I want to interview *YOU* for "Cos-Culture"!!! PLEASE Read!

DP74

DP74

Member
Greetings all!!

My name is Jay Bianco and I'm a filmmaker and a costumer. I've lurked here with an actual account and have been a member of The RPF for a number of years - pretty much as long as I've been a member of The 501st Legion. I've had the pleasure to read some incredible WIP threads, seen some great runs, and watched people with some amazing skills create some killer gear!

Now, I've decided that it's high time that the great community that is a part of the Costuming Culture gets it's time in the spotlight. This film is called "Cos-Culture".
In the past, people have occasionally taken shots at people like us. There have been several times news reporters have made rude remarks about the 501st for example, completely disregarding the fact that we do an insane amount of charity work in our costumes. Many people don't take the time to get to know costumers, why we do what we do, to see that we put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into our great hobby and that more often than not, we use our costumes for the betterment of our community! We always make people smile. We don't hurt anyone doing what we do.

The big reason why I want to make this film is because in my time as a costumer I have met some fantastic and kind people over the internet, and that's a rare thing in this world face to face, never mind in the anonymity over the internet! :D

And I want to show the world. I want to make this film about the costuming & cos-playing culture to be THE film each and every one of you all point to whenever someone asks what we're all about! My crew and I are trying to raise the funds to travel across the globe, and when we get to the conventions we are headed to, we want to interview YOU all. As many of you as humanly possible! I want to put YOU ALL into this film. I want to show the world just how fantastic everybody in the costuming community really is!

Should we reach around HALF of our funding goal, we will hit all of the major North American Conventions. Those conventions include but are not limited to Dragon*Con, San Diego Comic Con, New York Comic Con, and Vancouver FanExpo.
Should we reach our goal, we'll be able to make it to Europe and go to London Film & Comic Con, and the MCM Comic Cons in London, Manchester and Birmingham for example.

And we will interview non-costumer con-goers as much as costumers. The point is to show this hobby, this culture from a wide prospective. To get to the reality of it all. Because this hobby is about more than just great costumes, it's about great people. I want to interview real costumers, real women of cos-play, real men of cos-play, the sometimes deep and meaningful reasons why a person chooses this or that character. I can't make this film without you. Both in the funding sense, yes, but in the content as well.


Here's the link to my campaign: Cos-Culture | Indiegogo
Check out the full details there, and if it's something you think you want to be a part of, then follow the campaign, hit the comments section and let us know, and as we work through production and come up on specific conventions, I'll be sure to post here to let everyone know to be on the lookout for The Cos-Culture Crew!!

This is going to be a fantastic, fun, entertaining and REAL film about our wonderful community.

Feel free to post any questions or thoughts here. You all inspired me to do this film, after all.

Thank you for your time.

J
 
Alas, most of my experiences with 501st members have been bad------too many people are arrogant pricks who think they are the only "real" fans and everyone else should just go home, especially the ones who scratch-build their own costumes/props and can't afford to drop big bucks on uber-accurate stuff.

But there have been a FEW 501st members that I have had enjoyable conversations with.

In any case, I wish you luck on your project. :)
 
I don't want there to be any misconceptions. This is not a 501st film. It's about costumers and cos-players. All of us.

And honestly, I felt the exact same way before I joined. Everything I have ever heard about the 501st was negative, very elitist, and snobby. But I had gotten into the position to get my Boba Fett costume over on The Dented Helmet. It cost me a ridiculous amount of money, work and time and a member or two had tried to recruit me to the Legion. I had no interest in joining. At all. I really disliked the Legion from what I heard. But my wife kept poking me, telling me to give it a shot, that not all 6,000 members could possibly be that way, and that I may be missing out on something great if I didn't at least try. Like she said...."IF it's that bad, you can't exactly change that unless you're a part of it".

So...I tried. Very hesitantly. I didn't like the idea of someone ELSE judging my costume. I put a lot of money and work into my gear and I am very proud of it. So I was really wary.

And boy was I wrong. Everyone I have met so far - with the exception of two people that have been troublemakers - within the Legion has been helpful, kind, considerate, generous, and really welcoming. And these are the ones I have never met face to face! As for the part of the Legion I am in, The Outer Rim Squad, you couldn't ask for a better group of people. This is not to say that there aren't jerks. There are jerks in every group. Whenever you get a large amount of people together, there's bound to be people that just aren't all too nice. But that's not to say we're all bad.

I'm really sorry that you had bad experiences with Legion members, and I hope that I can somehow manage to recolour your image of us. I joined because I wanted to do good things with my costume. My wife and kids are members. We are lucky enough to have healthy children, and what we do mostly is visit sick and terminal children in the hospital, or children's hospice.

Hopefully, I can manage to get this project off the ground, and hopefully we'll cross paths and I can interview you at a con, and make you a part of it.

Thanks for your post!

J
 
Excellent! Thank you for the suggestions! I've added them to our lists.
I'll look them up right now and get the details!

J
 
Yes! Costume Con and Costume College actually- the latter has just happened and is primarily history costume focused :) But it is sort of forgotten in the midst of the comercialisation of cosplay.

Good luck! I've been on the world and local costuming scene for well over a decade (one of the first kiwis to have a costume site! If not the first.. gosh... yeah I got a full on site in 99 but had costume work online since the end of 96ish.... I R Old Fart!) so I've seen a lot of fads and been involved in a lot of groups. They all have their own dynamics :) And they do shift over time as people come and go.
 
Ah don't feel bad. I'm 39 doing this costuming thing, being a filmmaker, it's just who I am and a part of me. This hobby is pretty great and the people I've come across while being part of it have been pretty frikkin' awesome!

See, people like YOU are the reason our funding goal is what it is. I want to SO badly get across the pond and sit down and interview someone like you, who has a really great story, has a lengthy history, has been a part of this costuming community that exists, and to introduce the world to you!
Now this isn't to say we won't interview brand new people to the hobby, of course we will. And it would really feel like it's missing something if; at this point anyway; I can't get the huge pool of interviews that I want to make this film the way it needs to be......if that makes sense.

Thanks for all the luck-wishing! I appreciate it, and I appreciate the posting! Hopefully we'll hit enough of our funding so we can get the equipment needed and hit the NA cons, and perhaps you'll make it out to one of them over the next year? :)

J
 
Just throwing in a bit of a bump so more people can keep seeing it!
We're working slowly and steadily on the kinds of questions we want to ask, and figuring out which cons, when, and how we can swing it!

J
 
Thank you!!!
It would have to be going there next year, so as to properly plan ahead for it. If we manage to get enough funding, having that at the tail end of filming because it's in November would be easy to do. Thanks for the suggestion! It's added to the list!


With Celebration VII in Anaheim in 2015, I think going to that and adding a special bonus disc to send out to everyone that contributed to the project (got the DVD perk) AND to everyone that purchased it would be a great idea. I think making it a free download, sort of like a DLC thing that games use, but make it either absolutely free, or a very small fee would be great to do. If we can swing going to CVII, it would be stupid not to add it to the film. It would be free to all contributors, for sure, it's just a matter on if I can afford to make it free to whoever purchased it or make it a very small fee just to cover overhead on the download.

Tell your friends! And any contribution anyone could make to the project would help and be greatly appreciated. Every dollar counts and our perks are really cool, and whatever cosplayer and costumer that contribute, will absolutely be interviewed for the film!

Thanks for the post!

Jay
 
Sounds like a great project! Don't forget C2E2 in Chicago, IL it's a great Con with a ton of Cosplayers in general and a huge turn out from the 501st.
 
Another one aded to the list! Thank you for the suggestion and the kind words!
The way it's looking now, we're going to concentrate on North America, and if we can manage to get enough funds to hit Europe, then that's what we'll do, but pushing to hit as many conventions in The US and Canada as humanly possible over around 2 years, we should get a serious amount of content and some amazing personal stories to tell the world!!

~Jay
 
Oh that would be awesome! In the Netherlands we also have AnimeCon, TsunaCon, Abunai, Elf Fantasy Fair and in Belgium there's F.A.C.T.S. which is also quite an event. Firstlook in Utrecht is more of a game thing I thought, but still.

Yeah it would be great! But I'm also planning to visiting London Comic con in my Sherlock/Assassin's Creed costume. Not sure if it's finished by the time you're done. I hope you make it!
 
kialna said:
Oh that would be awesome! In the Netherlands we also have AnimeCon, TsunaCon, Abunai, Elf Fantasy Fair and in Belgium there's F.A.C.T.S. which is also quite an event. Firstlook in Utrecht is more of a game thing I thought, but still.

Yeah it would be great! But I'm also planning to visiting London Comic con in my Sherlock/Assassin's Creed costume. Not sure if it's finished by the time you're done. I hope you make it!
Click to expand...

I do too! The original goal is to get the whole thing done, get it all-encompassing, but with the time left in the campaign to raise the funds needed, I'm focusing the crew on North America right now, hoping to get more to hit Europe. If we don't manage to get any of the funding needed, or not meet the goal, I WILL relaunch the campaign, with a focus solely on North America with anything we get extra go towards opening up to EU.

AND! ALL CONTRIBUTORS TO THE CAMPAIGN WILL BE HONOURED if we don't make our goal. The DVD portion of the perk might be a slight bit later in the schedule, but all perks will be fulfilled regardless of what happens with the campaign(s). I just wanted to put that out there.

SpideyMan said:
Are you going to make it around to NYC comic con?
Click to expand...

This year, unlikely, next year is the goal. I was born and raised there, I have my Mother and Brother still there, and I have a group of friends I grew up with that are costumers and cosplayers, so absolutely we'll hit NYCC, just depends on what happens with the campaign. Everything rests on money, but there's NO WAY I'd make a movie and not include my home town, it's where I'm from, it's a huge part of who I am and I'm very proud of where I'm from.
TLDR; Yep! lol ;)

shsims said:
hey, Ya might even want to try Mega-con in Orlando, FL in April of 2014. Might be worth a look
Click to expand...

I went to the site to check that one out, because the Vancouver FanExpo is in April and 3 days in 2014 and the Orlando Mega-Con is on from March 21st - 23rd in 2014, so that's one added to the list as a possible convention to go to! Thanks for the suggestion!

If we can't make it to EU for this film, I will then split this film into a 2-part thing. The first film focus on North America, with the sequel focusing on Europe using whatever we get from the sales of the first film to fund the second one - the trip to where we need to go in Europe is insanely expensive, but there's no way I would be satisfied without it. I know I can get a lot of people from across the pond at a good majority of the major conventions in NA, but it's not the same as interviewing and spending time with people in their home territory, you know?

I look forward to interviewing as many of you as possible for this film!
Thanks for the questions and comments! Keep 'em comin'!

~Jay
 
Now here is an interesting fact for you, I heard on TV the other day that there is gunna be some kind of game show for cosplay. Kinda like face-off where CPer"s compete for best costumes and the like. I think it said it was going to start sometime in late Aug. Might be something you can look into
 
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