G-Fest XV: Honoring Nakajima-san

G-Fest XV: Honoring Nakajima-san

by Armand Vaquer

Another year and another G-FEST is now in the history books. And what a G-FEST it was.

Chicago Here We Come!

As I was loading my car to get to the airport, I received a call from a Chicago area radio station. I gave them an impromptu interview (literally in the street) about the convention. Several conventioneers later told me that they heard the interview and many walk-ins found out about G-FEST from the interview.

I arrived Wednesday night at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and what greeted me was pouring rain. There were storms along the flight path from Los Angeles to Chicago, and my plane took off about an hour and a half late. Although there were storms, the flight was relatively smooth all the way.

G-FEST XV was held from July 4 through 6 with a bonus of two double features shown at the Pickwick Theater on July 3 for those who arrived in town early. In the afternoon, Destroy All Monsters was paired with Matango (a.k.a. Attack of the Mushroom People) and in the evening, Godzilla vs. Gigan was paired with Orochi, The Three-Headed Dragon. Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) and Godzilla x Mechagodzilla (2002) were the Friday and Saturday night movies respectively.

I was planning to attend the evening screenings, but I elected to volunteer to assist Brett Homenick in picking up our very special guest Haruo Nakajima and his daughter Sonoe from the airport and bring them to the hotel.

Also attending G-FEST XV as guests were Don Frye (Captain Gordon from Godzilla Final Wars); last year's Mangled Skyscraper Award winner Don Glut; Robert Scott Field, returning as celebrity guest and as translator and assistant to the Nakajimas; and August Ragone, author of Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters.

As G-FEST XV was scheduled on Independence Day weekend, many conventioneers planned to attend early to beat the holiday rush, the double-double features at the Pickwick was set up for Thursday afternoon and evening to entertain them.

G-FEST Begins (Officially)

The official start of G-FEST XV was on Friday, July 4. J. D. Lees held an orientation session that morning to explain the details on the convention and to take questions to first-time attendees.

Next, G-Pardy Game One, hosted by J. D. Lees, started the convention with Godzilla trivia questions patterned after the Jeopardy game show. Elsewhere, a panel discussion on The Host by Philip Garnecki, Martin Arlt and Bill Mann Jr. was held.

The video room and Minya’s Place were opened for business.

August Ragone held a discussion on Ultraman that afternoon in the Main Hall, while in the Midway Room, Lewis Austin held a discussion on “The Space Giants Are Coming.” After these sessions, Vince Cornelius hosted a presentation on “Godzilla In The Grindhouse” and a panel discussion on “What Is A Kaiju?” featured Robert Dwyer, Bill Mann, August Ragone and Allen Debus was held concurrently.

Later, Lewis Austin held a discussion on plans for his TG2WAC Productions in the Midway Room.

That evening, the video gaming and dealers rooms were opened up for convention attendees. These were followed by G-Pardy Game Two and the Opening Ceremonies in which all of our special guests were introduced to the convention. Art and Artist Alley were opened up following the opening ceremonies.

Following the opening ceremonies, the conventioneers migrated over to the Pickwick Theater for the night’s screening of Godzilla vs. Biollante. Unfortunately, fifty minutes into the movie, a technical glitch with the theater’s equipment prevented the movie from being shown to completion. Attendees were given the option of a refund or finishing the movie in the Main Hall the next day (on reliable equipment). For the most part, theatergoers took the problem in good stride. A couple of fans got up on the theater stage with their Biollante and Godzilla figures and held a mock battle to the amusement of those present.

Following this, conventioneers returned to the Crowne Plaza Hotel to socialize, party or get some sleep in preparation for the next day’s events. As it was Independence Day night, we were treated to fireworks displays all around while going to and from the Pickwick.

More G-FEST fun on Saturday

G-FEST attendees woke up bleary-eyed after the festivities the previous day on Saturday morning with more fun things to do.

Our super-special guest Haruo Nakajima began the day with his two-hour session with panelists Brett Homenick and August Ragone. Robert Scott Field assisted with translations. Lots of good questions were posed and Nakajima gave a lot of great answers (some very humorous) in return.

Elsewhere, a panel discussion on “Japanese Superheroes” featuring Jay Johnson and Lenell Bridges was taking place.

Meanwhile, G-FEST Kids Programming was taking place in Minya’s Room; the gaming room was opened for fans who love Godzilla video games; Paul Gavins was hosting a “Building Manda” (costume) workshop; and the ever-popular dealers room was open for business.

That morning, a nice gal with the local ABC-TV affiliate showed up and was filming the convention. I asked her if she’d like to meet Mr. Nakajima. She said, “Sure!” So we had Sonoe go up to her room to see if her father was available or not. Minutes later, they came back down. The reporter with the television station said they didn’t need an interview, but just something she could film. So, I dashed into the Main Hall and snagged a few people (including Stan Hyde) and they did an impromptu “discussion” with Nakajima on the famous “Godzilla shie” for the television viewers. As the camera continued to roll, they attempted (with varying degrees of success) to do the shie. I hope someone taped this!

Noon usually means lunch for most folks, but at G-FEST, it means that a thrill-packed session was taking place in the Main Hall with Godzilla Final Wars star Don Frye along with questioning by Brett Homenick. Frye discussed his experiences in making the movie and his wrestling career as “The Predator.” Fans found Frye to be a genuinely nice and funny guy and eager to mingle.

Elsewhere, Lewis Austin was holding a session on “Monster Making” in the Midway Room and Artists Alley was opened up.

At 1:00, a G-Pardy session aimed at young fans (14 and under) was underway in the Main Hall.

In the Midway Room, August Ragone hosted a session discussing the career of special effects pioneer Eiji Tsuburaya accompanied by a slide show that spanned the Tsuburaya years.

Later, Don Glut held a session called, “Ask Me Anything” in the Main Hall. Concurrent to this, the Costume Parade Orientation for participants was held in the Kitty Hawk Room. After this, Game Three of G-Pardy was held in the Main Hall.

That afternoon, all of our special guests held a 3-hour marathon autograph signing session in the registration area. The lines for this event were huge, so much so that some attendees had to be turned away (but were given priority tickets for a continuation session held the next day). It is a wonder that the writing hands of the guests didn’t fall off their wrists! But they all graciously signed posters, photos, toys, buttons and programs and posed for photographs with fans.

Later in the afternoon, we attempted to show the Godzilla Music Videos. Unfortunately, some were unplayable due to format issues, so we ended up showing about half of them. [Note to those of you planning to make a music video for next G-FEST, please either have them in either VHS video or DVD formats (that are playable on any DVD machine) and not playable just on a computer.]

Franz Vorenkamp next attempted to show his latest (and complete) version of his Godzilla Zero Hour fan-flick. Due to unknown problems, he could not get it to play.

Randy Giesey held the Kaiju Swap Meet in Ballroom 4 for people who want to buy or swap Godzilla items.

At 7:00, the final round of G-Party tournament was held and last year’s winner, Jay Grymyr, won again. He’ll get to take the trophy back home to Las Vegas, Nevada for another year.

Following G-Pardy, the ever-popular Costume Parade was held to a standing-room-only crowd in the Main Hall. There were many creative costumes made by fans of all ages. After the parade, Amateur Videos were shown to the delight of the audience.

Thus ended the official G-FEST activities for Saturday at the Crowne Plaza. Fans then migrated over to the Pickwick Theater for the screening of Godzilla x Mechagodzilla, which originally was to screen back in 2003, but was replaced by Tokyo S.O.S.

Sunday: Honoring a wonderful man

A discussion panel on J. J. Abrams’ Cloverfield was held in the Main Hall. The panel (consisting of Philip Garnecki, Bill Mann, Robert Dwyer, Jay Grymyr and Armand Vaquer) were unanimous in their opinions of the movie: they all liked it. An audience member suggested that we should have a crew member of Cloverfield be invited as a guest to next year’s G-FEST (are you listening, J. D.?) to which the panelists agreed that was a good idea. The discussion was greatly enhanced by clips from the movie being shown.

After Cloverfield, a panel discussing American Kaiju was held with panelists Don Glut, Martin Arlt, Bill Mann Jr. and Allen Debus.

While all this was going on, elsewhere the dealers room, gaming room, and Art Room were opened. A panel discussion called After The Parade discussed the costume parade and took suggestions for future costume events.

At noon, Don Glut presented a session on Dinosaurs In The Movies in the Main Hall and Lewis Austin held a session on Latitude Zero: The Lost Classic.

At 1:00 o’clock, the Awards Luncheon was held in Ballroom 5 in which prizes for modeling, amateur video and other contests were awarded. But the highlight of the luncheon was the awarding of the “Mangled Skyscraper Award” to Haruo Nakajima.

During the presentation, several letters of congratulations were read (in English to the attendees and in Japanese to the Nakajimas) including one from Toho Pictures President & Executive Producer Shogo Tomiyama. Tomiyama’s letter said:

“I would like to congratulate Mr. Nakajima on his Mangled Skyscraper Award.

For many Godzilla fans around the world, there is no greater joy than seeing you looking great and healthy.

For 54 years since his birth back in 1954, Godzilla has been roaring in the hearts of the people around the world who love "Sense of Wonder".

Sadly, the creators of Godzilla, the producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, the director Ishiro Honda, the special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya and the composer Akira Ifukube are no longer with us, making you, Mr. Nakajima, a living legend in the world of Godzilla.

How fantastic is it that the American Godzilla fans inviting that living legend to Chicago and showing him gratitude and respect?

I would like to thank all of you Godzilla lovers who gathered here today.

Mr. Nakajima,

Please stop by at the Toho Studio with the trophy when you get back to Tokyo.

We would love to take a picture* of you in front of the Godzilla statue at the main gate.

Congratulations!!!!

Shogo Tomiyama
President and Executive Producer
Toho Pictures”

*We hope to obtain a copy of this photo for publication in G-FAN. [Note: We received the photos and they will be published in G-FAN #87.]

This was met with the biggest standing ovation for a “Mangled Skyscraper” recipient ever. Mr. Nakajima was visibly moved by this honor (I noticed tears in his eyes while reviewing photographs after I returned home). On a personal level, I am so happy that we were able to bestow this honor to Mr. Nakajima while he is still in good health. I can’t think of a more deserving person for this honor.

Following the luncheon, a panel discussion on the 40th Anniversary of Destroy All Monsters was held in which panel members included Danny Tokarz, August Ragone, John DeSentis and Greg Cordaro.

J. D. Lees then held his annual session discussing future plans for both G-FEST and G-FAN in the Midway Room. This was followed by Lewis Austin’s “How Not To Make A Blockbuster.”

Of course, no G-FEST would be complete without the final official event of the convention: Stan Hyde’s Kaiju Konfessions.

With the final note being sung at Kaiju Konfessions, G-FEST XV was then concluded. Despite some glitches, the convention went smoothly and the attendees had a great time. This also has to be the coolest G-FEST held. The outside temperatures averaged in the 60s (Fahrenheit) and rarely reached the 70s. It was noted during a staff meeting held Sunday night, the Crowne Plaza will be undergoing remodeling during the early months of 2009. We may see a whole different look to the hotel with the meeting rooms in different configurations when we return next July.

The unofficial/official meeting of the Titanosaurus Society (a.k.a. Dead Dog-zilla Party) was held in various locations at the hotel the rest of the night, with the biggest gathering being in the patio area featuring a “Godzilla Blood” concoction. This concoction was thoroughly enjoyed by all, including Don Frye.

We hope to see you all at next year’s G-FEST XVI. Until then, have a safe and enjoyable year.