The 2009 Big Bear Horror Film Festival marked the creation of the O’Quinn Award. This was also the year in which it was first endowed to a cutting edge filmmaker, the first recipient being, Mr. Kerry O’Quinn himself.

The O’Quinn award exists for the purpose of promoting and recognizing exceptional achievement in the art and craft of the horror film field. Each year, the O’Quinn award will be given to a recipient who has brought something original to the genre, employing “Cutting Edge Creativity and Excellence in filmmaking”.

This award can be gifted to any filmmaker, publisher, actor, director, writer, producer, special effects artist, etc. who has brought something to the scope of horror that was not in existence before..

Currently, the nominating committee is searching for a new recipient for the award and the presentation will be made at the awards presentation on Sunday, October 17, 2010. Come and help us celebrate cutting edge creativity and excellence in filmmaking to the next O’Quinn Award beneficiary.

More about the man who inspired the award:

Kerry O’Quinn - Host & Emcee Writer, Magazine Publisher, Director, and Producer

In 1972, Kerry launched a New York magazine publishing company with Norman Jacobs. Together, they started with a soap opera magazine and in 1976, Kerry made his dream come true when the first issue of Starlog appeared on newsstands.

Star Wars hit movie theaters with a sonic boom in 1977, which made the cover of Time magazine and suddenly science fiction magazines were hot! In the next few years, Kerry and Jacobs created Fangoria, Cinemagic, Future Life and Comics Scene - a family of specialty newsstand magazines for genre fans. Together, Kerry and Jacobs expanded with books on special effects, aliens, spaceships, toys & models, and space art.

Kerry has produced soundtrack albums, (Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, The Avengers, Rocketship, X-m, etc.) and live events - most notably Star Trek 20th Anniversary at Disneyland and Star Wars 10th Anniversary with George Lucas.

He launched O’Quinn Productions with Scream Greats, a video series for Paramount and he developed Future Tales, a science fiction series for HBO. Working with Lucasfilm and other companies, Kerry became the world’s largest publisher of licensed magazines for movies and TV - building a publishing and production empire with more than two-dozen monthly magazines, all targeting a young worldwide audience.

Starlog and Fangoria continue to reach the largest magazine audience ever in the realm of science fiction and horror movies - more than 30 years later, spanning several generations. The magazines now have web sites, major fan conventions, and popular radio shows.

A hands-on guy, Kerry managed the business, designed logos, and wrote articles, interviews, and scripts. Several years ago, he sold his half of the company and moved to Hollywood to write and produce. Currently, he’s developing a dozen feature films - including Ayn Rand’s Anthem.

Additionally, Kerry has written two books, two stage musicals, and is involved in six television projects - mostly science fiction, horror, fantasy, and super hero adventures.

In 2007, Kerry O’Quinn was honored by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films with the prestigious Saturn Service Award - presented by his friend, producer Tom DeSanto (X-Men, Transformers).

The 2010 Big Bear Horror Film Festival is proud and pleased to have Kerry O’Quinn returning for the second year as its Host and Emcee.

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