WELCOME
TO OUR 2025
ambassador guests
AMABASSADOR PANEL
The Play’s the Thing: The role of drama therapy and role play in the treatment of acute and persistent mental illness
Saturday March 29
4:00PM TARDIS
Ever wish your doctor could write a prescription for your weekly D&D game? Would you love it if your therapist could support your love of running around in the woods as a Faun? What if someone told you that Elder Scrolls Online or Overwatch can help you with your anxiety and depression? Then this panel is for you! This panel is about how Role Play Games can be used as therapy to treat a variety of mental illnesses. Earlier this year over 200 people in Newfoundland were surveyed about whether they thought an RPG therapy program would be helpful and at this panel we are going to talk about what everyone thought and what this kind of therapy could look like here in Newfoundland.
BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Hilary Alteen (They /Them) is a new psychiatry graduate from Memorial University of Newfoundland who is currently working in St. John’s with both NL Health and Proactive Wellness. As the first openly transgender mental health professional in Newfoundland and Labrador, Dr. Alteen is committed to providing culturally and gender informed care to their patients. Trained in both Canada and Europe, Dr. Alteen has been awarded numerous accolades, among them the Lou Visentin Award from Memorial University in addition to being Rhodes Scholarship Nominee (2013).
Dr. Alteen is particularly interested in providing mental health support to members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and they have both lived experience and training in providing care to sexually and gender diverse individuals, in addition to working with with patients who have non-traditional relationship dynamics. They are a member of the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association (NLMA), Canadian ADHD Resource Alliance (CADDRA), the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA), and they are an associate of the General Medical Council (UK).
Dr. Alteen’s personal area of research is in the field of drama therapy and its application in the treatment of acute and persistent mental illness, specifically the use of Role Playing Game (RPG) therapy for the treatment of anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, complex trauma disorders, and gender dysphoria. They have recently completed a local study focused on the interest of the general Newfoundland public in the implementation of an RPG therapy program in the Metro Area.
When not in the office they can often be found (with their top hats!) travelling the globe, hiking, streaming video games, writing fan fiction, playing table top RPGS, attending Sci-fi conventions (in cosplay!), and participating in local Live Action Role Play events. They are an active member of the organizing committee for the Paradise Renaissance Faire as Queen Valeriya, and they love all things science fiction and fantasy.
FoamWerx Cosplay
Hamilton Cornish
AMABASSADOR PANEL
Hands on Helmet build 101 with FoamWerx Cosplay
Saturday March 29
5:00PM – 6:50PM BAT CAVE ROOM
Hands on helmet build 101 with FoamWerx Cosplay. Participants will be given templates and building materials to build their own helmet. All materials and tools will be supplied. Each participant will pay $10 to cover material cost and they will leave with a finished helmet they built themselves.
Limited to 6-8 participants.
Please email Hamilton at hamilton_cornish@hotmail.com to sign up.
BIOGRAPHY
FoamWerx was formed back in 2013 between Gary Murrin and Hamilton Cornish. Since that time Gary has moved on to other passions while Hamilton continues to further explore his passion for cosplay and costume design.
Known for his large costumes Hamilton has been a regular in the cosplay scene for almost 11 years. From his first costume, (Warhammer Space-Marine), Hamilton has developed a passion for costume design/building and loves to share his skills and knowledge whenever he can.
FoamWerx was the first local cosplay guests at SFOTR and in the following years guests at Atlanti-Con in Corner Brook, Gander Geek Fest in Gander and Hal-Con in Halifax. Over the years Hamilton has won 4 Marti-Gras and finished in the top 3 several times.
Besides cosplay Hamilton has done work for several local theatres, building puppets for the plays The Little Mermaid and Frozen. Also he has built several props for the local tv series Hudson and Rex.
At SFOTR 17, FoamWerx will be doing a prop building workshop. This will be a hands on workshop for 6 to 8 participants. For a small fee of just $10 to cover the cost of materials participants will learn how to build their very own helmet out of EVA foam from templates provided. Tools will be provided. It will be a fun learning experience for those that are already have some foamsmithing experience and for the complete beginner.
FoamWerx is looking forward to seeing everyone at SFOTR 17.
Cheers.
TheLonelySpider
Productions
AMABASSADOR PANEL
Deadpool Takes Manhattan Premiere and Q&A
Saturday March 29
5:00 – 5:50 PM
X-MANSION room
Description
Deadpool Takes Manhattan is a high quality low budget Deadpool film that’s entirely Newfoundland made and produced. We will be screening the premiere of the film live and with the main cast and crew attending to talk all about low budget filmmaking and how they made this film. Learn all the tips and tricks to making movies on a low budget in Newfoundland.
Rated: 14A
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Fan-Made Films on a Low Budget
Sunday March 30
12:00 – 12:50 PM
TARDIS room
Description
TLS productions is a local filmmaking group dedicated to making short horror films and superhero films on a shoestring budget. In this panel they will discuss filmmaking tips and tricks, how they bring famous comic book characters to life, and how to make big films with a small budget.
ABOUT TLS
TLS Productions (TheLonelySpider) is a low-budget, high-effort filmmaking collaborative based in Newfoundland. Their short films have gained notable attention both online and in film festivals. They are mostly known for their superhero fan films which have garnered hundreds of thousands of views online. TLS Productions was created by Eric Elliott and has been active and improving with every film since 2016.
