INTERVIEW: New movie ‘Supercon’ riffs on comic conventions
Photo: Russell Peters stars as Keith Mahar and Ryan Kwanten as Matt Wheeler in the comedy Supercon, an Archstone Distribution release. Photo courtesy of Archstone Distribution / Provided with permission.
The new comedy Supercon stars a talented cast of actors, including Ryan Kwanten (True Blood), Maggie Grace (Lost), Russell Peters (Chef) and John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich).
They play characters who are B-level actors from decades ago who are hoping the fans at a comic convention still recognize them and plunk down a few dollars for an autograph. It’s a tough, sometimes humiliating existence, but they band together and share in their camaraderie. That’s until Adam King (Clancy Brown), the bonafide star of the convention, decides to make life a lot tougher for the actors on the fringes.
At the helm of the comedy is Zak Knutson, who directed the movie and co-wrote the script with Andy Sipes and Dana Snyder. Knutson has worked extensively with filmmaker Kevin Smith over the years. Recently, Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Knutson about the new film. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
Who will love this movie most? Those who attend comic conventions, or those who are scared of comic conventions?
I’ll tell you who won’t love this movie the most, will be the reviewers. Honestly it’s fans and anybody who just wants to laugh. We did not make this movie to go deep in culture or talk about consumerism at a higher level in a millennial world. … We literally just made this movie for people to laugh and have a good time, and that’s all I want them to do is just laugh and have a good time with it.
What was it like to work with this cast?
This cast was spectacular, and I was more than lucky to be able to say that I had Clancy Brown and John Malkovich and Russell Peters and Ryan and all these guys. They were just spectacular.
I could not have got more lucky with this cast, and then to … have all those guys work with a friend of mine named Brooks who’s in the movie who just kind of steals all the scenes as well, it’s just spectacular. I’ve been very lucky with this cast.
Are/Were you a frequent presence at comic conventions? Do you like the sense of camaraderie at the events?
I liked doing the comic book conventions that aren’t the big massive ones like San Diego or New York Comic Con. I enjoy the smaller convention because you can actually see things and walk around and talk to people, which is something you really can’t do at the bigger events.
I’ve been going to comic book conventions for about 12 years now. I’m not super hardcore into them, but I go where I can, especially if there’s people I know or if there’s something I want to see. … I’m a fan of the conventions just not the huge ones.
What were some of the challenges with the shoot for Supercon?
That challenge was that we had a budget of about $5 million, and I had to have a convention that had to be completely cleared of any copyrights. I had to fill that convention with people and artwork, and I had to do all of this on a 19-day schedule, which was extremely difficult. And we had to keep it funny. It was in New Orleans in the middle of July, which does not make that any easier. So those were just a few of the difficulties, but my worst day on set was better than my best day working any other job. I love doing this stuff for a living. This is the best, so I have absolutely no complaints about any process. And anybody who says they do is full of it. This is too good.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Supercon is now in theaters, on video on demand and digital HD. The movie arrives June 5 on DVD.
