Something colossal is coming to Brooklyn for another year of monster mayhem!
Community might be the best thing to come out of fandom, and when it comes to Kaiju, I know exactly where to find your fix. Kaiju Brooklyn is a new grassroots convention that celebrates everything in the realm of Japanese monsters, the art, and the mayhem. With only a single year under its belt, Kaiju Brooklyn has already proved to be 100% for us, and 100% by us.
The convention has a stacked lineup of programming across Industry City, including panel discussions with kaiju filmmakers, veteran toy collectors, seasoned artists, and dedicated creators like Aaimz Tako and RX Superstar. You’ll definitely find me listening in on A Tale of Two Godzillas with filmmaker Yoko Higuchi and FX artist Will Caban as they discuss their time working on Shin Godzilla (my personal favorite).
But that’s not all. The celebration creates a safe space for Kaiju culture with outdoor screenings, and by highlighting cosplayers, local artists, and “the backbone of the Kaiju fandom”, the Japanese toys and collectibles are well worth wasting your atomic breath on.
A Quick Interview With Kaiju Brooklyn Founder John Belotti Jr.
I got the opportunity to speak with John Belotti Jr, also known as Robo7 Art, who founded Kaiju Brooklyn, a staple of the northeast Kaiju community.
Xero Gravity: What is your personal Kaiju origin story? What introduced you to the genre?
John Belotti Jr: I’ve been watching Kaiju and Kung-fu movies since I was a kid when they used to come on TV every weekend. I was the only kid in my class watching Asian sci-fi and action films while my friends were watching Star Wars stuff. So, I’ve been indoctrinated with this stuff forever! Like every kid, I grew up loving dinosaurs, and lo and behold, on TV were giant dinosaur-like monsters fighting and destroying cities!
XG: How did the inception of Kaiju Brooklyn come about?
JB: I’ve been doing Kaiju fan art since 2015. Since then, I’ve sold my prints of my art at conventions all across the country. Two years ago, my friend Seismic Toys and I set up tables at The Japan Society where we were able to sell my artwork along with his toys before a screening of the original Mothra movie. We had such great success that we felt there was a ripe market for some sort of Kaiju themed event, but we just didn’t know where to do it.
I got the license to make Ultraman T-shirts with my artwork that same year, and because of the timing, I missed all the big conventions around NYC. I got excited because I really wanted to sell these shirts but I had no local venue to do so. I approached Japan Village in Industry City about doing something on the second floor, maybe setting up a table on a weekend and just selling my shirts, but it went nowhere. This is when the stars aligned for me. Around June 2023, a friend of mine who works at Industry City mentioned that a friend of his opened up a theater space just a month earlier next to St Mark’s Comics and was looking to do events there. I went over to meet Anthony of bkONE Productions and pitched him the idea of collaborating on a Kaiju themed convention. He immediately wanted to work with me, which was kind of amazing!
I would also like to preface this with another event that shaped the creation of the show; I work on movies and TV in New York. When the writers and actors went on strike last summer, I was left with a huge amount of time to get this thing off the ground. So as you can see, there were a whole lot of different events coalescing in my life at the same time!
XG: Kaiju Brooklyn has grown exponentially in only its second year. After a killer year 1, in what ways were you able to expand for year 2?
JB: We were so blown away by the reception for the first show that we knew we had to do it again. We were highly aware of the original show’s shortcomings: lack of panels, proper cosplay contest, and more. We only had two months to prepare for the first show, so we had no time to do much else. This time we gave ourselves six months to prepare and incorporate all the ideas we had for the original show, including panels inside the different bars and venues around Industry City as well as an art gallery for myself! We’re also doing a pretty big cosplay contest sponsored by St. Marks Comics!
On top of that, we have so many wonderful collaborators this year aside from who I mentioned, including Tsuburaya Productions, which owns the Ultraman characters, and Mill Creek Entertainment who have brought all the Ultraman media to fans in the West. We are doing an Ultraman themed VIP party the night before the con at Brooklyn Kura sake distillery with a DJ, a special Ultraman panel from the good people at Ultraman Connection and a screening of the first Ultraman Belial and Zero movie!
XG: Please brag a little bit. What are you most proud to have accomplished with the Kaiju Brooklyn group? Is there anything you are looking forward to in the years to come?
JB: I was 100% confident that the first show would be a success. I’m so proud that my instincts were correct. People thanked me for creating this event and bringing a taste of Kaiju into their backyard. That was incredibly surreal to hear from random people as well as friends. On top of all this, all of the vendors and artists did incredibly well- that really brought it home for me.
In the years to come, I’m looking forward to continuing to build a good support team because I want the show to get bigger, but I can’t do it alone. Right now we are slowly building that with some really good people who want to see us grow. My goal is to move the show to a two- and possibly three-day event in a larger space with multiple screenings and panels. I also want to have an Ultraman stage performance show at our event as well as exclusive toys and merchandise.
XG: Over at Horror Press, we’re running with “Monster MAYhem” as our theme for the rest of the month. Give the people some homework! Can you recommend a piece of Kaiju media that the fandom should have crossed off their lists?
JB: Sure! The OG film that started it all: Gojira. Also, Mothra vs Godzilla, Monster Zero, Godzilla 85, GMK, the 90’s Gamera movies and for sure Godzilla Minus One! For Ultraman, the original show, Ultraseven, Ultraman Tiga, Gaia, Max, Nexus, Zett and Blazar.
If You’re in the Area Get Your Tickets to Kaiju Brooklyn Now!
Kaiju Brooklyn 2 takes place from the evening of May 31st to June 1st at the Tom Kane Theater in Industry City. The celebration is sure to be an event with a spirit much larger than any naturally occurring threat to your city. Tickets start at $25 and are available now! For the Kaiju family outside of the northeast- stay tuned to Horror Press on social media for on site convention coverage.