Meet Chris Carthern | Movie Producer and Cosplayer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chris Carthern and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chris, let’s talk legacy – what do you want yours to be?
I want to be remembered for being someone that stood for something and didn’t compromise on my values. To be known for fighting against social injustices, racism, bigotry, genderism and pushing for proportional representation. I want it to be known that Mystery Dinner Studios challenged the Hollywood platform and crashed the party and did it our way. We want to be remembered for supporting equality for everyone, gay, straight, trans-gendered, all races and improving the life of everyone around me. I want to be known for shedding a light on mental illness and prison reform among many other things.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a producer with an independent movie studio, Mystery Dinner Studios. We produce diverse, woke, incisive, and insightful content with the uncompromising intention of permanently changing the world for all underrepresented peoples. We are activist and social justice moviemakers fighting for equality and the destruction of injustice in all its forms from inequality to police violence, systemic racism, etc. We aim to have appropriate representation for all peoples in front of and behind the camera. One of the things that I love is we are self-financed which means we have no one to answer to. This enables us to show the world we live in truthfully. What sets us apart is we focus on quality. It is our main focus. Not working with recognizable actors. The movie making is the star of our movies. I am excited about our upcoming projects. We have a bunch of documentaries that we will complete in 2023 and a couple fictional movies.

As a cosplayer the majority of my characters are black. I make it a point to cosplay black people because representation, or the lack thereof, is a very important issue in the world and I want to see more people of color represented in entertainment. Cosplay has also brought me business relationships with the likes of Marvel, Disney, Fox and TiVo to name a few. My main cosplay characters are Randy Watson, lead singer of Sexual Chocolate, Black Panther, Miles Morales, Spider-Joker, Nightcrawler, and A-Train.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I no longer live in Atlanta but I still have favorite spots in the city as an Atlien. First on the list would be Slutty Vegan. No trip to Atlanta would be complete without it. The Georgia Aquarium is one of the best aquariums in the world so it demands a visit. I still remember my first visit there. I am from the south side, Southwest Atlanta to be exact so we’d definitely have to hit something in that area like Old Lady Gang. Those deviled eggs always hit the spot. The best pizza in Atlanta in my personal opinion is Antico as they always use fresh ingredients so you can’t go wrong there. I wouldn’t be an Atlien if we didn’t get any lemon pepper wings so a trip to JR Crickets is mandatory. Oh and those are lemon pepper wet. If they were interested in Nightlife I would take them to one of my homie’s, Mr. Plush, parties to experience the best of ATL nightlife. If I have time I am definitely setting up a family bbq to show them true southern hospitality. Some other food spots I would definitely consider are Yasin’s Seafood, Supreme Fish Delight, Atlanta Breakfast Club and/or King Crab ATL. That’s a lot of food but it will be worth it. Other attractions that would be included in the visit include Centennial Olympic Park, Atlanta Beltline, The National Center for Civil and Human Rights and the Fernbank Museum. If time permits I’d take them to Amicalola Falls as the waterfall is beautiful.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Tony Aaron II definitely deserves credit for my growth as an artist, producer, camera operator and human in general. I was just getting into cosplay and photography for about a year before we reconnected. Even though I was living a good life overseas I was torn inside. I wanted to fight for social justice back home but wasn’t sure what the best outlet for that was. I was considering moving back to the United States and becoming a full-time activist or pursuing law school. Tony presented the option to produce social justice movies with Mystery Dinner Productions, now Mystery Dinner Studios, and it was exactly what I was looking for. He’s been my partner ever since.

Website: https://MysteryDinnerStudios.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/CosplaysByShinobi

Twitter: https://twitter.com/chriscarthern

Other: TikTok.com/CosplaysByShinobi

Image Credits
Frankie Soul – Suit Pic Ryan Sims – Spider-Joker pic Tom Gallagher – Cosplay Central Panel pic