Fall-Con, Great River Film Festival to combine pop-culture efforts at Oakley-Lindsay Center

QUINCY — Ray Davis believes the merger of Fall-Con and the Great River Film Festival will be beneficial by uniting two pop-culture audiences under one entertainment umbrella from Aug. 29-Sept. 1 at the Oakley-Lindsay Center in downtown Quincy.

“This will be an even bigger event and appeal to more people,” said Davis, who is coordinating the Fall-Con portion of the attraction and working with Mike Marx and Oliver C. Latta of the Great River Film Festival committee.

Comic books, vendors, memorabilia and collectible toys will highlight the sixth annual Fall-Con attractions.

Celebrity guests for the second Great River Film Festival are scheduled to be Lorenzo Lamas, Thomas F. Duffy, Trina Parks, Max Gail, Mark Donovan, Bern Nadette Stanis, Peter Sherayko, Rebecca Holden, Shar Jackson and Chris Gonnerman.

Organizers said the Quincy Area and Convention Bureau and the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County are scheduled to be involved with the event.

“Joining forces like this is a big thing,” Latta said. “I love the idea.”

Marx agrees.

“I think this combination is perfect,” he said.

Admission for the event is broken down in the following manner:

• $35 for all four days. Latta said the ticket price per each movie that is shown in the Great River Film Festival portion of the event is $10, or $5 if an attendee has the aforementioned weekend pass.
• Aug. 29: Noon to 8 p.m., $5.
• Aug. 30: Noon to 8 p.m., $15.
• Aug. 31: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., $20.
• Sept. 1: Noon to 8 p.m., $10.

Among the celebrity guests for the film festival, Lamas is likely the most popular and Gail may be the most accomplished.

Lamas, 66, has appeared in numerous films and network TV shows. He is probably best known for his role of Lance Cumson, the irresponsible grandson of Angela Channing — played by Jane Wyman — in the soap opera “Falcon Crest” from 1981-1990. He also appeared in “Renegade,” “Big Time Rush,” the daytime soap opera “The Bold and the Beautiful” and “Phineas and Ferb.”

Gail, 81, is known for his role as Det. Stan “Wojo” Wojciehowicz on the sitcom “Barney Miller” (1975-1982). He earned him two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Gail also won the 2019 and 2021 Daytime Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Mike Corbin on the soap opera “General Hospital.”

Donovan, 55, became well known following his acclaimed performance in “Shaun of the Dead,” which was a big office hit in 2004. The film was a “romantic, comic” take on a zombie apocalypse.

Stanis, 70, played the role of Thelma Evans on the CBS sitcom “Good Times” from February 1974 to August 1979. Duffy played the role of sadistic rapist Charles Wilson in “Death Wish II,” paleontologist Dr. Robert Burke in “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” and as the football-loving dad in “Varsity Blues.”

Holden was featured on “Knight Rider,” Sherayko in “Tombstone,” Jackson in “Moesha” and Parks in the James Bond film “Diamonds Are Forever”. Gonnerman is the creator of “Basic Fantasy RPG.”