Writer/ Director Anthony Ferraro Talks About The Making of Horror Sci-fi Short Film Wakener

Horror sci-fi short film WAKENER is a laudable contribution to the enduring Cthulhu Mythos that originated from iconic American writer H.P. Lovecraft. The indie piece, starring Rhomeyn Johnson, Nimo Purcell, Sapna Gandhi, Anthony Di Petro and Jonathan Castile, is the brainchild of writer-director Anthony Ferraro. Ferraro is best known as the creator and host of the popular Create Scifi Youtube channel.

WAKENER tells the story of an impromptu mission to investigate the sudden appearance of a mysterious ghost ship that carries ancient tech. Despite budget constraints, the cinematography look sleek and very well-executed. Ferraro is undoubtedly a skilled scriptwriter and world builder. He manages to set up each of the character's individual motivations that propel towards the unfortunate events at the finale.

It is also impressive how Ferraro and his team were able to visually capture the audience's attention through artful lighting of the cast, accompanied by detailed self-built costumes, props and sets. Some of the acting was not as nuanced as Red Dot Diva would have preferred, however, the atmospheric feel of the film as a whole, was a haunting and memorable experience.

After watching WAKENER a few times, Red Dot Diva wanted to find out more about what goes behind the scenes. She had the pleasure of chatting with Anthony Ferraro about the production process.

Sci-fi Short Wakener by Anthony Ferraro To Debut At Create Sci-fi Youtube Channel, 9 June 2023

Acclaimed writer/ director and indie film-maker Anthony Ferraro is paying homage to the works of H.P. Lovecraft with his next short film WAKENER. H.P. Lovecraft is one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. He is best known for his weird fantasy, horror and science fiction stories, particularly the Cthulhu mythos, which continues to inspire artists, authors, film makers and game developers around the world.

In his latest horror-scifi film WAKENER, Ferraro tells the tale of a broken ship technician and an ambitious young officer, whose paths collide while investigating a Ghost Ship, which holds ancient tech that has been outlawed. What kind of monstrous fate is waiting for them within the mysterious ship?

Re-Enter Into Westworld - Season 4 Premieres on HBO Asia and HBO Go, 27 June 2022

HBO's dystopian science-fiction series WESTWORLD is one of the most confounding yet intriguing study on human psyche as well as the concepts of consciousness and freewill. The TV series created by husband and wife team Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, expanded on the 1973 film written and directed by Michael Crichton. Michael Crichton is known for his techno-thriller books like The Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Disclosure and Prey.

As a local islander, Red Dot Diva found WESTWORLD'S Season 3 an interesting visual experience because her city-state home was transformed as future Los Angeles. Familiar spots like Lasalle College of the Arts, Oasia Hotel Downtown, Marina One, the Atlas Bar and even Pulau Ubin, were featured prominently in several scenes. Red Dot Diva never realised Red Dot Island could look so sleek and cinematic!

In Season 3, the hosts Dolores, Maeve and Bernard are no longer in the theme park. The setting shifts to the real world, mostly in a near-future Los Angeles, with Dolores aiming to start a revolution. In this timeline, humans like a man called Caleb, had to live with specified outcomes and futures determined by an AI called Rehoboam. The story was a mirror of the Delos theme park where the hosts were kept in repetitive narrative loops. In the Season 3 finale, after finding out about Serac, one of the creators of Rehoboam, as well as battling with Maeve, Dolores sacrificed herself for humanity. But not before she chose Caleb to lead the revolution.

There are several unanswered questions after Season 3's ending, like: Is Dolores really dead? Or, how did the revolution led by Caleb play out after the destruction of Rehoboam? What did Bernard find in the Sublime, and how long was he in there? And, what other nefarious deeds have the Man In Black host been up to in the real world? The answers you are seeking for may be revealed in Season 4 of WESTWORLD, which will debut at the same time as the U.S. on Monday, June 27 at 9 AM SGT only on HBO and HBO GO. There will be a same day encore on at 10 PM SGT on HBO.

The Manic and Outrageous Creativity of Everything Everywhere All At Once

A24's EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE is an exhilarating and mind-bending assault on the senses. Writer-directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, also collectively known as the Daniels, have fueled the metaphysical, martial arts film in an exhilarating bombardment of utter weirdness.

Just like the numerous "what if" scenarios you might have wondered about your own life, EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE offers the various iterations of Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh)'s existence. A harried, mousy Chinese immigrant laundromat owner, Evelyn has many adulting problems. One of them is trying to save her failing business from a persistent IRS inspector Deirdre Beaubeirdra (Jamie Lee Curtis and her glorious belly). She is also trying to plan a Chinese New Year party for the community, dealing with accepting her aimless daughter Joy's (Stephanie Hsu) sexuality, and trying to shield that revelation from her disapproving, estranged father (James Hong).

Forsaken Mandalorian and the Drunken Jedi Master Star Wars Fan Film - Q&A with Create Sci-fi's Anthony Ferraro

Star Wars fans are a creative bunch. One of the ways mega fans show their love for the franchise is by making fan films, and Red Dot Diva has just watched one of the most gorgeous Star Wars fan-made production ever. The dialogue was also spot on, and the dramatic storyline left her wishing there was more.

FORSAKEN MANDALORIAN AND THE DRUNKEN JEDI MASTER is about a Mandalorian bounty hunter who tracked down a Hutt courier to recover an asset. He ends up face to face with a lone Jedi Master drowning his pain with booze, and the two find that they have a common purpose.

Watch FORSAKEN MANDALORIAN AND THE DRUNKEN JEDI MASTER below!



The fan film is by independent sci-fi film-maker Anthony Ferraro, the owner of a popular Youtube channel called Create Sci-fi. He also appeared as the Drunken Jedi Master in the short film.

Calls on Apple TV+ Is A Suspenseful Binge-worthy Audio Drama

Think of binge-worthy shows, and you might never have imagined an audio drama to be one of these. As highly visual creatures, we tend to focus on colours or dramatic action through imagery.

With CALLS, currently available on the streaming service Apple TV+, audiences are transported back to the days of radio drama. In each of the 9 episodes, you feel like an eavesdropper to intimate conversations, and what you hear is even creepier than what might see. Your wild imagination tends to take over, adding to the weird visceral experience of this horror-scifi audio series.

Fede Álvarez, the director of Apple TV+'s English version, employs minimal but highly effective graphics. As the conversations play out, they are accompanied by lines, bubbles or waves depicting the mood of the dialogues. The visual cues also helping the audiences to orient themselves by depicting the connections between the parties involved.

Star Trek Day Beams Down on 8 September 2020 (Pacific Time)

STAR TREK fans, get ready to engage!

After the huge success of DC FanDome, other content owners are beginning to follow suit and organising virtual events to keep their fans engaged during this coronavirus pandemic. To celebrate the 54th Anniversary of the original STAR TREK show's premiere, CBS All Access has put together an all-day online streaming event where the pilots of every STAR TREK series and specially curated episodes from the different shows, will be made available on CBS All Access starting from 8 September, midnight Pacific Time. This viewing marathon is for USA fans only.

Local Trek fans will not be able to watch the marathon on CBS All Access. However, but there will be 8 key panels hosted by Wil Wheaton and Mica Burton available globally for free, starting at 12 PM (PT). The cast and writers are expected to appear in their respective panels, with Rod Roddenberry logging in for the session dedicated to the original Trek series. Details of the panels are as follows:

SDCC 2020: Comic Con@Home Roundup of Star Trek Universe Panel

It is disappointing but also not unexpected when the nerdvana of all nerdvanas, aka San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), was cancelled this year.

Postponing the physical event to 2021 was the wisest thing to do as most of us are trying hard to keep ourselves and our families safe during the coronavirus pandemic. The risk of getting infected or infecting others in such a large scale event, where attendees are oftentimes stumbling along the convention halls in a human crush, was simply too high.

To help soothe our souls, Comic-Con International planned for a safer option - a virtual event held on the same weekend called Comic-Con@Home. Unlike the ticketed physical event, Comic-Con@Home is free for everyone. which made it a great opportunity for casual geeks and international fans to get a taste of what SDCC is like. Best of all, there are no long waiting lines or overnight Hall H campouts necessary!

Just like SDCC, Comic-Con@Home has an array of online panels ranging from discussions about indie publishing, cosplay and representation in comics, to updates of the upcoming seasons of show favourites like The Walking Dead, Star Wars and What We Do In The Shadows. It might be hard to choose which panel you would want to “attend”, but not to worry - the panels have all been pre-recorded. So, after they have been launched on Youtube, you can watch as many as you like whenever you have time to catch up!

Despite of that option, Red Dot Diva stayed up past midnight on Day 1 to get the feel of excitement of “attending” Comic-Con@Home, and to watch the virtual panel on CBS All Access' Star Trek Universe, moderated by Dominic Patten, senior editor of Deadline.

Here's the roundup of what happened during the lively panel.

NEW SHOWS IN THE STAR TREK UNIVERSE

Executive Producer Alex Kurtzman mentioned that there will be 10 episodes for the new Star Trek: New Worlds, a series set on Captain Pike's (the yummy fan favourite Anson Mount) ship - the USS Enterprise. In fact, there had been active conversions about the new series since last year's Comic-Con, but nothing could be said at that point.

“It was one of those shows that I think everybody came in with such enthusiasm and so much love,” Kurtzman added.

Diva's Review: Scifi Short Film AFTER_LIFE by Perry Lam Tugs at the Heartstrings

It is usually during times of stress, isolation and uncertainty, that people tend to take stock of their lives. When you are forced to live in the company of those in your household for days on end, it can either be a bittersweet feeling, a sense of relief, or for many others, torrents of extreme frustration and anger.

However, during this time of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the elderly are the most vulnerable of contracting and dying from the disease, most of us are holding our parents and grandparents nearer and dearer to us, even though they may be an annoyance in our daily lives.

The short local film called AFTER_LIFE is a reminder to appreciate those we love, and if you are brave, to verbally express that you love them too. Time and life can be fleeting, and in a moment, things that once know can change drastically.

AFTER_LIFE, written & directed by Australia-based Perry Lam, is a short story with a scifi twist. It tells the tale of a young man named Kurt, who learns to find meaning between the realms of imagination and reality, and how to deal with the consequences of his loss and regrets.

HBO's Westworld Season 3 Is Sleeker But Still An Intriguing Reboot

"A new narrative awaits" teases one of the social media promotional tagline for HBO's WESTWORLD Season 3, and after watching screeners of 4 episodes for this review, Red Dot Diva agrees that the show feels like a reboot.

In the new season, creators and writers Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy (they are also the show's executive producers) have taken viewers out of the dystopian theme park into the real world, where android Dolores Abernathy (Evan Rachel Wood) has escaped to, after a bloody revolution in Season 2. Within the setting of future Los Angeles, with its glistening tall buildings, iconic palm trees and modernised ghettos, the show's storyline is less convoluted, has fewer time jumps, and is also more focused on corporations vs mankind.

This show of corporate greed and control is embodied in a new villain Serac (Vincent Cassel), a trillionaire all ready to pounce on and use the data collected by Delos through the Westworld theme park. His plans are constantly foiled by Dolores, who has an agenda of her own, and so, Serac asks the intelligent android Maeve (Thandie Newton) to find and kill her fellow theme park mate.

In fact, one of the early episodes that focused on Maeve's storyline is Red Dot Diva's favourite. Thandie Newton is a deft actor, and beautifully chews up her scenes depicting both human emotion and robotic efficiency.

The Androids vs Humans Battle continues in HBO's Westworld Season 3, Premiering on March 16

It was such a thrill to be able to recognise locations from our Red Dot Island in the Season 3 trailer for HBO's Emmy® winning drama series WESTWORLD.

Hey, that drone shot is filmed at Marina One. Oooh, isn't that the National Gallery? And Oasia Hotel too? Awesome!

There will be more opportunities for fans to "spot the local landmarks" when the series returns on 16 March at 9 AM, same time as the U.S. telecast. The 8-episode season can be watched exclusively on HBO GO and HBO Asia on Starhub and Singtel TV.

In the last 2 seasons, WESTWORLD revealed a theme park in the future where androids, who were made to satisfy human's darkest desires, were becoming conscious. The battle between artificial life form and humans intensified in Season 2, with the oldest host in the theme park Dolores breaking free and entering into the real world.

Here is where Season 3 begins. In future Los Angeles (with many familiar Red Dot Island buildings and locations!), Dolores is still attempting to start her revolution against humans. Maeve, who was left as "dead" in Season 2's finale, is still in the theme park. She has been tasked by this season's Big Bad named Serac to hunt Dolores down and kill her.

Main cast members Evan Rachel Wood (Dolores), Emmy® winner Thandie Newton (Maeve), Ed Harris (Man in Black), Jeffrey Wright (Bernard), Tessa Thompson (Charlotte), Luke Hemsworth (Stubbs), and Rodrigo Santoro (Hector Escaton) return to WESTWORLD Season 3.

The series, created for television by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, will have brand new characters in this season. They are played by Aaron Paul (Caleb), Vincent Cassel (Serac), Lena Waithe (Ash), Scott Mescudi (Francis), Marshawn Lynch (Giggles), John Gallagher Jr. (Liam), Michael Ealy (Jake) and Tommy Flanagan (Conells).

It's Chaos in Westworld Season 2 - Premiering 23 April 2018 on HBO Asia

The violent, dystopian world of make-believe in HBO's award-winning series "Westworld" was one of the most unforgettable, provocative shows in 2017.

The scifi show about the complex interactions between humans and androids in a futuristic theme park, had Red Dot Diva at the edge of her seat as plot twists and surprises were slowly revealed layer after layer in each episode. 

Credit had to go to the stellar cast of actors consisting of Anthony Hopkins, Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, Ed Harris, James Marsden, Tessa Thompson, Clifton Collins Jr, and many more. Their performances, especially the actors who played the hosts,were nuanced and haunting.

Season 1 of HBO's original series "Westworld" wrapped up with a satisfying yet tantalizing finale that offered up a few twists (one in particular) that most fans did not expect. After those last shocking few seconds, Red Dot Diva has so many more questions about Ford, the future of Delos Incorporated now that the hosts are awake, and the repercussions of Dolores' and Maeve's actions.

Some reprieve from all that unresolved suspense came in the form of a Season 2 sneak peek released at SDCC 2016. The teaser showed a series of bloody massacres happening in the park and in Delos, with a vengeful Dolores going on a rampage.

Diva's Recap of "Ghost in the Shell" 14-Minute Preview (Spoilers!)

At a small "Ghost In The Shell" fan event last Friday, 17 March 2017, Red Dot Diva had the chance to watch a 14-minute sneak peek of the live action movie in 3D.

Despite the furore over the casting of Scarlett Johansson as Major (which is based on Motoko Kusanagi in the manga by Masamune Shirow) and "whitewashing" of the popular franchise, the film looks visually stunning. It took just a few minutes for Red Dot Diva to feel immersed in the near-future cybernetic world, and she wished it was a full movie screening instead. 

"Ghost In The Shell" is a story about a cybernetic anti-terrorist field commander Major, who is determined on going after a hacker called The Puppet Master. There may be a larger purpose to The Puppet Master's plans to take control of Hanka Corporation's artificial intelligence programs, and Major begins to uncover her past and question about her own existence.

For the live action movie, instead of The Puppet Master, the main enemy is cyborg ghost-hacker named Kuze (Michael Pitts). Or rather, Kuze will a mix of the two anime characters in the upcoming film directed by Rupert Sanders.

( WARNING : SPOILERS AHEAD )

The Synths are Back! Humans Season 2 Returns on AMC Asia, 14 February 2017

Before HBO's "Westworld" took TV and scifi audiences by storm, there was a brilliant series by UK's Channel 4 and AMC called "Humans" about sentient androids hiding in the plain sight from human beings.

The first season which starred a wonderful ensemble cast including William Hurt as Dr George Millican, one of premiere robotics engineers of the first working synthetics (or "synths" for short), Colin Morgan, Gemma Chan, Emily Berrington, Katherine Parkinson, Ivanno Jeremiah and more.

The follow-up season of "Humans" returns on AMC Asia, Singtel (Channel 322), 14 February 2017 at 10 PM.

Photo Post: Vivocity's Launch of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" Activity Area

Vivocity's ground level atrium has gone "rogue"!

The mall is currently hosting a "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" display and activity area, featuring a 8-metre tall AT-ACT and life-sized Death Troopers.

Lady Raine and kampongchicken, both Red Dot Diva's friends who happen to own rather peculiar handles, were on site at the launch yesterday (29 November 2016) evening. The opening ceremony was also graced by the presence of the folks from 501st Legion SG, Cathar Rebel Base and FightSaber!

Here is a quick photo preview of what you can expect when you visit Vivocity from now till 18 December. The towering AT-ACT is gigantic!!

Imperial forces gathered around the AT-ACT, awaiting deployment.

Scifi Movie "Arrival" Getting Rave Reviews; Arrives in Local Theatres 12 January 2017

In the not too distant future, 12 sleek pod-like alien ships appears above different cities around Earth, leaving humanity to wonder about the visitors' actual purpose for arriving on this planet.

Directed by Denis Villenueve, scifi movie "Arrival" received rave reviews when it was screened at the Venice Film Festival in September 2016. The movie was released in the U.S. market in November 2016, and film critics and scifi fans applauded its philosophical and introspective message as well as its tight structure.

It has been hailed as a movie made for the "thinking scifi fan".

HBO Asia's "Westworld" Premieres 3 October 2016 - Man vs Machine in the Wild, Wild West

When best-selling author Michael Crichton passed away in 2008, Red Dot Diva was utterly devastated. She was a big fan of his writing and have devoured several of his geeky scifi, medical, techno-thriller-based books - "Jurassic Park", "Timeline" and "Prey" being her favourites - with relish. Many of Michael Crichton's stories were set in a not too distant future and hence, they were like a chilling warning of possible outcomes due to medical or technological advances. It was a little like Black Mirror before there was Black Mirror.

So, when HBO announced that they will be adapting Michael Crichton's "Westworld" movie to a TV series, Red Dot Diva whooped with joy. The 10-episode series, produced by J.J. Abrams, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, has attracted a cast of fine and award-winning actors including Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris (mmmmmmmm... another of Red Dot Diva's favourites), Jeffrey Wright, James Marsden, Rodrigo Santoro, Clifton Collins, Jr., Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, Tessa Thompson and Sidse Babett Knudse.

Rihanna Warp Drives into "Star Trek Beyond" with "Sledgehammer" - Music Video Debuts in IMAX Theatres 6 July!

Red Dot Diva digs some of mega pop star Rihanna's tunes from time to time, but when she heard her latest song "Sledgehammer" featured in the new "Star Trek Beyond" trailer, Diva thought it was such a perfect fit! Her sultry vocals in the haunting melody provided the other-worldly, uplifting feel that the Trek franchise is known for.

Don't believe it? Check out the trailer here:

Teaser Trailer & Poster of Equals - A Movie Filmed in Singapore, Starring Nicholas Hoult and Kristen Stewart

Other than the over-hyped action movie "Hitman: Agent 47" that was filmed partially in Red Dot Island last year, there was another indie film that featured the island's futuristic architecture during its production.

The movie, called "Equals", is a sci-fi story set in an utopian future. It is directed by Drake Doremus ("Like Crazy") stars Nicholas Hoult, Kristen Stewart, Guy Pearce and Jacki Weaver. Most of the filming seems to have taken place within Infinite Studios, but the famous young stars Nicholas Hoult and Kirsten Stewart as well as the crew had been spotted in locations like the Marina Badge, the uber-atas Reflections condominium at Keppel Bay, Henderson Waves and the One North MRT station.

In "Equals", human emotions (yep, that includes sexy time) have been eradicated in society but when a virus infection breaks out suddenly and causes people to feel again. Cue minutes of erotic, longing moments between the good-looking leads KStew and Nicholas Hoult.

STGCC 2014: Bicepstuous Booths #5 - Writer Kelly Bender Is All Set To Give You Some "Starburn"

Oof. Ouch. Ow-Ow-Owwww. *sizzle*

Is that some serious "Starburn" happening this close to STGCC?

Red Dot Diva blames Kelly Bender for this. She is sure he'll be very amiable about the ruckus she is putting him through right now though. 'Coz..... He's Canadian. They so nice. *g*

But hey... if one is a scifi-nerd who likes cosmic Starburns like Valley girls like tanning machines then... do head right to Bicepstuous Booth #AA96 at the show floor this weekend. Kelly Bender will also be appearing on stage as a guest panelists in the Comics Artist Panel together with Humberto Ramos, Cameron Stewart and David Mack on Sunday, 2-3PM. Although, Kelly is not an artist, and the panel is pitched more as one about creator-owned works.

Even as Kelly is currently having a holiday with his family in Vietnam, the Glam Bloggers' Alliance managed to zero in on him, and gleefully ensnared him in a web of questions: