WHAT THE SHREK HAPPENED!?!?!

Hey, it's me, Grant. I'm still completely discombobulated from what happened earlier this month. It's almost the end of September, and I am just now able to process the madness.

Let me try and put this into words... I'll start with gratitude.

Thank you, Patrons. I want to express my deepest appreciation to each and every one of you for your incredible support. Labor Day Weekend was nothing short of magical, and your backing played a pivotal role in making it all possible. I'm still in awe of the sheer insanity and joy that weekend brought. Those days will forever be etched in my memory, and I can't help but reflect on how profoundly they changed me.

So much Shrek in such a small amount of time.

Our journey began with a special screening of "Shrek Retold" at the magnificent Oriental Theatre on Friday, followed by our 10th (and most amazing ever) Shrekfest at Humboldt Park and the epic Happily Ever After Party at X-Ray Arcade on Saturday. We returned to the Oriental to top the weekend off with the much anticipated world premiere of "Shrek 2 Retold" on Sunday. At each event I found myself surrounded by an incredible community of awesome, talented, and creative individuals. There's a certain vibe that 3GI gives off that just finds the right people. Meeting so much of yall was certainly a highlight for me. Even if we had just met, it felt like being with family. The 3GI community has evolved into something truly epic af, and I'm overjoyed to share it with the world.

10 years of Shrekfest.

Our 10th Shrekfest was a resounding success, boasting a team of dedicated staff and volunteers, corporate sponsors, a delicious caravan of food trucks, a bustling artist alley with 20 talented individuals, four incredible live bands, a DJ, a massive stage with dazzling lights, and a 60-person Onion Eating Contest. If someone had told me when we first started that Shrekfest would reach such heights, I wouldn't have believed it. Yet, here we are today, with people traveling from all across the globe to join us in this celebration of all things Shrek. Now I'm a believer.

I want to thank all of the staff, volunteers, artists, bands, vendors, sponsors, and attendees who helped make the fest a reality, starting with Kevin Gonring and Eric Nitschke for providing the support and hard work necessary to create this festival in the first place and for continuing to join me on stage to make the crowd smile, my entire family for supporting me and the fest from the beginning and allowing it to make us closer, Moses for lifting a million pounds and running a million miles every fest to make sure all problems are solved, Jim for donning the Shrek suit every year and silently suffering through 1,000 photos (and this year it was HOT), Mitch and Kyle for providing visual and audio engineering more professional than we even deserve, the bands Swamp Stars, Spano Cabano, Ska Lite, and Star67 for gracing the fest with their musical talents and absolutely rocking the house, County Conservation District for keeping the tunes coming both at the fest and the wild after party with the electrifying Man Random, and of course we couldn’t do it without Mina, Cole, Conner, Summer, Sommer, Lee, Chelsea, Sarah, and Dan for working your asses off all day, and last but most certainly not least a HUGE THANK YOU to Kelly Main for organizing, marketing, executing, and overall whipping Shrekfest into the best shape it’s ever been in. My sincerest thanks to all of you <3

The community that 3GI has fostered, starting with our internal staff and branching out to the fans, is truly remarkable. Shrekfest is more than just a festival; it's a unifying force that transcends age, background, and location. It's an annual gathering that fosters a sense of belonging among its attendees, where friendships are formed, and memories are created. I hope to continue to foster this communal joy and inject it in our work, like "Shrek Retold" and our upcoming "Shrek 2 Retold”.

Oh, yeah... "Shrek 2 Retold".

The reception of "Shrek 2 Retold" at the Oriental Theatre was nothing short of spectacular, and it wasn’t even done yet! If you remember in our last video update about Shrek 2 Retold, my co-director Conner Japikse and myself said that we wouldn’t announce a release date without finishing the movie. Shortly after we said that, we did that. We promised a screening of "Shrek 2 Retold" the night after Shrekfest without having finished the movie. It was a stressful race against the clock to provide a "good enough" cut for the theater, and I must admit, I lost my God damn mind. This is where I would like to thank Conner for remaining cool and sacrificing sleep to make sure we finished the film in time. After we welcomed everyone to the theater and started the film, I was so nervous I had to stand outside tbh. But as I listened to the audiences reaction, I started to think that maybe we had surpassed the “good enough” mark we were aiming for. I entered the theater around the third act and I couldn’t believe the the response. The energy in the theater was electrifying, with laughter, gasps, cheers, boos, screams, and roars filling the space. Some have described it on Letterboxd (why is it already on there?) as a monumental and impressive art piece, a celebration of joy and whimsy that transcends traditional cinema. I don’t think they even noticed I didn’t do SFX work yet!

Again, my deepest gratitude to Conner, Garfield, and Quinton Reviews for helping to produce this very special film, and to all the collaborators that have placed their fingerprint on this project. Thank you to all 800 of you! Now it’s time to finish up Shrek 2 Retold properly, so stay tuned for details on that.

Thanks for the support, kids.

Here's to many more years of 3GI and the incredible journey ahead <3

- Grant

Photos by Conner Japikse, Dan Koss, John Karpinksy, Viz, and Quinton Reviews

P.S. Just added the Shrekfest 2023 shirt, sticker, and pin to the 3GI Web Shop. Patrons use code “SHREKFEST” at check out for 20% off these Shrekfest items. The shirt's only $12 with that discount. Grab one!