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!

The New Neighborhood

One of the challenges of my new apartment is my reliance on the car to get me around. This has taken some getting used to. I'd spent the last 8 years being within walking distance to shopping and the BART line, which allowed me a great deal of linear independence. Now, I have a more radial sense of mobility, but it's limited to when I have access to the vehicle. This means, when the Professor has the car for work, I'm essentially marooned here. 

I admit, I was starting to get a little stir crazy. Twice a week may not seem like much, but when you're all alone in an apartment ALL DAY (the Prof works late) without so much as a pet, it can get a little isolating. Today, I couldn't take the prospect of spending another gorgeous, sunny day trapped in my apartment alone. So, rather than doing my usual Qi Gong exercise video in my living room, I strapped on my kicks, packed a snack, and headed out my door...

...and look what I found!

I'd seen on maps that we're close to the border of Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, and I'd seen some cryptic signs nearby stating "Park Closed" hours, but I'd never found the access to the park. Today, I stumbled upon it during my adventure walk. 

I enjoyed my snack while perched on a boulder, listening to the burble of the creek and the rustle of the wind through the eucalyptus leaves. Now, I've never been much of an outdoor person, but the fresh air and sunshine was seriously like a antidote to the craziness, and I felt my mind still. It was lovely.

After my snack, my explorations took me up into Alvardo Park proper, which is a neat place with stone walls, picnic areas, and wide, sunny fields. I foresee some serious toes-in-the-grass time once the weather gets even warmer.

The best part was, I had most of the area to myself. There were a few young mothers with their children, and a man with his little dog, but on the whole I could explore in peace. Odd to say, since it was solitude that drove me out of the apartment, but it's different when you're out in nature. I didn't feel alone...I felt connected to the web of life in a way that I hadn't in a long time.

Now that I know it's there, I think afternoon walks in the park are going to become part of my regular routine. Having this nearby sure beats a shopping center any day of the week!

(Cancer) Sticks and (Kidney) Stones

The universe strives for balance.

It's one of those fundamental things I believe. For every good thing that happens, something bad does. I'm not talking about causality, per say. The balancing force may come in a completely different form.

Take this weekend, for instance. On Friday night, I was looking forward to a quiet couple of days, and told my brother so as we chatted over Xbox LIVE. He, on the other hand, was gearing up for a rip-roaring weekend promoting his two comics at the new Image Expo in Oakland. Usually, I'm right in the thick of a con, slinging my films and comics, but I wasn't up to it this time.

This decision was especially hard to make since I knew Norman Reedus was going to be in the Image Expo house. Actually, it's he who helped me make the decision. Every time I meet an actor I admire, it just goes badly (someday I'll tell you the Dean Stockwell story. Today is not that day.). As a huge Boondock Saints fan, Norman is one of my favorite actors, and I knew that meeting him in person would invariably lead to disaster. So, I decided to do everyone a favor and steer clear.

The man elevates smoking to an art form...

So, before I logged off for the night, I jokingly asked my brother, "Hey, if you happen to bump into Norman, do me a favor. Bum a smoke from him for me."

"I'll try," he chuckled.

It was a throw away comment, really, and I put it completely out of my mind. I went to bed that night looking forward to a day of working on my novel. Professor Lefty was looking forward to having some friends over for band practice and board games. Pretty normal.

Things began to go awry when I was woken up at 8 a.m. by the Professor lurching out of bed to race to the bathroom to be sick. I figured it was just a bug, until he came staggering back to bed. He was pale and clammy, and he squirmed in agony, moaning that his whole abdomen hurt. When he uttered the magic words "kidney pain," I knew it was time to call his Dad, who had spent a good part of his life as an ER doc.

The poor Professor got sick twice more during the course of the 10-minute phone call, and the Doc confirmed my fears: I had to take the Professor to the emergency room. It wasn't a bug that was making his sick, it was the pain, which meant either his appendix or a kidney stone.

Well. Good thing I'd gotten my driver's license two months ago.

I instantly went into crisis mode: jammies off, jeans on. Gather important papers, keys, and wrangle the ailing husband into the car. I calmly drove him to the nearest Kaiser hospital, registered him in, and soothed him through the agonizing minutes between when we arrived and when he got treated. (I have to say, the staff at Kaiser Richmond's ER were crackerjack. We were in good hands.)

I've been with the Professor for 15 years. I've nursed him through motorcycle accident sprains and scrapes, impromptu hand surgery, and the aftermath of a near-fatal car accident. I'd never seen him in so much pain before, and all I could do was hold his hand and wait for the doctors to do their thing. I admit, it was scary.

What he said it felt like...

After some pain meds and tests, the doctors determined that yep, it was a kidney stone. A small one, only 3 mm, but enough so that the Prof had felt like he was being torn apart from the inside. Feeling much better after the drugs kicked in, he was discharged with a passel of medicine in hand.

...what it really was.
Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

After a brief nap of relief for the both of us, the rest of my day was spent in Florence Nightingale mode: going to the store for supplies, updating worried friends and family via text and phone, making jell-o and soup, cleaning up the mess we'd left in the wake of our morning flight. I didn't think twice about anything that I'd missed. I was just so relieved my husband was okay.

I finally called my brother around 8 p.m. I hadn't wanted to throw off his convention mojo, so I left him out of the initial round of calls. My folks had told him what had happened, however, and after I filled him in on the details, I asked him about the con.

"Well," he said, "you know that thing you asked me to get?"

"Yeah?"

"I got it."

"No way."

He did it! Well, to be fair, he and his friend/partner-in-comics Jackson did it. Jackson has cerebral palsy, as well as a hell of lot of charisma (he's a stand-up comedian) and a brass pair. He has a way of getting past the velvet rope, and his wheelchair is autographed by bad-ass celebrities including the guys from Slipknot, and now, my favorite Boondock Saint.

Norm at Image Expo. Picture by Xander Kent.

While Jackson was getting his chair signed, Xander noticed Norman was wearing a Stone Brewing Co. patch on his jacket. Xander, being an Escondido boy, promptly pointed it out, and Norm and he were instant buds. Even got the bro-hug. In this moment, Xander remembered my request. He told Norman I was a big fan and how much it would mean to me to bum a smoke. After a moment's thought, Norman graciously acquiesced.

The Stone Brewery patch! Photo by Xander Kent.

When Xander told me, I seriously teared up. It was kind of too much. After a day filled with so much real-world fear and uncertainty, to get such good fangirl news was a bit overwhelming. Not just that I finally had a little token from an actor who has meant so much to me, but that my brother was still thinking of me even at the height of his own fanboy glee.

Norman Reedus's cigarette. Photo by Xander Kent.

So, yeah. It was an amazingly good thing following closely on the heels of a startlingly bad thing. I know one didn't have anything to do with the other at all, but this is the subtle balance of the universe at play in my life. Kinda glad it doesn't happen all to often.  

As for the Professor, he's doing much better. No pain, though no stone. If you have any to spare, please send some good vibes his way. He could sure use 'em!

Name Game

What's in a name? Quite a lot. As someone who's lived with a long, unusual moniker her whole life, I tend to be more hyper-aware of my name than other folks.

You might have noticed a change or two around this blog. First off, I've decided to drop the "Bloody Good Stories" label. In all honesty, it just wasn't ringing true for me. Though much of my work is rooted in the horror genre, I'm starting to branch out into other fields. I don't want to invest in a name that will ultimately limit my vision as a creator. When I find the right label, I'll know.

Which leads to my second -- and much more personal -- change. Though I still am and will remain a happily married woman, the whole hyphenated "Windham-Kent" last name was just too much for my already long name to take on. So, after much soul-searching, I've decided to go back to being simply "Sherezada Kent."

I know it's a strange thing to do, but it's what's right for me. I really thought I'd get used to it, but after over a year it still felt weird, like I was wearing the wrong size shoes. I'm still keeping it legally ('cause I am NOT going through the gauntlet of bureaucratic bullshit again), but everything else I create from this point will be under my "short," sweet name...

...until I decide to change my name to a symbol.

Tabula Rasa

The very first things I unpacked in my new apartment.

All the boxes are finally unpacked, and my new apartment is set up pretty much as I want it. There's something so poetic about starting a new year in a new home, especially one that's a much-needed upgrade. What's even more exciting about this place is that I actually have an honest-to-goodness office space! It still needs a bit of setting up, but all the important bits are there: computer, printer/scanner, my trusty Nightmare Before Christmas block calendar.

Even with all the good changes, it's still taken some getting used to. Everything is completely different now. The new apartment is off the BART line, which means I actually have to put my new driving skills to work on a near-daily basis.

They see me rollin', they hatin'...

It's taken a bit of time and practice, but I'm finally to the point where I actually find driving fun. I know most drivers got over the thrill when they were teenagers, but I still get a rush each time I hit over 30 mph with my music on the stereo. The world feels so open to me now, even if I am just bipping around town doing errands.

So, yeah. New apartment, new driving skills, and soon, new projects. Spring will come sooner than expected, and I still have some hefty pre-production and budget building to do before I can come up with a concrete funding and production plan for my new short film, Inner Critic. After all the domestic madness, I'm really looking forward to getting back to work again.