More from Comic-Con 2016: Costumes!
Posted on August 2, 2016 at 1:07 pm
All images copyright 2016 Nell Minow
Comic-Con 2016: Day Four
Posted on July 24, 2016 at 9:02 pm
I can’t believe it’s the last day of Comic-Con, but in part that is because I am too exhausted to muster the energy to think about it. More coming, including pictures of some of my favorite costumes, but for now, some of what I did today:
Got my picture taken in a Walking Dead crashed plane, being attacked by zombies,
Attended a panel led by my dear friends the Winner Twins, Brittany and Brianna Winner, award-winning novelists whose first book was published when they were twelve. They were joined by Graeme Manson (co-creator, executive producer, and showrunner of Orphan Black), Richard Hatch (Captain Apollo/Tom Zarek of Battlestar Galactica, author of the bestselling Battlestar Galactica book series), and Stephen Glickman (comedy writer, producer, star of Big Time Rush, Workaholics), who all provided great advice and inspiration for those hoping to write novels or screenplays.
Watched the world premiere of a new animated film for children called “Super Hero Girls: Hero of the Year,” with young versions of Supergirl, Harley Quinn, Wonder Woman, and more having adventures and making friends at a school for superheroes.
Heard women who write and illustrated the underground Wimmen’s Commix of late 1960’s-70’s tell their stories.
Participated in the Starship Smackdown, a Comic-Con tradition that combines two of the event’s most appealing themes — stunning mastery of pop culture minutiae and a sense of humor about it. Participants from the world of sci-fi and one actual scientist get together to debate which is the greatest fictional starship of them all. (It usually comes down to the Enterprise and the Millennium Falcon.) And it is enormous fun.
These and other SDCC panels will be available on the new Comic-Con streaming service.
Comic-Con 2016: Production Designers and Women Rocking Hollywood
Posted on July 24, 2016 at 9:41 am
On Day 3 of Comic-Con 2016, I:
Attended a panel of production designers whose work ranged from “The Avengers” to “Justified,” “True Blood,” and “America’s Top Model,” and learned that one of the most important distinctions between designing for movies and designing for television is: doors. For a movie, the entire story is spelled out so you know everything you will need for entrances and exits. But television series go on (if they’re lucky) for years, and you never know when you’ll need another door.
Attended a panel of top women producers and directors whose work included “Twilight,” “300” and the upcoming “Wonder Woman,” who talked about working to make sure we see more strong, independent female characters presented by more women behind the scenes,
Had my picture taken with the characters from “Kubo and the Two Strings,” coming out next month.
Saw vinyl versions of the “Star Wars” soundtrack with holograms of the Millennium Falcon and X-Wing fighter suspended above them.
Realized that a lot of what I see involves not-scary things being made scary (zombie teletubbies), or scary things being made not scary (Funko Pop Freddy from “Nightmare on Elm Street”).
Heard the Captured Aural Phantasy Theatre perform stories from 1950’s and 60’s romance comics.
Attended the Masquerade costume competition, always one of the highlights of SDCC, with a sensational version of Lumiere from “Beauty and the Beast” and an Addams Family number that included “relatives” Sam, Patch, Douglas, and Grizzly. Both won top awards. But the highlight of the evening was a re-enactment of the climactic fight scene between Kylo Ren and Rey in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” When Rey held out her palm to use the Force, Kylo Ren dropped to one knee and pulled a red ring box out of his pocket. He was proposing! And she accepted! The crowd stood up and cheered.
Comic-Con 2016: Big Bang Theory and Sharknado 4
Posted on July 23, 2016 at 10:40 am
On Day 2 of San Diego Comic-Con, I:
Attended a panel of writers and producers for one of my favorite television shows, “The Big Bang Theory,” moderated by Melissa Rauch, who plays Bernadette. The writers are genuine fanboys — and one fangirl — and spoke about how some of their own experiences and obsessions become a part of the show. And they revealed a new guest star, who came out on stage to greet us: “30 Rock’s” Jack McBrayer, who will play Penny’s brother. Katey Sagal will be returning as her mother.
Spoke to the very handsome and charming Jason Matthew Smith, who performed in three “Star Trek” movies but ended up on screen in just one,
Spoke to the lovely and warm-hearted Caroline Williams, who starred in “Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2” and got a part in “Sharknado 4” (airing July 31, 2016) via Facebook. Yes, she is Stretch again and has a chainsaw.
Attended a panel on diversity in animation with some of the greatest animators of all time, people who worked on everything from Disney classics to Hanna-Barbera, Bob Clampett, Charlie Brown specials and “The Simpsons,”
Heard a presentation about a new streaming service called Shudder, specializing in horror, with categories like demonic possession, child murderers, and zombies. In a very typical Comic-Con experience, it was held in one of the smaller rooms, without a line and some seats left over, and on the panel was the star of three of the biggest films of all time, Elijah Wood.