ABOUT
Sci-Fi Zone was created on July 31st, 2016 by Michael 'The Vile' Laizans and Darren Maxwell, but it wasn't conceived as a talk show web series, far from it in fact.
The original plan for Sci-Fi Zone, or 'The Zed' as it has affectionately become known, was to be a face-to-face social discussion group where Science Fiction fans could get together and chat about their favourite movies and TV shows using a Science Fiction convention panel format.
Unfortunately despite being officially launched on March 13, 2017 with a special promotional video, over a year had passed and nothing had progressed beyond the design stage.
The Sci-Fi Zone promo video
Eventually Darren and Michael reluctantly accepted how The Zed simply wouldn't survive as a local community discussion forum, so on June 18, 2018 Darren became inspired by a highly successful news talk show called 'The Project' and an Australian Football League TV talk show called 'The Front Bar.' After seeing the simplicity of these show's structures along with their high entertainment value, Darren realised that creating a Science Fiction version of these shows, particularly The Front Bar, was an obvious step to take.
One incentive Darren had in creating The Zed as a video programme was the realisation it would be able to cover every Science Fiction movie and TV show ever produced and not be limited to just one specific franchise. As a result The Zed had a massive canvas to work with which was particularly encouraging considering the amount of great movies and TV shows in existence and those still yet to come.
Yet to turn The Zed into a reality Darren required a production team both in front and behind the camera. Fortunately he was surrounded by many friends who had skills and extensive experience both in film making and Science Fiction media, this was extremely beneficial because The Zed would not only feature presenters who really knew their subject matter, but it could also be produced with a reasonable degree of quality.
The first episode of Sci-Fi Zone premiered on May 20, 2019 and from there the stars, and history, awaited.
Meet the Presenters
Dags
As Dags likes to say, '"I'm just a dude."
Peter 'MPS' Sims
MPS, as he prefers to be known, has a long and successful history working within the creative arts. Chief among his achievements include a significant number of movie projects including fan films, short films and professional productions where he has worked both in front of the camera and behind.
Being a member of the Sci-Fi fan community since the early 2000s, MPS was once the president of his local Star Trek fan club, while in the past few years he has served a pivotal committee role for three successful science fiction conventions.
Currently MPS is performing the role of Deputy Director for his local Star Wars fan club which includes producing and hosting the highly successful Star Wars podcast 'Star Talking'.
MPS's other creative passion is his ability to build highly detailed and imaginative models in Lego.
Clare McDonald
Clare became a part of the Sci-Fi fan community in the late 1990s when she joined her local Star Trek fan club.
From there her involvement as an active participant of fandom saw her not only becoming the President of this club, but also an important committee member for a number of other local Sci-Fi clubs including three recent science fiction conventions.
Among these successes, perhaps Clare's biggest achievement was not only being on the committee for the World Science Fiction Convention in 2010 - in the crucial role of membership secretary - but she was also the winner of the prestigious DUFF (Down Under Fan Fund) in 2016 which saw her travel to the USA to meet American Science Fiction fans.
Meet the Crew
David Barker
Director of Photography
David joined the Sci-Fi community in the late 1980s due to his interest in Star Trek. Within a short period of time he was editing high quality newsletters for not one but two Star Trek fan clubs.
However, his passion was always in visual media so in the 2000s he turned his attention to film making where his talents as a Director of Photography came into play.
As a result David has amassed a sizable body of work which, along with his easy going nature, has made him an invaluable asset when it comes to filming episodes of Sci-Fi Zone.
Lynne Brack
Production Assistant
Lynne has been a part of the Sci-Fi community since 2007 which saw her become a committee member of her local Star Trek fan club.
One of Lynne's talents is being a virtual knowledge base regarding actors and their careers. With this talent Lynne is able to identify stars of the past and can tell you what other films they've been in.
Aside from being a Star Trek fan, Lynne also loves Dr Who, Stargate SG1 and ... teddy bears..
Ange Kene
Media Coordinator
Ange joined his local Star Trek fan club in 1993 and though it took him a few years to become actively involved on a social level, once he did his involvement in other fandom groups began to increase.
Aside from becoming Vice President, then later President, of the Star Trek club mentioned above, Ange quickly lent his talents in working at numerous pop culture expos and conventions where his easy going nature made him many friends very quickly.
In recent years Ange has ventured into the business of making high quality pop culture badges (buttons), fridge magnets and vinyl stickers, which fans have come to love.
He has also become involved in a number of newly created board gaming social groups and has lent his time and talents to help get these going.
Rich Johnson
Music Composer
Rich, or Richie, is a native of New York who spent 3 years pursuing his music composition degrees at Melbourne University in the early 2000's. Whilst there he got to know a lot of wonderful people in the Australian Sci-Fi community and is glad to be friends with them nearly 20 years later.
Besides composing music, Rich teaches theatre arts and film making to students ages 11-18 and is the resident expert at his school for all things Sci-Fi, where conversations and debates with students, faculty, and parents happen daily.
Rich is ecstatic to be a part of Sci-Fi Zone which has grown out of the thriving and welcoming Sci-Fi community he is proud to be a part of.
Adam Gill
Production Assistant/Sound
Adam (or Ads) has been a part of the Sci-Fi community since the mid 1990s and in that time has gained a well deserved reputation as the P&S guy, ie the builder of ''Props and Stuff'.
With his vast array of skills in using both hand tools and electronics, Adam has been involved in many short film productions which required the creation of unique and varied props and sets.
Among his proudest achievements include a realistic World War II sten gun, a rocket launcher, a military checkpoint (complete with boom gate), a number of futuristic control panels, a retractable wrist mounted computer and even a 1-1 scale Jedi star fighter, among many others,
In recent years Adam has focused much of his attention on landscape photography.
Geoff Tilley
Facebook Administrator
Geoff, or Geoffro as he is more commonly known, joined the Sci-Fi community back in 1978 after signing up to a number of Space: 1999 fan clubs.
In the mid 1980s he became socially active by joining various committees for fan clubs and upcoming conventions where his enthusiasm and organisational skill set was in high demand.
After a decade of ongoing participation within numerous committees, Geoffro eventually retired from active fandom and turned his attention to the online community. From here his wealth of Sci-Fi knowledge has become invaluable in welcoming new fans to Sci-Fi Zone.