Interview With Matt Dunford, Chairman of San Diego Comic Fest

San Diego Comic Fest is happening this weekend, and I had the pleasure of interviewing Matt Dunford, the Chairman of San Diego Comic Fest.

Captain Cats: Hi Matt how are you doing today?

Matt Dunford: I’m doing just fine, I’m a little all over the place but still pushing for San Diego Comic Fest.

CC: That’s good to hear. How is the event coming along and what should we be expecting this year?

MD: All the pieces are in place. I’m just trying to get the word out to the public in the last time crunch that I can. You can expect a fresh guest list of iconic creators of all things comics and animation celebrating 100 years of Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling and 100 years of Mad Magazine founding father Harvey Kurtzman.

CC: That sounds great! Any new things that will be showcasing this year?

MD: We got plenty, six programs going on every single hour, gaming, film lineup, and it’s going to be non-stop.

CC: Speaking of gaming, I saw there will be a painting section from The Army Painter, how did that came to be?

MD: That’s all from our gaming coordinators Jessica and Spencer. They are the true gurus when it comes to gaming in San Diego and they collaborated with Army Painter to help showcase their company. On top of that, they work tirelessly to learn hundreds of new games to teach new people who want to come through to the event.

CC: That’s wonderful to hear, you don’t see a lot of conventions giving back to the community in that way. Having a company like Army Painter this year, will you or anyone within Comic Fest will try to bring another big company or stay to your grassroots of being what the San Diego Comic-Con was back in its early days?

MD: We still typically want to keep it grassroots and to a small intimate show. We are certainly not opposed to involvement with bigger companies because we understand that in pop culture we love there will be small independent and there will be larger corporations involved that do make the stuff.

CC: That’s wonderful to hear, especially with the heart and soul Comic Fest has, it’s something a lot of conventions should be like. Do you have a wish list of big companies you want to come to Comic Fest to have a booth or whatnot?

MD: Not really, I’m more focused on the Special Guests and giving them a personal experience with the fans.

CC: Oh ok I didn’t know that, well I tip my hat to you because the guest list is outstanding. Do you plan the guest list ahead of time before or after picking the theme?

MD: It’s a little bit of column A and a little bit of column B. I always like to reach from the top of the mountain but sometimes you have to grab a lower ledge. Sometimes it’s better to just grab the right leg that fits in with the theme that you’re going with so that those guests can be enthusiastic about talking about the creators that inspired them and shaped their work.

CC: That’s very interesting, may I ask if you have the theme for next year’s event?

MD: The Centennial of Rod Serling and Harvey Kurtzman is going to be a tough act to follow, but at this time we have not made discussions about next year’s theme.

CC: Ya I can see that, they both left a huge impact in their respective fields. Will you have panels for them each?

MD: We will have plenty of panels on Rod Serling that cover everything from his work on The Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, and even Planet of the Apes. For Harvey Kurtzman, we will be exploring his time at Mad Magazine, his later years at publications like Playboy, and even the pre-med stuff when he was doing war comics at EC Comics.

CC: That’s very interesting, is there anything else to look for at Comic Fest this year as well?

MD: If you’re a fan of the X-Men cartoon or X-Men 97, I have brought on the showrunners of both cartoons to chat up their big return.

CC: Oh that sounds fun and I think many people will love that.

MD: And we got so much going on that is just the tip of the iceberg.

CC: I so can’t wait to be there this weekend. Any last words?

MD: Fans can check out everything at our website which includes special guest programming and they can even pre-order the Comic Fest exclusive shirt by artist Scott Shaw and more are sdcomicfest.org

CC: Thank you so much for your time.

MD: Always happy to help.