KONsequential Studios visits San Diego Comic-Con (July 31 - August 4, 2002)
By Laurie Breitkreuz
KONsequential Studios is a new, local company founded by Quickdraw Animation Society member Laurie Breitkreuz and her partner Kandrix Foong. I, Laurie, have been a member of QAS for more than 2 years, working with Kevin Kurytnik and Carol Beecher on the infamous “Reaper” film for nearly a year of that time! Kandrix, a long-time comic book fan, produced and self-published his own comic book at age 15 and has longed to do another! So…
At the New Year, Kandrix and I made the decision to produce
a comic book together. We started-up our own company with a
goal to have Issue#1 ready for comic convention season! The
result was a mini-series called A MONK’S TALE. Set in ancient
China, A MONK’S TALE is a story of three monks who leave their
monastery for the first time, and the adventures they encounter
along the way. It is a story of ‘journey’. Together we wrote
the story, designed the layout, produced all the artwork (penciled,
inked, and shaded), and self-published Issue#1 in July (approx.
20% of funding received through corporate sponsorship). We encountered one major setback in the late spring, though. Our vehicle was
stolen with all of our designs and pre-production artwork inside!
But we were determined not to let that hold us back! …Three
days later we started over. The vehicle was eventually recovered
(nearly a month later), but we had already re-established lost
artwork and surpassed the volume that had gone missing. The
delay caused us to miss a local show or two, which we regretted.
And it was a tight deadline for San Diego alone, as we stopped at the
printers literally en route to the airport!
But…
Arriving at the San Diego Comic-Con made the all-nighters worthwhile! An attraction that draws 50 to 60 THOUSAND people annually, I was amazed at the volume of foot traffic, in awe at the size of the venue, empowered to be in the presence of so much talent, blessed to meet so many ‘well-knowns’, and simply overwhelmed by the whole experience! We did not have our own booth, so we carried dozens of copies of our book with us each day and handed them out (we made some sales, too!) to all of our “heroes” and other great people we met! Commonly, artists starting out will create a photocopy version of their comic book, called an “ashcan comic” to hand out at such events. But our book is conventional comic book size, and printed in sepia tone (which enhances the story), making us stand out in a sea of ashcans! Response we received over our book was excellent…much more than I had hoped for! Among famed heroes we met were: legendary comic book artist Jim Lee; creator of “Spawn” Todd McFarlane; “Danger Girl” artist J. Scott Campbell; “Bone” creator and artist Jeff Smith; and “Transformers” artist Pat Lee. We also took tons of photographs of us with all of those who received or bought a copy! These pictures can be viewed at our website “www.konsequential.com” or “www.amonkstale.com” in the “Look Who Has Our Book” Gallery!
We also met many animators at the San Diego Comic-Con (much to my surprise!) to include: Aimee Major (a fresh, new independent talent out of Cal Arts), Mike Kunkel, a long-time talent with Disney (Hercules, Tarzan) and Warner Bros. (Cat’s Don’t Dance) and creator of ‘Herobear and the Kid’ comic book, Chris Bailey (Rescuers Down Under, The Little Mermaid, Hercules), Ryan Woodward (3-D animator, Spiderman), Robert O. Corley (Rescuers Down Under, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Mulan, and Lilo and Stitch), Tom Bancroft (Rescuers Down Under, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tarzan, Atlantis, and now Veggietales!), Greg Hardin (character artist for Veggietales), Michel Gagne (Special Effects, Iron Giant). Let’s not forget independent feature-filmmaker Bill Plympton, Matt Groening (father of that little ol’ show called The Simpson’s - also Futurama), and perhaps my personal favorite, Chris Sanders, Disney storyboard artist, designer, and Creator/Co-Director of Lilo & Stitch! Kandrix and I also had the fortune of meeting an entire panel of voice actors including: (Canadian!) Maurice Lamarch (“Brain” of Pinky and the Brain, Inspector Gadget), the amazing Tom Kenny (title characters of SpongeBob SquarePants and Rocco’s modern life, as well as Powerpuff Girls (narrator, mayor, Mitch Mitchelson, and additional voices), Catdog, Cow and Chicken, Dexter Lab), Gary Owens (Powdered Toast Man), Lori Allen (Pearl of SpongeBob SquarePants), Billy West (Futurama’s Fry, Zoiburg, and the Professor, and Ren & Stimpy), and last but not least Mark Hamill (a.k.a. Luke Skywalker!), Joker of Batman animated series! And many, many others! Whew! With a line-up like that, I was like a kid in a candy store!
Our trip was very well worth all the time and effort, and we are already signed up for next year! It served to be invaluable both for making contacts and for networking! To anyone interested or considering attending the San Diego Comic-Con, my advice would be “Go for it”! Especially if you have a product in hand and are looking to gain exposure, there is no better place than this! It offers so much more than you would expect!
There are not many occasions in life where you will find so many talented people in one place at one time! And if you check it out, just once, you’ll be hooked! If you have an artistic hero, chances are you will find them at the San Diego Comic-Con! …And then some! Some of the greatest contacts I made were with people I hadn’t even heard of before! And let’s not forget the new up-and-comers! ’The Con’ is continually growing and is sure to be a new experience each time! A word of advice…you must be confident and aggressive about approaching other artists, but when you do, it will be worth your while! Most everyone there is having the time of their lives, too, so there is sure to be a friendly response every time!
Laurie Breitkreuz
