Sci-Fest is back with a stellar line-up! What is Sci-Fest you may ask? It is a science fiction one-act play festival that launches tomorrow! I was able to speak with David Dean Bottrell about the fest. David Dean Bottrell is probably best known for his role as the creepy and hilarious “Lincoln Meyer” on season three of “Boston Legal.” He’s also played villains and nutjobs on “Mad Men,” “Justified,” “True Blood,” “Bones,” “Castle,” “Criminal Minds,” “iCarly” and “Dig.” He did a lot of plays in New York, then wrote a bunch of screenplays for Fox Searchlight, MTV Films, Paramount and Disney among others. He teaches acting and is a founding producer of Sci-Fest LA.
Read on to learn more about Sci-Fest!
Congrats on Sci Fest’s successful first year and welcome back for year two!
Thank you! We’re very excited. Last year’s festival was such a success we sort of had no choice. We’re working hard to give everybody who came last year and even better slate of shows!
For those who may not know what Sci Fest is, could you please explain?
We are pretty much unique in the world of sci-fi events. The festival is four weeks long and consists of two rotating evenings of new, beautifully produced 15-minute sci-fi plays performed live on stage. Last year’s shows included a world premiere adaptation of Ursula Le Guin’s mini-masterpiece, “The Wife’s Story” and an innovative revival of Ray Bradbury’s classic, “Kaleidoscope.” The shows starred well-known actors from iconic Sci-Fi franchises like “Star Trek,” “The X-Files,” “Supernatural,” “Lost,” “Grimm,” “Heroes,” “Fringe,” “The Hunger Games,” “Stargate: Universe,” “Babylon 5,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “True Blood.”
How was the experience: creating and running a brand new sci-fi play festival?!
It was a little insane since, although all of us were theatre veterans, none of us had ever produced a festival before. The sheer number of people involved took some getting used to. There was a lot of juggling and some extremely long hours, but everybody from the producing team to the directors, designers and actors brought their best game. In the end, the incredible response we got from critics and audiences made it all worth it. We all learned a lot from last year and this year has been surprisingly smooth sailing. The shows are more ambitious this year but everybody’s up for the challenge.
Why a science fiction play festival? What makes this festival stand out?
Until last year, the idea of a a science fiction one-act play festival was unheard of. We were the first ones out of the gate. Unlike the cons for or Trek conventions, our focus is pretty much entirely on creating new Sci-Fi content. We’re also trying to celebrate the cultural history between Los Angles and the genre of Sci-Fi. The city is the hometown of a surprising number of Sci-Fi icons like Ray Bradbury and Octavia Butler. Plus Hollywood transformed Sci-Fi from pulp into a billion dollar global industry. There’s a lot to recognize and celebrate.
What is in store for this year? Anything new?
In addition to all these cool short plays, we’re doing two short story shows: THE ROSWELL AWARD for Best Short Science Fiction Story (Adult Competition) on May 24 and THE TOMORROW PRIZE for Best Short Science Fiction Story (L.A High School Competition) on May 16. We’re also doing this hilarious radio play from 1950 as sort of a fundraiser. If you donate at the $500 level you get a one-line role in the show and get to appear alongside all these incredible Sci-Fi celebrities. No acting experience necessary! It’s really fun. We’ve programmed a special weekend for our out-of-town fans called “Invasion Weekend” where they can see ALL the shows in one two-day period.
What plays are lined up for this year?
The elevator definitely went up this year. We’re producing new shows sent to us by Clive Barker and Neil Gaiman! We’re also producing 6 world premiere shows, a classic radio script and a revival of the oldest known science fiction one-act play, originally produced in 1917 to great controversy. The shows are also much more technically challenging this year. We’ve got a lot more special effects and crazy costumes. It’s sort of amazing.
Can you talk about some of the talent involved with this year’s festival?
We are again blessed to a huge and incredible line up of actors including: Walter Koenig (“Star Trek – The Original Series”), Eddie McClintock (“Warehouse 13”), Veronica Cartwright (“Alien”), Jeryl Prescott Sales (“The Walking Dead”), Armin Shimerman (“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”), Tim Russ (“Star Trek: Voyager”) , Nazneen Contractor (“Star Trek: Into Darkness”), Dale Dickey (“True Blood”).
What is your involvement this time around?
I’m acting in one of the shows – a very cool play called “Turnover” and am again co-producing the Fest with my amazing producing partners, Lee Costello and Michael Blaha.
When is the fest scheduled for and where can people find more information?
All answers can be found at www.Sci-FestLA.com You can get info on the shows, donate money (which we need!) or buy tickets. The cheapest tickets (two-for-one) are available on May 7 & 8 (online only). The code word is BINARY. My advice is if you want to see the festival this year, get your tickets now. It’s going to totally sell out.
