07.17.2013: Godzilla Meets His Maker aka the Live G-Fest Podcast

The controller talks with Godzilla suit-maker Shinichi Wakasa & Godzilla suit actor Tsutomu Kitagawa (thanks to Robert Scott Field) at G-Fest XX in Chicago. Kaiju fans from around the globe converged on Chicago, Illinois last weekend for the twentieth annual Godzilla convention known as G-Fest! In addition to the amazing dealers room, artist alley and special guests, this festival has a massive schedule of kaiju-tastic programming. One of those programs was our live podcast and we couldn’t be more thrilled with the outcome! This year, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to speak with two of the guests about their experience in creating Godzilla. Shinichi Wakasa has been building monster suits and been running his own studio called “Monsters Inc” since he was 20 years old! Tsutomu Kitagawa is the stunt actor chosen to play the king of the monsters in six of the “millennium series” films. These two men worked together to bring Godzilla to life and it was truly an honor to have them on the show. And as a bonus, Andoid M11 was acting as our interpreter – major thanks again to Robert Scott Field! And as a special treat, our pal Mike Weber shot a great video of the panel, too! Normally I wouldn’t have added any tunes to this episode, but because of the extra translation time and dead air that I cut out, I had about 15 minutes. Those of you that enjoy the a capella stylings of the Bukimisha Weird Secret Society should really enjoy this. MONSTER MUSIC: 1. Bonus Track (Medley) by Bukimisha Weird Secret Society from Goukai Na ChikyuBoueigun (2001) SUGGESTED READING: Godzilla Meets His Maker video transmission! (a million Arigatos to the very awesome VVideo-man, Mike Weber) G-Fan Magainze & G-Fest’s Official Website DAIKAIJU DISCUSSION REMINDER: So the Kaijucast saw Pacific Rim on July 8th thanks to Warner Bros’ awesome media people and we excitedly and immediately began recording our discussion, but you still have until July 25th to send in your thoughts, questions and reviews of this massive summer blockbuster. If you haven’t seen it yet, or read the review, we would highly suggest seeing it in the biggest format you can.