Interview with Fangirl Heather aka Geekanista
I am continuing with my series of interviews with Fangirls that I have met through social media!
Today, it is my pleasure to interview Geek Fashion designer and Fangirl Heather aka Geekanista!
I became aware of Heather through the Star Wars Fangirl Community and I am very happy that she agreed to this interview!
When do you realize you were a Fangirl?
I’ve always been a fangirl, just closet one. I was in high school when The Phantom Menace came out and it wasn’t cool to be a nerd. I was so excited Star Wars was back I made my mom go to movie with me so I didn’t have to go alone. This was big deal as my mom doesn’t do Star Wars. I would sneak into the toy section for stuff and hide from friends. Not to mention the original trilogy special edition re-release in theaters, which I went to all of those also and have my VHS tapes still! Only my high school sweetheart knew of my obsession and still said I was a dork. After Revenge of the Sith, when Star Wars went MIA did I have to shelf my obsession. When The Force Awakens was announced and Star Wars made huge comeback I finally said F-it I don’t care anymore, this is who I am! So like I said I’ve always been a fangirl, just never as open as I am now.
How has social media helped or hindered you?
It has helped me a lot, I’ve connected with a lot of fellow fangirls, found the Her Universe Fashion Show which I was honored to be able to be apart of this year and find the support to help share my fandom with others thru my sewing. Of course there are a couple hindrances as toxic people and trolls tend to put damper on things, but being able to push past that and brush them off helps to maintain the positive.
When did you first see Star Wars or other favorite fandom, such as Star Trek, Lord of The Rings, Harry Potter, etc. and did you love it right away or did this grow on you over time?
I was about 5 yrs old when Star Wars entered my life. My older brother would babysit me since I was 3 and watch movies like Aliens, Nightmare on Elm St and of course Star Wars. (Great bro I know lol). Star Wars was what stuck, especially Return of the Jedi, which to this day still my favorite movie! We had a VHS tape of the movie recorded from TV and my parents would have card nights on Saturdays. I was allowed to stay up with them and that was the move I watched, again and again and again! I think I wore that tape out! I had….and still do…. a huge crush on Luke Skywalker and apparently, according to my parents, I would kiss the TV when he was on.
What have you learned from the Star Wars fan community or other fan communities that has had a positive impact on your life?
Oh wow, lots of things. I guess the biggest is it’s ok to not only flaunt your fandom, but that you’re not alone! Knowing there are other girls out there that love Star Wars as much as I do has helped me to continue to pursue my dream to be a geek fashion designer. Not only has it changed my goals for future, but made me finally realize what I want to do with my life!
What else do you Fangirl about?
That’s a tough one! Lol Star Wars is my main love, but I do remember how much I loved Jurassic Park when it came out. Others are Aliens, Evil Dead Series, Superman, Back to The Future, Wolverine, Phantom of the Opera, Pirates films, anything from my 80s childhood, just to name a few.
Anything else you want to say to others about being a Fangirl?
All I have to say is don’t be afraid! There are those out there who will cut you down because you don’t see things how they want you to. Just ignore those words and keep being you! Whether you’re a prequel, sequel or original trilogy fan, or you want Rey to be Luke’s daughter or to being Reylo shippers. Who cares what others think, you don’t need their approval to love what you want. If you were teased, taunted or a loaner growing up, you retreated to your fandom to escape and stay strong. I did the same and to this day if I’m having a bad day or rough time, I go to a galaxy far far away for therapy!
Where can others interact with you?
I have my Instagram, @geekanista5
My Facebook is Geekanista
And Twitter is also @Geekanista5
Interview with Director Jessica Leski
It is a great pleasure to welcome Jessica Leski, Director of I Used to Be Normal: A Boyband Fangirl Story.
Jessica welcome to EverydayFangirl.com and thanks so much for taking the time to discuss this awesome Fangirl documentary project with us!
Patty: What does the title of this documentary signify?
Jessica: The title is a direct quote from one of the main characters in the film, Elif, a One Direction fan from Long Island, New York. It comes at a fascinating moment where she is at a backyard pizza party with friends and she starts spiraling into a 1D fantasy, imagining Niall Horan casually turning up to the party. She suddenly stops and catches herself and wails to her friends “This is not good! I used to be normal!” I loved this moment as she was both allowing herself to sink deep into her fandom fantasies, but was also aware and present enough to question her behaviour. Each of the characters in the film is struggling with what being a fan means to them and how to reconcile it with their ideas of growing up and being a woman in the world. That was something I found very interesting – the judgement and consequential shame that can come with loving a boyband and how to own it and celebrate it, rather than hide it away.
The film will hopefully lead audience members to question what is normal behaviour, and consider that they may have judged fans too quickly and too harshly.
Patty: What prompted you to create a documentary on this topic and who or what inspired you to?
Jessica: The fact that I had never liked a boyband before. When I was in high school in the late 1990s, arguably the golden era of boybands, I was actually dismissive of the entire phenomenon. The boys, their music and their fans didn’t interest me at all. But then in 2012, I was driving and heard the One Direction song “One Thing” on the radio. I remember scoffing at how simple the song was – they repeated the chorus so many times! But by the end of the song, it was stuck in my head. As soon as I got to my desk I looked up the video clip on Youtube. And I was hooked. That video clip in particular was such a magnificent introduction to boybands for me – the co-ordinated outfits, the hairstyles, the goofing around, the attempts at dancing. It was so innocent and wholesome and joyful. This led to an internet spiral into the world of One Direction. I had never been a fan of something since the internet had become such a huge part of my life. And so I was floored by how much access I could have to material – photos, articles, videos. This felt so different from being a fan when I was a teenager, carefully cutting photos out of magazines to stick into a scrapbook. It very quickly followed that I discovered how truly amazing fans of this era are. I was astounded by how talented, creative and hilarious these 1D fans were. I’d never seen fan art before, or read fan fiction or seen a twitter hashtag take off. It made me think that I may have misjudged the Backstreet Boys and Nsync fans I’d known when I was a teenager. And I started to think that I’d like to see a film that gave boyband fans a voice, away from judgment and ridicule. I didn’t feel like I’d ever seen them treated that way.
Patty: What are the most important attributes to remaining sane as a creator and how does your work reflect some of these attributes?
Jessica: Ha ha, this is a great question! I think you have to be a little bit insane to be a filmmaker, or probably to be any creative person trying to make a living as an artist. Finding that balance between sanity and insanity is challenging for sure. I think what is key for me is deeply loving the projects I work on. You are stuck with them for so long and you have to constantly defend them and hype them up. It really helps if the love you feel is real, to put it mildly. You have to believe in yourself and your ideas, even if those around you are implying or even outright stating that you shouldn’t.
I also think that finding collaborators who share a common vision and drive is so important. This can be very hard to find, but so worthwhile for those moments when you feel that you’re a part of a cohesive and inspiring team. Documentary teams are very small and intimate so it’s essential to find people who have different but complimentary skills to your own.
Patty: What kind of research did you have to do for this documentary and how is this different from others you may have worked on before?
Jessica: Researching for this film was so much fun! Sometimes too fun – and the lines between work and play were easily blurred. I lost track of how many times I tried to convince Rita, the producer, that scrolling through tumblr and instagram were not just important, but absolutely critical activities. But arguably they were; we found some of our key interview subjects online!
Beyond delving into boyband history starting from The Beatles to today, I also researched a lot about the history and evolution of pop music, our physiological reactions to music and the teenage brain. We interviewed a wide range of people in the first year of making the film – musicians, psychologists, neurologists – even former boyband members! The film evolved a lot over the years we were filming, which was a very different experience for me. It was often challenging, wanting things to move along faster, but also a blessing to have had such a large amount of time to research, explore and grow with the characters.
Patty: How did you decide which Boy Bands to cover and which Fangirls to interview?
Jessica: In my very early plans and ideas for the film I wanted to cover as many boybands and as many different kinds of fans as possible. However I realized what was at the heart of this project was a desire to demystify the boyband fan, to allow audiences access to a kind of person who routinely gets judged in a negative light or simply dismissed. I decided to focus instead on a key group of fans that were smart, honest and open and had had a wide range of experiences. All that mattered to me was that their bands were different and that they were from different generations.
It’s been very rewarding to have audience members communicate how much they connect with the stories in the film, whether their particular boyband was focused on or not. Even more rewarding is when fans of entirely different things can see themselves in these women – we’ve had horror movie fans, heavy metal music fans and fantasy novel fans all feel a deep sense of connection with these stories.
Patty: Love how diverse the documentary is and that it spans multiple eras. Was this a conscious decision during the process or was this something that developed organically?
Jessica: Yes this was something that was very important to me. Because I came to boyband fandom later in life, I had a distinct feeling of having missed out on what had come before. I had so many questions for fans of different generations. I wanted to explore how being a fan may have shifted and evolved over the last 50 years and also if being a young woman had changed. I think the findings were really surprising.
Patty: How long did this project take and when/where will this be released?
Jessica: We started filming this project in 2013 and followed the key characters for a number of years. The film had its world premiere at Hot Docs in Toronto in 2018 and has spent the last year traveling to film festivals all around the world. It will be released onto various US digital streaming platforms from September 17th 2019 (Amazon, InDemand, DirecTV, AT & T, FlixFling, Vudu, FANDANGO, Sling/Dish).
Patty: What are you a fan of and for how long? Are Boy Bands your passion too or is it something else entirely?
Jessica: I’d say I’m a fan of boyband fans even more than the actual boybands themselves. But a large part of my heart will always belong to One Direction, as they were the catalyst for this journey and the reason I got to meet so many incredible people and work with such a wonderful team. I’m holding out for the reunion tour… I’m thinking maybe 2030? 😉
Patty: What makes you laugh?
Jessica: I am still feeling all the good feelings from watching the first season of Pen15 earlier this year. I ADORED it. I also love watching Broad City re-runs. Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer are absolute geniuses.
Patty: How would you describe yourself and your creative process?
Jessica: I’m both focused and easily distracted. So many things in the world fascinate me. I feel like documentary filmmaking gives me permission to sit back and observe, and that’s one of my favourite states to be in. I like to give my creative process a lot of flexibility. I find if I get too fixed on one idea or one way of doing things it closes the door to opportunities, and a great thrill about making documentaries is all the unexpected things that can happen along the way.
Patty: Anything else you would like to share?
Jessica: As mentioned previously, the film will be released on digital platforms (Amazon, iTunes, DirecTV, AT&T, FlixFing, InDemand, Vudu, FANDANGO, Sling/Dish) on Sept. 17th. Find out more about this release through the following links:
LEGO Star Wars Animation Panel Highlights and Interview with Moderator Steve Dunk
LEGO Star Wars Animation Panel Highlights
Lucasfilm’s Leland Chee and LEGO’s Jason Cosler.
One of my must see panels at Star Wars Celebration Chicago was the LEGO Star Wars Animation Panel with Bill Motz and Both Roth. This panel, moderated by Steve Dunk, dived into the creative process and what it took to create both the LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures and All-Stars animation series. The panelists included the creators of these series, Bill Motz and Bob Roth, Lucasfilm’s Leland Chee and LEGO’s Jason Cosler.
Whiteboards at Lucasfilm were used to capture production notes
All shared stories of how these shows came together and included slides of story boards, whiteboard notes and drawings, character concept art and discussion of the creative and production process. There were a few videos shared including two unaired clips and a really funny video from Wil Film, who was the animation studio for both The Freemaker Adventures and All-Stars.
Droidography as told by Roger
The biggest surprise of the panel was when Matthew Woods, who voiced Roger in both animated series came in near the end, just when they were discussing if Droidography was Canon or not. Matt not only talked about his role as Roger, but also his role as voice director for these series.
Alan Tudyk and Kelly Marie Tran reprise their roles in LEGO form
Overall, I was very happy I made it to this panel. As an added bonus, I was able to catch up with Moderator Steve Dunk after the panel was over and ask him about what it took to put this amazing panel together.
Interview with Steve Dunk
Steve Dunk introduces the panelists
Patty: What first gave you the idea to have this panel?
Steve: I had been watching/covering The Freemaker Adventures since it started. As a huge fan of the show naturally I reached out to Bill and Bob and we started a relationship, first just interviewing them and then into a friendship. So, when I heard All-Stars would be their last bit of Star Wars, and Celebration was coming up, it made sense that they should get a proper sending off.
Patty: How do you decide what to discuss in the panel in the time slot you had?
Steve: You start by writing down all the things you love about the shows and any unanswered questions you might have. Then you realize you’ve got hours of material that need to be cut down to one! So, you just start prioritizing, making cuts, and deciding what’s most important.
Getting behind the scenes content, video, and which guests are on your panel very much determines your schedule because that takes up a good chunk of the time. Each one needs to be paid attention to otherwise they’re just sitting up there for no reason.
Patty: How did this panel differ from other panels you have been involved with before?
Patty: It was more important to me because it was also very personal. I love these characters so much and I hold Bill and Bob in such high regard that letting them down wasn’t an option. You always have a stake in what your doing, but this was different.
Basically, I worked harder at this then anything I’d done in the past.
Patty: How difficult was to schedule the guests for the panel, especially Matthew Woods?
Steve: Aside from Bill and Bob, who were in from the start, Jason Cosler and Leland Chee were surprisingly easy. It helped that they were both already attending Celebration but when I reached out to them, they were ecstatic to be a part of celebrating Bill and Bob. At one-point Michael Kramer was going to be a guest but he had to drop out due to his schedule.
Matthew Wood was trickier. He was of course already attending but was very busy all weekend, particularly that day. This was something we worked on for weeks and even still that day we were ironing out the details. I owe him a lot because he basically ran to our panel, stayed to the end, and then had to run off to something else. It was crazy and somehow the timing worked out perfectly.
Patty: What kind of research did you have to do for this panel?
Steve: This was the easy part actually! Like I said, this show means a lot to me and of course I run the Freemaker Facts, so no research was necessary. Really, it was just preparing for the day itself and getting to Fan Stage for rehearsals which took place on Thursday.
Character concept art for LEGO Star Wars All-Stars by Kilian Plunkett
Patty: How difficult was it to get the behind the scenes photos and character artwork shown during the panel?
Steve: Not necessarily difficult as it was just a matter of getting Lucasfilm and LEGO to approve it. Bob helped with that part, making sure those requests went to the right people more quickly. Same as the unaired video clips, we put in the request and waited for the approval. It helped that I had a bit of a relationship going there, where they were familiar with me.
Patty: Did the fan community help you with planning for this panel?
Steve: Not the planning part, but the inspiration. I love the Freemaker fans and I heard from many who were excited about it, even ones that couldn’t be there. I had them in mind for some of the content, knowing they would enjoy it as much as I would.
Patty: Is there anything else you would like to share about the panel not already mentioned?
Steve: Sure. At one point I was going to assemble a video of cast members, in/out of character, saying hello to Bill and Bob. I just ran out of time and it’s too bad because it would have been amazing to see that.
Just a huge thanks to Wil Film, LEGO, Lucasfilm, and the fans that showed up. I had such a great time meeting everyone.
Guest on Weird Romantics Podcast
I had the honor of being a guest on Weird Romantics this week.
What is Weird Romantics?
Weird Romantics is a group for lovers of romance that’s a little (or a lot!) odd. Our mission is to provide authors with resources and support, and readers with new fiction.
So what classes as “weird romance”? Well, basically anything that doesn’t fit under the “contemporary romance” banner. That includes:
science fiction
paranormal
gothic/horror
‘punk genres
urban fantasy
Stories need to be romance plus genre, or genre with a strong romantic sub-plot. They can be YA, NA, or adult, including erotic romance/erotica. Authors/readers of LGBT* stories are extremely welcome.
Check out my guest appearance on this episode of Weird Romantics!
I am back and I have been interviewed!
This everyday fangirl is back and ready to blog!
I took a short break from my blog due to some family issues. However, those are now under control and I am ready to update my blog with interesting everyday fangirl adventures!
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One of my recent fangirl adventures is an interview by author and fellow blogger, Liza O’Conner, as part of me as part of her blog interview series. The blog interview series is titled…
I had a great time working with Liza to come up with the responses to her interesting topics and questions for this very funny and humorous post. It is a bit long, but because of the concept she came up with is well worth the read! Therefore, please hop on over to Liza’s blog and enjoy the interview with this excited fangirl! If you like the post, please do not forget to leave Liza and/or myself a comment!
EverydayFangirl.com 