Ryan of the Orlando Ghostbusters
Ryan, tell us about you. Who are you? What do you do? Do you have other hobbies?
My name is Ryan Scott and I run the Orlando Ghostbusters. When I'm not donning a proton pack, I write for the examiner.com as an Orlando Tourism reporter (www.facebook.com/orlandoundercovertourist), work for a production company as a prop builder/character actor/production assistant (you can see the trailer for the web series I'm working on at www.huntmonsters.com), and I'm also a freelance photographer.
I became a Ghostbuster's fanatic at a young age. My two younger brothers and I had all of the toys, the kenner proton packs, and even the GB2 flightsuits. My parents used to get upset with us because we would make GB signs and put them outside of our house with our home phone number listed on it.
I began my gear back in 2004, when I still lived in NY. I always wanted to do a GB costume for Halloween, and thought that it was the ultimate costume. I started reading the forums on gbfans, ghostbusters international, and ghostbustershq and realized that this was a lot bigger of a fandom than I first realized. When I moved to Florida in 2008, I found out there were a ton of us running around the state, and eventually this morphed into the Orlando Ghostbusters.
My favorite event has to be the annual Packs in the Park event we started putting together 3 years ago. Disney's Magic Kingdom hosts a Halloween Party through the month of October that allows guests to wear costumes in the park. My wife and I get clearance from Disney Security to wear gear in the park, and on a select night a large number of Florida Ghostbusters meet up at the Haunted Mansion and a night of mayhem ensues. The looks on people's faces when they see 15 or more of us outside of the Mansion is priceless, and cast members are constantly asking which party night we are going to be at so that they can get pictures.
A ghosthead to me is someone that is more then just a casual fan of Ghostbusters, almost to an insane degree. Someone that can run up to another ghosthead yelling "Alright! Alright!" and they immediately know what you're talking about. Also, I'm pretty sure if ghosthead was in the dictionary, Ryan Kemp (my brother from another mother) from the Western Kentucky GB's would have his picture next to it.
The Orlando Ghostbusters were started in 2009 by myself, Griffin Barker, Jason Ludy, and Ben Bond. Since then our roster has grown to over 15 guys and gals. I know they'll make fun of me for this, but all of my crew are some of my greatest friends and have become like a second family to me. We do a lot of things outside of Ghostbusters together. We like to put the fun in our dysfunctional family. When I was married Halloween weekend 2010, I had around 25 Ghostbusters and 2 Ectos at my wedding (yes there are wedding pictures with proton packs), and I also had the honor of being Maryl-lyn Cooper's (now Sears) "Man of Honor". This coming October two more of us are getting married, Jon Hunn and Misha Allen, which will be a blast ( I hear Beetlejuice will be in attendance).
As far as the rest of this year goes, some of us will be at Spooky Empire's May Hem in May and Star Wars Celebration in August. A Ghostbuster's field trip to St. Augustine is currently the planning stages for some point in the next couple of months. Our October this year is pretty booked up as always with a big Halloween event similiar to the Old Town event we did last year, Packs in the Park 2012, as well as Jon and Misha's wedding. The biggest event for me coming up this year is the birth of my first child, who's due on September 24th, so Halloween this year is going to be even more interesting.
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| Ryan and Dan!!! |
Orlando Ghostbusters
- http://www.orlandoghostbusters.com
- http://www.facebook.com/orlandoghostbusters
- https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=306578964545
