Got this today from Cortlandt Hull:
DVDs will start mailing out at the end of June. Look for ordering information at www.preservehollywood.org.… Read the rest
Got this today from Cortlandt Hull:
DVDs will start mailing out at the end of June. Look for ordering information at www.preservehollywood.org.… Read the rest
Pasted below is a message from Cortlandt Hull and Dennis Vincent, whose interview with James Bama was the subject of Resin the Barbarian’s October entry.
Our new documentary, “LEGENDS OF FILM & FANTASY”, will now be a multi-part series, this we just decided less than a month ago. Our very first volume will be “THE AURORA MONSTERS – THE MODEL CRAZE THAT GRIPPED THE WORLD!” (co written & co-directed by Dennis Vincent & Cortlandt Hull). The DVD should be ready this spring. It will make it’s official premiere at “Wonderfest” in Louisville, KY., on May 15 to 16, in 2010.
We re-thought our documentary, originally it was planned to be a four-hour, two-disc film, covering way too much material. Plus, we have almost 50 interviews, it seemed a shame to waste it, as the raw footage of each interview ran well over an hour for each guest. So, we are planning to produce two themed documentaries a year, but shorter – between 60 to 90 min. and about $10.00 each. The series will all be under the banner of “Legends Of Film & Fantasy”. This way, we can use more of the material we have shot. Mainly, this new format allows us to concentrate on each subject, rather than just a brief over-view. Dennis & I are very excited about our new series. We just put a write up on the “Home” page of our website – www.preservehollywood.org
(Pictured here) is our mock-up for the DVD cover. Zacherley is also doing some new wrap-arounds for us, since it was the horror hosts that originally made the classic horror movies “kid friendly” on “Shock Theatre”, across the country. This led the way to “Famous Monsters” and eventually the Aurora Monster Kits, which have inspired many makeup artists, illustrators, actors & film makers. Among the guests – Aurora cover artist, James Bama, actor & model sculptor Jeff Yagher, illustrator & model maker, Daniel Horne, from “Sideshow Collectibles” – Tom Gilliland, with Mat Falls, giving a wax sculpture demo, the artists of “Mad Geppetto”, Frank Winspur president of “Moebius Models”, master model builder & painter Mike Rutherford, and a lot more. We will include some rare photos from Thomas Graham, the author of “The Aurora Models Kits” (book by Schiffer), plus shots of Bob Burns as “Kogar” promoting the 1960′s Aurora Monster Kit Contest.
Still in production, no exact release date, except for the premiere at “Wonderfest”. Not confirmed yet, but the music score may be done by Broadway violinist & conductor, Kurt Coble.
Early preview trailer, which now is an overview of this new series, “LEGENDS OF FILM & FANTASY” -
All good wishes – Cortlandt & Dennis… Read the rest
Click here for an update about the DVD specifics.
In 1966, two people took major steps toward living their dreams. One was James Bama, a New York City commercial illustrator, about 40 years old, whose portfolio included dozens of cover paintings for Doc Savage paperbacks and the box art for many of Aurora’s monster model kits. The other was Cortlandt Hull of Bristol, Conn., great-nephew of “Werewolf of London” star Henry Hull, a 13-year-old lover of classic horror movies and builder of Aurora models.
Looking over my notes for this month’s “Resin the Barbarian” interview, recognizing the time frame of the turning points in these two men’s lives, I was fascinated to realize that Mr. Bama began to move away from the genre work that has remained popular about the same time Cortlandt embraced a life ever influenced by monsters. Cortlandt’s decision was made in part because he — like millions of others — so loved Mr. Bama’s box art. Decades later, Mr. Bama was impressed with the work Cortlandt and director Dennis Vincent did profiling artist Basil Gogos on “The Witch’s Dungeon: 40 Years of Chills”, so he invited them to visit his home in Wapiti, Wyo., for a rare interview that will be featured in the documentary “Legends of Film & Fantasy”, to be available on DVD in early 2010.
Wapiti is where Mr. Bama finally settled a few years after he and his wife, Lynne, departed Manhattan, according to the introduction to the book “The Western Art of James Bama”. They’d visited a friend in Wyoming in 1966 and began to realize how different their lives could be. After return visits in 1967, the Bamas settled in Wyoming for good in 1968. Bama continued doing commercial work for a few years to make ends meet, but his focus quickly turned to his own works. His realist approach to Western people and places has gained Mr. Bama widespread respect as a fine artist.
Around the time Mr. and Mrs. Bama were discovering Wyoming, Cortlandt was working with his father, Robert, to turn a Swiss chalet-style building into the Witch’s Dungeon, a place to house the life-sized monsters the boy had started fabricating when he decided the Aurora models just weren’t big enough. The Dungeon, open every year around Halloween, continued to grow over the years, as did Cortlandt’s artistic abilities. In October 2009, Zenobia the Gypsy Witch (Cortlandt’s original creation) welcomes visitors to a visit with many of Cortlandt’s monsters, including the Phantom of the Opera, Frankenstein’s Monster, Count Dracula, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and, of course, the Werewolf of London.
Cortlandt and Dennis were very busy on a mid-September Saturday. For Dennis, the major task was editing footage for “Legends of Film & Fantasy”.… Read the rest