GUEST BIOS SF GODZILLAFEST 2026!
Guests are subject to change.
2026!
DIRECTOR SHUSUKE KANEKO
Godzillafest welcomes heralded director Shusuke Kaneko.
Shusuke Kaneko grew up (as all of us have) with a love for science fiction, particularly Godzilla and Gamera films. He started his career at Nikkatsu Studios in the early 1980s.
His first genre film was actually “The Cold”, a segment of the film NECRONOMICON in 1993. After that he went on a direct the Heisei Gamera films for Daiei/Kodakawa. These included GAMERA GUARDIAN
OF THE UNIVERSE (1995), GAMERA 2 ATTACK OF LEGION (1996) and GAMERA 3 REVENGET OF IRIS (1999), which he also co-wrote.
During this time, he also directed HAUNTED SCHOOL 3 (1997) and PYROKENESIS (2000).
In 2001, he wrote and directed GODZILLA, MOTHRA, KING GHIDORAH GIANT MONSTERS ALL-OUT ATTACK for Toho, which is considered one of the best films of the Godzilla series.
Other genre films that he has directed include AZUMI 2: DEATH OR LOVE (2005), DEATH NOTE and DEATH NOTE 2: THE LAST NAME (both in 2006) and episodes of the TV series ULTRAMAN MAX (2005).
2026!
2026!
ACTOR KATSUHIKO SASAKI
Godzillafest welcomes actor Katsuhiko Sasaki.
Sasaki was born into Godzilla films with an established pedigree, being the son of Minoru Chiaki who played Koji Kobayashi in 1955’s GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN.
Sasaki would play Goro Ibuki, the inventor of Jet Jaguar in GODZILLA VS MEGALON (1973). He went on to appear with another cyborg (Katsura, played by last year’s Godzillafest guest Tomoko Ai) in 1975’s
TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA. He would also play a soldier in GODZILLA VS BIOLLANTE (1989) and Professor Mazaki in 1991’s GODZILLA VS KING GHIDORAH.
Other genre films included LAST DAYS OF PLANET EARTH (PROPHESIES OF NOSTRADAMUS) (1974), EVIL OF DRACULA (also 1974), and the TV series DAITETSUJIN 17 (1977).
Later in his career he did a lot of voice work on THE BIG O (2003), BLACK LAGOON (2006), GOLGO 13 (2009), YU-GI-OH! Zexal (2013), THE BOY AND THE BEAST (2015) and others.
He also provided voices in quite a few dubbed films for both Robert DeNiro and Alec Baldwin.
2026!
ACTOR TJ STORM
TJ Storm is an American actor, stuntman, dancer, and martial artist. He is best known for his role as Bayu in Conan the Adventurer and for his motion capture performances in Tron: Legacy, Captain America: Civil War, Deadpool, and as Godzilla in the Godzilla (2014) and Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019). His latest role was that of The Red Hulk in Captain America Brave New World.​