October 2010 Archives

Here is the trailer for Renee's new movie 2010 Moby Dick which is coming out on DVD soon. You can pre-order from Amazon.com

News submitted by Barbara Davies

Madeleine, Katherine Fugate's gorgeous little girl, is in this picture with Renee. Katherine posted this photo on her facebook page.

Renee reading Ghosts In The House to Mads.

Click here to view larger version

The Austin Chronicle has an old article about Sandra Wilson. Sandra is Renee's mum and this article was posted back in 1998. It refers to the Official Renee O'Connor Fan Club which Mrs Wilson created / organised. Unfortunately that club is no longer in operation (it produced fantastic newsletters which have become collector items)

Momma Rocs!
13 February 1998 - The Austin Chronicle

There was an air of excitement and anticipation among the little girls attending an ice cream social at Threadgill's restaurant. Some of the girls were shy about approaching their idol. A few were confused about the difference between the actress and her TV character. The young actress cheerfully chatted with each one, autographing 8x10 glossies and posing for snapshots while they stared, wide-eyed and breathless. It was the fall of 1996, and Reneé O'Connor had just participated in the first fan event of her acting career. Fast forward to October 5, 1997. More than 2,000 fans gathered in the Valley Forge Convention Center in Pennsylvania to attend the Official Hercules & Xena Convention. Many of the fans donned elaborate costumes, tattoos, T-shirts, and homemade tributes to their TV heroes and heroines. Members of the Reneé O'Connor International Fan Club proudly wore official ID badges decorated with their idol's picture. Participating in the fan convention gave the young actress her first real taste of the impact of the television series - her biggest career break.

"When Reneé was planning for her career, this kind of thing never occurred to us," recalls Reneé's mother, Sandra Wilson. In fact, O'Connor was just like many attractive, talented young actresses headed for Hollywood. But she had better luck than most. A featured role in Hercules and the Lost Kingdom brought her to the attention of producers who were looking for a young woman to portray Gabrielle, the plucky sidekick of the formidable warrior princess, Xena. The brassy O'Connor was cast opposite the dark, statuesque New Zealander Lucy Lawless and reported to Auckland, New Zealand to begin filming, hordes of fans were the farthest thing from her mind.

As O'Connor's following grew, the preponderance of fan mail and the proliferation of websites regarding her daughter concerned Wilson. Though she's the farthest thing imaginable from a "stage mother," Wilson felt compelled to get involved. So she created the Reneé O'Connor Official International Fan Club.

Known as "MommaROC" here in the states, Wilson has much more interaction with fans than her daughter and surely more fan contact than most mothers of people in the entertainment business. According to Wilson, younger viewers write asking Reneé to be their friend. Teenagers often seek career advice on how they, too, can become actresses. This touches Wilson, who is surprised and gratified that so many professional women also respond to the loving, supportive friendship depicted between two strong female characters, and she also welcomes the vocal lesbian contingent in the fanbase - the club membership currently numbers more than 2,000. Everyone seems to be interested in whether or not O'Connor has a boyfriend (she does, New Zealand restaurateur Steve Muir) and there are plenty of marriage proposals. Some fans are so ardent that letters just aren't enough. And while Xena and Gabrielle paraphernalia such as T-shirts, posters, and action figures capitalize on the avid fan market, Sandra Wilson will do her best to ensure that the public appreciates the talented young woman who brings one of those characters to life: Reneé O'Connor.

- Virginia B. Wood

Source

Schedule for Frankfort's 2nd Annual Film Festival at Garden Theater

Frankfort will host its 2nd Annual International Film Festival at the refurbished Garden Theater, kicking off with "Kings of Pastry" on October 21, 2010.

Oct 12, 2010

<snipped>

2009 Filmmaker of the year Richard Brauer will be at the screening of his movie Fitful to address the audience and take questions. Fitful was filmed entirely in Manistee, on location of the SS Milwaukee; moored for years in Frankfort's harbor. To learn more visit brauer.com.

<Snipped>

Saturday, October 23, 2010

2 pm Fitful directed by Rich Brauer

(English - 2010 - 95min - PG-13) Suspense

Paula (Renée O'Connor) is an inspector for the Historic Trust
who visits an abandoned ship on a desolate waterfront.
She meets up with the self-appointed caretaker, Vigs (Larry Joe Campbell), who had blindly made the application for historical status. Moments after her arrival, her car is disabled and she is far from town and is stuck for the night. Without other options, she takes him up on his offer to spend the night. What follows is a sleepless night of bad dreams and creepy reality.

Fitful was filmed entirely in Manistee by local Rich Bauer; named, 2009 Filmmaker of the year. He will be at the show to address the audience and take questions. Fitful was filmed on location of the SS Milwaukee which was moored in Frankfort's harbor for years. www.brauer.com

Source

News submitted by Barbara Davies
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Creation Entertainment has announced some of the guests for the 2011 Official Xena Convention in Los Angeles.

Creation Entertainment's Annual Official XENA Convention: The XVI Celebration comes to Los Angeles on January 28-30, 2011 and YOU are invited to be part of the fun! It's a family reunion of celebrities and fans, an event that has stood the test of time and is always a fabulous weekend for all!

Today we are launching the list of guests booked for the convention and we're off to a great start:

RENEE O'CONNOR (Gabrielle)
JACQUELINE KIM (Lao Ma)
and
BRITTANY POWELL (Brunnhilda)

Keep watching for exciting news about guests, panels, events and contests! Now is the time to lock in your GOLD WEEKEND Packages (the most upscale way to attend). You can select your actual seat off of our floorplan NOW and you'll note that our GOLD WEEKEND section is getting close to capacity.

We've also put on sale RENEE, JACQUELINE, and BRITTANY photo ops and autograph tickets.

For tickets / photo ops and autograph tickets - click here

Added Carpe Chakram to the Xenaverse Art Gallery. Her first artwork on AUSXIP is dedicated to Xena, Aphrodite, Gabrielle and Ares in "Treasure The Ta-Tas" for the special month of October. It's Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Have you had your breasts checked lately? Now would be a great time to do it. It's Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Click here to view artwork

Two movies starring Renee are available for Aussies / Kiwis (Region 4) DVD

Boogeyman 2

Fear. In The Flesh.

Laura Porter checks herself into a mental health facility still haunted by a paralyzing fear of the boogeyman after witnessing her parents’ murder as a child. Upon her arrival at the clinic, other patients begin dying in horrifying ways that manifest their worst fears and phobias leading Laura to believe that the Boogeyman has finally returned.
Special Features:

* The Makeup, Storyboard and Effects of Boogeyman 2
* Trailer
* Director/Writer Audio Commentary

Click here to order

Alien Apocalypse

An astronaut doctor Ivan Hood (Bruce Campbell) and his fellow astronaut Kelly (Renee O'Connor) returning from their mission in space, to find the world has been taken over by aliens. Now Dr. Hood and Kelly must lead a revolution to free the human slaves from head-chomping bugs that spew green crap!

Bruce Campbell Fact #38: And on the seventh day, God made zombies. Thank God that on the eighth day, God made Bruce Campbell!
Special Features:

* Audio Commentary with Actor Bruce Campbell and Writer/Director Josh Becker
* Behind the Scenes
* Storyboard Gallery
* Bruce Campbell Bio

Click here to order

Renee attended the 2010 Brave Heart Awards

Click here for photos

- AP
- Celebrity Photo
- Daily Celeb
- PR Photos

News submitted by Becky & Barbara Davies

Hulu.com is a great way to catch up on movies/tv shows but unfortunately it's only available to US viewers. So if you are in the US then you are in luck. You can now view

Double Dare (Zoe Bell)

DOUBLE DARE is a double-barreled, action-packed documentary about the struggles of two stuntwomen in male-dominated Tinseltown to stay working, stay thin, and stay sane.

It features Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor

Watch it on Hulu

Angel of Death (Zoe Bell and Lucy Lawless)

Based on an original script by comics writer Ed Brubaker, Zoe Bell stars as a deadly assassin who turns on her masters after suffering a gruesome head injury.

Lucy Lawless plays her neighbour. See more of Lucy in this role

Watch it on Hulu

News submitted by Barbara Davies

The following was posted on AUSXIP Talking Xena ROC Chat by Gabsfan:

A couple months ago, Sharon said Renee directed and acted in a short film this summer. I don't know if she was talking about a different film or if she described Renee's role incorrectly however.....

In the October ROC Cellar segment on her Video Channel, we get to see the behind the scenes of a short film called, "Infinity." It's a short film produced by Renee's ROC Pictures and Renee acts in it. The short film was written and directed by Randy Crowder who played the father in Words Unspoken. Renee said it will be making the film festival rounds next year.

I don't know exactly what it's about but in the behind the scenes video, we see them preparing for a scene with Renee playing a woman in a sick or possibly her death bed. She also mentioned they needed a location that looked like a Garden of Eden. She seemed very enthusiastic about the film. She said she liked that it showed how the choices we make can affect everything. She also liked the twist at the end.

"Infinity" sounds like a great film and I hope I get to see it at some point. The behind the scenes clip was really interesting but I like that kind of stuff and of course, I like any videos that involve Renee.

Renee said the film was shot in July. I presume it was done just before she did Moby Dick. Man, Renee had a busy summer

Discuss this on ROC Chat