An intergallactic invasion by an alien intent on conquering Earth who instead crash-lands into a comic convention at Northern FanCon in Prince George is the plot of a short film produced locally by Barker Street Cinema.
Filmed during last year’s FanCon at CN Centre, Conquest was shown in a sneak preview to a live local audience for the first time last Friday to help kickstart the eighth annual entertainment expo.
The incompetent anti-hero, Dreadlord (Mark Meer), comes from a race of conquerors and plans to use his weapon to subdue the human race. But he has a change of heart when he climbs out of his crashed spaceship to a friendly reception from FanCon attendees, who applaud his freakish Star Wars-inspired appearance and give him thumbs-up approval for his impromptu participation in the cosplay contest.
Dreadlord is the obvious judges’ choice as the contest winner and celebrates WWE-style when he’s awarded a championship belt.
Directed by Kate Kroll, written and produced by Norm Coyne, the movie will be shown this summer on the North American festival circuit.
Just six minutes long, Coyne says the movie is a proof-of-concept film that has potential to be turned into a full-length feature.
“On this film I’ve met with The CW (Network),” said Coyne. “There are big platforms looking at it right now. It’s a bite-sized piece so that people can see how you would film it and get a feel for the actors on screen.”_
Guests who worked on the six-minute film last year were paired with local crew members from Prince George. Among the guests were Tina Teoli, the former head of the TV series makeup department for The Flash and The Good Doctor; costume designer Allisa Swanson (The 100, Firefly Lane); artist/prop designer Evil Ted Smith (The Fifth Element); and producer Marc Bernardin (Picard, Writer’s Guild award winner for Castle Rock).
Dreadlord's spaceship was built by Lost In Space prop builder Aaron Harrison.
Meer had a major role in the video game Mass Effect. One of the henchmen in the film is Ming Chen of AMC’s Comic Book Men.
Coyne, a former Prince George resident who now lives in Kelowna, selected Kroll, an award-winning filmmaker, based on her proven ability and her current momentum in the movie industry.
“I have been following Kate’s career closely and I believe she is headed for the top,” said Coyne. “She absolutely needed to be the person to direct this film.”
