Conucopia Infobot News - 23-Aug-1999 Conucopia, NASFiC '99, c/o SCIFI, PO Box 8442, Van Nuys CA 91409. Conucopia is dedicated to the memory of Gary Louie, fan and friend. The Conucopia Infobot News is a service of the Conucopia Web Site, http://www.99.nasfic.org/ . If you know someone who'd like to subscribe, tell 'em to go to our web site at http://www.99.nasfic.org/ and enter their e-mail address, or write to listmaster@99.nasfic.org. If your e-mail address changes, or if you wish to be removed from the Conucopia Infobot News mailing list, or if you don't have web access and want to be added to the list, please write to listmaster@99.nasfic.org. In this issue: Programming Update: Mr. Straczynski, Mr. Hogan, and Trailer Park Film Contest Winners Daily Webzine Thanks for the Webspace Dept. of Corrections: Coffee Shop and Pizza Hut Hours Restaurant Guide and Other Useful Businesses Reminder about Registration Membership Rates Programming Update: Mr. Straczynski, Mr. Hogan, and Trailer Park * * * JMS and the "Trailer Park" Conucopia Programming has moved J. Michael Straczynski's presentation to Saturday at 1pm. Mr. Straczynski requested the move to accommodate a change in his professional commitments, which prevented him from being able to be at the convention on Sunday. In order to accomplish this we have moved Jeff Walker's Trailer Park to Sunday at 11:30am. We would like to apologize to our convention members for this late change and thank Mr. Straczynski and Mr. Walker for working with us to come up with a plan that still allowed both presentations to take place. James P. Hogan Regrets James P. Hogan contacted us this morning, 23-Aug-1999, and regrets that he can not attend as he has had a family matter come up. We wish him all the best, and will miss him at the convention. Film Contest Winners * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * For Immediate Release: NASFiC Film Contest Winners Announced Winners to Screen at Convention Final judging was held last weekend for the 1999 North American Science Fiction Convention (NASFiC) Film Contest, a film competition that focused exclusively on science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Entries were accepted in 16mm and on video tape and were judged by a panel of ten working TV and motion picture producers, writers, directors, editors, visual effects supervisors, post-production supervisors, etc. (some of whom have made their own award-winning short films) and whose work includes involvement with Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Splash, Stargate, What Dreams May Come, Supernova, Prince of Egypt, Armageddon, Lake Placid, The Hunger, Star Trek: Voyager, Deep Space 9, etc. The First Place winner is The Rectory, written, photographed, edited and directed by Patrick Scanlan of Playa del Rey, California. The Rectory is the story of a young priest who must discover the mystery behind the haunting of his new parish's rectory in order to bring a tortured soul to rest. Two films tied for Second Place: The Census Taker, produced, written, and directed by Aaron Cohen of New York, New York; and Tennis Match, written, directed, and produced by Robert Ellmann of Prague, Czechoslovakia. The Census Taker is a Twilight Zone-ish tale of a down-on-his-luck census taker who gets more than he bargained for when he falsifies census questionnaires. Tennis Match is an almost-indescribable allegory that combines silent film era imagery with social commentary and a great deal of wit. The final judges panel also decided to award two Honorable Mentions. A Special Out of Category Award goes to Please Kill Mr. Kinski, a quasi-documentary produced, directed, and edited by David Schmoeller, in which the filmmaker gives a first hand account of what is was like directing actor Klaus Kinski in a movie. A Special Judges' Favorite Theme Song And All Around Silly Show Award goes to The El Gringo Bravo Show, written and directed by El Gringo Bravo (theme song written and performed by Eugene Webb). This is the story of a retired wrestler and part-time superhero who starts out crashing his car, gets hit by lightning, receives a phone call from the future, encounters vicious alien slugs, and several other kinds of silliness, but it's really the theme song that won the hearts of the judges. All five of the winners will screen at NASFiC on Saturday, August 28th, at noon. The NASFiC Film Contest's First Prize winner receives $150 and a copy of Graphics Studio Software Suite from NewTek . (Windows/Intel or DEC Alpha platform owner receives LightWave 3D 6.0, Aura 1.0, and the Film Grain and Motion Pack plug-ins for LightWave 3D. List Price: $2995. Substitute prize for Macintosh Owner: LightWave 3D 6.0, Film Grain, Motion Pack.) The two Second Prize winners each receive $75 and a copy of NewTek's Aura 1.0, List price $695. (Substitute prize for Macintosh Owners: Inspire 3D 1.0, $495). LightWave 3D: Powerful and easy to use 3D modeling, surfacing, animation, compositing, and rendering software. Used for CGI scenes in Babylon 5, Crusade, Hercules, Xena, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Titanic, the M & M's commercials, etc. Aura 2D: animation, compositing and paint program. Time-line based animation and video element assembly; unlimited layers for stills, animation or video; supports any frame rate or size for animation for film, video or web; full-color animated brushes; brush-stroke recording; macro language; Photoshop filter support; rotoscoping; light-table feature; tablet support; comprehensive drawing and painting tools. The North American Science Fiction Convention (NASFiC) is affiliated with the World Science Fiction Convention, NASFiC is held whenever the Worldcon is outside of North America (this year, Australia). The convention, which takes place at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel and Towers (700 Convention Way; Anaheim, California) from Thursday, August 26th, through Sunday, August 29th, 1999, will include over two hundred authors, artists, and filmmakers as speakers; an art show; a dealers room; films; costume competition; dances; parties and more. http://www.99.nasfic.org/ can provide additional details on the convention. Daily Webzine * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The last update to the main website is scheduled for Tuesday morning, when I disconnect my computer from the net. At that point, any future updates will be posted through our "Daily Webzine" page. At Conucopia, we intend to put the daily newsletter on the web. After the regular crew has put out the printed version, Mel. White will turn it into HTML and upload it to the website. She promises not to be TOO weird with the material. Really. Thanks for the Webspace * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Conucopia would like to thank George Mitchell and David Dyer-Bennet for their generous donation of web server space, and untold amounts of technical support. Your webmaster couldn't have made this website happen without these two sysadmins working behind the scenes on our behalf. Many thanks. Dept. of Corrections: Coffee Shop and Pizza Hut Hours * * * * * * * * * Meals Between Meals A little-known fact: when Cafe del Sol is closed between mealtimes, you can still order up something to eat at the Lobby Bar. They have a limited menu. In addition to the selection listed on their bar menu, you can also get burgers and fries. Late Mornings in the Coffee Shop The Marriott has agreed to keep their coffee shop, "Cafe del Sol," open for breakfast later than usual. The breakfast menu will be available until 2pm each day, and Pizz Hut will be open late on Thursday and Friday nights (with review on Saturday morning for possibly extending hours on Saturday night, too). Our apologies for getting this wrong in the last issue - we had 2am and 2pm mixed up in our heads. Restaurant Guide and Other Useful Businesses * * * * * * * * * * * * * Deanna Bayless and David Keller have uploaded a tremendously comprehensive Restaurant Guide, with keyed map and other useful business lists too. To get the guide by e-mail, send a message to info@99.nasfic.org that says send eats.txt send shops.txt Or go to the website. Reminder about Registration * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * At-the Door Registration is the same price as Pre-Registering. We also also have one-day memberships available at the door for $50. I've seen this question come up twice just this afternoon, so I'm posting the answer here: the cheapest price to get in is a day-pass for $50. If you come back the next day, another $50 gets you the whole rest of the convention. If you have any other questions, our Registration page should have all the answers. Or send a message to info@99.nasfic.org that says send reg.txt Membership Rates * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * If you've sent in your money and haven't seen your name show up on the web site, check back again. We just uploaded a new list. Attending Membership (No Vote, no Patronage or support)...... $100 Conversion: if you voted at LoneStarCon 2, you need to pay .. $80 Kids 5-12 ................................................... $50 born on or after 27-Aug-1986, and on or before 26-Aug-1994. Kids-in-tow up to 4 years old are free. Kids 13 and up are $100, same as adults. Supporting Membership (Must pay conversion fee to attend) $20 Make Checks Payable To: Conucopia/NASFIC '99 c/o S.C.I.F.I. Inc. PO Box 8442 Van Nuys CA 91409 At the Door ................................................. $100 Daily (Available at Convention ONLY) ........................ $50 Note that at-the-door rates have been lowered, to $100 for a full membership or $50 for one day. If you join at the door for $50 for one day, you can come back the next day and pay the other $50 to get the rest of the convention. Service Mark Notice * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Service Mark Notice: "World Science Fiction Society", "WSFS", "World Science Fiction Convention", "Worldcon", "NASFiC" and "Hugo Award" are registered service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society. 19990823.txt sent to 493 subscribers of NASFIC99-NEWS.