Archive: G-FEST XVIII Guests
The following special guests appeared at G-FEST XVIII:
Guest of Honor: Shinji Higuchi
Shinji Higuchi is a director and special effects director most known for his incredible work on the Heisei Gamera trilogy from 1995 to 1999. He started out as one of the founding members of the anime studio Gainax, lending his writing, art direction, and story boarding skills to the popular series Neon Genesis Evangelion. In 2001 he contributed FX supervision for Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. Mr. Higuchi made his directorial debut in 2005 with the release of the Science Fiction/World War II epic: Lorelei. Since then, he has also directed the remake of the classic Toho disaster film: Sinking of Japan, and The Last Princess, a re-telling of Akira Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress.
Special Guest: Hiroyuki Watanabe
Hiroyuki Watanabe is an actor who made his Tokusatsu debut with Gamera Guardian of the Universe in 1995, and also made appearances in the two follow up sequels. In 1999, he portrayed commander Akio Ishimuro in Ultraman Gaia. He then played Yutaka Hirose in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack in 2001. Mr. Watanbe most recently appeared as Kamen Rider Gaoh in the Kamen Rider Den-O series and movie.
Special Guest: Hiroshi Sagae
Hiroshi Sagae is a master maquette sculptor, and model maker for the film and toy collectibles industries. He has contributed maquette sculpts and miniature work for numerous modern-day Godzilla and Gamera films. Mr. Sagae is quite famous for sculpting likenesses of actors and actresses, and most recently sculpted Batman for Kaiyodo’s Sci-Fi Revoltech line.
Special Guest: Robert Scott Field
The star of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, Scott has become an integral part of G-FEST since he first attended in 1999. Each year, G-FEST attendees look forward to renewing their friendship with Scott, and hearing about the latest happenings in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Special Guest Presenter: August Ragone
Returning for G-FEST XVIII is August Ragone, one of the most authoritative historians of Japanese science-fiction and fantasy films. August is the author of the book “Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters” chronicling the life and career of the special effects master. He was also the Special Features Producer for Shout Factory’s DVD release of the classic Gamera film series, and co-editor of Markalite Magazine. August currently lives in San Francisco, California.
Special Guest: J.D. Lees
G-FAN editor J.D. Lees will be present at G-FEST XVIII all weekend.
