Local organizers of the Prince George-based pop culture event Northern FanCon are partnering with a film industry prop builder to create something special to aid in the recovery of a past guest star of the convention.
The initiative is set to raise funds for actor Michael Hogan who was extremely popular guest at the Northern FanCon with an impressive resume of over 150 film and tv credits including starring roles on Battlestar Galactica, Teen Wolf, and Fargo.
In February 2020, Hogan fell and sustained a major brain bleed that left him with complete paralysis on his left side, memory loss, cognitive impairment and an inability to swallow. What followed was a hard road of ongoing recovery further complicated by COVID.
Vancouver based prop builder Aaron Harrison will lead a team of locals to convert the real shell of a helicopter into a replica gunship inspired by a spacecraft from the series Battlestar Galactic to raise funds for Hogan.
Fundraising efforts were launched to help Hogan and his wife Susan on GoFundMe following his injury. The efforts were successful but bills continued to pile up as care was more complex due to restrictions resulting from the pandemic.
Northern FanCon founder and filmmaker Norm Coyne had been watching the recovery online and as the dates approached for the event, he had an idea which would both pay tribute to Hogan and raise funds for his family.
The idea stemmed from a conversation with philanthropist friend Brent Marshall. He and Coyne had previously worked together on the feature film The Doctor's Case - a Sherlock Holmes story written by Stephen King.
Marshall and business partner Steve Reeves had been in conversations with Coyne about using aircraft hulls from their inventory at Tempest Aviation Group as props for film and television productions.
"Brent and Steve had offered me a helicopter to use in a film,” said Coyne.
“I thought 'what if we do a live prop build with a filmmaker?' and then what if it was turning a helicopter into a spaceship and then 'what if we auctioned that off to raise funds for Michael Hogan?'”
Another past guest of Northern FanCon, prop builder Aaron Harrison who had worked on the popular television series Arrow and Netflix’s Lost in Space jumped at the chance to lead the project. Word started to spread through the community of Prince George and it was not long before Selen Alpay of the local Canadian Tire offered to cover the costs of Harrison’s airfare and accommodations.
“This build is both a beautiful tribute to Hogan and a means of helping this amazing man and his family,” said Coyne.
As an added bonus for Battlestar Galactica fans, series costar Aaron Douglas will be on hand for the dedication of the ship. Douglas played Chief Galon Tyrol on the series and was a character who was tasked with the builds and rebuilds of the fleet.
The gunship will be on display at Northern FanCon and will be posted to the FanCon website where bids can be placed in real time until 5 p.m. on May 15.
One hundred percent of the funds raised from the sale of the gunship will be donated to the Hogan family. Northern FanCon runs in Prince George from May 13-15, 2022.
