Christopher Walker interview at Play on con 2011 with Jack Lamontagne
(THIS INTERVIEW TAKES PLACE AT THE 2011 PLAY ON CON IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, SATURDAY JULY 30TH)
JL Wow, I can't believe I have run into you again my friend!
CW Lets see, I believe it has been about 4 years ago at Dragon con? And I see that you have married, and have a baby now!
JL (Laughter) Yes, and a home mortgage to boot!
CW Well, I am glad for your happiness, and prosperity my friend!
JL Thank you, and I see you have expanded to a booth, and a web page to promote the Phantom legend. Please if you would, tell the readers a little about your quest to continue the Phantom and his legacy, and how you got started doing all this.
CW Well, I like you have always been a fan of the Phantom, and after seeing the incredible reception I have received over the last few years wearing the Phantom costume, I felt like it was time I gave back to the character that has captivated my imagination, and the imagination of millions of Phans all over the world.
My friend Shane (whom I worked with at the time) suggested we attend a convention in costume, that we had previously attended earlier that year. This was supposed to originally be a one time thing, that turned into a annual event! One thing led to another, and here we are 4 years later! (Laughter). I hope that our efforts on the photo shoots do justice to the character, and bring in more Phans to support this enduring character.
JL I would like to start off by saying I as well as other fans of the Phantom want to commend you and your group for undertaking this daunting task of bringing awareness of the Phantom legacy to the public told in pictures. I don't think anyone else is out there doing this type of project, bravo my friend!
CW Thanks, it's a lot of hard work on everyone involved in the project. I hope we are able to entertain everyone as well along the way.
JL I see that this year celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Phantom,.......has it been that long in print? That is amazing! I never knew!
CW I know, it's hard to believe, time passes quickly in the jungle!(Laughter)
JL My wife and I were watching how many people were coming by the booth, and noticing everyone from children to adults are fascinated by the pictures, and telling you and Kellye how much the Phantom has meant to them over the years. Some of them were even telling you how their parents read the Phantom to them as children. Does this surprise you?
CW No, not really, my mom and grandparents read the strips to me as well, unfortunately, with the advent of the internet in homes, the newspaper is rapidly disappearing from family daily life, thus affecting the knowledge of the Phantom legacy in society. That is why every chance I get I try to promote the Phantom at the KingFeatures.com website. The dailys are now in color online, and that is a big plus for old, and new readers alike. King Features should be applauded for keeping their characters PG, so that everyone young or old can continue to enjoy the stories the way I, my parents, and grandparents enjoyed them in the past.
JL Now was Kellye a Phan when you met her? She has that old hollywood presence about her, that is very rare these days. My wife commented on how much her likeness to the Diana character in print is uncanny, and I spoke to a fellow from India earlier, that was amazed at how much she looks like Diana Palmer, he said all children in India are raised reading the Phantom, he is a very beloved character to them. He was very taken with her! (Laughter)
CW She had read the Phantom sporadically over the years before the shoot, but was never really aware of the deep history related to the character. As we progressed in the shoots she started to delve deeper into the legend and lore, and she has now become a true Phan! It has been remarked to me before about her "old Holywood" look on several occasions by other people. She is a very photogenic person.
CW I have said it many times before, I don't think I would have been able to get this far with out her incredible presence, and support. If she ever left the shoots, I would never replace her with another actress. As far as I'm concerned she is Diana, and it would be next to impossible to find someone with the energy, and drive to pull the character off convincingly.
JL I noticed when she arrived, she was swamped by people photographing her, and getting her signatures, she is very popular.
CW People love her look, and she loves talking to people as well, kids are just naturally drawn to her. .....I'm just thankful she accepted to do the role. A very talented girl,....she and her husband Matt, made her own"Mord Sith" costume ("Legend of the Seeker" t.v. series) completely out of leather.
JL I know you said earlier she is your "little gladiator". What does that mean, and how is she to work with as a co-star?
CW Since day one, she has had to put up a lot, and did it all with no pay! Anybody else would have quit after the first shots. Freezing cold temperatures, wearing no coat,(except between shots), sick, being attacked by mosquitoes, gnats, and not to mention her many allergies she has. I could ask for no one any better to be paired up with. incidentally, the very first day we shot, there was ice and snow on the ground, and she was wearing clothing usually worn for hot climates, now that's suffering for your art!
JL Her look is mesmerizing, did she come up with her own costume for the character prior to the first initial shoot?
CW It was all on her own, she pieced it together in a couple of days, appeared in the parking lot with her husband Matt at the gardens for the shoot, and said " ...I hope this is o.k.", and it was perfect! Ironically, she based her appearance off the James Steranko Valkyrie painting he did a few years back, from the internet, and showed up on the first day of shooting with the look you see now. She had no idea before appearing for the first set of pictures, that I was bringing Steranko's art to demonstrate how I wanted her to pose. Small world eh?
JL ....Ah, Steranko, we had a long conversation about him and his incredible art when we first met, what a legend! Is there anything he has not done?
CW (Laughter)..........I doubt it, That man has done more in his lifetime here on earth than five men combined! If you told me you read he climbed Mount Everest and then skydived off the top I would believe it! (Laughter) His minds eye sees the shadows, and lines no one else sees, and his approach to art is so vastly different from everyone else, even the one's who try to imitate him fall short. His CHANDLER: RED TIDE is epic!
JL I have a Chandler poster from a Canadian art show of his work a few years back hanging in my study at home, love that book!
CW Me too!....Kellye can do the Steranko hands, she does it in our shoots, and now it's spilling over into her other costuming poses, it's great! (Laughter) I have created a monster!
JL Speaking of Kellye, I saw the picture of her holding a Colt single action pistol, it looks huge! There is a plethora of other vintage weapons in the shoot, are these from a prop department?
CW Well, they are from various sources, they are all actual vintage firearms that have been disabled,or deactivated and there are some weapons that are plastic, and resin castings. The Colt you spoke of is actually My father's Daisy bb pistol from the 1970's, and the Winchester is a bb gun I had as a kid, I just gutted it, and made it look like the real deal. Kevin's Beretta is a hollow plastic click pistol from the 1980's, looks just like the Beretta 92,....don't make toys like that anymore, (Laughter)
JL I just saw Kevin's new pictures. He is a very versatile fellow, his first set of pictures with the old military truck look great! I overheard you were having to re shoot all his pics, that they were lost when the computer crashed last year, is this true?
CW Yes, but thankfully he was a good sport about it, we hope to use Kevin more here in the near future, he is a great character actor, and a good friend, a very trustworthy person to work with. He also has a lot of allergies like Kellye, so we are limited on the times of the year when we can do outside shoots with him as well. All the best people have bad allergies! (Laughter) We all now have multiple copies of the pics we shoot on disc so no more lost photos!
JL Speaking of photos, who shoots the photos for your picto stories?
CW Currently we have 3 to 4 cameras going for each shoot. Magestiq is our lead photographer, who does a fantastic job shooting, and photo shopping for us as well. Majestiq also was the main photographer for or "Hero" shoot at the ranch. Matt, who is also married to Kellye, has grabbed some great shots, and served as sole photographer when Magestiq was out of town on one of our shoots, as well as Kellye who has a great photographic eye!
JL Now here is someone who I want to hear about,....Kristen who plays Julie Walker! Wow, how do you find these people to play the characters, she is amazing!
CW Well, she is the spokesperson for the Halloween Express located in Birmingham Al. I originally had spoken to 2 other girls, both shorter than Kristen to play the part, but they never called back and one day when I stopped by the store, I discovered we had mutual friends, and posed the question of playing Julie to her. A few days later I received a text from her, and she wanted to play the part. I was elated, she was tall, very well spoken, and looked about he right age for Julie, so in the end we wound up with the right person after all.
JL Well she looks just like the character, she has that old Hollywood look as well, great curves too! (Laughter)
CW Yes, she is a truly beautiful girl, she even used a purple eye shadow for an effect around her eyes, when she wore the mask. I am so thankful we snagged her for the role, we have only done one shoot with her, and I'm hoping in the upcoming year to try and tell her origin story, she is a wonderful person, and really understands the whole freeze frame shots we are going after. She's a very talented girl! I really want to tell so many stories, and really bring out the talent of my troop of actors, but time and money are just not on my side unfortunately.
JL I'm sure it is quite expensive to do these shoots, and trying to organize them must be a small nightmare for one person.
CW Fortunately I have great friends who help donate their time and energy to make all this happen, I don't make one single cent off this project, so it takes a lot of time to try and gather everyone at the same time. Most of the actors have never met each other in person and the older you get the less spare time all of us have, so I want to thank everyone involved in helping me with this huge project, all of you have my deepest thanks!
JL I remember the first time seeing you and the lone Ranger at Dragon con, I noticed you nor he would not allow yourselves to photographed with tobacco products or alcohol, and the patrons almost seemed embarrassed when you guys brought it to their attention. Is this still in effect with you fellows, and if so why?
CW It's pretty simple, I as well as the Ranger don't want to promote anything that is harmful to people, and the Phantom nor the Ranger would ever endorse something like that,....it's a life choice I suppose. As far as the fans go, I think they realize when we bring it to their attention, they understand completely,and they have no problem with it. I think they tend to respect us even more for it n the end.
JL Cool!
JL Now where did you find "Hero", this horse is fantastic!
CW I have a friend whose sister-in-law rides Bud in the horse shows, he actually belongs to a fine gentleman named Jackie Alexander, of the Alexander ranch. I had been trying to find a solid white horse for quite awhile, but to no avail, then one day out of the blue my friend Steve mentions the horse to me, and the rest is history. Bud is fantastic! Very gentle, absolutely gorgeous horse, we fell in love with him the moment we met him. I hope to one day do another shoot with him just to see him again, a magnificent creature for sure. I do want to say thank you to Mr. Alexander for letting us come and do the shoot with his horse, the pics would not be the same with out Bud, that's for sure!
JL If I remember correctly you don't usually allow people outside the shoot to see you without your mask, or be photographed without your mask, is this still the rule, and if so why?
CW That is true, I still do not allow pictures to be taken, or be tagged without a mask, or helmet in other costumes. It's really simple,....it's not about me, it's about the character. I want the focus to be on the Phantom, and what he stands for, and the people that are affected around him. Besides it adds to the mystery of the character.
JL Now let's see I was looking in your binder, and see you have a lot more actors not up on the site yet, it looks like these are pictures still being worked on for the storyline?
CW Yes, with this storyline we just had too many people out of pocket to assemble for one massive shoot, so we had to break them down into small shoots to photo shop them in later, don't really like doing this, but it is unavoidable. When the final pics are finished, everyone will have their credits up on the site. Our Main Photographer, Magestiq, is a perfectionist, and hates to let them go until the last minute, so that's why it is taking so long to finish.
JL I met Matt, I believe he is playing the role of "Eichman", and is also married to Kellye, and Ross is "Uncle Dave", is he related to Kellye? They favor each other.
CW Yes, Matt is Kellye's husband, and has been a great character actor for us, he keeps us laughing during the shoots, you would not believe the weirdo's that wander up when we are shooting sometimes, he does a really great imitation's of these people, he is hilarious to work with. Matt also does a fantastic Joxter from Xena warrior princess when they do a cosplay group sometimes. He makes a great villain! Ross Carter is not related, but we did pick him due to the similarity in facial likeness, he does a great job as "uncle Dave", very versatile guy!
CW Ross is from San Diego Ca., and is quite a character,.....as you can see, (as we look at Ross hamming it up for the crowd, and signing autographs) (Laughter)!
JL Yes, I met him and his daughter, and son in law earlier, I think he has been as busy signing as Kellye has! I hate that Kristen was unable to make it, I heard people asking about her.
CW Ross and his family are great folks, they have taken a pretty good bit of pictures with us, and total strangers as well (Laughter) Yes, Kristen has been much requested, unfortunately she had other plans made in advance, so hopefully next time we will be able to have her here to sign for everyone. Casting is a real hard job for this also, Phantom Phans are very particular, especially when it comes to representing the characters from the strip, I certainly don't want to take anything away from the series, and want to have people resemble the characters as close as possible.
JL Yes, my wife said Kellye told her what a tough time you had been having as far as casting. Having worked in some independent films around Canada and the U.S. myself, I have seen firsthand exactly what you mean my friend. I do hope it gets better for you in the future, I know you want to put the best foot forward to have the right people to represent the Phantom, and his legacy.
CW I do have some local cosplay people I would like to use, I think you met Sally Wonder Woman, and her daughter Katie today, I hope to use them in our future shoots. I know they have busy schedules, and they are involved in the online Star Trek fan films, and they are very popular costumers. Sally's son Daniel would be the perfect !st Phantom as well.
JL I did meet them, my wife posed with them earlier, the children love their costumes!
JL Any new projects for 2012?
CW Well, hopefully the first story arc will be finished before the new year, Magestiq will be working on doing the Phantom Paperback cover recreation in photo form, I am excited about that project. I will be going to a new costume, and new shade of color, which will be a deep blue with a purple tint to it, and will eliminate the zipper problem on my head. (Laughter) Kristen will prob. be using my costume from now on after that at the shoots, and signings we do. We also want to do some blood drive projects with the Red Cross, we are big supporters of them.
JL Well, do you have any final words for our readers?
CW I just want to thank all the Phans all over the world for their support of King Features over the years that has kept the Phantom alive and well in print form. A HUGE thanks goes out to PLAYON CON! I would not be able to be here set up today if it were not for the fine folks here at PLAYON CON, this is our second year here, and they have been very gracious to allow us to be here as guests, and this convention continues to grow every year, a great gaming convention indeed! I would also like to thank everyone who came out today to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Phantom with us, we have enjoyed all the welcome support we have gotten from all of you.
Also, without my many friends support, and the generous donation of time, and props, and talent, none of this would be possible here today to be set up as the Phantom, and bringing a little nostalgia back to fandom. I think you met Tim the enchanter earlier, Tim Howard, has really busted his rear end to help us get set up the last 2 years, he and his wife are great people, and Misty his wife has watched our booth for us in the past, I could never hope to repay them for their help and kindness.
JL Yes, he told me about his toy collection, I am going to check out the pictures on his face book when I get home.
JL Well, my friend, I for one am glad you and your lady Diana, are out here doing what you do to bring recognition to the Phantom and his legacy. I wish you luck with this project, and eagerly await your stories online, it has been good to catch up with you my friend!....BTW, any chance of a picture of you without your mask?
CW ....Well you know what they say "....to look upon the face of the Phantom is death".
JL Um,......nevermind. (Laughter) Thank you my friend, for the interview, and good life to you and Kellye!
CW You are welcome my friend, and it has been great to have seen you again, may God bless you and your new family as well. I hope it is not another 4 years before I see you again!
END OF INTERVIEW
JL Wow, I can't believe I have run into you again my friend!
CW Lets see, I believe it has been about 4 years ago at Dragon con? And I see that you have married, and have a baby now!
JL (Laughter) Yes, and a home mortgage to boot!
CW Well, I am glad for your happiness, and prosperity my friend!
JL Thank you, and I see you have expanded to a booth, and a web page to promote the Phantom legend. Please if you would, tell the readers a little about your quest to continue the Phantom and his legacy, and how you got started doing all this.
CW Well, I like you have always been a fan of the Phantom, and after seeing the incredible reception I have received over the last few years wearing the Phantom costume, I felt like it was time I gave back to the character that has captivated my imagination, and the imagination of millions of Phans all over the world.
My friend Shane (whom I worked with at the time) suggested we attend a convention in costume, that we had previously attended earlier that year. This was supposed to originally be a one time thing, that turned into a annual event! One thing led to another, and here we are 4 years later! (Laughter). I hope that our efforts on the photo shoots do justice to the character, and bring in more Phans to support this enduring character.
JL I would like to start off by saying I as well as other fans of the Phantom want to commend you and your group for undertaking this daunting task of bringing awareness of the Phantom legacy to the public told in pictures. I don't think anyone else is out there doing this type of project, bravo my friend!
CW Thanks, it's a lot of hard work on everyone involved in the project. I hope we are able to entertain everyone as well along the way.
JL I see that this year celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Phantom,.......has it been that long in print? That is amazing! I never knew!
CW I know, it's hard to believe, time passes quickly in the jungle!(Laughter)
JL My wife and I were watching how many people were coming by the booth, and noticing everyone from children to adults are fascinated by the pictures, and telling you and Kellye how much the Phantom has meant to them over the years. Some of them were even telling you how their parents read the Phantom to them as children. Does this surprise you?
CW No, not really, my mom and grandparents read the strips to me as well, unfortunately, with the advent of the internet in homes, the newspaper is rapidly disappearing from family daily life, thus affecting the knowledge of the Phantom legacy in society. That is why every chance I get I try to promote the Phantom at the KingFeatures.com website. The dailys are now in color online, and that is a big plus for old, and new readers alike. King Features should be applauded for keeping their characters PG, so that everyone young or old can continue to enjoy the stories the way I, my parents, and grandparents enjoyed them in the past.
JL Now was Kellye a Phan when you met her? She has that old hollywood presence about her, that is very rare these days. My wife commented on how much her likeness to the Diana character in print is uncanny, and I spoke to a fellow from India earlier, that was amazed at how much she looks like Diana Palmer, he said all children in India are raised reading the Phantom, he is a very beloved character to them. He was very taken with her! (Laughter)
CW She had read the Phantom sporadically over the years before the shoot, but was never really aware of the deep history related to the character. As we progressed in the shoots she started to delve deeper into the legend and lore, and she has now become a true Phan! It has been remarked to me before about her "old Holywood" look on several occasions by other people. She is a very photogenic person.
CW I have said it many times before, I don't think I would have been able to get this far with out her incredible presence, and support. If she ever left the shoots, I would never replace her with another actress. As far as I'm concerned she is Diana, and it would be next to impossible to find someone with the energy, and drive to pull the character off convincingly.
JL I noticed when she arrived, she was swamped by people photographing her, and getting her signatures, she is very popular.
CW People love her look, and she loves talking to people as well, kids are just naturally drawn to her. .....I'm just thankful she accepted to do the role. A very talented girl,....she and her husband Matt, made her own"Mord Sith" costume ("Legend of the Seeker" t.v. series) completely out of leather.
JL I know you said earlier she is your "little gladiator". What does that mean, and how is she to work with as a co-star?
CW Since day one, she has had to put up a lot, and did it all with no pay! Anybody else would have quit after the first shots. Freezing cold temperatures, wearing no coat,(except between shots), sick, being attacked by mosquitoes, gnats, and not to mention her many allergies she has. I could ask for no one any better to be paired up with. incidentally, the very first day we shot, there was ice and snow on the ground, and she was wearing clothing usually worn for hot climates, now that's suffering for your art!
JL Her look is mesmerizing, did she come up with her own costume for the character prior to the first initial shoot?
CW It was all on her own, she pieced it together in a couple of days, appeared in the parking lot with her husband Matt at the gardens for the shoot, and said " ...I hope this is o.k.", and it was perfect! Ironically, she based her appearance off the James Steranko Valkyrie painting he did a few years back, from the internet, and showed up on the first day of shooting with the look you see now. She had no idea before appearing for the first set of pictures, that I was bringing Steranko's art to demonstrate how I wanted her to pose. Small world eh?
JL ....Ah, Steranko, we had a long conversation about him and his incredible art when we first met, what a legend! Is there anything he has not done?
CW (Laughter)..........I doubt it, That man has done more in his lifetime here on earth than five men combined! If you told me you read he climbed Mount Everest and then skydived off the top I would believe it! (Laughter) His minds eye sees the shadows, and lines no one else sees, and his approach to art is so vastly different from everyone else, even the one's who try to imitate him fall short. His CHANDLER: RED TIDE is epic!
JL I have a Chandler poster from a Canadian art show of his work a few years back hanging in my study at home, love that book!
CW Me too!....Kellye can do the Steranko hands, she does it in our shoots, and now it's spilling over into her other costuming poses, it's great! (Laughter) I have created a monster!
JL Speaking of Kellye, I saw the picture of her holding a Colt single action pistol, it looks huge! There is a plethora of other vintage weapons in the shoot, are these from a prop department?
CW Well, they are from various sources, they are all actual vintage firearms that have been disabled,or deactivated and there are some weapons that are plastic, and resin castings. The Colt you spoke of is actually My father's Daisy bb pistol from the 1970's, and the Winchester is a bb gun I had as a kid, I just gutted it, and made it look like the real deal. Kevin's Beretta is a hollow plastic click pistol from the 1980's, looks just like the Beretta 92,....don't make toys like that anymore, (Laughter)
JL I just saw Kevin's new pictures. He is a very versatile fellow, his first set of pictures with the old military truck look great! I overheard you were having to re shoot all his pics, that they were lost when the computer crashed last year, is this true?
CW Yes, but thankfully he was a good sport about it, we hope to use Kevin more here in the near future, he is a great character actor, and a good friend, a very trustworthy person to work with. He also has a lot of allergies like Kellye, so we are limited on the times of the year when we can do outside shoots with him as well. All the best people have bad allergies! (Laughter) We all now have multiple copies of the pics we shoot on disc so no more lost photos!
JL Speaking of photos, who shoots the photos for your picto stories?
CW Currently we have 3 to 4 cameras going for each shoot. Magestiq is our lead photographer, who does a fantastic job shooting, and photo shopping for us as well. Majestiq also was the main photographer for or "Hero" shoot at the ranch. Matt, who is also married to Kellye, has grabbed some great shots, and served as sole photographer when Magestiq was out of town on one of our shoots, as well as Kellye who has a great photographic eye!
JL Now here is someone who I want to hear about,....Kristen who plays Julie Walker! Wow, how do you find these people to play the characters, she is amazing!
CW Well, she is the spokesperson for the Halloween Express located in Birmingham Al. I originally had spoken to 2 other girls, both shorter than Kristen to play the part, but they never called back and one day when I stopped by the store, I discovered we had mutual friends, and posed the question of playing Julie to her. A few days later I received a text from her, and she wanted to play the part. I was elated, she was tall, very well spoken, and looked about he right age for Julie, so in the end we wound up with the right person after all.
JL Well she looks just like the character, she has that old Hollywood look as well, great curves too! (Laughter)
CW Yes, she is a truly beautiful girl, she even used a purple eye shadow for an effect around her eyes, when she wore the mask. I am so thankful we snagged her for the role, we have only done one shoot with her, and I'm hoping in the upcoming year to try and tell her origin story, she is a wonderful person, and really understands the whole freeze frame shots we are going after. She's a very talented girl! I really want to tell so many stories, and really bring out the talent of my troop of actors, but time and money are just not on my side unfortunately.
JL I'm sure it is quite expensive to do these shoots, and trying to organize them must be a small nightmare for one person.
CW Fortunately I have great friends who help donate their time and energy to make all this happen, I don't make one single cent off this project, so it takes a lot of time to try and gather everyone at the same time. Most of the actors have never met each other in person and the older you get the less spare time all of us have, so I want to thank everyone involved in helping me with this huge project, all of you have my deepest thanks!
JL I remember the first time seeing you and the lone Ranger at Dragon con, I noticed you nor he would not allow yourselves to photographed with tobacco products or alcohol, and the patrons almost seemed embarrassed when you guys brought it to their attention. Is this still in effect with you fellows, and if so why?
CW It's pretty simple, I as well as the Ranger don't want to promote anything that is harmful to people, and the Phantom nor the Ranger would ever endorse something like that,....it's a life choice I suppose. As far as the fans go, I think they realize when we bring it to their attention, they understand completely,and they have no problem with it. I think they tend to respect us even more for it n the end.
JL Cool!
JL Now where did you find "Hero", this horse is fantastic!
CW I have a friend whose sister-in-law rides Bud in the horse shows, he actually belongs to a fine gentleman named Jackie Alexander, of the Alexander ranch. I had been trying to find a solid white horse for quite awhile, but to no avail, then one day out of the blue my friend Steve mentions the horse to me, and the rest is history. Bud is fantastic! Very gentle, absolutely gorgeous horse, we fell in love with him the moment we met him. I hope to one day do another shoot with him just to see him again, a magnificent creature for sure. I do want to say thank you to Mr. Alexander for letting us come and do the shoot with his horse, the pics would not be the same with out Bud, that's for sure!
JL If I remember correctly you don't usually allow people outside the shoot to see you without your mask, or be photographed without your mask, is this still the rule, and if so why?
CW That is true, I still do not allow pictures to be taken, or be tagged without a mask, or helmet in other costumes. It's really simple,....it's not about me, it's about the character. I want the focus to be on the Phantom, and what he stands for, and the people that are affected around him. Besides it adds to the mystery of the character.
JL Now let's see I was looking in your binder, and see you have a lot more actors not up on the site yet, it looks like these are pictures still being worked on for the storyline?
CW Yes, with this storyline we just had too many people out of pocket to assemble for one massive shoot, so we had to break them down into small shoots to photo shop them in later, don't really like doing this, but it is unavoidable. When the final pics are finished, everyone will have their credits up on the site. Our Main Photographer, Magestiq, is a perfectionist, and hates to let them go until the last minute, so that's why it is taking so long to finish.
JL I met Matt, I believe he is playing the role of "Eichman", and is also married to Kellye, and Ross is "Uncle Dave", is he related to Kellye? They favor each other.
CW Yes, Matt is Kellye's husband, and has been a great character actor for us, he keeps us laughing during the shoots, you would not believe the weirdo's that wander up when we are shooting sometimes, he does a really great imitation's of these people, he is hilarious to work with. Matt also does a fantastic Joxter from Xena warrior princess when they do a cosplay group sometimes. He makes a great villain! Ross Carter is not related, but we did pick him due to the similarity in facial likeness, he does a great job as "uncle Dave", very versatile guy!
CW Ross is from San Diego Ca., and is quite a character,.....as you can see, (as we look at Ross hamming it up for the crowd, and signing autographs) (Laughter)!
JL Yes, I met him and his daughter, and son in law earlier, I think he has been as busy signing as Kellye has! I hate that Kristen was unable to make it, I heard people asking about her.
CW Ross and his family are great folks, they have taken a pretty good bit of pictures with us, and total strangers as well (Laughter) Yes, Kristen has been much requested, unfortunately she had other plans made in advance, so hopefully next time we will be able to have her here to sign for everyone. Casting is a real hard job for this also, Phantom Phans are very particular, especially when it comes to representing the characters from the strip, I certainly don't want to take anything away from the series, and want to have people resemble the characters as close as possible.
JL Yes, my wife said Kellye told her what a tough time you had been having as far as casting. Having worked in some independent films around Canada and the U.S. myself, I have seen firsthand exactly what you mean my friend. I do hope it gets better for you in the future, I know you want to put the best foot forward to have the right people to represent the Phantom, and his legacy.
CW I do have some local cosplay people I would like to use, I think you met Sally Wonder Woman, and her daughter Katie today, I hope to use them in our future shoots. I know they have busy schedules, and they are involved in the online Star Trek fan films, and they are very popular costumers. Sally's son Daniel would be the perfect !st Phantom as well.
JL I did meet them, my wife posed with them earlier, the children love their costumes!
JL Any new projects for 2012?
CW Well, hopefully the first story arc will be finished before the new year, Magestiq will be working on doing the Phantom Paperback cover recreation in photo form, I am excited about that project. I will be going to a new costume, and new shade of color, which will be a deep blue with a purple tint to it, and will eliminate the zipper problem on my head. (Laughter) Kristen will prob. be using my costume from now on after that at the shoots, and signings we do. We also want to do some blood drive projects with the Red Cross, we are big supporters of them.
JL Well, do you have any final words for our readers?
CW I just want to thank all the Phans all over the world for their support of King Features over the years that has kept the Phantom alive and well in print form. A HUGE thanks goes out to PLAYON CON! I would not be able to be here set up today if it were not for the fine folks here at PLAYON CON, this is our second year here, and they have been very gracious to allow us to be here as guests, and this convention continues to grow every year, a great gaming convention indeed! I would also like to thank everyone who came out today to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Phantom with us, we have enjoyed all the welcome support we have gotten from all of you.
Also, without my many friends support, and the generous donation of time, and props, and talent, none of this would be possible here today to be set up as the Phantom, and bringing a little nostalgia back to fandom. I think you met Tim the enchanter earlier, Tim Howard, has really busted his rear end to help us get set up the last 2 years, he and his wife are great people, and Misty his wife has watched our booth for us in the past, I could never hope to repay them for their help and kindness.
JL Yes, he told me about his toy collection, I am going to check out the pictures on his face book when I get home.
JL Well, my friend, I for one am glad you and your lady Diana, are out here doing what you do to bring recognition to the Phantom and his legacy. I wish you luck with this project, and eagerly await your stories online, it has been good to catch up with you my friend!....BTW, any chance of a picture of you without your mask?
CW ....Well you know what they say "....to look upon the face of the Phantom is death".
JL Um,......nevermind. (Laughter) Thank you my friend, for the interview, and good life to you and Kellye!
CW You are welcome my friend, and it has been great to have seen you again, may God bless you and your new family as well. I hope it is not another 4 years before I see you again!
END OF INTERVIEW