Special Guests
The Voice of Your Childhood Nightmares
Now in Star Wars Episode VII "The Force Awakens" as the laugh of Cratinus in Maz Kanata's Castle, Storm Troopers and many background voices, Mark Dodson is best known for Star Wars Episode VI "Return of the Jedi" as the voice of Jabba the Hutt's cackling court jester, Salacious Crumb. From the Star Wars galaxy "Ewoks: The Battle for Endore" he is the voice of Ewok, Teek
Named by horror fans as, The voice of their childhood nightmares, for the mischievous mogwais and gremlins in "Gremlins" and "Gremlins 2."
He is the voices of many of the zombies in the godfather of zombie films, George Romero's, 1985 cult classic, "Day of the Dead."
With more than 30 years as a voice actor, Mark continues to add his unique style of character voices to video games like "Star Trek Online," "Nancy Drew," "Dungeons and Dragons Neverwinter," "Heroes of Newerth," "Smashmuck Monsters," "Lucius," and hundreds of other titles.
Mark is the ongoing voice of Remington Rifles and Ammunition, Panasonic, Wild Turkey Whiskey, NASCAR, Mike's Hard Lemonade, and has been heard on thousands of other national commercials. Narrating for hundreds of television episodes and specials on History Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports and ESPN, are among the many places you will hear the voice of Mark Dodson.
Mark Dodson - a fan favorite at comic and horror conventions nationwide and honorary member of the 501st Legion!
Tusken Raider
Alan Fernandes is one of the many unsung heroes from the Original Trilogy. As the Tusken Raider in Star Wars A New Hope, he was dressed head to toe in heavy garments and a mask whilst they filmed in the desert heat in Death Valley.
Originally drafted as an animal handler from Marine World, alongside colleague Bob Spiker he had experience working with Mardij the Elephant.
Vader and More!
C. Andrew Nelson is an award winning artist, actor, writer, consultant, and motivational speaker. Andrew spent four years as a visual effects artist at Industrial Light & Magic. His VFX credits at ILM include Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Galaxy Quest, Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle, The Perfect Storm, Jurassic Park III, The Time Machine, and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.
Prior to joining ILM, Andrew worked nearly six years at LucasArts Entertainment Company where he served as a visual effects supervisor. At LucasArts he helped create and design such popular games as Dark Forces, Rebel Assault II, Full Throttle, The Dig, Jedi Knight, Curse of Monkey Island, Masters of Teras Kasi, Shadows of the Empire, Rogue Squadron, and Indiana Jones & the Infernal Machine. Andrew has worked extensively with sister companies Lucasfilm Ltd., Lucas Learning, Lucas Licensing, and THX.
Andrew is probably best known for having played the character of Darth Vader in the Special Edition re-release of the original Star Wars trilogy as well as in the Rebel Assault II and Dark Forces games from LucasArts. Andrew, who began playing Vader for Lucasfilm in 1994, has portrayed the infamous dark lord for commercials, television shows, print, games, and live appearances. He has managed to spend more time in the official Vader costume than any other actor.
In addition to his tenure with the Lucas companies, C. Andrew Nelson is a consulting VFX supervisor and art director for some of the top effects, animation, and post-production facilities in the U.S. His credits include Rocky Balboa, The Last Mimzy, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Rush Hour 3, Enchanted, The Kite Runner, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Jumper, Race to Witch Mountain, and Witness 11. Andrew also served two terms on the Board of Directors of the Visual Effects Society.
No stranger to academia, from 2002 to 2004 Andrew took on the role of Visual Effects Director for the School of Animation & Visual Effects at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. At the university, he presided over the school’s visual effects curriculum and trained the next generation of VFX artists who are now working throughout the industry. Andrew routinely consults for various networks, studios, and developers such as Disney, MTV, Nickelodeon, PBS, Fox, Hasbro, Electronic Arts, and others.
When he's not at a workstation conjuring up images for motion pictures and television or speaking on the lecture circuit, Andrew can be found in front of the camera or behind a microphone as a performer. Andrew has appeared in numerous feature films, television series, commercials, and print ads. He has shot national spots for ESPN, Wal-Mart, M&Ms, Taco Bell, and Kenner. Andrew is also a much sought after voice-over artist having lent his vocal talents to many games, animated films, and interactive multimedia projects.
Andrew and his wife Veronica Loud - a gifted actress, voice-over artist, singer, print model, and photographer in her own right - live in the San Francisco Bay Area with their daughter and son.
www.candrewnelson.com ~ twitter.com/C_Andrew_Nelson
facebook.com/candrewnelson ~ instagram.com/candrewnelson
Not From Star Wars - but a nearby Universe...
Wyatt Weed is an actor, FX technician, and filmmaker from Springfield, Illinois. He spent 20 years in Los Angeles working as a “Jack of All Trades” before returning to the St. Louis area and joining Pirate Pictures, a local production company.
Wyatt's visual effects-related credits include FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER, STAR TREK: VOYAGER, NECRONOMICON, SPECES, DARK SHADOWS, TALES FROM THE CRYPT, PREDATOR 2, LORD OF ILLUSIONS, JAY-JAY THE JET PLANE, MUPPETS FROM SPACE, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2, and RED PLANET. He has worked as a model maker, sculptor, prop maker, puppeteer, and creature suit performer.
His acting credits include playing the “Boar” predator in PREDATOR 2 and a small role on STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION.
Wyatt soon moved into second unit directing and visual effect supervision on the features KUNG FU RASCALS, THE GUYVER, GUYVER: DARK HERO, GUARDIAN OF THE REALM, and DRIVE. He also directed STAR RUNNERS, a science fiction television pilot, and the feature films SHADOWLAND and FOUR COLOR EULOGY.
In 2016 Wyatt completed work on THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, an epic Batman fan film that has been a passion project for 30 years. In 2020 he was cast as Nick Fury in SPIDER-MAN: MONSTERS OF MANHATTAN, a five-part web series now in post production.
Wyatt continues to work in film production in the St. Louis area and he and his wife Gayle are in post-production on the feature film project DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS, which they filmed during the Covid shutdown.