TOKYOPOP's Van Von Hunter  announced as Official Selection for Hollywood-based comedy film festival MockFest 2010      

TOKYOPOP, the leading manga-lifestyle entertainment company, is proud that its mockumentary feature film Van Von Hunter  has been announced as an official selection for MockFest 2010, a festival celebrating the best comedies and mockumentaries from around the world. Van Von Hunter, starring voice actor extraordinaire Yuri Lowenthal (Naruto, Ben 10), marks the feature film directorial debut of producer and entrepreneur Stu Levy, along with visual effects supervisor and filmmaker Steven Calcote. The pair wrote, produced, and appeared in the film.

Inspired by and based upon the manga series created by Mike Schwark and  Ron Kaulfersch, Van Von Hunter  is a live-action comedy that follows its title character on a journey deep into the heart of manga and anime fandom. From the mythical world of Dikay, to the cold, hard streets of Hollywood, then across the ocean to Tokyo, this Van-tastic voyage is also filled with cameos by top manga and anime personalities as it embraces otaku culture around the globe.

"We are truly thrilled to see Van Von Hunter  so well-received by MockFest 2010," says Levy.  "It's just a real shame they took our documentary, which extracts the shocking truth about Van Von Hunter's glorious rise from slayer of beasts to big man in Japan, and presumed it to be a "mockumentary" and a comedy.  Everything in that film is true--perhaps sad, but indeed true.  And anyone who attempts to laugh at it is laughing at all of us.  We're sort of outraged--but in a good way."

Van Von Hunter  will be screening at MockFest on Sunday, November 14, and there will be a Q&A session with the filmmakers after the screening. For more details on Van Von Hunter  and MockFest, go to www.mockfilmfest.com.

Van Von Hunter
TOKYOPOP

Credits
Director: Stu Levy, Steven Calcote
Screenwriters: Stu Levy, Steven Calcote
Based on the graphic novel by: Mike Schwark, Ron Kaulfersch
Producers: Stu Levy, Steven Calcote
Editor: Daisuke Kinouchi
Director of Photography: Jake Avignone
Visual Effects: Jason Milligan
Music: Benjamin Chan

Cast
Van Von Hunter: Yuri Lowenthal
Holly O'Hara: Heather Marie Marsden
Patrick Shaunessey: Travis Stevens
Sho Matsuhashi: Himself
Hiromoto Sensei: Shin-ichi Hiromoto
Shoji Kawamori: Himself
Running Time - 102 minutes

About TOKYOPOP
Founded in 1997 by international media entrepreneur Stu Levy, TOKYOPOP established the market for manga in North America, introducing the term to the English language in the process.  Over its history, TOKYOPOP has published over 3000 books, distributed anime and Asian films on home video and television, licensed merchandise to consumer goods companies, created graphic novels of major brands such as Warcraft, Star Trek, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Hannah Montana, and led the way digitally in social media, e-commerce and user-generated content.  TOKYOPOP's brand expanded internationally with offices in Europe and Japan and a network of over 160 partners in more than 50 countries and 30 languages.  Taking its Manga Revolution beyond the page, TOKYOPOP has begun producing live-action and animated film and television content based on its extensive intellectual property library, including Priest, Van Von Hunter, and another 20 projects currently in development, along with America's Greatest Otaku, an 8-episode reality show filmed during its 2010 summer-long, 28-city national tour.  For more information, visit www.TOKYOPOP.com as well as www.twitter.com/tokyopop and www.facebook.com/tokyopop.