Stefan Blitz is the founder and editor-in-chief of Forces of Geek. A self-proclaimed popculturalist, Blitz also is a freelance writer/consultant/creative guru/publicist. He is the programmer of New England's #1 pop culture convention, RI Comic Con, and on occasion hankers for a hunk of cheese. He worries far too much and is likely worried if you found this bio clever or not.
Elizabeth Weitz has never gotten over the cancellation of Doctor, Doctor but she has found the strength to move on through a combination of denial and regular viewings of the Matt Frewer/Charles Rocket awesome fest that was Max Headroom. The Managing Editor of Forces of Geek, she lives in PA where she spends most of her time glued to Netflix and writing stuff that her mother doesn't approve of.
Steve Ahlquist is writer, artist and award winning filmmaker. He is the creator of Oz Squad and Strange Eggs. He considers himself the inventor of the phrase "weirded out" and is known locally as Rhode Island's leading atheist. Currently he writes for Forces of Geek, RI Future, Caution Church Ahead and JukePop.
Matt Barry is a writer and film maker. He currently resides in the Greater New York City area, and publishes the online film blog, The Art and Culture of Movies. Follow him on Twitter (@matthewnbarry).
Jess Barnes is a former film student and staff writer for Cinematical. She currently lives and works in Toronto, Canada as a writer of the freelance variety and has a weakness for bad 80's soundtracks and snappy dialogue.
Charles J. Baserap is a graduate of Fordham University where he studied English Lit and Classical Philosophy. He served in the US Secret Service at the White House and Foreign Missions Branches, and currently consults at the Pentagon. He’s the published author of a book on terrorism and foreign policy, An American at the Crossroads from Amira Rock Publishing, reads more comic books per week than is normally recommended by mental health professionals, is also a writer and editor at www.NerdtopiaCast.com, and is perhaps one bad day from becoming a supervillain. Maybe less.
Before joining Forces of Geek, Steve Belgard handled PR and marketing for film and television for the Starz Network and its 18 channels for 13 years and prior to that worked at Dennis Davidson Associates public relations firm where he was responsible for unit publicity and domestic film campaigns. In addition, he has worked on over 70 film and television projects in either a publicist or unit publicist capacity and was responsible for getting actor/director Dennis Hopper a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame two months prior to his passing.
Guy Benoit graduated from Providence College with a BA in English. He has worked as a dishwasher, a dog catcher, a park ranger, a director, a screenwriter, a journalist and a file clerk, amongst other things. A video he directed for Six Finger Satellite was featured in an episode of Beavis & Butthead. It was also shown on MTV’s 120 Minutes. They did not spell his name correctly. Many years ago, he travelled the country with a punk rock band. Some of his all-time favorite people are Muhammad Ali, Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, Van Dyke Parks, Mission Of Burma, The Newspeak Film Group, The Velvet Underground, The MC5, The Stooges and The New York Dolls. He has lived in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and California. He enjoys reading and conversing with sane people.
Andrez Bergen is an expat Australian writer, journalist, DJ, and ad hoc saké connoisseur who's
been entrenched in Tokyo, Japan, for the past 11 years. He makes music as Little Nobody and
ran groundbreaking Melbourne record label IF? for 15 years. He published noir/sci-fi novel Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat in 2011 and the surreal fantasy One Hundred Years of Vicissitude through Perfect Edge Books in 2012. He's currently working on novel #3, titled Who is Killing the Great Capes of Heropa?. Bergen has published short stories through Crime Factory, Shotgun Honey, Snubnose Press, Solarcide, Weird Noir and Another Sky Press, and worked on translating and adapting the scripts for feature films by Mamoru Oshii, Kazuchika Kise and Naoyoshi Shiotani.
Lauren Berkley is old enough to be dubbed "a 20-something" and resides "Where The Walking Dead Takes Place". By day, she is an associate producer for a major TV network and by night, she is a capital-W "Writer", if the vodka, wine, and not getting paid for it are any indication. She attends cons and has Starbuck's wing tattoo on her back. She specializes in hodgepodge geekery, ranging from BSG to Star Wars to Whedon to Zombies. You can follow her on Twitter (@goodgirlgongeek) and on her work-in-progress site GoodGirlGoneGeek.com
Peter Briggs has been a professional writing monkey for longer than he cares to remember. A former assistant cinematographer, he’s the credited co-writer of the movie Hellboy, and has utterly failed to master the art of writing winning pleading letters to the Writers Guild of America Arbitration Boards on such features as Freddy Vs. Jason, Judge Dredd and Alien Vs. Predator (his original draft of which featured ignominiously in a book called The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made). A stubborn advocate of the semi-colon; like Hemingway, he’s discovered Writer’s Block on any given scene can generally be resolved with a notebook and a pint of something refreshing in a very noisy public bar.
Julie Browning, grew up and still lives in Nebraska and has spent 20 odd years doing not much except mothering 3 very geeky, brainy sons, spoon feeding them bad cinema throughout their childhood. An unapologetic William Castle groupie to this day, Julie has a deep appreciation for all things vintage, especially clothing patterns, costume jewelry, ancient cookbooks and classic cars. Now trying to give new meaning to the term "late bloomer" by resuscitating a love of writing. Blogs on any topic with limited knowledge or fact checking at thecheekydiva.com . Follow her on Twitter (@CheekyDiva1).
Kevin Cafferty does things. His most recent film, "It's a Bash!", was given four stars by The Providence Journal, aired on New England PBS affiliates, and is currently available on DVD from Midway Pictures. His blogs for FOX Television Stations were referred to as "somewhat humorous" by at least two or three people, and he is a four-time Emmy nominee for his work editing and producing feature stories (aka "the water-skiing squirrel beat") for local newscasts. In his spare time he writes fan-fiction about experimental theater.
Mike Calahan was raised by a family of raccoons in the magical kingdom of Animalopolis. When it became obvious he was not an hereditary member of the family, Mike left to re-enter the world of Man. Self-educated, self-motivated and, unfortunately, self-groomed, Mike went on to become one of the richest men in the world creating solar-powered night vision goggles for the US Dept. of Defense. One year later, he lost it all to a conman named Phineas J. Trustworthy. Today, he is attempting to recoup his losses by writing. It's a very, very slow upward climb. Read his nonsense at his site and follow him on Twitter (@mikecalahan).
Christopher Cerasi is a freelance writer and editor. Since 2000, Cerasi was an editor handling some of biggest icons of pop culture including the Star Wars franchise for LucasBooks and the pantheon of of the DC Universe in their Licensed Publishing Division of DC Comics handling titles tied in to both the comic and multi-media interpretations. As a writer, Cerasi has interviewed Carrie Fisher for The Star Wars Insider and has written Star Wars comics (under his name and as Nathan Walker and Miles Lane). He has also authored the Star Wars Fandex Deluxe for Workman Publishing. After leaving DC in 2010, Cerasi currently resides in Portland, Oregon and is planning the next great adventure…
DJ Crystal Clear is a kick-ass DJ, Singer, Graphic Designer/Screenprinter/Art Educator, Media Gadfly who can kick your butt at Seinfeld trivia, knows too much about The Monkees, and does YOU a big favor by watching all of the major award shows and then writes her RANT about it, so you don't have to watch them! YOU'RE WELCOME. She can be found on Instagram (DJCrystalClear), Twitter (@DJCrystalClear6) and endorsing the very awesome Yay9!
Emma-Jane Corsan was born in East London and has been gaming her whole life and when she's not taking on the Covenant, saving princesses, taking arrows to the knee or wandering through post-apocalyptic wastelands you'll find her writing about her life as a gamer. She's also an independent filmmaker with her production company, Cheesemint Productions. Recent projects include the geek comedy web series, Unlocked in which she plays the character Pip Wesker. She enjoys ranting, eating cake, reading comics and had a childhood crush on Bucky O'Hare. Be sure to check out her site, Excuse Me While I Geek Out and follow her on Twitter (@EmmaJaneCorsan).
Salvatore S. Cucinotta is a science enthusiast, Drexel Graduate and continues to ponder the question "How on Earth did I manage to get a BS in English?" His dual enthusiasm for the natural world and monsters was sparked by an early exposure to the film King Kong (1933) and being offered as a snack to the skeleton of a Tyrannosaurs Rex by his loving father at the tender age of two.
Clay N. Ferno is the General Manager of the Middle East Nightclub in Cambridge MA for his day job. By night, he works with bands, DJs and chiptune artists to throw the geekiest parties in town. Clay writes about comics and interviews creators at Earth Prime Time at DigBoston and also Forces of Geek. He has been a part of the comic book podcasting community since 2009 with his friends at LeaguePodcast.com Follow Clay on Twitter (@claynferno) or visit his site.
Dean Galanis is an ex-Marine and Gulf War Veteran, ex-night manager of TLA Video, ex-lifeguard, ex-busboy, ex-paperboy and current production assistant/assistant director/screenwriter/driver to the stars. Galanis wrote his first short story, the well received, The Prince of the Cave, at age 4 and made his first short film, Attack of the Mean Monsters on Super 8 at age 11. By age 18, Galanis had written his first feature screenplay, the as-yet unproduced sci-fi musical about Ronald Reagan, 77 Lives. Since then, Galanis has failed to live up to his potential. His love of horror movies can be blamed on his irresponsible grandmother, who when babysitting would wake up 4 or 5 year old Galanis in the middle of the night to watch Son of Dracula or Tales of Terror. He did his best not to let on that he was terrified. She was also a huge James Bond fan, God bless 'er.
Christy Gibbs is a New Zealander currently living in rural Japan where she works as an English teacher, although in the past she has also been a lifeguard, a swimming instructor, and a fashion model. She classifies herself primarily as an anime geek (her doctoral thesis published in 2012 focuses on representations of sexuality in anime), but is also interested in Japanese music, street fashion, and a hodgepodge of other pop culture titbits.
David E. Goldweber spent one quarter of his life writing and researching his Claws & Saucers guidebook to classic sci-fi, horror, and fantasy movies. When not watching (or ranting about) old movies, David teaches English at two San Francisco Bay Area colleges. He lives in Oakland with a wife, a kid, and a couple of cats.
Walter Greatshell is the author of the Xombies trilogy and the thriller Mad Skills, published by Ace Books, as well as the novels Enormity (under the name W.G. Marshall), and Terminal Island, both published by Night Shade Books. He can be found online at www.waltergreatshell.com
Atlee Greene is a comic book enthusiast who spends his weekends applying the dreaded chain reaction in the art of professional wrestling. He has a degree in criminal justice and is inspiring author who dabbles in photography. When he is not idolizing Bret Hart or wishing he had a lightsaber, he’s chillin with his dog, Yoda, and is still attempting to beat Super Mario Bros 3 without the warp whistles. He is a wrestling and MMA columnist for gerweck.net and blogs at his own site, Midnight Logic. Atlee resides in Massachusetts, with his wife Juliet. You can follow him on Twitter (@midnightlogicgo)
Rich Handley is the editor and co-founder of Hasslein Books (hassleinbooks.com), the managing editor of RFID Journal magazine, a frequent writer for Bleeding Cool magazine and Trekweb.com, and the author of Timeline of the Planet of the Apes, Lexicon of the Planet of the Apes and The Back to the Future Lexicon. Rich has written numerous articles and short stories for the licensed Star Wars universe, and was a columnist and reporter for Star Trek Communicator magazine for several years. His most recent work was a short story for John Ordover's sci-fi anthology, Baconthology.
PJ Hruschak is a freelance writer, editor, designer, green thinker and generally groovy guy. He was the Editor-in-Chief of Gamertell for five years since its inception in 2007 and had a weekly video game column in CiN Weekly for four years. PJ has written about myriad topics and has been published in print in Geek Monthly Magazine, online for GamesRadar and on air with Clear Channel. He's currently employed by indie video game publisher and developer, indiePub, where he acts as the corporate spackle (as in filling in the gaps). Some of his more memorable interviews include Tina Fey, Mel Brooks, James Roday and Dule Hill, John Goodman, Fred Armisen, Gerard Way, Jim Gaffigan and They Might Be Giants. PJ is currently trapped in southwest Ohio (help) and can be reached at pj@hruschak.com.
Robert Jaz, aka The DJ From The Black Lagoon, is a Providence, RI based writer/visual artist/musician/recording artist. A collector and enthusiast of a miraculous number of pop culture items including Godzilla / Kaiju / Lucha Libre / and more recorded media than any human could possibly find time for, Jaz has been active in the Providence arts scene for over two decades, operating the Mystery Box weekly Film series at AS220; helped found the NicePaper; the Terrastock music festival; and has founded and performed with a number of legendary cult groups including V. Majestic. He can be reached via his website at: www.RobertJaz.com or at a variety of social media platforms.
Kevyn Knox is a film historian and critic. His reviews can be read at The Most Beautiful Fraud in the World. Knox is also a regular contributor to Anomalous Material, and is the cinema director of a local arthouse called Midtown Cinema. He is currently at work on his first book, tentatively titled My Quest to Watch the 1000 Greatest Films, which should hopefully hit bookstore shelves in 2014.
Tea Krulos is a freelance writer from Milwaukee, WI, who now lives near Fort Myers, Florida. He has written for a variety of publications including Milwaukee magazine, the Shepherd Express, Boston Phoenix, and the New York Press. His first book, Heroes in the Night, which is about the "Real Life Super Hero" subculture, will be published in October 2013. For more of Tea, check out his personal blog and the Heroes in the Night blog.
Brian Saner Lamken, a.k.a. Blam, is a writer and artist living in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA. From 1990 through 2001 he freelanced as a journalist in the comics trade, contributing to the venerable Comics Buyer’s Guide and several other publications, serving as a judge for the 2000 Eisner Awards, and editing the short-lived, well-regarded magazine Comicology. Blam currently blogs on pop culture at the inventively named Blam’s Blog #1, whose numeral was added as a result of the recently created Tumblr blog, Blamarama. He is on Twitter haphazardly @BrianLamken. Among his current projects are a return to writing about comics on yet another blog.
Big Mike Leeder, The Man from Hong Kong, was kidnapped by the 5 Deadly Venoms and abandoned on a Kowloon rooftop some 20 plus years ago. A lifelong fan of Asian & International action and cult cinema and television, Leeder failed to master the 36 Chambers of Shaolin but has watched a lot of movies. By day he works as a casting director and line producer on such projects as Fearless, Man with the Iron Fists, Man of Tai Chi, and Rush Hour 3; and by night writes about film for various magazines and helps create special features for various DVD/Blu-Ray releases of his favourite films. In addition to Forces of Geek, he can also be found on the web at www.impactonline.co or on Twitter (@bigmikeleeder)
Jessie Lynn is a 30-something music and book nerd, writer and zine-maker and podcaster. She's nostalgic by nature, and tries to use that to fuel her writing rather than letting it consume her. She's forever a scruffy punk rock kid at heart. And yes, she does still make mix tapes sometimes - too bad no one listens to tapes anymore. Check out her site and her blog and be sure to follow her on Twitter (@rustbeltjessie)
Bill Machon is a proud geek whose interests lie somewhere at the intersection of technology, music, sci-fi, and the cosmos. He currently resides in NYC with his wife Melissa.
There are few people in America who enjoy corny 90s sitcoms more than T.J Martinez. Born and raised in suburban Philadelphia, T.J. is grateful for the love and support of his parents, family and friends, but also credits the Tanners, Matthews, Huxtables, George Feeny, Richard Belding along with others of a similar caliber for playing a role in his development. When he's not saying his prayers or eating his vitamins, he enjoys a good book, trips to the mountains and maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond. I don't know…I don't know if we'll have enough time.
A seasoned TV animation scribe, John P. McCann has recently written episodes of Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness and 7D, a new Disney animated series. His short story, "Bummed Out" was just published in the fiction anthology The Darkness Within. John's doings may be followed at his blog, Write Enough!
An aspiring television writer/producer, Kate McKendry received her Master of Science in Television Production from Boston University in 2011. Shes loves all things comedy, yet has an unhealthy obsession with zombie things. Outside of contributing to Forces of Geek, she currently works in local news in Boston.
Ryan McLelland is an entertainment reporter who, in addition to FOG!, has also contributed to Newsarama, Ain't It Cool News, Latino Review, and more. His comic work ranges from writing Arcana's Philly and Grunts: War Stories to his rousing introduction of Valiant's X-O Manowar's By The Sword TPB. Ryan currently is the host of the radio program R2HT on GasHouseRadio.com which runs every other Tuesday night. Find out more information at facebook.com/R2HTRadio and follow his barely used Twitter @RyanDMC.
Chris-Rachael Oseland is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. By day, she’s the technology and geek life reporter for The Austin Post. By night, she descends into her lair at the base of an extinct volcano, dons her apron and monocle, and subjects her minions to countless culinary experiments. You can enjoy her wibbly wobbly journey through space and time in Dining With The Doctor: The Unauthorzied Whovian Cookbook. You can pass the time while waiting for a blue box to materialize in your living room by playing edible versions of Settlers of Catan using her upcoming book, Wood for Sheep: The Unauthorized Settlers Cookbook. (Available in May 2013). Check out her site, Kitchen Overlord and follow her on Twitter (@ChrisRachael).
Marvin C. Pittman grew up watching lots of TV, reading and drawing comic books, stockpiling random Batman factoids, taping songs off the radio, and being called Urkel before it became retro '90s cool. His superpower is navigating any public transit system, and moms think he's the bee's knees. Marvin lives in nerdly bliss with his wife in West Hartford, Connecticut, and hangs out at the wine bar a little too much, but not Cougar Town-level too much.
Rich Redman was born in Florida. He grew up along the East Coast, and attended the University of Virginia. He led a platoon of tanks in the First Gulf War and spent over ten years working for Wizards of the Coast. Now an eccentric recluse, Mr. Redman publishes digitally because it’s easier from his mountaintop fortress in Tibet. He claims to have a harem of first readers, and an army of bloodthirsty, opium-addicted, yetis who keep the children off his lawn. He subsists on a diet of mercury, sulfur, arsenic salts, and cheese. Allegations that he is a master of Sinanju and a leader of the World Crime League remain unproven. No records can be found for his patents of the interocitor, the Mr. Fusion home reactor, the flux capacitor, or the oscillation overthruster. Mr. Redman is a past winner of National Novel Writing Month. He has written for dungeonaday.com, Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, Marvel Super Heroes Adventure Game, Pathfinder, Star Wars, Dark*Matter, and d20 Modern. He also writes fiction.
You can follow Rich on Twitter (@RichRedman).
Jonathan Ryder is many things... husband, father, librarian, and Revolutionary War re-enactor (God Save the King!). But to Forces of Geek, he is known simply as "The Historigeek," occasional bringer of historical matters that (hopefully) might interest a geek or two.
Morayo Sayles is a full-fledged soccer mom who converses regularly with her husband and children in the language of movie lines and song lyrics. She is a rabid fan of Terry Brooks, STNG and Dominion. Employed by the public school system by day and avid reader by night, she is eternally grateful for the power of DVR technology that allows her to watch television shows in the 60 minutes of the day when she is most alert and focused.
Steven Segal bears no relation whatsoever to the, ahem, “actor” with a similar name. Born and raised in Philadelphia, he grew up on a steady diet of movies, music, TV and pop culture, and eventually earned a degree in film and video production from Drexel University. He’s written movie critiques and home video reviews for a variety of print and Web publications, since way back when laserdiscs were the shit and before there were such things as Internets. By day, he’s a graphic designer and editor. In his spare time, he goes to movies, watches Blu-rays, dotes on his two cats Ernest and Hemingway, rides his mountain bike and, when stuck in his car in maddening traffic, tries to dodge a vast network of speed-traps and red-light cameras.
Todd Sokolove is originally from Ypsilanti, Michigan, where he grew up on a healthy diet of Disney double features and late-night horror films. Todd is the co-host of the popular New York City comedy podcast BEWARE OF THE BABYLON, has been a consumate pop-culture blogger for over 15 years and is active in several film and television organizations and guilds. Todd has a tendency to defend bad movies and wax poetic on the importance of late 70s Science Fiction. He lives in New York CIty with way too many cats. Follow him on Twitter (@TSokolove).
Alex C. Telander is a writer, book reviewer, and interviewer. He has finished three novels: a young adult fantasy, a mystery/thriller, and a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel, the first in a four-book series. He is currently working on a big historical fiction epic set in fifth century Britain called Wyrd (which is Anglo-Saxon for “fate”). In addition, Alex is a voracious reader and frequent reviewer, contributing to the San Francisco Book Review, Sacramento Book Review, Goodreads and his own site, Book Banter. In his spare time – when he’s not writing or reading – he likes to hang out with friends and family, watch incessant amounts of genre TV, and play the MMO Lord of the Rings Online.
Caitlyn Thompson is an associate at a corporate art consulting firm. She studied Literary and Visual Arts at Brown University then fine-tuned her handcraft skills in the bookbinding program at North Bennet Street School. She manages to spend her evenings creating special leather edition collections of all the coolest books she can find, rocks double and triple features on any given Sunday, and fills every other free moment with as much available HBO and Showtime television as possible. She is awesome at the movie game and struggles with severe Zombiphobia.
Frankie Thirteen is a filmmaker and commentator, but more than anything, he's just a guy trying to make his way in the world today. It takes everything he's got. You can check out his site, HERE, or follow him on Twitter (@frankiethirteen).
Ellen Waddell is a writer living and working in Bristol in the UK. She spends most of her time taking photos, writing crazy little stories, wishing she had a cat, and thinking about Battlestar Galactica. You can read her stories and witticisms here or her writing about being a lady and what it involves here. You can also follow her on Twitter (@ellenstarbuck).
Hailing from Massachusetts, B.S.Walker is a sometimes working screenwriter in Los Angeles who enjoys long walks in the rain, TV shows with British accents, dogs not cats, 80s movies, websites run by old college buddies, and Dr. Pepper. He is Desperately Seeking a Susan (or Ann, or Beth, or Edith, or Jane, etc...).
Mark Wensel was proudly born and raised in Austin, TX. In high school, he was a band nerd/tech-theatre geek. After a brief stint in engineering at the University of Texas, he realized that he was terrible at math and went into the film program when it was still cool to like Robert Rodriguez. Since then, he has given up his dreams of making films, but still writes about them whenever and wherever he can.
Born under a bad sign in a galaxy not too far removed from your own, Joe Yezukevich works in the trenches of geek, hawking music, video, comics and more to -- let's be honest -- anyone who will take them. Perhaps the thing that most makes him an outcast ( even to geeks) is his long-held desire to see society come together beneath the umbrella of pop art.
