Undead Walking’s Featured The Walking Dead Fan: Romey Molina

While cosplay is common among The Walking Dead fans, one thing many cosplayers love having and seeing are photos of themselves. Some fans dedicate themselves to taking high-quality photos and videos at conventions, which is a cosplayer’s dream come true. From song parodies to getting that perfect shot in a specific location, media-focused content creators put their hearts and souls into what they do.

Welcome to Undead Walking’s Featured Fan showcase! I’m Tara, and I’m here to speak to fans who create or collect content related to The Walking Dead. Whether you’re a cosplayer, a collector, an artist, a video maker, or anything else, my goal is to shine a spotlight on the varied talent and endless dedication this fandom has for this franchise in all of its forms.

This week, I spoke with Romey Molina, a photographer/videographer and cosplayer from Florida. Romey is a friend of mine that I’ve followed for a while, and always greatly admired the quality and style of the photos he takes. As a fan and a cosplayer myself, I was more than happy to finally meet him last year at Walker Stalker Atlanta to take some amazing photos! They’re definitely some I consider to the the best I’ve ever had taken.

Aside from being a talented photographer, Romey also makes videos. He was involved in Walker Stalker’s well-known “Kill ‘Em Off” parody, a video that features many The Walking Dead cosplayers. He’s produced other similar videos and is always looking to see what he can create next. If he’s at a con near you, you should absolutely make the time to meet him! Aside from his very impressive talent, Romey himself is just a great guy to talk to and big Walking Dead fan. Here’s my talk with him:

Let’s get this shindig started, Romey! First let me know a bit about what you do.

Thank you for having me, what I do is always a tough question. Most know me for my cosplay photography but my main passion is film maker/videographer.

It’s true, many of us in The Walking Dead fandom know you for the photography! I’ve seen some of your video edits though, and they’re really incredible! How did you get into it all?

Thank you, I started in making music videos. I made them for lots of different types of genres. When I was working for Walker Stalker Con, me and the staff worked together to make The Walking Dead parody video called “Kill ‘Em Off” which did very well. That pretty much set off my passion for making TWD content. Even though I was a fan of TWD since day one.

I love the Kill’em Off video so much! You can see everyone involved put so much love and effort into it. For videos like that, how much time and planning does it take? Tell me about the process in making something like that happen.

It is crazy how much time and effort is needed. First think of a song, then write lyrics for that song and instrumental, then find talent to sing and record the song or the parody. After that, find the cosplayers for each part of the song have them learn the lyrics, and putting the ideas to video is the fun part. I am a huge improv guy. It is all worth it once the video is done. My “Bad Blood” video was the most cosplayers I have ever had which was 22 total. That video was crazy.

How many TWD-related videos have you made? And do you have a particular favorite that you’ve done so far?

I have made 5 The Walking Dead parodies. I also cosplay as Negan and cover conventions, making convention vlogs with highlights from cons all over the east coast. My favorite was for sure “Bad Blood,” being able to bring 22 cosplayers together and pull that off was pretty epic. Kill ‘Em Off was amazing to film at WSC San Fran. So many people were involved to make that happen.

22 is EXTREMELY impressive for a project like that! What about future stuff? Do you have a next idea in the works? Or do you have a dream project you’d like to do?

Well. I have a lot planned for the new IGTV platform and will be posting a lot of content on there. Of course my cosplay photography that I have a put hours and hours of dedication. I have always said the cosplay community makes it easy for me. I have met so many TWD cosplayers and I can say a lot I call friends. The Walking Dead has been around for a very long time now. I will continue to support the show and the people that love it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bgli7QWHRHq/?taken-by=romeymolina

That’s something I can agree with. I’ve met so many amazing people through cosplay! Tell me more about your cosplay photography. Do you make it to a lot of conventions every year?

I really try to make it to as many as possible. Living in Florida there are a lot of big conventions here. I made a decision that i wanted my photos to be something very different. All of my shots are shot at a convention. I wanted to bring a cinematic look to them. I love cell phone selfies with my friends at the cons but having people photo bombing your cosplay was something I wanted to eliminate. It took a long time to figure out the recipe but as of now I think I found the sweet spot.

What sort of techniques do you use for that recipe to get that look you’re going for?

I think knowing that shooting at a convention is all about going outside of the box of the vendor area or finding unique locations. Brick wall or cool stair case. Mastering the manual settings on your camera is key and there is no wrong way. I say explore locations, lighting and just have fun with it.

Your photos do feature a very unique lighting that I think fits the whole Walking Dead theme very well, while showing off the cosplayer and character they’re representing. On the subject of cosplayers, you’ve taken so many pictures of so many of them, is there a certain character you like taking photos of most? And if so, why? What about any characters you haven’t seen/taken photos of, are there any you wish you’d see more of around conventions to photograph?

Aaron cosplayers are so hard to find! I think I’ve taken photos of every TWD cosplayer you can think of but Aaron for sure is the hardest to find. I’m excited for season 9 because a lot of characters have a different look, and I’ll definitely like to see the cosplayers adapt to that. I cosplay as Negan so I am curious to see whats in store for that.

So am I! I’m already working on my season 9 Jesus look, so I’m sure you’ll find plenty of cosplayers upgrading their looks soon enough! I know it may be tough to pick one, but out of all of your TWD cosplay photographs, do you have any favorites or just one that you feel exceptionally proud of that you’ve taken?

It would be super hard to pick a favorite but a pic that i gravitate to is Jen’s Maggie. Not only an epic cosplay but the lighting was just right and something about this shot screams the power and hurt of Maggie Greene/Rhee.

That is a gorgeous shot! You mentioned you cosplay Negan, so here’s two more questions. First, why did you decide to cosplay him?

People know me as a huge instigator. I get cosplayers to dance for parodies haha, I always try to bring some sort of excitement to these cons I go to. So when Negan showed up on the show, his confidence and somewhat comedic sense really fit my personality.

Those are two traits I enjoy about Negan too. Second question now! As a cosplayer and a photographer, how do you go about getting photos of yourself in cosplay that look as good as the ones you take?

That right there is all about the love of cosplay and photography, lol, because it is extremely hard to do both. If anyone has seen me at a con, I have to take a cart to hold my cameras, bluetooth, Lucille. It really makes no sense why I do it but I just love it so much. To get video, pictures and cosplay for sure has me spent. A lot of times I have the settings set and have a friend take a couple shots. But getting shots of myself is for sure something i need to work on.

Hopefully you do! Since your cosplay AND your photography is so great. Do you have any good or particularly special memories where your photography at a convention is concerned? Share some favorite con stories!

I love my Walker Stalker Atlanta groups shoots. It’s still crazy to me that some cosplayers seek me out to get shots of them. I think this is something I want to get better at and make it a career. I was the Head Videographer for Walker Stalker so that allowed me to meet most of the cast and that’s how I met a lot of my friends that I met through cosplay. It’s crazy looking back but I do not regret anything and will continue to expand my craft. But for sure even after meeting actors from the actual show still hold a special place when i get a group of cosplayers and do something epic with either my photography or film making.

I agree. Meeting you and getting photos together with a group was one of my most looked-forward to things in Atlanta! Do you have any stand out memories about meeting or interacting with the cast?

Aww thank you so much, and to be honest the ones that i have met are so nice and kind. There’s not one that stands out but I can say that they love their fans for sure!

What does your cosplay photography and videography and the experiences they give mean to you personally?

That’s easy. The friendships. I have cosplay friends that I can call family. I do this because I know how much hard work is required to get a cosplay complete. When I watch The Walking Dead and i see a character with a new outfit I instantly think of my friends that are likely freaking out and already trying to ID the item. It is things like that that make this so amazing. When I have a project I know I have cosplayers that have my back to help in every way they can.

TWD Family is really something else, isn’t it? This fandom has a way to connect us in such a special way. What are your upcoming conventions? Do you have any special plans for any of them for your photography? Or any specific cosplay plans for yourself?

I have Tampa Bay Comic Con and Walker Stalker Orlando and a big maybe for New York Comic Con. I may be doing a parody or organizing some sort of cool video for Walker Stalker Orlando, but other than that I’m going to just focus on getting great content, whatever that is. As far as my cosplay plans I have a little something prepared for Walker Stalker Orlando but that’s a secret (evil laugh).

I hope you make New York Comic Con, but that’s totally biased because I’ll be there, hehe! As for your secret cosplay … I’m really excited now! I can’t wait to see pictures of whatever it is when you post them!

What are some things you love about The Walking Dead? Characters, episodes, quotes, seasons, etc.?

So, I don’t have a favorite character, I just love this show as a whole. As far as seasons, I think my all-time favorite is the first one, there’s just so much involved in that first season, and without it the rest of this wouldn’t have been possible. I believe season two is completely underrated, if you sit back and watch it now it is absolutely amazing; the character building, the amazing moments. I think too many people are jumping ship and they’re not letting the story play itself out. I love the show way too much to do that.

And finally, as someone who makes his own videos and photographs, I’ve gotta know. Out of all of AMC’s video/trailer and photo promotional content for The Walking Dead, which have you liked the most?

I love the trailer for season 5 of The Walking Dead. It’s is amazing. It is out of the box and really shows what the show is about. I myself have been planting seeds in hopes of the right people seeing my content and getting a shot to work with the show. It may be a dream but if you don’t try then it will for sure not happen. I love to live by the “you never know” attitude.

And that’s a great attitude to have! Hopefully the right people will see your content, Romey, because it really is great! And to all other photographers out there, if you see Romey at a con in cosplay, take some photos of him so he can have shots of himself that are as amazing as the ones he takes for his fellow fans! If you want to see and keep up with Romey’s work, follow him on his photography Instagram, his cosplay Instagram, and his Youtube channel!

Next: The Walking Dead Featured Fan: Anissa

Are you a cosplayer? An artist or another content creator of some sort? A collector of merchandise? Would you like to be one of our Featured Fans? Send an e-mail to sonnentreppe@gmail.com with your name, location, and what sort of fun thing you do (cosplay, art, photos, videos, etc), and maybe I’ll contact you sometime soon for an interview!