Cosplay Spotlight: It’s ZIGGO DENT!!!
Brief bio:
Leroy Rivera is a freelance filmmaker and graduate student from New York City and is currently working on a Masters of Fine Arts in Television Production. Growing up he’s been a huge fan of Superman and Spider-Man. His love for comics and movies have been his inspiration to pursue a career in media entertainment.
First name and last initial: Ziggo Dent
Where are you from originally or reside currently: NYC
How long you have been cosplaying: 2007
Other Characters cosplayed: Terminator, Beast Boy, Nightcrawler, Azazel, Kyle Reese (Terminator), Chris Redfield, Arrow, Blue Lantern Kyle Rayner, Two-Face, SuperHoodie, Dante from The DmC reboot, Green Goblin, 10th Doctor, Deacon Frost.
Website or facebook fan page:
Instagram: ZiggoDent
1. Who or what inspired you to cosplay?
I started to cosplay because I wanted to make my convention experiences more fun by being dressed like the characters I enjoy. However, what really made me go hardcore into cosplaying was when a ‘well known’ cosplayer told me I wasn’t a true cosplayer. I am the type of person that LOVES to prove people wrong especially when someone tells me I can’t do something. As soon as this person told me this I started to step my game up and here I am.
2. When you are not cosplaying what else do you do and what are your hobbies?
The thing is that cosplay IS my hobby and I only do it when I have the time. I love cosplaying but I don’t make it a priority like many people do. Don’t get me wrong more power to them but at the end of the day I see this as something fun to do when there’s nothing else to do. My actual life is being a filmmaker. I am a filmmaker first and my career takes precedence over everything else. I’m currently working on my Masters Degree in television production and work part time at my school’s television studio and depending on the week i do freelance work on various movie sets all over NYC. When I’m not in class or at work I’m at the gym training in various forms of fighting whether it’s boxing, mixed martial arts, Brazilian ju jitzu and so forth. Actually, This past year I’ve been more into fitness and pushing my body to the limit to see what it’s capable of doing. Whether it’s running a 5K, working on my fighting forms or just finding different ways to explode my energy.
3. What is one big piece of advice you would give to a new cosplayer?
Like every piece of hobby or activity out there, there will be people who are negative and try to bring you down or make you feel discouraged. Don’t let that happen. Just have as much fun as you can and it doesn’t matter how you’re doing it. As long as you’re enjoying yourself then by all means. Cosplaying is like a relationship, you have to make yourself happy first before you make anyone else happy. Always be yourself and don’t be a douchebag.
4. What is one thing the cosplaying community can do better when it comes to dealing with each other?
I feel like the cosplay community is a great community in itself. We always have each others back, we always do our best to help each other out in any way possible. Yes, there will be problems and issues but that’s everywhere and it’s inevitable. At the end of the day as long as we are all having fun and looking out for each other then we are on the right track as a community. Encourage each other, support each other, and most importantly if someone is acting like a jackass bring it up to them. It’s easy to get caught up in ego in this type of environment when everyone looks up to you but we have to be like the three branches of the government and keep each other in check in a civil way.
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