THE PRODUCTION TEAM
Creating an online web series about Science Fiction doesn't happen by itself. So from 2019 a devoted team of people with a vested interest in both Science Fiction media and video production have been producing a variety of shows - both prerecorded and broadcast live - which all fans of Sci-Fi movies, TV shows and collectables can enjoy.
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Meet the Presenters
Peter 'MPS' Sims
- Sci-Fi Zone: Season 1
- Talk Nerdy To Me
- Mos Eisley Monthly
- Video Emporium
MPS, as he prefers to be known, has a long and successful history working within the creative arts. Chief among his achievements include a significant number of movie projects including fan films, short films and professional productions where he has worked both in front of the camera and behind.
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Being a member of the Sci-Fi fan community since the early 2000s, MPS was once the president of his local Star Trek fan club as well as deputy director of his local Star Wars fan club - which included producing the monthly podcast Star Talking.
In the past few years he has served a pivotal committee role on three successful science fiction conventions. all whilst indulging in his other creative passion which is the ability to build highly detailed and imaginative models in Lego.
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Clare McDonald
- Sci-Fi Zone: Season 1, 3
Clare became a part of the Sci-Fi fan community in the late 1990s when she joined her local Star Trek fan club.
From there her involvement as an active participant of fandom saw her not only becoming the President of this club, but also an important committee member for a number of other local Sci-Fi clubs including three recent science fiction conventions.
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Among these successes, perhaps Clare's biggest achievement was not only being on the committee for the World Science Fiction Convention in 2010 - in the crucial role of membership secretary - but she was also the winner of the prestigious DUFF (Down Under Fan Fund) in 2016 which saw her travel to the USA to meet American Science Fiction fans.
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Aron Challinger
- Rip It Off The Card
- D'N'A Reviews
- Fan View
- The Who Report
- Talking Stuff!
Aron has been a Doctor Who and Star Wars fan all his life. All his earliest memories are related to the show and the movies!
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He became involved with his local fan community in the mid-80's and first started selling toys at fan club meetings when he was just 14! He initially sold toys and collectables to help fund buying his own collection, when he was offered the job of managing a record store which he did for nearly 10 years.
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After leaving the record store he was an online trader for a number of years, before being asked to manage Lobos Collectables. He did that for 10 years, taking it from a small local collectable shop to one of the biggest collectable stores on the planet!
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He left Lobos in 2019 to work on personal endeavours, which included opening his own collectables store in December 2020 and launching a Horror Podcast, along with a couple of other secret projects.
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Geoff Tilley
- Talk Nerdy To Me
- Nerdy Things From Another World
Geoff, or Geoffro as he is more commonly known, joined the Sci-Fi community back in 1978 after signing up to a number of Space: 1999 fan clubs.
In the mid 1980s he became socially active by joining various committees for fan clubs and conventions where his enthusiasm and organisational skill set was in high demand.
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After a decade of ongoing participation within numerous events, Geoffro eventually retired from active fandom and turned his attention to the online community. From here his wealth of Sci-Fi knowledge and experience became invaluable for Sci-Fi Zone.
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Greg King
- The Who Report
Greg considers himself to be an average guy... who just happens to like Doctor Who! Irresistibly drawn to Sci-Fi and Fantasy from an early age, he discovered Doctor Who sometime in the late 60s or early 70s and instantly became a fully fledged "Whovian".
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Greg joined the Doctor Who Club of Victoria in 1983 and before long became involved in the committee, including being club President in 1987.
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Now living near Bendigo, Greg was part of a small team of people who started the Bendigo Whovians Society Facebook Group as a way for local Doctor Who fans to connect. Today Greg runs the group, which has since become affiliated with the Doctor Who Club of Victoria running regular social gatherings for all Doctor Who fans to enjoy.
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In recent years Greg has been instrumental in creating impressive Who related displays at his local pop culture expo, Bendi-Con. Greg is also on the committee of his local Lego user group.
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Sarah Cooper
- Fan View
Sarah has been an active member of the pop culture scene since she moved to Melbourne in 2010 to study games design.
From there, she became a mainstay in the local Harry Potter fan scene, quickly becoming a Prefect of the local fan club, The Melbourne Muggles.
She also has a history of acting in fan projects, getting way too into the lore of games, and has a special interest in the ethics and broader cultural context of media.
In her free time she is an avid cosplayer, gamer, collector and all 'round nerd.
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Rod Fletcher
- Toys on Trial
Rod has been a member of Melbourne’s Sci-Fi, pop culture and collectables scene since the 1990's where he frequented various Star Wars social events as well as toy fairs across Malvern, Prahran and Camberwell.
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Yet it wasn’t until the 2000’s when Rod began to embrace his passions on a more social level, particularly in the local cosplay scene which culminated in him taking first place in numerous cosplay competitions whilst appearing at charity fundraisers, film premieres and event parades.
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From 2015 Rod decided to focus more on his primary passion that being vintage toys. Since then he has made a name for himself across Australia’s toy community as a consultant, seller, broker and valuation expert on several vintage toy lines – notably Mattel’s ‘Masters of the Universe’.
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As a key member of the team at Aron’s Collectables, Rod is always happy to talk about old toys and collectables.
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Michael Briarwood
- Toys on Trial
A known sufferer of 'Peter Pan Syndrome' (though he’d tell you he enjoys every minute!), Michael is a key example of never growing up!
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A pop culture devotee since the early 80's, Michael has a particular love of Mattel’s Masters of the Universe and Hasbro’s Transformers. In addition to his interest in collectable toys, Michael can often be found behind DJ decks at any number of local Gothic and Alternative events across Melbourne and interstate.
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Unsurprisingly, Michael possesses a deep knowledge of science fiction, horror, pop culture and in particular underground cultures and cinema - all of which are supported by his great sense of humour and sharp wit.
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H Gibbens
- Sci-Fi Zone: Season 1, (Episodes 8-13)
H joined his local Sci-Fi fan community in the early 1990s and quickly gained a reputation as a virtual walking encyclopedia of Science Fiction film and TV knowledge.
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Although his main specialty is British produced Sci-Fi, H's other area of expertise is in 'hardware', particularly space ships which stems from his keen interest in digital modelling.
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Having been at the forefront of computer generated modelling from as far back as 1991, H has a highly regarded reputation in the field having worked on many hi quality award winning fan films spanning the world.
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For Sci-Fi Zone H's talents have become an invaluable asset both in front and behind the camera as it was he who designed and created the opening title sequence for Sci-Fi Zone's first season in 2019.
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Rich Johnson
Music Composer
Rich, or Richie, is a native of New York who spent 3 years pursuing his music composition degrees at Melbourne University in the early 2000's. Whilst there he got to know a lot of wonderful people in the Australian Sci-Fi community and is glad to be friends with them nearly 20 years later.
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Besides composing music, Rich teaches theatre arts and film making to students ages 11-18 and is the resident expert at his school for all things Sci-Fi, where conversations and debates with students, faculty, and parents happen daily.
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Rich is ecstatic to be a part of Sci-Fi Zone which has grown out of the thriving and welcoming Sci-Fi community he is proud to be a part of.
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Natasha Sweetman
Video Narrator
Natasha, or Tash as she prefers to be known, is a native of Great Britain who now resides in Australia.
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Having grown up watching the original Star Trek series on VHS with her father, Tash has a large interest in pop culture which extends to a love of the films made by David Lynch and Tim Burton.
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Working professionally in the picture framing industry, Tash also enjoys creating her own hand drawn artwork as well as having a keen interest in video production which she undertook during her formative years in England.
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Lynne Brack
Production Assistant
Lynne has been a part of the Sci-Fi community since 2007 which saw her become a committee member of her local Star Trek fan club.
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One of Lynne's talents is being a virtual knowledge base regarding actors and their careers. With this talent Lynne is able to identify stars of the past and can tell you what other films they've been in.
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Aside from being a Star Trek fan, Lynne also loves Dr Who, Stargate SG1 and ... teddy bears.
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Dags
As Dags likes to say, '"I'm just a dude."
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