The Awesome Fest Announces 2014 Summer Festival and Partnership with Wizard World Comic Con kicking off with 2014 Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con June 19-22nd


Philadelphia, PA – May 12, 2014 – The Awesome Fest returns with an exciting 2014 summer festival from June 19th through August 26th with sponsor Visit Philadelphia™. Featuring a lineup of Independent Cinema along with a heavy dose of familiarity -- retro screenings and yet-to-be-released Hollywood Blockbusters, music, and stand-up comedy -- The Awesome Fest is back! 
Kicking off with partner Wizard World Comic Con, The Awesome Fest will showcase their program from Thursday, June 19th through Sunday, June 22nd at Philly’s flagship comic book and pop culture convention. Following Wizard World, The Awesome Fest will hit the streets with an impressive variety of Philadelphia Premieres, free outdoor screenings, concerts, and talent appearances through August, yet again bringing premium fanfare and general all-around-awesomeness to the City of Brotherly Love. The Awesome Fest will then travel with Wizard World from August 19th-22nd, showcasing their unique and innovative brand of programming in the great City of Chicago.
“I could not be any more excited for our 2014 program and partnership with Wizard World Comic Con. I’m such a huge fan”, said Josh Goldbloom, Founder & Artistic Director of The Awesome Fest. “We have a world class slate of independent films we will be premiering that covers just about all of our favorite things. Rock ‘n Roll, bronies, Nintendo power gloves with Freddy Krueger blades, kung fu & karate kids, NERDS, rebel cheerleaders, George Takei, pizza, and so much more!  I can’t wait to get started with this year’s festivities.”
"Working with Awesome Fest is a natural fit for Wizard World," said John Macaluso, Wizard World CEO. "We are always striving to give the fans the best experience, and adding this lineup of films and discussions greatly enhances that experience. We are especially pleased that our own Wizard World Film Festival will be among the offerings."
The opening night celebration kicks off Thursday, June 19th with a Doug Benson Movie Interruption. For the first time ever in Philadelphia, comedian Doug Benson brings his now infamous live movie interruption to the Trocadero for a 30th Anniversary screening of REVENGE OF THE NERDS. Curtis Armstrong (Booger) and other cast members (TBA) will join Doug from the front row, performing a live comedy show as they riff on one of the great nerd classics of all time.

The Full Awesome Fest Lineup at Wizard World Comic Con
All screenings (except where noted) are free with your Wizard World ticket. Tickets for Wizard World Comic Con can be purchased at www.wizardworld.com.

Opening Night
Thursday, June 19th
Movie Interruption with Doug Benson (30th Anniversary Screening of REVENGE OF THE NERDS)
Comedian Doug Benson brings his now infamous live movie interruption to the Trocadero for a 30th Anniversary screening of REVENGE OF THE NERDS. Curtis Armstrong (Booger) and other cast members (TBA) will join Doug from the front row, performing a live comedy show as they riff on one of the great nerd classics of all time. Tickets go on sale Friday, May 16th at www.thetroc.com

TO BE TAKEI (Philadelphia Premiere)
Followed by a performance from The Roddenberries, a Star-Trek themed cabaret act
George Takei doesn’t shy away from digging into his remarkable career and personal life in Jennifer Kroot’s delightful and incisive film TO BE TAKEI.

A BRONY TALE (Philadelphia Premiere)
Director Brent Hodge in attendance
Straight from the Tribeca Film Festival and recently acquired by Morgan Spurlock, this is the ONLY other festival screening before its theatrical release in late July. A BRONY TALE delves into the world of adult males who like the children’s cartoon My Little Pony, and the convention scene.

BUZZARD (Philadelphia Premiere)
Paranoia forces small-time scam artist Marty to flee his hometown and hide out in a dangerous Detroit. With nothing but a pocket full of bogus checks, his Power Glove, and a bad temper, the horror metal slacker lashes out.

WICKER KITTENS (Philadelphia Premiere)
Director Amy Elliott in attendance
In Minnesota, the winters are long but the jigsaw puzzling is fierce. Join some of the top teams in competitive puzzling as they prepare for the largest contest in the country at the St. Paul Winter Carnival. And feel the loneliness, despair and bitter cold that drives them to be the best.

KUNG FU ELLIOT (Philadelphia Premiere)
Elliot "White Lightning" Scott plans on becoming Canada's first action hero with his low-budget karate epic, Blood Fight. This surreal documentary captures two years in the lives of a passionate amateur filmmaker, his supportive partner Linda, and their outrageous cast-all trying to realize their dreams. With everyone's hopes and dreams pinned on Elliot, this comedic-drama unfolds into a shocking and complex examination of how we lie to ourselves. Winner of the Audience Award at Slamdance.

WIZARD’S WAY (Philadelphia Premiere)
Joe and Chris are two ambitious young filmmakers looking for subjects for a reality TV show. They set out to find "Windows" - a living legend amongst gamers dedicated to Wizard's Way, an aging online fantasy video game. Julian "Windows" Andrews turns out to be a stereotypical nerd, sharing a minuscule apartment with his best friend Barry Tubbulb. Their entire existence revolves around playing Wizard's Way. Joe and Chris see an opportunity to exploit the gamers and further their own careers; soon they're blatantly crossing ethical lines.
Jack Black and his Electric Dynamite production company recently purchased the rights to remake WIZARD’S WAY. Black is also the Executive Producer of the original.

ALL CHEERLEADERS DIE (Philadelphia Premiere)
From Director Lucky McKee (May, The Woman)
Producer Andrew van den Houten in attendance.
A rebel girl signs up a group of cheerleaders to help her take down the captain of their high school football team, but a supernatural turn of events thrusts the girls into a different battle.

TENTSQUARE PANEL
Featuring Jeffrey Reddick, the creator, writer and executive producer of the FINAL DESTINATION series
Tentsquare is the first completely crowd sourced production studio with an integrated social network. From the earliest development phases all the way through post-production, members have the opportunity to weigh in. Projects are 100% funded via the company, not the followers.
Tentsquare recently launched at SXSW and are currently underway developing their first feature to be directed by Jeffrey Reddick.
 
30th Anniversary Screening of THE KARATE KID
Q&A by Ralph Macchio following the screening!

A Conversation with John Carpenter
Join us for this very special occasion as we honor the Master of Horror with a conversation spanning his entire career.

A Conversation with Christopher Lloyd (25th anniversary of BACK TO THE FUTURE 2)
Join us as we turn on the flux capacitor, and go back in time with Christopher Lloyd to discuss his amazing and historic career in acting.

Wizard World Film Festival
Wizard World is proud to present the Wizard World Film Festival that will run during each show stop on the Wizard World Comic Con tour.
Exclusive VIP prize packages will be awarded to the top films in each city and the Official Selection and category winners will be screened at remaining shows on the 2013/14 tour. These films will also be advertised on the Wizard World website (over 800,000 views monthly) and social media outlets.


HERE’S A SNEAK PEAK INTO AWESOME FEST’S 2014 OUTDOOR SUMMER SERIES
The Full Lineup of Films will be released on May 27th

“The Soundtrack of Awesome - A Celebration of Movies that ROCK!”

For the Summer of 2014, The Awesome Fest will host an 8 week celebration of music and film, with a central theme of rock ‘n roll, throughout the city of Philadelphia. For the 5th straight summer, all outdoor screenings and concerts are completely free of charge!

Outdoor Venues include: Liberty Lands (N. Liberties), Clark Park (University City), The Oval (in front of The Philadelphia Museum of Art).

Opening Night - Outdoors at Clark Park 6/26
RIOT ON THE DANCE FLOOR (Philadelphia Premiere)
Co-presented by the This Is Hardcore Fest
Directed by Steve Tozzi
Riot on the Dance Floor: The story of Randy Now and City Gardens is a documentary from director Steve Tozzi that features the stark and iconic photography of Thrasher Magazine's Ken Salerno. It is told through an oral history format of in-depth interviews and archival footage, bringing to life the gritty story of one of New Jersey's most infamous clubs and its larger than life promoter. City Gardens was a venue for underground music and during its time it traversed the entertainment spectrum; from the comedy of Henny Youngman to Nine Inch Nails, New Order to Nirvana. Riot on the Dance Floor is a journey of musical champions and underdogs and above all, the freedom and liberation of having complete creative control.

Centerpiece (of Pizza) Event:
THE PIZZA UNDERGROUND - Free Concert & Pizza Party outdoors at The Oval
The Pizza Underground is an American comedy rock band based in New York City. Namely parodying songs by The Velvet Underground with pizza-themed songs names and lyrics, the group consists of the very awesome Macaulay Culkin (kazoo, percussion and vocals) along with Matt Colbourn (guitar, vocals), Phoebe Kreutz (glockenspiel, vocals), Deenah Vollmer (pizza box, vocals), and Austin Kilham (tambourine, vocals)

Closing Weekend:
PULP (Philadelphia Premiere)
Outdoors
Pulp found fame on the world stage in the 1990's with anthems including 'Common People' and 'Disco 2000'. 25 years (and 10 million album sales) later, they return to Sheffield for their last UK concert. Giving a career best performance exclusive to the film, the band share their thoughts on fame, love, mortality - & car maintenance. Director Florian Habicht (Love Story) weaves together the band's personal offerings with dream-like specially-staged tableaux featuring ordinary people recruited on the streets of Sheffield. PULP is a music-film like no other - by turns funny, moving, life-affirming & (occasionally) bewildering.

THE OTHER ONE: THE LONG, STRANGE TRIP OF BOB WEIR (Philadelphia Premiere)
The Trocadero Theatre
Special Guests in attendance
Mike Fleiss’ (God Bless Ozzy Osbourne) stunning and passionate documentary chronicles the life and career of legendary Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist (and founding member), Bob Weir. Containing never before seen archival footage, performances, and extensive interviews with Weir himself, this is a cinematic must-see journey that fans and music lovers alike will unquestionably applaud. 

Showcases

LIVING STARS (Philadelphia Premiere)
In Buenos Aires, they are dancing. Dozens of real people, identified simply by name and occupation, are presented in their kitchens, living rooms, offices, and streets-each dancing to a fairly well-known pop song. Young and old, alone and with others, they perform for the camera with a rawness usually only reserved for the bathroom mirror. LIVING STARS is one of the true crowd-pleasers of the year!

BIG IN JAPAN (Philadelphia Premiere)
Big in Japan is a rock and roll road movie about a struggling Seattle band determined to not fade away. The film, which is based loosely on actual events, follows real life rockers, Tennis Pro, as they travel to Japan- a last ditch attempt to prevent their day jobs from becoming their careers. Director John Jeffcoat (Outsourced) utilizes a fresh narrative approach, guerrilla production style mixed with an international storyline to craft a dynamic and entertaining story where music and film intersect with two cultures to reveal simple, oftentimes hilarious, universal truths.

JOHNNY WINTER: DOWN AND DIRTY (Philadelphia Premiere)
“LEMMY” co-director/producer Greg Olliver spent two years following Johnny from his home in Connecticut to France, Japan and beyond to create an intimate portrait of the Texas musician who played Woodstock, partied with the Rolling Stones and John Belushi, dated Janice Joplin, and jammed with Jimi Hendrix. Aptly named “JOHNNY WINTER, DOWN & DIRTY” by Johnny himself, this documentary explores what it’s like to live a life of sex, drugs and rock & roll debauchery with only a few regrets… but not without consequences.

DEATH METAL ANGOLA (Philadelphia Premiere)
Co-presented by BlackStar Film Festival
War ravaged and potentially the richest country in Africa, Angola is the epicenter of the African hardcore music scene. Sonia Ferreira and Wilker Flores live and breathe rock and roll. They run and live in the Okutiuka orphanage in Huambo, Angola and have a dream. They are going to mount the first ever national rock concert, bringing together for the first time the best and the brightest in Angolan hardcore death metal, thrash metal and melodic death-core.

SKANKS (Philadelphia Premiere)
In the winter of 2012 a community theatre in Birmingham, Alabama mounted an original drag musical, “Skanks in a One Horse Town.” “Skanks” follows the actors and creators from rehearsal through performance, at work, at their homes, and with their families. The cast of amateur performers bond to form a family of sorts while creating an unconventional show in religion and football-obsessed Alabama.

JINGLE BELL ROCKS! (Philadelphia Premiere)
Jingle Bell Rocks! is a trippy, cinematic sleigh ride into the strange and sublime universe of alternative and underground Christmas music, featuring The Flaming Lips, Run-DMC, The Free Design, Low, Miles Davis & Bob Dorough, Clarence Carter, John Waters, Akim & The Teddy Vann Prod. Co., The Mighty Sparrow, A Girl Called Eddy, El Vez and many more.

Check out the lineup at:
www.theawesomefest.com
facebook.com/theawesomefest
twitter: @theawesomefest

ABOUT THE AWESOME FEST
Recognized for their unique events and innovative approach to programming, The Awesome Fest was created as an outlet to bring the most cutting edge and just plain awesome titles from both the independent festival circuit, as well as Hollywood's finest, to play some of the more unique venues and non-traditional spaces in the city of Philadelphia.  
Since the Summer of 2010, The Awesome Fest outdoor summer series has showcased well over 200 Philadelphia Premieres from the world’s most prestigious film festivals, completely FREE to all who attend.

The Greater Philadelphia Film Office is a proud fiscal sponsor of The Awesome Fest.

ABOUT WIZARD WORLD
Wizard World (OTCBB: WIZD) produces Comic Cons and pop culture conventions across North America that celebrate graphic novels, comic books, movies, TV shows, gaming, technology, toys and social networking. The events often feature celebrities from movies and TV, artists and writers, and events such as premieres, gaming tournaments, panels, and costume contests.
The full event schedule can be found at www.wizardworld.com

ABOUT VISIT PHILADELPHIA
VISIT PHILADELPHIA™, formerly the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC), is the region’s official destination marketing organization. It builds the brand and image of Greater Philadelphia, thus increasing business and economic impact for the five-county region.

www.visitphilly.com