Linda Masson with fellow voice actor Peter Gilchrist during their Hong Kong dubbing days. Photo © Linda Masson. California-born Linda Masson moved to Hong Kong in the early 1960s and quickly joined her then-husband Ted Thomas in the dubbing business at his company, Axis International. Ms. Masson's voice can be heard in a variety of … Continue reading HONG KONG’S HIDDEN VOICE-ACTING GEM! Linda Masson on Her Dubbing Career in the 1960s and ’70s!
MAKING MINIATURES IN JAPANESE SFX FILMS! Atsushi Hagiwara on Creating Tokusatsu Models in the 1980s and Beyond!
Atsushi Hagiwara during the making of Sayonara Jupiter. Photo © Atsushi Hagiwara. Atsushi Hagiwara got his start as a tokusatsu modelmaker working on the ambitious Toho production Sayonara Jupiter (1984), which features some of the best special effects in Japanese film history. That experience led to a variety of other film and television projects on … Continue reading MAKING MINIATURES IN JAPANESE SFX FILMS! Atsushi Hagiwara on Creating Tokusatsu Models in the 1980s and Beyond!
BECOMING MIKI SAEGUSA! Godzilla Series Star Megumi Odaka on Her Early Life and Start at Toho!
Megumi Odaka in July 2020. Photo © Brett Homenick. Megumi Odaka is a Japanese actress who accomplished a remarkable and unprecedented feat -- she starred in six consecutive Godzilla movies, playing the same character in each film. That character, the young psychic Miki Saegusa, would go on to become one of the series' most iconic … Continue reading BECOMING MIKI SAEGUSA! Godzilla Series Star Megumi Odaka on Her Early Life and Start at Toho!
RESURRECTING ‘REPTILIAN’! Marty Poole on Screenwriting the South Korean Monster Movie ‘Yonggary’!
Photo © Marty Poole. In 1999, South Korean director Shim Hyung-rae brought Yonggary, the country's most famous monster that debuted in the film Yongary, Monster from the Deep (1967), back to theaters in the hope of creating an international blockbuster that could compete with Hollywood's output. That film was called Yonggary and, despite its Asian … Continue reading RESURRECTING ‘REPTILIAN’! Marty Poole on Screenwriting the South Korean Monster Movie ‘Yonggary’!
RISING THROUGH THE TOKUSATSU RANKS! Eiichi Asada Reflects on His Career as an Assistant SFX Director in the 1970s and ’80s!
Eiichi Asada in June 2021. Photo © Brett Homenick. Born on March 13, 1949, Eiichi Asada got his start at Toho Studios in the early 1970s as an assistant director, working on such movies as Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975), The War in Space (1977), Deathquake (1980), Sayonara Jupiter (1984), and Godzilla 1985 (1984). In later … Continue reading RISING THROUGH THE TOKUSATSU RANKS! Eiichi Asada Reflects on His Career as an Assistant SFX Director in the 1970s and ’80s!
GAMERA’S FIRST FRIEND! Former Child Actor Yoshiro Uchida Remembers Working with Daiei’s Remarkable Flying Turtle!
Yoshiro Uchida in March 2022. Photo © Brett Homenick. Born on December 14, 1953, Yoshiro Uchida appears in Gamera the Giant Monster (1965), released in the U.S. as Gammera the Invincible (1966), as the young boy Toshio Sakurai who befriends the giant turtle in the first film of Daiei's long-running Gamera series. Mr. Uchida also … Continue reading GAMERA’S FIRST FRIEND! Former Child Actor Yoshiro Uchida Remembers Working with Daiei’s Remarkable Flying Turtle!
WRITING MUSIC FOR MUTANTS! Composer Eric Allaman on His Score for TV’s ‘Mutant League’!
Photo © Eric Allaman. Eric Allaman's list of professional composing credits is nothing short of amazing, dating back to the Ridley Scott fantasy Legend (1985), which Mr. Allaman composed alongside Tangerine Dream. The topic of this brief chat with Mr. Allaman is his work on Mutant League (1994-96), a cartoon series from the mid-1990s that … Continue reading WRITING MUSIC FOR MUTANTS! Composer Eric Allaman on His Score for TV’s ‘Mutant League’!
A ‘MUTANT LEAGUE’ OF HER OWN! Rhonda Smiley on the Mid-1990s Animated Series ‘Mutant League’!
Rhonda Smiley. Photo © Rhonda Smiley. Mutant League (1994-96) was one of the most action-packed animated series of the mid-1990s. Based on a couple of sports-themed video games for the Sega Genesis, the cartoon greatly expanded upon the simple stories of the video games and often injected real-world themes into all the violence and mayhem. … Continue reading A ‘MUTANT LEAGUE’ OF HER OWN! Rhonda Smiley on the Mid-1990s Animated Series ‘Mutant League’!
MY LIFE WITH GODZILLA! Toho Star Akira Takarada Reflects on His Decades-Long Association with Filmdom’s Mightiest Monster!
Akira Takarada performs onstage in July 2015. Photo © Brett Homenick. Born on April 29, 1934, in what is now Chongjin, North Korea, Akira Takarada joined Toho as a member of the studio’s sixth New Face class in 1953 and quickly established himself as one of its brightest stars. His big break came with the … Continue reading MY LIFE WITH GODZILLA! Toho Star Akira Takarada Reflects on His Decades-Long Association with Filmdom’s Mightiest Monster!
MECHAGODZILLA’S SEQUEL SECRETS! Yukiko Takayama on Writing the Screenplay for ‘Terror of Mechagodzilla’!
Yukiko Takayama in January 2016. Photo © Brett Homenick. Born on April 4, 1940, to the famous Japanese painter Tatsuo Takayama (1912-2007), Yukiko Takayama studied screenwriting at the Scenario Center after graduating from Keio University's Faculty of Letters. The Scenario Center was launched in 1970 by prolific scriptwriter Hajime Arai, who was known for penning … Continue reading MECHAGODZILLA’S SEQUEL SECRETS! Yukiko Takayama on Writing the Screenplay for ‘Terror of Mechagodzilla’!
Vantage Point Interviews 