Las Vegas Fangoria event

[Robert Martin]

I need some assistance, but to describe the sort of help I need I have to first provide a longwinded version of who I am.

30 years ago, when I was 30 years of age, I was hired to edit a magazine called Fangoria, and during the 5 years I worked there I shaped it into a popular journal of horror and exploitation film.

As the magazine flourished, I always figured our readership -- average age about 18 -- were youngsters whose interest in horror and, specifically, the graphic horror that became the magazine's trademark, probably reflected a certain adolescent frustration upon approaching an age where you are uncertain what to do with your life and your way ahead is clouded. I was very empathetic to such kids because, at the time, editing Fangoria was the first job I had with any real meaning for me.

The basic assumption I made when writing for that audience was that every Fangoria reader wanted to be an artist, and that the path to that goal was uncertain.

So, when writing and editing Fangoria [1979 to 1984], I took whatever opportunity I could to shed some light on the path that the folks I interviewed had taken to go from being a kid reading "Famous Monsters" to being a film professional.

By the mid-80s, though, I couldn't take another iteration of Jason or of Freddie Kreuger or of Michael Meyers, and I got out. Fangoria, Jason, Michael and Freddie have continued hand in hand for another 25 years without me.

I worked in film a little bit (a couple of collaborations with writer-director Frank Henenlotter, some freelance writing for my industry contacts), and continued to write for numerous magazines, but by 2005. I was in Las Vegas attempting to "break in" as a blackjack dealer.

Then I had a stroke -- lost the ability to manipulate cards or chips.

Here I am in Vegas, collecting disability, supplementing my income with a little bit of writing for the web:

http://www.dreadcentral.com/bob-martin

At the end of this month, I've been asked to participate in a Fangoria event at the Palms Resort and Casino, described here:

http://www.trinityofterrors.com/

The attendees at this event aren't likely to be the confused kids I described above...Frankly, I don't know who the Fangoria readership is today. It was $1.75 an issue when I was there, it's now closer to $10 an issue.

Anyway this thing is fast approaching -- the program just went to the printers today. They only approached me for involvement yesterday, and added my photo/bio to the program at the last possible moment.

Nevertheless...is there any possibility, this late in the game, that Red would have interest in doing a presentation on film's digital future for the handful of people attending who may actually have a serious interest in film?

I know if I were an ambitious kid, stumbling into a presentation by Red of what they've accomplished, and what they have planned, is exactly the kind of thing that would make attending this kind of circus worthwhile. If Red is interested in doing it, I'm pretty sure I can arrange for the space and facilities to be made available. If there's interest, whom can I contact right away?

If Red has no interest in putting on a show for the fans, that's fine, especially considering the 11th hour circumstance for this one. I figure there's no harm in asking.

Fango does this sort of thing several times a year in different cities, every year in L.A. and in NYC. Whether they do Vegas again depends on how it goes down this year. But Red's management might want to consider what real benefit, if any, such a presentation would have for Red, and contact me when & if there's interest in doing a Fangocon.

A less complex request:
I am also interested in writing about Red's plans, for web and/or print, specifically as they are likely to affect low-budget horror filmmaking over the next 10-20 years, and about their planned Las Vegas facility. For that, I only need a contact in their press office to get started.

It's pretty clear that these issues are best brought to the attention of Red staffers. rather than here on the regional users' group. If anybody has a good suggestion as to where in the forum this should be posted, or to whom it should be emailed, I'm all ears.

Thanks for your patience with my longwindedness!

[KETCH ROSSi]

Robert,

let me know in which ever way I can help and I'll gladly do so, unfortunately I my self am not as healthy as I once was, either,
so can't do heavy lifting :) or long hours, but I'll do what ever I can to help.

I think that every one which knows me, also knows the passion I carry for filmmaking, and RED,
and I already have steered some to use RED instead of other camera systems,
as well as helped many with their RED purchase, and again it would be my pleasure, to talk about RED,
if RED them selves would not to be in the possibility of making an appearance.

Distinti Saluti,

Ketch Rossi

[Jamison Stark]

There was a movie recently called "Orgy of Blood" which was shot on RED. It seems like Fangoria material. Maybe you could contact the filmmaker for an interview about how RED has affected his process. Here's a quick article with a BTS shot of the camera: http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/32144/set-visit-orgy-blood-first-images

[KETCH ROSSi]

"My Bloody Valentine" also shot on RED 3D was a great project, since they used my two RED ONE cameras in it, and I'm in good stands with the Stereographer and Producers, I can see what we can do about that as well.

Or better yet we can just shoot a short for it!!

[Robert Martin]

Thanks for the prompt responses/good leads. It'll be a bit before I can place a story about Red, due to other commitments, I hope I can reach you all through your mailboxes here when the time comes!

Thanks again!

[Robert Martin]

The Fangoria event that I mentioned above has come and gone; the highlight for me was the opportunity to introduce Roger Corman, at a gathering to celebrate his Lifetime Achievement Award from the Motion Picture Academy, to be awarded him next month at the Governor's Ball. Roger was gracious enough to say that our trifling honor was greater for him than that of the Academy, "because you are the people I have made films with and for," referring to the heavy attendance by young filmmakers and aspiring filmmakers, as well as throngs of fans.

I was asked to introduce him just a day before the event, but writing this was a breeze, it all came intact from memory:

When I was asked to introduce this gentleman, I was excited,
flattered. And filled with dread.

Real-time situations aren't my speciality, I like the security of
having a first draft & revisions, and being well out of reach
when my words are read.

But the man who brings us together this evening is worth some
risk. He's the greatest root influence at the nexus of horror,
independent film and exploitation that everybody here loves
and respects; beyond that, he has provided rough mentoring
to the greatest talents of modern film, a generation of filmmakers
who, when they were let loose upon Hollywood in the 1970s and
1980s, turned the studio system on its ear, and changed film forever.

On the personal level, 50 years ago in Miami, Florida, 1960, I had
just started going to movies under my own power...at a movie
theater a few blocks away from my family's home.
Two magnetic names drew me irresistibly to the cinema then.

Jerry Lewis ... Cinderfella, The Errand Boy, The Bellboy.

The other one was Poe ... The House of Usher, The Pit & the
Pendulum, Premature Burial.

It so happened in 1960, Jerry Lewis made The Bellboy in Miami
Beach, at the Fontainebleau resort hotel where my mom worked,
and he kept his set wide open. I was able to watch Lewis work
for hours at a time; I became aware that he was a writer and
director and in my 12 year old brain there arose the rudiments
of an auteur theory.

So thereafter I watched the credits of the Poe films very closely,
and at 12 became very aware of the work of Roger Corman and
his initial writer on the Poe cycle, Richard Matheson

That awareness became an obsesssion, one that lasted through
my teenaged years and into adulthood, and twenty years later helped to shape Fangoria.

Thirty years after that, the same attraction brings me here, to be with all of you, brought here by your own history; and all of you, I know, have been similarly touched by this man's work.

Admission for a 12 year old in those days was just 25 cents...i still remember how that overheated quarter felt in my sweaty little fist as I stood in line.

If our guest's reputation for thrift is to be believed, he remembers that quarter at least as well as I do, he may even have brought it with him.

Please let him know how we feel about him...Roger Corman