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 The Supanova Pop Culture Expo just took place in Brisbane for the fifth time. This year audience figures set a new record for the Supanova expo, with over 10,300 visitors attending across the weekend. The gigantic queues that stretched around Exhibition Hall at the RNA Showgrounds in April caused residents of nearby apartment buildings to telephone the media. Not just because of the length of the lines, but because they were comprised of every conceivable pop-culture character - from the dainty Japanese soldier Sailor Moon to light sabre-wielding Jedi.
The expo, also held annually in Sydney, has become a Mecca for pop-culture enthusiasts and ‘kids of all ages’, many of whom travel from interstate to attend their jamboree. Many dedicated fans known as ‘cosplayers’ attend in costume, but ordinary families outnumber the dressed-up devotees. This year, Supanova also included ‘extracurricular’ special events surrounding the expo, such as preview screenings of the sci-fi thriller SUNSHINE and the sold-out English-language premiere of animated feature TALES FROM EARTHSEA. In an industry first, Warner Bothers Movie World partnered with the Supanova Expo to hold a specially-themed fantasy and sci-fi night which attracted more than 6,000 attendees. The park kept its gates open until 10pm to accommodate the cavalcade of pop-culture fans. Supanova was established in 2002 by event director Daniel Zachariou, who was then the proprietor of The Vault Comics, a Sydney-based comic-book trading company. The event had its debut in Sydney as Comicfest in 2000, but soon morphed into Supanova, with a broader scope and a presence in Brisbane. Zachariou explains, ‘Brisbane blew me away with its energy when I visited in 2002. What was quickly noticeable was the Brisbane fans’ enthusiasm – they really got behind something they thought would be fun and exciting.’ Zachariou is thrilled with the possibilities presented by the Movie World event. ‘With Warner Brothers Movie World, it was great to see that Supanova had made such an impression up there that they called us to be our official evening event sponsor for Supanova 2007. And then to have so many thousands of fans turn up – most of them in costume – and have that celebration was fantastic!’ Supanova has added a new medium to its pop-culture armoury with the inclusion of Queensland’s gaming sector. The global games industry is now worth $A40 billion, and with Queensland’s emergence as a powerhouse for electronic games development in Australia, there are many career opportunities for budding designers and animators. Southeast Queensland is now home to more than 40 per cent of Australia’s electronic games developers, according to Queensland Games, a major exhibitor at the Brisbane 2007 Supanova event. ‘We knew that there was a huge gaming industry in Brisbane, and as we explored the industry relationships we were establishing we realised that Brisbane has Australia’s largest gaming and software development community,’ said Zachariou. ‘In order to make gaming more visible at Supanova, we developed a relationship with the Queensland Government and Queensland Games.’ Zachariou points out that the increasing potency of the Queensland gaming industry has led international organisations to establish their headquarters in Brisbane. One such company is Pandemic Studios, a games developer also located in Los Angeles, and another is the retailer EB Games, now a major sponsor of Supanova. Queensland Games is a brand that combines all Queensland games developers and stakeholders under one banner in order to promote Queensland as the epicentre of games development for the region. It is managed by The Department of State Development. The Minister for State Development, Employment and Industrial Relations, John Mickel, said that the state government was proud to be associated with Queensland Games, and saw the brand as an integral part of its endeavours to promote local talented games developers to publishers, agents and consumers throughout the world. Mickel added that Queensland’s game developers have identified those who attend Supanova as a strong source of prospective employees and students for the local industry. ‘For this reason a whole-of-industry approach, under the Queensland Games banner, was adopted, allowing for unified branding of the stand showcasing the opportunities and career development available in the Queensland marketplace,’ Mickel said. ‘Supanova also provided local games companies the opportunity to take part in panel and speaker sessions to help students identify skill requirements and find out about recognised qualifications from universities and registered training organisations.’ Daniel Zachariou and his team are supportive of the development of local talent. ‘At Supanova, our objective is to give young fans of gaming and young creative minds the opportunity to realise that this is a viable career path for them, and that the companies to work for are right there under their noses in Brisbane. They could be developing the next TY THE TASMANIAN TIGER, DESTROY ALL HUMANS! or THE SIMPSONS games, which are smash-hits going out worldwide.’ Mickel has similar hopes. ‘I think it’s extremely important for local and international creative businesses, such as our game developers and universities, to be able to showcase what they do and the types of careers they can offer,’ he says. ‘Events like Supanova play an important part in exposing the wider Queensland community to our games development strengths and opportunities. ‘Aspiring games professionals can build a world-class career right here in their own backyard working alongside some of the most innovative companies and electronic games experts in the world.’ To this end, several tertiary and vocational training organisations exhibited at Supanova under the Queensland Games banner. These included Qantm College and QUT, plus Bond and Griffith Universities. Supanova’s professional exhibitors included Pandemic Studios (Star Wars® BATTLEFRONT I & II), Krome Studios (TY THE TASMANIAN TIGER), Auran Games (MMO title, FURY), THQ Studios (JIMMY NEUTRON AND SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS), The Creative Assembly (the TOTAL WAR suite of games), and Fuzzyeyes Studio (TWILIGHT). Ka-LAN organised three projectors for the weekend, which ran Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii throughout the expo. This setup attracted punters all weekend, with the Wii proving most popular while running DRAGON BALL Z, BUDOKAI TENKAICHI 2, RAYMAN RAVING RABBIDS and WII SPORTS. GEARS OF WAR made an appearance on the Xbox 360 and the PS3 showcased RESISTANCE: FALL OF MAN. Supanova’s gaming coordinator, Drew Van Schoonhoven, observed, ‘This really showed a large shift back towards consoles for gaming. Consoles now have the graphical power of your standard PC so the games are finally on par and still within budget. Also the explosion of internet gaming has made meeting up for a PC LAN almost a thing of the past.’ Zachariou is delighted that gaming companies are coming onboard at Supanova. ‘Between EB Games and Queensland Games, and also 2K Games who promoted THE DARKNESS at the event and CNET.com.au as online partners, it has really transformed the gaming aspect of Supanova and taken it to a whole new level. This has been brilliant, because some organisations have viewed the expo’s comic-book origins with scepticism. Although we still love comic books, Supanova is so much more than comic books these days and we’re really pleased to have our sponsors’ recognition in the gaming market.’ Despite the games industry’s economic might, the influence of comic-books on other segments of the creative industries should not be underestimated. Comic-book-related properties make up a significant portion of print-to-screen adaptations, from blockbuster franchises like SPIDER-MAN and SUPERMAN to art-house specials such as 300 and SIN CITY. Iranian expatriate Marjane Satrapi’s historical graphic novel Persepolis recently had its film debut in Cannes, where it received critical acclaim. Zachariou observes, ‘It’s amazing how easily one industry cross-pollinates to another. Take comic-writing legend Marv Wolfman as an example. He was in Brisbane developing an undisclosed gaming product with Pandemic Studios, but his credentials extend from the comic-book industry, where he created many pop-culture icons. He created the vampire hunter Blade – which is now a movie franchise starring Wesley Snipes – as well as THE NEW TEEN TITANS, which is an internationally-syndicated animated series. All of these pop-culture properties emerged from his comic-book writing at Marvel and DC. When he sat at the Pandemic Booth in the Queensland Games section of Supanova, where he was a gaming guest, people brought comic-books for him to sign. Many of them were purchased from comic retailers who had booths elsewhere at the expo.’ Traditionally, one of Supanova’s biggest drawcards for fans has been the opportunity to meet the celebrities behind their favourite pop-culture properties. Every year, the event hosts numerous creators and stars of movies, TV series, comics, books and games. Celebrity guests sign autographs, pose for portraits and deliver tell-all speeches for legions of fans. This year’s most popular star was Billy-Dee Williams, the suave African-American actor who shot to fame in the 80s as lovable rogue Lando Calrissian, a character in the STAR WARS movies. Other celebrity guests included Karl Urban (LORD OF THE RINGS), Aaron Douglas (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA), Dan Bacon (STARGATE SG-1), Ron Glass (FIREFLY / SERENITY), voice actors from animated serials YU-GI-OH! and NARUTO, and Australian actor Clayton Watson, who appeared in THE MATRIX as The Kid. As the Supanova expo develops, Zachariou intends to forge closer ties with Australian screen industry professionals. Supanova has already collaborated with 20th Century Fox, Warner Bothers Movie World and Madman Cinema, but Zachariou hopes local producers and distributors will recognise that Supanova provides a platform to market screen products directly to their target demographics. In the USA, studios shrewdly use conventions like San Diego ComicCon and NY ComicCon as platforms for publicity campaigns and stars’ promotional appearances. Supanova is the equivalent here in Australia. The event attracts diverse pop-culture audiences, but is particularly opportune for genre-specific creators. Queensland indie producers Michael and Peter Spierig promoted their 2003 zombie flick UNDEAD at Supanova, which allowed them to reach out to an audience with a demonstrated interest in the genre without spending a fortune on marketing. UNDEAD, described by The Guardian as ‘a zombiesploitation splatterfest’, was a cult hit, and the Spierig brothers have commenced initial talks with Supanova with regard to promoting the sequel, DAYBREAKERS, at Sydney’s October Expo, as well as the 2008 Brisbane event. Ethan Hawke is slated to star in DAYBREAKERS as a researcher who joins forces with a group of vampires to save the human race. Zachariou has a vision for Supanova. ‘We really do want to be more than just a Saturday and Sunday event,’ he says. ‘We aim to be like Fashion Week, eventually, in that preceding the event and based around it we want to have launches and gatherings related to pop-culture products. When Supanova is on in Brisbane, pop-culture fans focus on the city and await our announcements on guests and events. Fans fly in from all over Australia to attend the expo, which is known affectionately as BrisNova by our regulars.’ Zachariou and his Supanova team are, themselves, great fans of imaginary universes. ‘Whether you’re five or 50, if you’re a fan of pop-culture, this is the place to be,’ he says. ‘The imaginary meets reality for one really cool weekend.’
http://www.supanova.com.au
http://www.queenslandgames.com.au/ Felicity Blake is a freelance writer and independent documentary filmmaker |
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