be obtained through Arcana Studios’ website or on AmazonHoward Lovecraft.

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I wanted to know more about what’s coming for this trilogy. Reception is great for the animated version, and Arcana Studios is focussing on making Howie one of their flagship products. Michelle O’Reilly (pictured right), co-founder of the company, explained both she and her husband, Sean, wanted to give their production house a bit of rebrand. They want to focus more on kid-friendly content. She said, “Everyone loves H.P. Lovecraft but he’s not very kid-friendly. We made our own version that’s suitable for younger audiences.”

When looking at the two mediums to which this character is developed for, some readers/viewers may well notice a difference in artistic style. “Gary Yuen is our art director and modeler, and I really do love how he went into a much more Tim Burton look especially with Howard. Because there were so many artists on the book series, Howard’s look was never completely locked down,” Sean explained. “One of the greatest things from comic to movie comes from learning what worked and what didn’t work and being able to make those changes.”

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[Victoria, BC] NeXus Con Sets Out to Bend the Rules of Gaming Come Aug 27!

Nexus-Con-teaserBy Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

NeXus Con is a new event organized by Dwayne Morash who simply wants to introduce folks to gaming (in all its various forms). The show will be held at Saanich Commonwealth Place on August 27th, 2016 from 11am to 9pm, and it is an intimate type of event where it will be capped at 40 or so people

New players do not have the opportunity to simply try games out without buying, and this show hopes to change all that by flipping the formula traditionally found in conventions. Most shows require a separate entry fee just to play in tournaments. This event dispenses with all that and it’s going to be more like a meet n’ greet spotlighting the favourite games of past and present.

Morash is the founder/editor of Game Nexus, a local news and information site for all things related to games. Just like this website, there will be video games, tabletop miniature battles, role-playing games and collectable card games to try out. For a reasonable fee of $25, attendees can sample the best in what gaming has to offer. Trends change like the roll of the dice, and the goal of Morash is to provide a quality event minus all the hustle and bustle of one that is corporate run. He gave me a heads up about this event, and I had some questions:

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In Conversation With Actor/Musician Garry Chalk

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By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Garry Chalk is one of those actors who created the voice of many of my favourite characters in animation in the 1990’s. As the voice of Turbo and Slash in Mainframe Entertainment’s Reboot and later Optimus Primal in Transformers: Beast Wars / Machines, I really liked how he put his all into those characters. Back then, the Internet was not available and I had to depend on keeping an eagle eye and sharp ear to the credits to recognize what he appeared in. Little did I know he had a vast and rewarding career in film, television and theatre before coming onto the animation scene.

When I spoke to him about his more recent work, especially in O. Corbin Saleken‘s Patterson’s Wager (which is getting screenings in upcoming film festivals around North America and is on VOD), this performer said, “I’m not one of those kinds of method actors who look for characters in other people. I develop what’s within me and who I am and put me in that situation. I know myself better than anyone else. There’s a whole emotional gambit to consider, but in every one of them, there’s a facet of what you’re going to make the character be. So the core essence of any character [I play] is me with a bunch of additional circumstances to shape my response.”

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You Beta Believe It — Interview with Nicholas Gyeney, Seattle Filmmaker on Upcoming Films

HkqH1L8F-300x300By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Nicholas Gyeney is an independent filmmaker based out of Seattle, Washington and his upcoming film, Beta Test, will definitely break one cinematic record that I’ve seen and am excited for. It will feature a really long continuous shot of well-coordinated fight scene! Getting a film noticed in the sea of summer blockbuster material is tough, and I feel this director succeeded.

His past works include The Penitent Man (2010) with Lance Henriksen in an important role, and Matt’s Choice (2013), starring Edward Furlong, Lee Majors and Margot Kidder. In my interview with him, he revealed that he creates the characters with specific performers in mind, and that alone has me interested in seeking out his earlier material to check out. After seeing his latest movie, I found myself appreciating Manu Bennett (Arrow) and Larenz Tate’s (Crash) talents more. A review can be found on this website titled, “Playing Video Games Can Be Dangerous in the Film, ‘Beta Test'”

This movie is set to debut in select theatres across the USA on July 22nd (see below for listings) and it will arrive on VOD the following month at outlets like iTunes, Google Play, Amazon. I have to thank Gyeney for taking the time to answer my questions.

ES: Can you please introduce yourself to readers unfamiliar with your movies?

NG: I fell in love with film at a young age. Dad introduced me to it all. He died when I was 12. It changed my life. I discovered filmmaking when I realized the impact movies had on my ability to get through losing my father. I decided to work towards creating films that could return the favor.

ES: How did the story come about?

NG: It was born out of a desire to make an indie action film that injected, hopefully, a bit more class into the indie action sub-genre. Most of the films we see in this market are plagued by sloppy production values from the top down. I wanted something to help change the conversation. A movie that says, just because we are small, doesn’t mean we have to be bad. With that said,  I knew I had to come up with some sort of spectacle that could sell the film, which is where the idea for the longest single-take fight sequence was born.

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Emerging Talents in Canada: Curtis Horsburgh on “Fyoog” & The NFB

IMG_20160614_161614380By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

The National Film Board of Canada‘s (NFB) Hothouse Apprenticeship program for filmmakers specializing in the animation medium is very aptly named. The goal of this curriculum is likened to the structure gardeners use to create ideal conditions for plants, where new talents are mentored and allowed to develop in new ways. One purpose is to allow them to re-imagine ways of making animation that’s creative and technically marvellous to look at.

One such talent is Curtis Horsburgh, a mixed media artist from Calgary. He studied at the University of Alberta to find his calling. Eventually, he found a passion in experimental film and getting to know how the mind works in psychology. In art, he’s developed quite the style which can be viewed at https://skrowl.com

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On Patterson’s Wager & Comic Books, An Interview with Corbin Saleken & Garry Chalk

Patterson's Wager poster

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Cinecenta
University of Victoria
Victoria, BC
Tuesday, June 14th, 
7:00pm and 9:15pm

Also available on iTunes and other VOD platforms.

O. Corbin Saleken’s independent film, Patterson’s Wager, is not necessarily a tough to categorize movie. There are light elements of fantasy and a dash of comedy woven into a charming romantic tale about a dorky insurance agent, Charles (Fred Ewanuick, Corner Gas) trying to find that perfect moment to propose to Audrey (Chelah Horsdal, Hell on Wheels). But when he gains psychic powers that allow him to see into the future by a few minutes, just what can he do with it? Can he use this ability to find that special moment or save the day? This product could have moved like M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable. There’s no villain here but there’s a quest to discover what’s special between two people.

Within this film is a side story about a young girl’s relationship with grandpa which ties into the main story in one huge way. I don’t want to say too much about it since it would constitute a major spoiler. I was very drawn to this secondary narrative because it features one of my favourite all-time performers in a very genial role: Garry Chalk. He’s the voice of Optimus Primal in Mainframe Entertainment’s Beast Wars and played Colonel Chekovin Stargate SG-1.

Otter (Michelle Creber) talks with her mum high res

Folks interested in this quirky film can find it on iTunes Canada and USA. It’s also available on other streaming platforms like Amazon Instant Video, VHX and Vimeo, along with making continued presences at the film festivals. This movie won many awards — like the Best Independent Feature Narrative award at the Winnipeg Real to Reel Film Festival and the Golden Honu for Best Foreign Feature at the Big Island Film Festival in Hawaii — since debuting last year.

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