Frankenstein’s Monster at Weird West Fest

I want to give a big thank you to those who braved the cold and got your gears to Giddings! Weird West Fest welcomed Frankenstein’s Monster and we were proud to be there. Mike McDermott (Captain), Travis Wayne Hamilton (Krempe) and Judith B. Shields (me–the screenwriter/filmmaker) were able to meet many folks there. A big shout out for Mike and Travis for making it from Houston. Preacher’s Powderworks and Projectiles who made our amazing steampunk lab goggles is one of the co-founders for the event.

About Weird West Fest–it is a Western and Steampunk 1 day festival. This was their first year and they made a difficult decision–to postpone the festival by a week. The original date had that icy conditions and made it unsafe to drive in the Texas Hill Country. While the new date was still chilly, at least it was safe for folks to travel.

I also had a wonderful paneling experience. I’ve been on many panels, from ApolloCon (Screenwriting) to Comicpalooza (Microbudget Filmmaking) to WorldCon (Steampunk), but I never had had a panel where we laughed so much. I was honored to both moderate and participate in the Art of Screenwriting panel with (from left to right) @Gary Clark (actor and screenwriter), and Ed Erdelac (screenwriter and author). That panel covered comparisons of book to screenplay writing tips, character vs. action based plots, personal stories with screenwriting, and how to get your work out there. The audience asked good questions as well.

Thank you everyone who made it out to Giddings!

update: event will be postponed for Saturday, December 14th, 2013.

What is Weird West Fest? Why, it’s the largest Westren and Steampunk hootenanny out yonder between Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. The historic downtown of Giddings is prepared to have a one-day shindig with music, a film festival (which we are part), traders, panels, food, and horses. Expect to see folks dressed up in western and/or Steampunk attire for the costume contest.

What’s best about Weird West Fest is that a portion of movie ticket sales go to the restoration of the 1918 Sterling Silent Movie Theatre.

Frankenstein’s Monster will screened at 4:30pm and there will be an actors-focused panel after the film.

Judith B. Shields will also moderate a separate panel on screenwriting with Keith Lansdale, Joe Lansdale (author of 30+ books, including Buba Ho-Tep, Zeppelins West, and several Jonah Hex graphic novels), Eric Red and Michael Flores (Western X). Time for that will be tba.