Want to explore intergalactic worlds without leaving Earth or your hotel? Then HawaiiCon, to be held at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel Thursday through Sept. 13, is your ticket to explore. In its second year, HawaiiCon is a science fiction-themed convention that immerses fans into the fantasy world of film and television stars, screen writers, comic book legends and cosplayers.
Want to explore intergalactic worlds without leaving Earth or your hotel? Then HawaiiCon, to be held at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel Thursday through Sept. 13, is your ticket to explore. In its second year, HawaiiCon is a science fiction-themed convention that immerses fans into the fantasy world of film and television stars, screen writers, comic book legends and cosplayers.
“HawaiiCon is the pinnacle of genre conventions with the largest group of celebrities ever to be brought to the Big Island. HawaiiCon’s media program features film and TV discussions, panels, and sneak peaks from both indie and major studios,” said Hawaii Island-based filmmaker GB Hajim, HawaiiCon’s brain trust.
HawaiiCon is fashioned after the San Diego Comic Book Convention, a yearly four-day sell-out event that began in 1970. Originally featuring comic book characters, the San Diego show was nicknamed Comic-Con. The San Diego show now attracts more than 130,000 science fiction, fantasy, gaming and pop culture attendees from around the world. Comic cons fans celebrate themselves as fun-loving, quick-witted geeks who enjoy weird and wonderful science.
“I think it is so popular because we have everything a big Con like the San Diego Comic Convention has: dozens of stars, writers, artists, professional moderators, a multi-track schedule with something for everyone, workshops, screenings, top cosplayers, but we keep it small and intimate so it feels like our ‘ohana getting together again,” said Hajim about the Hawaii event. “Plus the location can’t be beat.”
Costumer Megan Malan is taking time off from her pharmacy studies at University of Hawaii Hilo to prepare for HawaiiCon cosplay. Cosplay is comic con lingo for character based performance art featuring costumes and accessories. Popular genres include anime, comic books, cartoons, video games and film and television, she said.
Malan has built four costumes this year, her favorite is based on sci-fi legend, Glados, a fictional artificial intelligent computer whose malicious wit prowls the “Portal” video game.
“Cosplay in Hawaii? We don’t have costume stores especially when it’s not Halloween,” she said. “I start early. Wigs or something special, we have to order online. But really we make it from scratch. Glados is my favorite costume. Cut the elbow from a piece of PVC pipe with a jigsaw. A toilet valve is an optic eyeball piece with a small LED candle that flickers orange and it’s very cool.”
Malan is a self-described comic con nerd who “loves making friends.” When her cosplay hobby started attracting too many friends, she started a cosplay Facebook page dedicated to her art. She uses the software app Cosplanner to track her construction progress, expenses and use for each costume. Social media, she says, is essential for tutorials and sharing costume tips.
“Friends are a really good resource to get excited for conventions, Jequita Koyama is my friend and she’s building a costume with cat-like features. I’m really excited to have me see her work, and she see mine. Friends collaborate. How’d you make that? This is how you build a tail. Totally nerd out,” she said.
Matching Pokemon outfits is what Malan has for herself and her boyfriend, Stephen Hasegawa. They both enjoy HawaiiCon’s celebrity accessibility.
“I’m really excited about who I’m going to meet. You can see the guests walking around and bump into them in the elevator. Oh my god. I saw you on TV. Hopefully, I won’t stammer like last year when I saw a star and couldn’t even do full sentences. My boyfriend said to the star ‘she wants a photo with you,’” said Malan.
Writers at HawaiiCon include University of Hawaii at Manoa Professor Keao NeSmith, of the Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language, who will talk about translating the “Hobbit” into Hawaiian. Brad Bell teams with his TV industry insider partner, Jane Espenson, of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Once Upon a Time.” Professor Gregory Benford and G. David Nordley are real scientists who write and tell about their award-winning science fiction.
Comic book artists and writers include Hawaii-raised Sam Campos, creator of event mascot “Pineapple Man.” Trina Robbins, who is in the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame, will share skills alongside Steve Leialoha, an artist at Marvel and DC comics who is now working on Hawaii myths.
Jane Wiedlin, a founding member of the popular 1980s “Go-Go’s” all-female rock band will give insights on “Lady Robitika: The Space Opera.” She wrote it in collaboration with Bill Morrison who heads “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening’s comic line Bongo Comics.
While professional cosplayers Monika Lee, Riki “Riddle” Lecotey and BelleChere parade their costumes, one of the stars that Malan will bump into this year is action actress and stunt woman Patricia Tallman, known to her 40,000 Facebook friends as “Lyta Alexander” from the Hugo Award-winning sci-fi series “Babylon 5.”
A versatile actor, she has ranged from Shakespeare, soap opera “Guiding Light,” cult-classic “Night of the Living Dead,” NBC’s “Generations,” “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” and comic con stalwart “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
“Tallman is on the HawaiCon staff where she will not only mingle with fans but lead them on Hawaii Island adventures sponsored by the show,” said Hajim.
“My first excursions!” Tallman exclaims. “We are doing four amazing excursions this year: zipline and helicopter tours with Kapohokine, snorkeling, the night manta ray dive with Neptune Charlie’s and the Gold Coast tour. We have sci-fi stars from “Battlestar Galactica” and “Stargate” coming with us. It’s really going to be an adventure of a lifetime type experience!”
Stars joining Tallman on fan excursions is expert diver Gene Roddenberry, son of “Star Trek’” creator Gene Roddenberry. “Battlestar Galactica” actors Aaron Douglas, Rekha Sharma and Magda Apanowicz will also be having island adventures with attendees. The TV series “Stargate” has on board Christopher Judge, Teryl Rothery and Tony Amendola.
“Hawaii Con is Hawaiian! It’s cool, laid back, friendly easy going … just the opposite of a big convention. Last year, I came in, as did the other actors, with the expectation of the usual stress and bustle of a con. What we found was the most lovely group of people hosting us and making sure we had a great time. The fans were happy and respectful of our space, and super sweet. I couldn’t get enough of it. Which is why I am back,” said Tallman.
HawaiiCon, a nonprofit organization with a mission to increase public awareness of science, the science fiction genre, and mythologies, past and present, has a qualified board of directors but the reason that Tallman and other TV and film personalities are on the Big Island is Hajim.
“Let me tell you about one of the most brilliant and humanistic filmmakers I have ever encountered. His name is GB Hajim. Working with GB reminds me of the time I worked with Joel and Ethan Coen (Academy Award writing for “Fargo”), or when I met Peter Jackson (“Lord of the Rings”)…and saw their first movies,” said Jeff Dowd, an actor also known as “The Dude” in the Coen Brother hit film “The Big Lebowski.”
Hajim for the past 20 years has been producing, directing and editing locally based films with the hope of building a Hawaii Island-based film industry and his HawaiiCon is a manifestation of that vision.
He directed the first Hawaiian language spot for national television. His Hawaiian language feature film “Kaililauokekoa,” won the Hawaii Filmmakers Award at the Hawaii International Film Festival. “Volcanoes: Fountains of Fire,” was picked up by the Discovery Networks. “Pacific Passages,” which is about Pacific island cultures, won the Golden Apple, the highest award for educational media in the United States.
A techie himself, Hajim helped develop the first ALIAS 3D animation system at the San Diego Supercomputing Center. He says his expertise over the years has been “the ability to deliver quality, award-winning programming for a fraction of the normal cost.”
As a film artist who is an adjunct lecturer at Hawaii Community College, he takes pride in training young people to realize a Hawaii Island film industry. Some of these young filmmakers teamed on his latest sci-fi animation feature, “Strange Frame: Love and Sax.”
“Strange Frame,” likened to Walt Disney’s “Fantasia,” attracted an all-star cast and crew, including actors Tim Curry (“The Rocky Horror Picture Show”) and George Takei (“Star Trek”), and Academy Award sound mixing winner Gary Rizzo (“Inception”). Hajim said that Roger Waters of Pink Floyd loved the film and provided music. It won “Best Feature Film” at a comic con’s mega show, DragonCon.
“I’d say this is crunch time. I had my sewing machine break down,” Megan Malan breathes hastily. “I’m working on this character who look likes ‘Supersonic the Hedgehog.’” Malan explains that her hedgehog is “super cute.” In 1991 it helped launch game company Sega into a billion dollar enterprise.
For Malan, soon there’ll be four days of wearing costumes and an exhausting time of photo shoots.
“I will wear my best one for the cosplay contest and some costumes are harder to wear like masks can be hot. It all really comes alive when you love the character and bring lots of little details,” she said. “My cosplay is so different from pharmacy. I nerd out. I love new skills and talking with people. I love creating a different world. In HawaiiCon I bundle them all up and they are great.”
Want to enjoy HawaiiCon? Hajim advises interested persons to check out the schedule in advance.
“We have over 150 events, panels, and adventures. Some con activities start at 7 a.m. and others run until midnight. Highly recommended to stay at the host hotel, the Hapuna Prince,” he said.
Attendees on a budget should consider coming Thursday afternoon right after school for the festival’s half-day preview, Hajim said.
“Programming starts at 3 p.m. Tickets are $20 adults, $10 for children, free for 5 and under to get a taste of what a convention is like or dive right in and come Saturday, which is our big Cosplay day with two contests and hundreds of people in fantastic costumes,” he said.
For more information, visit www.hawaiicon.com/convention-schedule.