Chillin'

I love a good passion. I happen to have, maybe... three. Actually, maybe just two. Regardless, I know I have them. They are things I fixate over. Things that obsess me. Things I anticipate doing, then do, then bask in having done them. One of these things (though actually, to the letter of the law here, this thing itself is not so much a passion, simply a vessel through which my passion manifests itself)... one of these things is the horror movie convention. Be it the Chiller Show or the Fangoria Show (the only East Coast shows I frequent, though the October Rock-n-Shock show in Worcester is one to keep an eye on), I love a good horror convention.

I've been going to either New York or New Jersey now for 18 years. Most years I only hit the January show, though I've been known to double dip. For the first, oh... 15-16 years, I was, unabashedly, a fanboy and a fanboy only. These last couple of years, though... these last couple of years, I'm a filmmaker. Having written, produced, and/or directed approximately 10 short films and 2 feature films (2 and a half, actually), I'm legit. And with this newfound cache, the convention circuit has been a whole new game. I feel like a valid equal with the likes of the magazine publishers, distributors, filmmakers, and such... even the actors, be them -C, -B... haven't met an -A, yet.

This past show featured conversations with the likes of Fangoria's Michael Gingold, Pro-wrestling's Captain Lou Albano, Porn's own Marilyn Chambers, and TV actor (most recently of LOST), Danny Roebuck (you'd know him if you saw him). My favorite new friend, though, would be fellow Heretic filmmaker, Alan Rowe Kelly, a nearly 6 foot tall, red wig wearing, cross dressing charmer of a dude. From New Jersey, Alan had lots to say about our film's new distributor, the local Northeast film scene, and lots more.

I feel bad for people with no passions. There's a wonderful line in Charlie Kaufman's ADAPTATION script, spoken by Meryl Streep's Susan Orlean: "I suppose I do have one unembarrassed passion. I want to know how it feel to care about something passionately." People, sure... we are all passionate about our husbands, our wives, our lovers and our friends. But someTHING? I'm glad I am.