MondoCon explained

MondoCon
Status:Active
Genre:Films, art
Venue:Marchesa Hall & Theater
Location: Austin, Texas
Country: United States
First:2014
Organizer:Mondo Tees

MondoCon is an annual celebration of the collectible artwork and artists at Mondo, a poster and T-shirt company, held in Austin, Texas, United States.[1] It offers exclusive items, panels, exhibitor booths and screenings with filmmakers and artists.

History

MondoCon was conceived as a spin-off from Fantastic Fest, with the first two years taking place on the weekends of the event, before branching out to its own weekend.[2]

MondoCon 2014 ran September 20–21 for about 2,000 people and coincided with the first weekend of Fantastic Fest.[3] [4] It featured a premiere of scenes from 2001: A Space Odyssey with composer Alex North's original score re-inserted.[5] William Stout revealed information about an unproduced Godzilla remake written by Fred Dekker that was to be directed by Steve Miner.[6] Future Shock! The Story of 2000 AD, a documentary about the titular British comic anthology, had its world premiere. About 50 artists and designers attended,[7] including artists Bernie Wrightson, Basil Gogos and Todd Slater.[8] It included live screenprinting of prints by Bryan Lee O’Malley and Mike Mignola.[9] Dogfish Head Brewery provided an exclusive "Mondo Beer" aged in oak tanks.[10]

MondoCon 2015 was held October 3–4 and expanded its space to the Marchesa Theater and the Holiday Inn across the street and included artists such as Becky Cloonan, Francesco Francavilla and Ken Taylor.[11] Concept artist Jock revealed he was designing .[12] For the first time, all three Back to the Future film scores were released together on vinyl.[13]

MondoCon 2016 was held October 22–23 at the AFS Cinema and Holiday Inn Midtown Conference Center.[14] It featured Florian Bertmer, Scott C., Aaron Draplin, Aaron Horkey, Jock, Olly Moss, Alex Pardee, Arik Roper, Jay Ryan, Todd Slater and William Stout.[15] [16] Fans started lining up 48 hours early. It included a 10th anniversary screening of The Fountain with introduction and Q&A by composer Clint Mansell and a sale of the soundtrack on vinyl for the first time.[17] [18] During a panel with Mondo's creative team it was revealed the company was working on a Nickelodeon-themed gallery show that would include Ren and Stimpy and The Legend of Korra.[19]

MondoCon 2017 was announced as taking place November 4–5 in a new location, formerly the print presses of the Austin American-Statesman building, and was scheduled to feature Florian Bertmer, Becky Cloonan, Aaron Draplin, Francesco Francavilla, Jock, Mike Mitchell, Alex Pardee, Eric Powell, Jay Ryan, Todd Slater and William Stout.[20]

In April 2018, Mondo announced the event would be taking a hiatus that year but would return on September 14-15, 2019.[21]

Reception

The event has been called "the world's coolest poster convention" and "one of the leaders in the rise of pop culture art."[22] [23] In 2016 Nerdist called it "the venerable kingpin of the artisanal movie poster game."[24]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Watercutter. Angela. MondoCon: The Offbeat Convention That Pays Tribute to Your Favorite Cult Classics. Wired. 29 October 2015.
  2. Web site: Whittaker. Richard. Listen to MondoCon. AustinChronicle. The Austin Chronicle. 22 November 2016.
  3. Web site: Lussier. Germain. Mondo’s Justin Ishmael Explains and Answers MondoCon Burning Questions. SlashFilm. SlashFilm. 5 November 2015.
  4. Web site: Borders. Meredith. Announcing The MondoCon Lineup!. Fantastic Fest. 16 December 2014.
  5. Web site: Guerrasio. Jason. Listen to Parts of the Rare Original Score for Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey'. Movies.com. 16 December 2014.
  6. Web site: Vespe. Eric. Quint reports on William Stout's MondoCon panel about the unmade Fred Dekker-scripted Godzilla film!. Aint It Cool. 16 December 2014.
  7. Web site: Dickey. Josh. Howard the Duck's Comeback Is Complete With This Mondo Portrait. Mashable. 16 December 2014.
  8. Web site: Maltin. Leonard. Fun At Fantastic Fest. IndieWire. 16 December 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141007202553/http://blogs.indiewire.com/leonardmaltin/fun-at-fantastic-fest-20140922. 7 October 2014. dead.
  9. Web site: Lussier. Germain. Exclusive: See Four MondoCon Posters That Will Be Screenprinted Live. SlashFilm. SlashFilm. 5 November 2015.
  10. Web site: McCarron. Meghan. MondoCon to Host Food Trucks, Exclusive Dogfish Beer. Austin Eater. Austin Eater. 5 November 2015.
  11. Web site: Hall. Jacob. MondoCon 2015 Posters: A Complete Gallery of All The New Art. SlashFilm. SlashFilm. 28 October 2015.
  12. Web site: Hall. Jacob. Acclaimed Artist Jock is Working on ‘Star Wars: Episode 8′ [MondoCon 2015]]. SlashFilm. SlashFilm. 28 October 2015.
  13. Web site: Anielski. Ryan. Mondo Releases Limited Edition 'Back to the Future' Vinyl Collection. IndieWire. IndieWire. 28 October 2015.
  14. Web site: Barkan. Jonathan. Full Details For MondoCon 2016 Released. BloodyDisgusting. BloodyDisgusting. 22 November 2016.
  15. Web site: Wampler. Scott. Early Bird Tickets For MONDOCON 2016 Are On Sale Now. Birth.Movies.Death. Birth.Movies.Death. 22 November 2016.
  16. Web site: Johnston. Rich. MondoCon 2016: A First Look At The Show Floor. BleedingCool. BleedingCool. 22 November 2016.
  17. Web site: Sharf. Zack. MondoCon Exclusive: Artists Reimagine ‘Mulholland Drive,’ ‘The Graduate’ And More In Stunning New Posters. IndieWire. IndieWire. 22 November 2016.
  18. Web site: Newman. Rob. The MondoCon Experience: 8 Highlights from This Year’s Convention. Collider. Collider. 22 November 2016.
  19. Web site: Hall. Jacob. MondoCon 2016: Olly Moss’ Unreleased ‘The Force Awakens’ Poster and Other Unfinished Prints. SlashFilm. SlashFilm. 22 November 2016.
  20. Web site: Wampler. Scott. Mondo Reveals The First Details For MondoCon 2017. birthmoviesdeath. 6 April 2017.
  21. Web site: Team . Mondo . Announcing MondoCon 2019 . Mondo . 26 July 2018.
  22. Web site: Lussier. Germain. The World's Coolest Poster Convention Gets a Goofy Warriors-Inspired One-Sheet. iO9. iO9. 5 November 2015.
  23. Web site: Hall. Jacob. MondoCon 2016 in Review: Beautiful Art, An Interview With Mondo’s Justin Brookhart, and the 5 Best Posters From the Con. SlashFilm. SlashFilm. 22 November 2016.
  24. Web site: Arbeiter. Michael. BRINGING STAR WARS TO MONDOCON AND MUTILATING DONALD DUCK. Nerdist. Nerdist. 22 November 2016.