Emmy Award winning special effects artist Todd Masters, founder of MASTERSFX, and Bruce Haring, founder of JM Northern Media, have teamed up for the world’s first “Aliens to Zombies” Convention, a two day-long look at monsters and the post-apocalyptic world.
The event, open to the public, takes place on October 21-22, at Hollywood’s legendary, “haunted” Roosevelt Hotel. A highlight of the event will be the revival of Masters’ infamous “Monster-Makers Bash” costume party, which annually attracts the industry’s top special effects artists. (Note: Interested participants can visit www.alienstozombies.com for complete Registration Information. Early Bird pricing is in effect until October 1) Also visit: http://twitter.com/#!/AlienstoZombies
Masters and Haring have enlisted the participation of notables from Hollywood’s “Monster-Making” industry, along with other movie-makers, authors, journalists, actors and experts from across the paranormal universe.
Confirmed participants include Bryce Zabel (producer of NBC’s “Dark Skies” and author of “A.D. After Disclosure: The People’s Guide to Life After Contact”); actor Michael Rooker of “The Walking Dead” series; Oscar winning monster makers/partners Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff, Jr., of ADI, Inc. (the “Alien” films, “Pumpkinhead,” “X-Files: The Movie,” and FX for the new version of “The Thing” released 10/18); Alex Ben Block, Senior Editor, The Hollywood Reporter; Todd Masters (president of MASTERSFX, creators of special FX for the TV series "Falling Skies" and "True Blood"); Steve Murillo, State Section Director MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) Los Angeles; Scott Kenemore (author, "Zombie, Ohio"); Joe McKinney (author, "Dead City"); David Moody (author, the "Autumn" series); Matt Mogt, creator of the Zombie Research Society; and Martin Olson (author, "Encyclopedia of Hell.”)
Said Masters, “After so many years of my colleagues and I appearing at genre conventions and on panels around the world talking about ‘monster making’ and our FX work, we thought, ‘Why not have a ‘Monstrous’ event right here, in our own Hollywood backyard, and present it just in time for Halloween 2011? We truly hope the success of this first ever ‘Aliens to Zombies’ Convention will result in it becoming an annual Hollywood tradition.”
Events for the “Aliens to Zombies” Convention include:
FRIDAY, OCT. 21
7 p.m. “Aliens to Zombies” Kickoff Party and Halloween Book Festival Awards
SATURDAY, OCT. 22
ALIENS 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. The Beginning of the End
Moderator: 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 Mogt, Author, “EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT ZOMBIES”
ACADEMY ROOM 11:45-1 p.m. – Aliens Among Us
Moderator: Todd Masters, Aliens to Zombies/MASTERSFX
• Shane Mahan, Creature Supervisor, Legacy FX, Inc., (“Iron Man” series, “Cowboys & Aliens,” “Terminator” series, and “Predators”)
• Alec Gillis/Tom Woodruff Jr., ADI, Inc., “The Thing”
• Steve Murillo, State Section Director, Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) Los Angeles
ACADEMY ROOM 1:15 to 2:00 p.m. The Pro Monster-Maker Halloween Challenge”
Hollywood’s top monster-makers will be challenged to create a monster from simple household materials. A great how-to for anyone seeking Halloween costume ideas! The competition will be recorded by the SyFy “Face-off” team! Participants: Steve Johnson, Todd Masters, Shane Mahan/Legacy, Alec Gillis/Tom Woodruff Jr.
OSCAR ROOM: 2:00 to 3:15 p.m. – “Beast Wishes” Movie Trailer – Bob and Kathy Burns
ACADEMY ROOM 2:15 to 3:30 pm – The Cinema’s Simians: Monkey Men of the Movies
Moderator:
Panelists:
• Jason Barnett, Documentarian/Producer
• Bob Burns, Special Effects, “Aliens”
• John Criswell, Hensons
• Tom Woodruff, Jr., ADI
ACADEMY ROOM 3:30–4:45 p.m. – A Werewolf’s Bane – Howling to The Underworld
Moderator: Todd Masters, Aliens to Zombies/MASTERSFX
Panelists:
• Steve Johnson, FX guru, “American Werewolf in London,” “The Howling,” “Fright Night”
OSCAR ROOM 5:00 p.m — Zombies Keynote – Delivered by Michael Rooker, Actor, “The Walking Dead”
9 p.m. THE ALIENS TO ZOMBIES MONSTER-MAKERS BASH – The Professional Monster-Makers Halloween Bash, presented by MastersFX at La Velvet Margarita Cantina, 1612 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood.
THE “HAUNTED” HOLLYWOOD ROOSEVELT HOTEL
Build on Hollywood Blvd, across the street from the famed Chinese Theatre in 1927 by a syndicate of Hollywood’s elite, including Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Sid Grauman and Louis B. Mayer, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel (and its “Blossom Room”) was the site of the first-ever Academy Awards ceremony on May 19, 1929. The hotel is also world renowned for the rumor that it’s long been haunted not by one, but two celebrity ghosts.
The ghost of actor Montgomery Clift haunts the 9th floor (Suite # 928) of the Roosevelt Hotel, where he used to pace the halls back in 1953, memorizing his lines while in production on “From Here to Eternity.” Tales are told of loud noises coming from the empty suite, and of telephones mysteriously left off the hook. The other apparition rumored to be a resident of the Roosevelt Hotel is that of Marilyn Monroe, whose image is said to occasionally appear in a full-length mirror which used to hang in her poolside suite—today that same mirror hangs next to the hotel elevator on the lower level.
About MASTERSFX
Founded in 1987 by Emmy Award winner Todd Masters, MASTERSFX is a full-service Character Effects company headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, with an additional studio in Vancouver, BC, Canada. The company has designed, created and produced prosthetics, animatronics, and character effects for many hundreds of motion pictures, television programs, and commercials.
Recently, MASTERSFX provided prosthetic FX for such high profile feature films and television series as “True Blood,” “Falling Skies,” “Underworld 3D,” “Super,” “Slither,” “The Haunting in Georgia,” “Big Love” and “Fringe.” Historically, the company has contributed FX to such other hits as “Stargate SG1,” “The Horse Whisperer,” “Star Trek: First Contact,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” both “Addams Family” films, “Six Feet Under,” “Tales from the Crypt,” “Battlestar Galactica,” and many more.
MASTERSFX is the winner of numerous entertainment industry awards, including an Emmy, a Saturn and a Gemini. The company has also been nominated for dozens of additional Emmy, Gemini, Leo, Saturn, and Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Awards. MASTERSFX’s Los Angeles office can be contacted by phone at 818/834-3000. The web is www.mastersfx.com and Facebook page here.
About JM NORTHERN MEDIA
JM Northern Media is a company focused on media and the people who make it. JM Northern Media’s properties include The DIY Convention: Do It Yourself in Film, Music & Books; The New York Book Festival; The Hollywood Book Festival, and the Aliens to Zombies Convention.
