Good News York by Growth Mode Content - GNY EP.189 | feat. Christopher Bruce from King Creative ("The Conspiracists" indie Film)

Episode Date: June 18, 2026

Christopher Bruce Brings Mockumentary Comedy “The Conspiracists” Home to Syracuse On Good News York, host Noah Chrysler interviews Syracuse native and film producer/professional mascot Christopher Robert Bruce about his feature comedy mockumentary The Conspiracists, shot in a style like The Office and centered on siblings trying to run the first all-inclusive conspiracy theory convention as it falls apart. Bruce discusses lessons from making an independent film as a team effort, producing with partners Uncultured Swine and King Creative, filming in Delaware, and casting Broadway performer Terri Lynn, plus favorite funny character moments and scenes. He promotes upcoming screenings with Q&As: July 18 at the Palace Theatre on James in Syracuse, June 28–29 at the Players Theatre in New York City, and August 1 at the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville. Bruce also describes running the Mascot Hall of Fame, including National Mascot Day nominations and a potential ESPN partnership, and shares career advice for young creatives. 00:00 Mockumentary Hook 00:30 Meet Christopher Bruce 01:36 What The Conspiracists Is 02:34 Making The Film 04:57 Favorite Scenes 07:09 Screenings And Dates 08:12 Mascot Hall Of Fame 10:06 Syracuse Roots And ESM 12:02 Career Origin Story 17:29 Celebrity Boxing World 19:26 Advice For Creatives 20:37 How To Watch And Premiere 21:28 Wrap Up And Outro 22:08 Show Sponsor Message

It's a lot of fun. It's shot in the style of, like, you know, the office, if you're familiar with that kind of comedy. And, you know, just imagine that world, right? A conspiracy theory convention. And in this case, an all-inclusive conspiracy theory convention. So we get lost in the world of those characters and everything that relates to it. And, you know, it's a really fun ride. It's about a 90-minute movie.

And, you know, we hope you guys love it. And we're excited to share it at the, you know, the palace there on James. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Good News York. my name is Noah Chrysler and today I'm sitting down with Christopher Bruce Christopher. Welcome to the show. Hey, it's a pleasure to be here. I'm glad to kind of connect with my Syracuse folks, you know, getting back to the hometown roots.

Absolutely. Cool. For those of us who have never met you before, Christopher, go ahead and introduce yourself. Well, I gosh, where do you start? I mean, what makes any human, you know, themselves, I guess? Well, my name is Christopher Robert Bruce. I'm a film producer. I'm a professional mascot.

I grew up in Syracuse, New York, but I live in Delaware now. I run and operate the Mascot Hall of Fame, which is a pretty cool thing. You can check that out. But really, I'm excited because we have a feature film, The Conspiracist. It's a comedy mockumentary. It's out on a number of streaming platforms. But more importantly, I bring in my movie home to Syracuse at the Palace right there on James, July 18th, and we're going to have a lot of fun, screening event, Q&A with some, you know, producers, some cast,

and folks from the film. it's going to be a lot of fun at the theater and a good time to share this, this movie that, you know, we had a ton of fun making. Beautiful. Go ahead and give me an elevator pitch for what the conspiracist is. Sure. So the conspiracies is about a brother and a sister essentially trying to put on the first ever all inclusive conspiracy theory convention.

And things start to fall apart. They unravel. One of the siblings, you know, is really left to save ConCon, which is the conspiracy convention in the movie and try to help make. that happen and the other is trying to uncover some deeper conspiracies at play. It's a lot of fun. It's shot in the style of like, you know, the office, if you're familiar with that kind of comedy. And, you know, just imagine that world, right? A conspiracy theory convention. And in this case, an all-inclusive conspiracy theory convention. So we get lost in the world of those characters

and everything that relates to it. And, you know, it's a really fun ride. It's about a 90-minute movie. And, you know, we hope you guys love it. And we're excited to share it at the, you know, the palace. us there on James. Wonderful. Cool. What are some things that you know, you went into the movie. What are things that you learned along the way as you were making this film? I mean, man, making a movie has got to be like the ultimate team sport really, right? You've got so many elements in play. You got to get the team together. Everything really has to go right. And there's so many places that it can go wrong. So a lot of the work goes into the pre-production and just the energy and the effort to make that happen.

And my producing partners over there at uncultured swine, my company is King Creative. We teamed up to make the movie. Essentially, they called me. They're based out in New York City and wanted to make a movie in Delaware, which is where I'm based and where I live now. Part of their team is originally from Delaware. And we wanted to show people that you could make a feature film in the first state, right? in Delaware, it's an area that I think is prime for independent films and movies like ours.

And we were able to make that happen. And it was really a team effort. It was so great to get lost in the community to create your relationships with those that, you know, were related to locations and, you know, casting the film, which is not, you know, there's really one primary star from Delaware, Terry Lynn, who is also on Broadway. She's actually in Book of Mormon. And she went to Cab Calloway, which is a local Delaware high school. and she got to be able to be in her first feature as one of the leads in our movie. And that was just great to be able to give her a platform to showcase her talent and to be able to be on the big screen.

You know, she's primarily a theater actor and she's successful on Broadway, all those things. But our film was able to give her that chance. And, you know, Delaware was a wonderful home for the conspiracists. And what you'll see if you're from there, if you know the locations, you'll be able to pick them out, which is a lot of fun for those in that market. But for everybody else, it is just a wonderful world.

The movie has heart. You're going to care for the characters. You're going to laugh. You're going to feel all the feels. And we're really proud of the project. And on July 18th, like I said, we're going to be there at the Palace on James for an incredible, essentially homecoming for me

and an opportunity for everybody in Syracuse to celebrate this independent film and kind of come together as a community, which is at its heart a lot of what the movie is about. Wonderful. I think that that's amazing. What is your favorite shot or sequence from the film? What is your favorite scene?

Oh, man, there's so many amazing moments in the film and some of the standout character moments. For me, as a producer, you know, it's great to see when it all comes together. And, you know, I wore a lot of other hats and, you know, in the project. But there were some key moments where some of the improvisations were happening. with, you know, a few of the characters. And when you get on set, everybody's trying to make it happen. You're all focused.

But there are just some times where it's just so darn funny that you're just trying not to ruin a take, really, by laughing. In some of those moments, I mean, I got a heck of an ab workout trying to hold them in and somewhere impossible to kind of fight back. But there are some key scenes where I think you guys will also find, you know, very funny that kind of came across in the movie. But when, as you learn Eric is one of the characters in there, there's an interview sequence where we kind of get to know him and we're talking to him in what is essentially his room.

And there are some moments from that just that were just wildly funny. And then Milton, who you also meet in the film, is just got some really great moments as well. So being out on the farm with Milton was a great location. And that character, I just really loved that character so much. And Eric were some of the my favorites, but they're just also great. So, you know, I can't wait for people to get to know Gabby and Daisy and Eric and Milton and Pauly and the whole, you know, crew there. And it's just really a wonderful. I'm a proud Papa, right?

You know, you develop this movie. You see it come to life. You know, I know the uncultured swine and, you know, King Creative come together. We're just so proud of what we were able to make happen. You know, it's an independent film. So the resources are limited. And what we did, I think, with this movie is well beyond what, you know, the resources we had. I think we outkick the coverage, as you might say, right?

And, you know, I think people are going to have a lot of fun with it. Beautiful. Well, that's incredible. Tell me about the Mascot Hall of Fame. I want to hear about all that, too. Yeah. So, I mean, real quick, I'll get to the Mascot Hall of Fame. But let you know, just so you know, in case you're in New York City, we all

Also June, and I don't know when this is ultimately going to, you know, kind of be out. But so June 28th and 29th, we're going to be in New York City at the Players Theater as well for two screening nights. That's going to be a lot of fun. So if you're in Manhattan, you're in New York, come and join us, June 28th and 29th, 7 p.m. showings both nights at the Players Theater that's right there in New York. That's going to be a lot of fun. Again, Q&A and the whole deal for that as well. And then we're also going to be in Phoenixville.

yes, we're going to be in Phoenixville, New York at check this out, you know the movie the blob, right? So the theater that the blob was filmed at and featured in the movie is called the colonial theater. We're going to actually be having a screening there as well on August 1st

for the movie. So come out to Phoenixville if you're in the area and join us for an amazing night there as well at the Colonial. So a lot of fun things going on. Masked Hall of Fame. Yes, that's a thing. It exists. If you go to mascot hallof fame.com, You can learn more about it.

We're actually about to re-launch the website. We are working on an opportunity to partner with ESPN to kind of help roll out the induction process for this year. So June 17th, which is National Mascot Day, you'll be able to nominate a mascot to be inducted into the Mascall of Fame, which we started in 2005. It's been around for a little while. And, you know, it celebrates those mascots that, you know, represent teams. universities, organizations, and the mascot all of fame really is the hub of that world. It's kind of the mecca of the mascot world throughout the world. So it's the global headquarters, the hub of mascots.

And we're reporting on stories, announcements, we're showing highlights, bloopers. If a new mascot is revealed, if something goes wrong, if there's, you know, advancements in, you know, the costume business, any and all of that stuff is relevant. Right now we're getting excited for the World Cup, of course, because there's a lot of action and they've got their mascots and all the countries coming together. Throughout North America is a lot of fun.

And, you know, so much to talk about the world of mascots. I'm curious, if you've got a favorite mascot, what would yours be? Oh, man, mine's got to be Otto from Syracuse, just because I'm born and raised here. So, I don't know. Otto's a Hall of Famer. I don't know if you knew that. Otto's in the Mascot Hall of Fame.

Yeah. Absolutely. And as they should be, right? right absolutely what are some of your favorite auto moves i i don't i honestly don't know very many of them i'm not the biggest i'm not the biggest sports fan of the world you got a little bounce for sure yeah you got spin all kinds of fun stuff but auto's great we love auto and syracuse university for sure so i mean mascots are fun right i mean i don't know about you so you said you grew up in syracuse where are you from i'm from um manlias nice yeah i went to esm right so my parents both went you know to fm you know, when they were younger.

And, you know, so we're right around the corner from you. But, yeah, I mean, as a East Syracuse, Minoa, you know, graduate and alum and, you know, growing up in Syracuse right there in Manoa, you know, it's really cool to be able to come back. I'm excited to bring the film and some of our projects, reconnect. We're going to be working with the film department actually at ESM to help promote the film and create an opportunity for them to get involved in the process. So a lot of good news, you know, with that and just positive vibes across the board, which is really exciting. So yeah, tell me about that.

Tell me about so you're working with ESM to like. Yeah. So, you know, Mike, Mike Ferris kind of heads up that program. He, you know, he's a former baseball coach of Vine actually when I was coming through Syracuse. So, you know, he and I connected. And he, he was telling me a little bit about what he's got going on with the film department. And, you know, it was a natural fit. And I was like, well, what do you think about having some.

fun, you know, giving those students an opportunity to be a part of the back end of a film and a movie. They can see what it's like to put on an event like this and to promote a project, which I just think is a cool opportunity for them to be able to be a part of. So we're excited to involve them in any way we can to get the word out to, you know, we're going to be pushing out press releases here soon, creating other media opportunities. I mean, this is this is a wonderful for a opportunity just to hang out, to talk and to share some things about, you know, the film and some other things I've got going on. But, you know, having them involved is fun. I'm excited to see what ideas they bring to the table and what we can do together. And, you know, really,

that's what it's about. It's just creating an opportunity. Absolutely. Cool. Christopher, tell me more about, so, I mean, it sounds like you have a varied career, right? You're running the mascot Hall of Fame. You are running, you know, King Creative. You know, tell me. me how that kind of came to be. Yeah, it's funny. You know, the obvious path, right? You know, anybody would imagine you grew up as a kid. You think, oh, I'm going to be a professional mascot.

I'm going to be a filmmaker. That's just the clear, obvious, you know, combination for sure. I actually went off to college to become a doctor. I started off on that path with, like, medicine kind of as a general vibe and idea. It's partly why I didn't go to Syracuse University, because if I was in communications, I probably would have just gone there to start. but I went to the University of Delaware and that was the kind of target

and my mom, you know, sent me off to college to become a doctor and I'm sure she was proud and thought this is great. And then I became the mascot at the University of Delaware and I was the fighting bluehead there for four years in college. I was UD, the mascot there and kind of opened up some opportunities and doors.

I started working with the guy that was the original Philly Fanatic. I started, you know, very quickly after my freshman year, I was a full-time intern at the Philadelphia Eagles and was helping with their mascot program and their game day presentations. And, you know, essentially one thing led to another, which led to another. And I started performing for a USBL league basketball team in Lehigh Valley, which was coached by Chocolate Thunder Dawkins and partly owned by Larry Holmes. And, you know, really just sort of opened me to this whole world of performance and sports entertainment and being able to really connect with an audience. and without a lot of rules and a lot of, you know, just sort of go, do it, have fun. And I learned a lot about myself.

I, you know, I had an aptitude for it. People were really enjoying it. And I kept going. You know, I became in college while doing the University of Delaware's mascot, I was doing that Thunder character for Lehigh Valley. And then there was an opportunity with the NCAA to become the official mascot of NCAA basketball, JJ jumper. If you look that up, you know, character doesn't really hop around too much anymore.

but that program was around for about 10 years, which I was involved with from the beginning. Not only did I perform as JJ for those initial years, but then I ended up producing that show and training what was about eight performers that we set all around the country to perform at men's and women's basketball games, D1, two, three, the whole deal throughout the season. It was hundreds of appearances, you know, again, while in college, starting and still doing all that. and this world of mascots and this world of performance just kept coming and I just kept kind of embracing it.

And so that opened up more of my interest in other areas of performance. So I started doing theater and I started going to Philadelphia regularly for acting classes and film and TV type workshops. And throughout that time, I was always kind of a writer and, you know, had my own original ideas and thoughts. And in some ways, that was started in high school at ESM, you know, writing all the sketches for the senior variety show or doing, doing these different bits that we used to do back then. And all that just started to kind of come together. And, you know, I shifted gears and no longer was going to be a doctor and switch my major to be in marketing and management, you know, which was practical and, you know, kind of fed some of the entrepreneurial spirit, kept an art minor.

and, you know, just was performing and producing and writing and creating. And, you know, that's what I've been doing for almost, you know, 30 years at this point. So my whole career has always just been about connecting with an audience, whether it's in the sports arena, whether it's at live events. I host and I emce. I do quite a bit of that, actually. And so, I mean, I'm the ring announcer for X Rumble celebrity boxing. I host any number of weird random events like the burger battle.

If you go to big deal.com, you'll see an insanely awesome, crazy over the top, pickle-themed experiential event. Well, I'm MC Pickles in that as well. So that's my world. It's wild. It's weird. It's niche. It's definitely not typical. But, you know, it's a lot of great creative outlets.

And it keeps you sharp in lots of ways. So as a producer, you know, I'm able to kind of tap into a lot of those different muscles that I've developed over the years, whether it's, you know, producing, directing, writing. you know, acting, performing, and kind of be able to push it all forward. And for the conspiracists, it was a way to leverage a lot of those, you know, those weird muscles that I've been training for for so long. And, you know, now I look at it, wow, what a crazy wild ride it's been. I live, you know, kind of a life that allows me to be passionate and to be creative. And that's what it's all about.

I try to stay productive, inspired, creative, and just, keep it all moving. So lots of cool things. You'll see the GMA stuff here too. So I do a little something. If you look up, Good Morning America, you'll see a fuzzy friend of theirs that is a regular and might be the best friend of that guy as well. So lots of things. Oh, wonderful. There you go. That's very cool. That's very cool. I know it's a lot throwing it at you, but you know, hey, there you go. No, I think that's great. Next time I watch Good Morning America, I'd be like, oh, I know a friend of that guy. That's awesome. BMA Ray and you know, you maybe see some similar mannerisms.

No, I think it's great. Beautiful. Tell me about, so you mentioned that you hosted a thing called celebrity boxing. Which celebrities did you watch box? Celebrity boxing is really the, if you've seen any of the big celebrity boxing matches over the last like 20 years or so, most likely it was a celebrity boxing event, at least a lot of the big ones. So Tanya Hardings, that's Jose Canseco's, all those events were through David. and Feldman and his team's celebrity boxing. I've been involved in kind of working with Damon in different ways over the years,

helping with producing content, hosting elements, you name it. And they just launched X Rumble celebrity boxing, which is kind of the next, you know, phase of that. And, you know, became the ring announcer. I mean, I've been the voice of it in different ways, but kind of center stage right there in the ring, the Michael Buffer of Celebrity Boxing, so to speak. And kind of we had a big event with Chris Sean.

if you're familiar with her at all. She had a great following and, you know, Creshawn Holy Hands, you know, below, which is a lot of fun. So that's just an interesting world to get lost in and in one that's growing and there's some cool opportunities and things that are happening with that. And I know Damon and the team are kind of taking that to the next level. His brother, funny enough, is David Feldman,

who is the guy behind bare knuckle, if you're familiar with that at all, which is kind of blown up in, has gotten pretty big around the world as well. So it's a fighting family. Their father was a pretty well-respected boxing trainer. So they kind of grew up in the business. And Damon was a professional fighter.

He actually retired early because of an injury, but he was 9-0. So that's their world. And I'm just a part of it as I find myself in these weird worlds, whether it's pickles or celebrity boxing or mascots or movies, comedy, mockumentaries in this case, it's kind of fun to get lost in them. Very cool. Very cool.

Well, awesome. Christopher, do you have any advice to, you know, young creatives, people who want to direct film, people who want to get involved more with mascots, people who are looking to host boxing matches? Any advice for young creators? It's a wide net you're casting there. You know, I think at the end of the day,

I think you just have to, you kind of have to listen to kind of what your interests are. You have to be willing to take on opportunities as they come. I think sometimes you just got to say yes, throw yourself in there and see what happens. Be willing to work. Be willing to get your hands dirty. Roll up your sleeves. I think more and more now, that's going to get you farther than you might imagine. There's a lot of folks out there that are just sort of looking for it to come to them. And if you go after it, if you kind of look for those opportunities and kind of put yourself in positions and are willing to

show up and willing to do it, I think you can make a lot happen. And, you know, I truly believe if you can make, you know, if you want anything bad enough, you can really make it happen. You just have to want it bad enough. And that's really what it comes down to. So really take a good look in the mirror. Think about what you want to do and start finding ways to make it happen. Beautiful. Christopher, one more time. How can people go and see your film? When is it premiering? And tell us all the info about the premiere. Absolutely. So we're going to be at the Palace theater right there on James, you know, right there in East Syracuse. It's going to be July 18th.

If you go to their website, you know, the palace website, or you can just go to the conspiracist.com, find out all the information about the film, the trailer is there. You know, there's some great behind the scenes photos, tons of news and media outlets that have covered the project up to this point. And you can follow us on Instagram, con con, con, movie. ConCon stands for conspiracy. invention. And we can't wait to see you guys join us there at the palace on James July 18th. Come on out, invite your friends. This is a really fun movie and we can't wait to share it.

Beautiful. Well, Christopher, thank you so much for your time. This has been really interesting. And I appreciate, I don't know, it's wonderful that you're bringing this back to Syracuse. And, you know, for this premiere, I think that that's fantastic. And I don't know, your career sounds really cool. And this film sounds great too. So thank you so much for coming on. It's my pleasure. And you know, we made this movie in Delaware. Who knows? the next one we can do in Syracuse. Yeah, it'd be great, wouldn't it? Sounds good.

If you need a, if you need a, you know, extra in the background, you let me know, all right? It's great locations up there. I mean, shoot, I used to love, like, Winterfest and finding that medallion. I scoured every park in Nantanaga County, many a time over as a kid, so I love to get back. Sounds good. Cool, cool. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for watching. This has been Good News York, guys.

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