That’s right, from planning, to shooting, to editing — making a movie at Norwescon is a hilarious and brilliant thrill ride with the Let’s Make a Movie workshop. In this hands-on adventure, you and your fellow workshop members learn about making short movies the best way anyone possibly could — by doing it right there!

With the help of a few professional filmmakers (representatives from Hellbender Media, Seattle International Films, and Maelstrom Productions), you work up a story, work up characters, hunt down props, plan a shoot, get it “in the can,” and, eventually, finish the final edits.

For fourteen years, the gang’s been doing this, and every single year, a new movie has shown up by the end of the weekend!

If you want to get REALLY in-depth, you can volunteer for an “internship” that weekend, where you join the pros during all the “behind-the-scenes” stuff. We’re not even sure how much this kind of instruction is worth, because whenever we price it at film schools, we usually find ourselves saying “Wait — and we do this FOR FREE?! What are we, nuts?!”

So if you want to be a part of some hilarious fun, learn what it’s like to make your own movie, or just help out on one, then please come by any of the workshops!

By the way, it’s not strictly necessary that you attend EVERY workshop, but if you do, that’s the most bang for your buck (which is pretty bangin’, considering there are no bucks!)

Hope to see you there!

• “The Screamwriter”
• “Rain Dance”
• “Time Yarns”
• “Welcome to Hellcon”
• “Naming the Unnameable”
• “Moonsong”

It seems likely that there will be cast or crew of each of the movies there at the convention, for Q&A and introductions, so this should be a ton of fun!

We’re very excited about this year’s lineaup and hope you enjoy watching the movies as much as we enjoyed watching them!

In addition to these films, we’ll be showing the film made as part of the Let’s Make a Movie workshop, and we miiiiight have a bonus movie from one of our favorite filmmakers!

See you Sunday April 20 at Norwescon, from noon-2pm in Evergreen 1&2!

We will have story hours, crafting workshops that include making stuffed sock toys, creating airships, and even building an entire city (which will then be destroyed in a free-for-all of smashing and roaring), and fannish jewelry making. There will be many active games for our younger members and even a guided “space tour” of the convention that will take them behind the scenes and teach them how the con works.

Our teen members might enjoy learning how to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse, honing their acting skills in Sci-fi Improv, and discovering how to amaze their friends and terrify their parents in our Stage Fighting panel. For budding authors, there will be writing workshops and an opportunity to learn about crafting and editing your manuscripts.

Norwescon has always been family-friendly, so bring your youngsters and introduce them to fandom life at Norwescon 37!

We are looking for manuscripts that you feel are your best work. If you have taken it as far as you can, and need outside review to move your writing forward, send it to us. Workshop participants will get feedback on their manuscripts from published writers. You’ll find all the guidelines here, but don’t delay! Submit your work by Dec. 1 for a place in the 2014 workshop.

Kickstarter is the new hotness in self-publishing, but there are pros and cons to crowd-sourcing. What are some other options for creating and publishing your own board games, video games, and role-playing games? Our panelists will discuss kickstarter as well as other methods of self-publishing your own game.

Julie Haehn (M), Chris Pramas, David Fooden, Jeremy Holcomb, John Harper

Have you ever wanted to write a fanfic, but just never were able to before? Fret not! In this panel, a team of fanfic writers will help you work past your fears and jump feet first into writing! A number of different ideas will be presented as inspirational starting points and then after the hour is up, attendees share their works and get constructive pointers on what worked, what didn’t and how they can improve their stories.

Micole Rose (M), Keerawa, Erik Scott de Bie

The earth is a water world, why don’t we see more SF and fantasy set in the ocean? We know more about the surface of the moon than we do the bottom of the ocean. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was over 140 years ago, so why aren’t more stories set under water?

Steve Gillett (M), Beth Wade, Mike Brennan

Which Technology Will SAVE THE WORLD?
(Saturday, 8pm, Cascade 3&4)

Obviously technology will SAVE THE WORLD, but which one will be the most important? Come help our panelists determine what technology will be Mankind’s Last Best Hope. Then see them defend it in “No, You Fools! Your Technology Will DESTROY THE WORLD!”

Kurt Cagle (M), Alan Boyle, Arthur Bozlee, David Nasset, Sr.

No, You Fools! Your Technology Will DESTROY THE WORLD!

The world is doomed, and trying to stop it with Technology will only make it worse. Come see the choice of “Which Technology WILL SAVE THE WORLD?” be refuted with sound logic, tight reasoning, and, if needed, mobs armed with torches and pitchforks. All torches and pitchforks must be peace-bonded, and meet the appropriate Convention guidelines.

Kurt Cagle (M), Alan Boyle, Darryl Aoki, David Shoemaker, Matthew ‘Fish’ Dockrey

Join Norwescon 36 Grand Master Terry Brooks and award-winning artist Todd Lockwood for visuals and discussion of their joint venture, The Dark Legacy of Shannara. See how they bring the Four Lands to life so vividly in Wards of Faerie, and preview what visions will come to life in the next novel, Bloodfire.

Terry Brooks, Todd Lockwood

For example, we have the overnight play opportunities known as Open Filk, starting each night at 11pm. Those can go on for hours and hours and hours, particularly if they’re going well. If late nights aren’t your thing, we have the daytime instructional circle at 1pm on Friday, for two hours.

We have the 2pm Saturday hands-on “Find Your Instrument” workshop – where you actually get shown instruments and a shot at playing with them, courtesy our musical pros. We have Cascadia’s Got Talent!, our terrible talent show, where you get up and strut your stuff in front of our panel of celebrity judges, some of whom may be sober! (You just never know!)

We have KidsFilk on Friday afternoon, at 5:30, for all the kids out there who want a shot at sing-along. And last year’s experimental workshop, Introduction to the Irish Session, returns on Sunday for extra time to round off the set. You can find a PDF of some popular Irish tunes – for advance practice, if you can read music – downloadable here (1.3MB .pdf).

Plus, we have panels! What the Frak is Filk? introduces you to the oldest extant form of geekmusic. Constrained Writing: Writing in Hard Mode is about creativity and simulating it through restriction. Making Art with Someone Else’s Art speaks to collaboration and derivative works of all kinds. And we have not one, but two panels on recording at home – and on a fannish budget: Home Recording I (Saturday) and II (Sunday).

Really, that only scratches the surface. To dig deeper, check out the official programming site, right here!