Rueben's Ramblings

For the first time in all of the years I have been attending the San Diego Comic-Con (that would be 12 years in case you were wondering), I attended the independent film festival, which has been a juried event contained within the annual fete since 2005.

The four-day festival screens some of the very best in genre-related short and long films as part of Comic-Con. The festival’s categories include action/adventure, animation, comics-related, documentary (pop culture related), horror/suspense, humor, and science fiction/fantasy. The winners of each category are decided by a panel of judges made up of film and popular arts industry luminaries; this year that included actress Kathy Najimy, Entertainment Weekly columnist (and former LA Times writer) Geoff Boucher and filmmaker Alex DeMille.

Trophies and prizes are given to the films deemed by the judges to be the best in each category, and an overall “Judges’ Choice Award”, which is presented to the one film considered the best film in the festival.

I attended a portion of the festival in support of my friend Chris Lilly’s online series “Just Us Guys” that was selected to be part of the top 50 films selected from among the 300 plus films that were submitted for the festival. That is quite a feat, in and of itself,

After the initial screening of “Just Us Guys” during the festival, Chris took to the stage along with his film editor Clinton Steeds (That’s So Raven and Cory in the House) and writing consultant Mark Litton (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) to participate in a moderator Q&A.

Just Us Guys panelists at San Diego Comic-Con – photo by Marcilene St. John

Chris was first asked what the genesis of “Just Us Guys” was with his reveal being that he wrote a horror script similar to that of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer back in 2009; and then he ended up writing a pilot that was Gilmore Girls but with guys inspired, which is what eventually became “Just Us Guys”.

When talking about what viewers of the online series can expect next, Chris shared that he is working on how to tell the full 13 ten-minute episodes for season two of “Just Us Guys” that will be more comedic and more father-son-based. And, he also shared that Elsie (played by Phylicia Goings) – who is the dynamic new comic book store employee – is actually being prepped as a spin-off series.

Mark and Chris then shared how they came to know each other, and it was through the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, which was the show that changed Chris’s life, making him want to work in the industry. In fact, Chris named his production company – 82893 Productions – after the date that changed his life.

When the awards ceremony was presented on the last day of the convention, “Just Us Guys” was – unfortunately – not among the winners of the categories listed above, but when asked how he felt about the results, Chris was positive, sharing that he was already a winner by having his online series selected as part of the festival, getting great exposure and having the opportunity to network with everyone who participated in the Independent Film Festival.

To learn more about 82893 Productions as well as “Just Us Guys”, make sure to visit their official website here, check them out on Facebook here, follow them at Twitter @justusguystv and @82893Prods and check them out on You Tube here.

ADDED: You can also follow Elsie The Series on Twitter @ElsieTV and on Facebook here.