Tag Archives: guillermo del toro

Lewis On Del Toro

Lews On Del Toro

“I feel like you're breaking through an invisible wall when you get to go on a podcast that you're a fan of.”

We're very happy that Maria is a fan of the show, but does that explain why she tries to rename the show less than ten minutes into the recording? You'll have to listen to this month's episode of Boob Support to find out.

We think you'll enjoy this episode. We look at this month's films (according to UK release dates), which include Shane Black's detective buddy comedy The Nice Guys, Studio Ghibli's animated drama When Marnie Was There, and the Australian adaptation of Timothy Conigrave's memoir Holding the Man.

Then, we look at something relatively unprecedented in the world of intellectual property: Paramount has introduced guidelines for Star Trek fan films, and if the films adhere to these rules they will not be threatened with legal action. Is this a restriction on creativity, or is Paramount doing fans a solid? We debate this point, and you can scroll down to check out the actual rules below.

Finally, Maria takes us through the cult films of the beloved filmmaker, Guillermo del Toro! From science fiction to fantasy horror to dark gothic fairytales, del Toro is steeped in genre cinema, and we look at what it is about his work that has won over so many.

There are many reasons to listen to this, including a piece of inside gossip about an unrealised del Toro film that we don’t think has been revealed before, as well as the time Maria quite literally ran into GDT.

We also talk about GDT being known as much for his love of film as the films he is made, and this tweetstorm he did a month ago in which he expresses his love for the works of John Carpenter (a filmmaker we also expressed our love for only a few short months back!) is a great example of this.

Oh, and in the show we speculate (jokingly) that Russell Crowe might not have been cool with potential homoeroticism in The Nice Guys. In fairness to Crowe, we should point out he did play an openly gay dude in 1994's The Sum of Us. (Time for a sequel? The Multiplication of Us could totally work.)

Okay, those Star Trek fan film guidelines can be found by clicking here, or by reading down the page. What do you make of these?

CBS and Paramount Pictures are big believers in reasonable fan fiction and fan creativity, and, in particular, want amateur fan filmmakers to showcase their passion for Star Trek.  Therefore, CBS and Paramount Pictures will not object to, or take legal action against, Star Trek fan productions that are non-professional and amateur and meet the following guidelines.

Guidelines for Avoiding Objections:


The fan production must be less than 15 minutes for a single self-contained story, or no more than 2 segments, episodes or parts, not to exceed 30 minutes total, with no additional seasons, episodes, parts, sequels or remakes.

  • The title of the fan production or any parts cannot include the name “Star Trek.” However, the title must contain a subtitle with the phrase: “A STAR TREK FAN PRODUCTION” in plain typeface. The fan production cannot use the term “official” in either its title or subtitle or in any marketing, promotions or social media for the fan production.
  • The content in the fan production must be original, not reproductions, recreations or clips from any Star Trek If non-Star Trekthird party content is used, all necessary permissions for any third party content should be obtained in writing.
  • If the fan production uses commercially-available Star Trekuniforms, accessories, toys and props, these items must be official merchandise and not bootleg items or imitations of such commercially available products.
  • The fan production must be a real “fan” production, i.e., creators, actors and all other participants must be amateurs, cannot be compensated for their services, and cannot be currently or previously employed on any Star Trekseries, films, production of DVDs or with any of CBS or Paramount Pictures' licensees.
  • The fan production must be non-commercial:
    • CBS and Paramount Pictures do not object to limited fundraising for the creation of a fan production, whether 1 or 2 segments and consistent with these guidelines, so long as the total amount does not exceed $50,000, including all platform fees, and when the $50,000 goal is reached, all fundraising must cease.
    • The fan production must only be exhibited or distributed on a no-charge basis and/or shared via streaming services without generating revenue.
    • The fan production cannot be distributed in a physical format such as DVD or Blu-ray.
    • The fan production cannot be used to derive advertising revenue including, but not limited to, through for example, the use of pre or post-roll advertising, click-through advertising banners, that is associated with the fan production.
    • No unlicensed Star Trek-related or fan production-related merchandise or services can be offered for sale or given away as premiums, perks or rewards or in connection with the fan production fundraising.
    • The fan production cannot derive revenue by selling or licensing fan-created production sets, props or costumes.
  • The fan production must be family friendly and suitable for public presentation. Videos must not include profanity, nudity, obscenity, pornography, depictions of drugs, alcohol, tobacco, or any harmful or illegal activity, or any material that is offensive, fraudulent, defamatory, libelous, disparaging, sexually explicit, threatening, hateful, or any other inappropriate content. The content of the fan production cannot violate any individual's right of privacy.
  • The fan production must display the following disclaimer in the on-screen credits of the fan productions and on any marketing material including the fan production website or page hosting the fan production:
  • “Star Trekand all related marks, logos and characters are solely owned by CBS Studios Inc. This fan production is not endorsed by, sponsored by, nor affiliated with CBS, Paramount Pictures, or any other Star Trek franchise, and is a non-commercial fan-made film intended for recreational use.  No commercial exhibition or distribution is permitted. No alleged independent rights will be asserted against CBS or Paramount Pictures.”
  • Creators of fan productions must not seek to register their works, nor any elements of the works, under copyright or trademark law.
  • Fan productions cannot create or imply any association or endorsement by CBS or Paramount Pictures.

Outro music: score from Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), composed by Javier Navarrete

You can stream or download this episode on our website, listen at Stitcher Smart Radio, or subscribe via iTunes!

Hell Is For Hyphenates – June 2016

Author and journalist Maria Lewis joins us to look back at the films of June 2016 (according to UK release dates!): Shane Black’s The Nice Guys, Studio Ghibli’s latest animated drama When Marnie Was There, and the adaptation of Timothy Conigrave’s memoir Holding the Man. They then check out the unprecedented rules that Paramount has announced for Star Trek fan films. Finally, Maria enthuses about the films of modern genre favourite Guillermo Del Toro.

The Guillermo Del Toro Cheat Sheet

GDT Directs

Want to become an instant expert in our filmmaker of the month without committing yourself to an entire filmography? Then you need the Hell Is For Hyphenates Cheat Sheet: we program you a double that will not only make for a great evening's viewing, but bring you suitably up-to-speed before our next episode lands…

GDT Films

HELLBOY (2004) and PAN'S LABYRINTH (2006)

Guillermo Del Toro is synonymous with genre filmmaking, and these back-to-back films in the early 2000s are vintage Del Toro. Kick your evening off with Hellboy, the adaptation of Mike Mignola's comic. If Del Toro announced tomorrow, in the midst of shared universes and endless capes, that he was going to make his own superhero film, this is exactly the one we'd all want him to make. Hellboy is funny, imaginative, and has a wonderfully unusual edge to it. He followed this film up with Pan's Labyrinth, the perfect encapsulation of his tendencies towards the horror-fantasy stylings of fairy tales. Program this double, and you may dub yourself a true expert in the worlds of Guillermo Del Toro.

Substitutions: If you can't get or have already seen Hellboy, you should watch Blade II (2002). And here you thought we were going to suggest the Hellboy sequel. Which is a fine choice, but you'll learn a lot about Del Toro by seeing the direction he takes the vampire superhero in. If you can't get or have already seen Pan's Labyrinth, then you should seek out The Devil's Backbone (2001), the wonderful and terrifying companion piece to Pan.

The Hidden Gem: There are not many hidden gems for Del Toro's fans, who have comprehensively sought out all of his early works. But it's his debut Cronos (1993) that is arguably the least-discussed. His film about the quest for eternal life is equal parts horror, fantasy and funny.

The next episode of Hell Is For Hyphenates, featuring Maria Lewis talking Guillermo Del Toro, will be released on the morning of June 30.

Our Next Hyphenate Maria Lewis

Maria Lewis
Author, film critic and June 2016 Hyphenate Maria Lewis

You may know Maria Lewis from her film critiquing on the film website Graffiti With Punctuation or the podcast Pod Save Our Screen (both alongside Hi4H alum Blake Howard). Or you may have spotted her on SBS2's The Feed (hosted by Hi4H alum Marc Fennell). Or maybe you've read her young adult fantasy novel Who's Afraid? (described by yet another Hi4H alum, Lexi Alexander, as “Truly one of the best in the genre I have ever read”). We mention all of this not just to cement Maria's multi-hyphenate status, but also prove what a massive umbrella Hi4H is. We're everywhere. Or at least in three places.

But you're about to know her best from her forthcoming role as the June guest on Hell Is For Hyphenates!

But which filmmaker has Maria chosen to talk about on the show?

None other than director Guillermo Del Toro!

Directed by Guillermo Del Toro

Del Toro is a firm genre favourite, from his horror debut Cronos (1994), to the superhero film Hellboy (2004), his gothic fairytale Pan's Labyrinth (2006) and the science fiction monster flick Pacific Rim (2013).

He's earned a cult status amongst film fans, so what is it about his work that's earned the adoration of Maria and so many others?

Join us on June 30 when we find out!

Our next filmmaker of the month, Guillermo Del Toro