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THE DOCUMENTARY THAT PROBES THE CONTROVERSY BEHIND THE BILLION-DOLLAR PHENOMENON: MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE
World Premiere This August At The 2012 Edition Of The FANTASIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL in Montreal!
Plus: See Exclusive Clips And Meet The Filmmakers Behind The First Ever Feature Documentary On He-Man At SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON Friday, July 13th, 2012.
 Toy Masters is the first ever feature-length documentary about the worldwide billion-dollar phenomenon that inspired an entire generation of children: Masters of the Universe (MOTU). Filmmakers Roger Lay Jr. and Corey Landis have tracked down all the key players in search for the answer to the question: “Who actually created He-Man?” The filmmakers will be screening exclusive material from the documentary and participating in a Q&A at this year’s San Diego Comic Con, being held at the San Diego Convention Center on Friday, July 13th, 2012, from 8:30pm-9:30pm in room 26AB.
TOY MASTERS will then premiere on August 6th at the 16th annual Fantasia International Film Festival, which is gearing up to take Montreal by storm with three weeks of inspiration and thrills starting July 19, 2012.
Legions of MOTU fans are already buzzing with anticipation. It is likely the film will reach an even wider audience once released, (a la King of Kong), for the controversial rivalry between former Preliminary Designer for Mattel, Roger Sweet, and former Visual Designer for Mattel, Mark Taylor, (both of whom are claiming bragging rights for the initial concept behind He-Man), makes for a compelling, and highly entertaining film.
During the one-hour Comic Con panel fans will get to see exclusive footage from the epic toy industry smack-down that is TOY MASTERS. Moderator Robert Meyer Burnett (Director, Free Enterprise, Femme Fatales) will be joined on stage by TOY MASTERS producers Roger Lay, Jr and Corey Landis. Joining them on the panel will be many of the key players from the 30-year history of the franchise, including writer J. Michael Straczynski (Marvel’s Thor, Babylon 5).
The film, which is already being hailed as the next KING OF KONG and the SOCIAL NETWORK of the toy industry, features interviews with the key creative personnel behind every version of the best selling toy line and all incarnations of MOTU on television, film, stage, and print, tracing the inception and ups and downs of the fantasy juggernaut. Everyone involved in the 30 year history of this beloved franchise makes appearances in the film including such genre luminaries as J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5, Marvel’s Thor), Richard Edlund (Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark), William Stout (Conan The Barbarian, Pan’s Labyrinth), Lou Scheimer (Filmation co-founder), Michael Westmore (Star Trek Franchise), Don Glut (Empire Strikes Back, Transformers Animated), and Gary Goddard (Terminator 2-3D, Captain Power).
For more details visit the San Diego Comic-Con official site: www.comic-con.org
Follow TOY MASTERS on the Facebook group for updates, including exclusive details on how you can be one of the first to see the film. Or go to the film’s official site for a first look at the trailer: www.toymastersmovie.com
For the full 2012 FANTASIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL lineup of programming and special events, including show times for Toy Masters visit: www.fantasiafest.com
About the Filmmakers:
Roger Lay Jr. (Director / Producer / Writer)
Roger studied film and television production at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema-Television, and The Los Angeles Film School. He began his career working for the production staff of the hit television series Everybody Loves Raymond.
Producing credits include: HBO/ThinkFilm’s 95 Miles To Go starring Ray Romano, as well as the Sci-Fi Feature Chrysalis, based on the short story by internationally acclaimed author Ray Bradbury, which won the Best Feature Award at the International Horror and Science Fiction Film Festival. He has also served as a segment producer for the annual Los Angeles Holiday Celebration on PBS, and has produced and directed music videos and promotional pieces for such clients as SONY/BMG, Universal Music Latin, Warner Music Latin, Manhattan Regional Center, Broadway 4D Theaters, and CBS Home Entertainment.
He’s also produced DVD releases for the sci-fi/fantasy cult classic series Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future and Skeleton Warriors. As DVD producer on these titles he supervised the re-mastering of episodes from original elements as well as directed over 6 hours of documentaries and newly created special features for each show. He is currently working on the blu-ray production team for CBS Home Entertainment’s highly anticipated release of Star Trek: The Next Generation in high definition. As part of this project Roger is also producing and directing a series of all new feature-length documentaries on the making and legacy of the iconic television series. First up is Stardate Revisited – The Origins of Star Trek: The Next Generation, available on blu-ray July 24, 2012 as part of Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Complete First Season.
He’s also a contributing writer for The New Ray Bradbury Review (Kent State Press). In 2011 he joined The Goddard Group heading up the company’s newly formed Film and Television production division with Eric Carnagey, head of Business Development and Marketing at TGG. His first project at Goddard Film Group is Phoenix Rising; the upcoming reboot of the cult classic science fiction series Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future.
Corey Landis (Co-Director, Co-Producer, Co-Writer)
Corey Landis grew up in Ohio and graduated with a theater degree from Ohio University where he appeared in classical & contemporary works. Upon moving to Los Angeles, Landis scored a recurring role on That ’70s Show as the young Red Forman. Since then, Landis has appeared in a variety of commercials and shorts and starred in several feature films, including Dinocroc Vs. Supergator (with David Carradine), Ray Bradbury’s Chrysalis, and the upcoming Dracula: Reborn. He is also a screenwriter, a singer-songwriter with three albums of original material, and a painter. You can see him next in the comedy webseries: The Bomb Shelter.
Robert Meyer Burnett (Film Editor / Co-Producer)
Robert Meyer Burnett began his career in the Entertainment Industry in the summer of 1989 as the Art Department Production Assistant on New Line Cinema’s Leatherface – The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3. From there, he worked on such genre films as Cast a Deadly Spell, Army of Darkness, and Sleepwalkers.
Over the past 22 years, he’s worked as a Management Trainee for Warner Brothers under then Senior Vice President of Production Bill Young, in story development for Silver Pictures, CAA and the William Morris Agency and has been a staff editor for Charles Band’s Full Moon Entertainment.
1999 saw the release of his feature writing and directing debut, the award-winning Free Enterprise, starring Emmy-Winners William Shatner and Will and Grace’s Eric McCormack.
In 2002, he founded his own production company, Ludovico Technique LLC, producing DVD Special Editions for The Usual Suspects, Valley Girl, X-Men 1.5, X2, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Superman Returns and Shoot ‘Em Up. 2009 saw the release of Ludovico’s first feature film, The Hills Run Red, made in association with Warner Premiere and Joel Silver’s Dark Castle Entertainment.
In 2010, Burnett began directing and editing episodes of the HBO/Cinemax anthology series Femme Fatales. Most recently, he edited My Eleventh, the first feature film from brothers Gary and Edmund Entin, executive produced by Bryan Singer and he produced and edited the special features on the Star Trek: The Next Generation Season One blu-ray set.
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