Cal State San Bernardino lecturer shows film at Comic-Con

Carol Damgen, full-time lecturer of theatre arts at Cal State San Bernardino, was anything but invisible at the 2018 Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival held in San Diego this past July; “The Invisible Man,” in which she served as co-producer, actor and costume designer, was one of 10 horror/suspense films that was shown during the event. “I am incredibly proud that we made this film entirely in the Inland Empire for just over $50,000, using many local students on the project,” said Damgen, who teaches a variety of courses at CSUSB, such as Creative Drama and Intro to Theatre. “Also, we got to feature the beautiful, historic California Theatre in San Bernardino, a protected landmark, which is one if not the jewel of San Bernardino.” The 88-minute film is a modern retelling of H.G. Wells’ classic novel of the same name, which tells the story of a scientist who completes an experiment for invisibility that allows him to exact revenge on his son’s murderer, but at the expense of his mind.  This was the first time Damgen participated in Comic-Con, and was thrilled to share the experience with her brother, Glenn, who also served as a producer for the film.  Damgen also participated in an independent film panel during the event, and discussed her many roles that went into “The Invisible Man.” “With independent films, many times you have to be willing to wear many hats to get the project done,” Damgen said. “I think this approach can be very exciting and exhausting at the same time. But that's the world of independent films!”