Necronomicon 2003
Necronomicon is the second of two conventions we attend each year, unless you count film festivals like B-Fest as conventions, which I don't. Held locally in a Tampa hotel about an hour from St. Pete, it's a much more relaxed affair than Dragon*Con, but it still manages to attract enough people that the hotel parking lot overflows and the panels, no matter how obscure the topic, are usually well-attended.
One thing most people notice is the distinct lack of "big" name celebrities -- there are few actors and fewer stars (if any) in attendance. Writers dominate the guest list, and local personalities abound. Necronomicon's organizers seem more interested in providing a venue for the gathering of like-minded people (that is, geeks) than in attracting autograph hounds. A visit in 1996 by J. Michael Straczynski so overwhelmed the convention that (rumor has it) the convention staff deliberately forsook guests of such popularity thereafter. That doesn't mean that there aren't any recognizable guests -- there certainly are -- but they tend to be authors and artists instead of actors and directors.
The intimacy of the convention provides for some unique opportunities and pleasant surprises, one of which was the inaugural Stomp Tokyo Incredibly Strange Short Film Festival. (Well, it was certainly pleasant from our perspective -- you'd have to ask the audience about their experience.) The two-hour festival, which began at midnight on Friday, was a pretty resounding success given its low-profile promotion. The convention folks did a great job -- they put a reminder on the "convention channel" (the closed circuit TV channel in the hotel) and on the web site. We managed only a few hand-written signs to remind registrants that they could get their fill of video weirdness by stopping in.
At its height we had about forty people in the room, which is about capacity for the modest video rooms. The Hindi musical numbers inspired a bit of head-scratching (although they drew people in from the hallway), while atomic bomb shorts from the '50s and '60s were highly appreciated by the mostly over-30 crowd. Scott captured a classic moment during the Lapland Reindeer Ritual (click the third picture; that's me in the back, giving the thumbs-up sign), and a certain nudie-cutie short inspired one person to proclaim the sentiment that he would never miss another Necronomicon.
It was about two a.m. when the festival ended, and the numbers had dwindled somewhat, but we were glad to have done it and I'm hopeful that we'll be allowed back next year for a re-tooled version of our little collection. It would be difficult to come up with two hours of brand new shorts every year, but I think we could present a substantially different set of films for each installment, while preserving the audience favorites and the flavor of the event. Now if only we could guarantee a few extra hours of sleep before we had to be back at the convention, appearing on panels.
The most memorable panel in which we participated this time around was one entitled "Print to Film: What Works" with author Jeff Strand, who is currently rewriting one of his novels for the screen, and artist/author Gahan Wilson, whose work you will recognize instantly when you see it. Wilson sounded appropriately bitter about his dealings with "Hollywood types," but still fairly hopeful that the projects he currently has on the table will someday see the light of a theater or TV screen. Wilson is a really nice guy and took the time to talk with us the next day for some time about movies and whatnot.
Timothy Zahn, who mistakenly sat down in our "print to film" panel before realizing that he was supposed to be speaking elsewhere, sat next to Wilson at the signing and also took the time to say some complimentary things about Reel Shame. I find myself taken aback when I hear a "real" writer say complimentary things about our book; it's difficult to say more than a flattered "thank you" to these guys. I should probably have a standard sincere reply to deliver on such occasions, because otherwise I look like an idiot who can't handle kind words. Zahn inquired after our next book and listened to our plans, which always sound a bit vague because I'm afraid to give too much away. Still, he gave us a bit of advice on finding a publisher -- I can't say enough about how friendly and accessible the people are at Necronomicon.
Our other two panels were fairly generic: a catch-all "b-movies" panel and one on magazine publishing, which turned out to be as educational for us (or more so) as for the people who showed up to listen. The gaming community was well represented, what with Steve Jackson at the con, so we were joined by reps from two of the major gaming magazines, Gaming Frontiers and Pyramid. I don't know a darn thing about role playing games (the last time I played D&D was in the fifth grade), but I knew enough to be impressed.
"Necro," as it is affectionately nicknamed, is a great way for readers and writers alike to spend a weekend and a few bucks, especially in the dealers' room. I couldn't say for sure, but I think there were at least as many booksellers in Necro's tiny marketplace as in Dragon*Con's cavernous pop-culture bazaar. If that doesn't tell you something about the difference between the two conventions, there's little else that will.
One thing most people notice is the distinct lack of "big" name celebrities -- there are few actors and fewer stars (if any) in attendance. Writers dominate the guest list, and local personalities abound. Necronomicon's organizers seem more interested in providing a venue for the gathering of like-minded people (that is, geeks) than in attracting autograph hounds. A visit in 1996 by J. Michael Straczynski so overwhelmed the convention that (rumor has it) the convention staff deliberately forsook guests of such popularity thereafter. That doesn't mean that there aren't any recognizable guests -- there certainly are -- but they tend to be authors and artists instead of actors and directors.
The intimacy of the convention provides for some unique opportunities and pleasant surprises, one of which was the inaugural Stomp Tokyo Incredibly Strange Short Film Festival. (Well, it was certainly pleasant from our perspective -- you'd have to ask the audience about their experience.) The two-hour festival, which began at midnight on Friday, was a pretty resounding success given its low-profile promotion. The convention folks did a great job -- they put a reminder on the "convention channel" (the closed circuit TV channel in the hotel) and on the web site. We managed only a few hand-written signs to remind registrants that they could get their fill of video weirdness by stopping in.
At its height we had about forty people in the room, which is about capacity for the modest video rooms. The Hindi musical numbers inspired a bit of head-scratching (although they drew people in from the hallway), while atomic bomb shorts from the '50s and '60s were highly appreciated by the mostly over-30 crowd. Scott captured a classic moment during the Lapland Reindeer Ritual (click the third picture; that's me in the back, giving the thumbs-up sign), and a certain nudie-cutie short inspired one person to proclaim the sentiment that he would never miss another Necronomicon.
It was about two a.m. when the festival ended, and the numbers had dwindled somewhat, but we were glad to have done it and I'm hopeful that we'll be allowed back next year for a re-tooled version of our little collection. It would be difficult to come up with two hours of brand new shorts every year, but I think we could present a substantially different set of films for each installment, while preserving the audience favorites and the flavor of the event. Now if only we could guarantee a few extra hours of sleep before we had to be back at the convention, appearing on panels.
The most memorable panel in which we participated this time around was one entitled "Print to Film: What Works" with author Jeff Strand, who is currently rewriting one of his novels for the screen, and artist/author Gahan Wilson, whose work you will recognize instantly when you see it. Wilson sounded appropriately bitter about his dealings with "Hollywood types," but still fairly hopeful that the projects he currently has on the table will someday see the light of a theater or TV screen. Wilson is a really nice guy and took the time to talk with us the next day for some time about movies and whatnot.
Timothy Zahn, who mistakenly sat down in our "print to film" panel before realizing that he was supposed to be speaking elsewhere, sat next to Wilson at the signing and also took the time to say some complimentary things about Reel Shame. I find myself taken aback when I hear a "real" writer say complimentary things about our book; it's difficult to say more than a flattered "thank you" to these guys. I should probably have a standard sincere reply to deliver on such occasions, because otherwise I look like an idiot who can't handle kind words. Zahn inquired after our next book and listened to our plans, which always sound a bit vague because I'm afraid to give too much away. Still, he gave us a bit of advice on finding a publisher -- I can't say enough about how friendly and accessible the people are at Necronomicon.
Our other two panels were fairly generic: a catch-all "b-movies" panel and one on magazine publishing, which turned out to be as educational for us (or more so) as for the people who showed up to listen. The gaming community was well represented, what with Steve Jackson at the con, so we were joined by reps from two of the major gaming magazines, Gaming Frontiers and Pyramid. I don't know a darn thing about role playing games (the last time I played D&D was in the fifth grade), but I knew enough to be impressed.
"Necro," as it is affectionately nicknamed, is a great way for readers and writers alike to spend a weekend and a few bucks, especially in the dealers' room. I couldn't say for sure, but I think there were at least as many booksellers in Necro's tiny marketplace as in Dragon*Con's cavernous pop-culture bazaar. If that doesn't tell you something about the difference between the two conventions, there's little else that will.
