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Comic-Con 2014 Pre-Registration Information

Posted in Comic Con, Convention/Event, Messages on August 1, 2013| Leave a Comment »

The following comes directly from the San Diego Comic-Con Unofficial Blog:

Comic-Con International has updated attendees with information on the SDCC 2014 badge pre-registration process.

Here is the information from the official site:

“Comic-Con is working hard to improve the online registration system and will launch Comic-Con 2014 badge preregistration sometime between November 1 and December 31, 2013. Only those that have purchased a Comic-Con 2013 4-Day attendee or 1-Day attendee badge and have a valid Comic-Con Member ID will be eligible to participate in 2014 badge preregistration.

If you attended Comic-Con 2013 as a child, but will be age 13 or older as of November 1, 2013, you must register for a Comic-Con Member ID to be eligible to participate in 2014 preregistration. Once you have registered for a Member ID, log in to your Member ID account after August 8, 2013 and follow the instructions to qualify for preregistration. You will need your Comic-Con 2013 badge to register as an eligible attendee.

Professionals, guests of professionals, exhibitors, exhibitor purchased attendee badges, volunteers, staff, and press will not be allowed to participate in badge preregistration. Open online registration for all categories listed above will occur at a later date”

Those eligible for 2014 badge pre-registration will receive an email with instructions and information “sometime in November 2013″.

Safe to say, it’s probably a good time to check your Member ID information to make sure it’s up to date, and that you’ve opted in for communications from CCI.

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Comic-Con 2013: Just Us Guys and the Independent Film Festival

Posted in Comic Con, Convention/Event, News, Online Series, Recommendations, Web Series on July 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »

For the first time in all of the years I have been attending the San Diego Comic-Con (that would be 12 years in case you were wondering), I attended the independent film festival, which has been a juried event contained within the annual fete since 2005.

The four-day festival screens some of the very best in genre-related short and long films as part of Comic-Con. The festival’s categories include action/adventure, animation, comics-related, documentary (pop culture related), horror/suspense, humor, and science fiction/fantasy. The winners of each category are decided by a panel of judges made up of film and popular arts industry luminaries; this year that included actress Kathy Najimy, Entertainment Weekly columnist (and former LA Times writer) Geoff Boucher and filmmaker Alex DeMille.

Trophies and prizes are given to the films deemed by the judges to be the best in each category, and an overall “Judges’ Choice Award”, which is presented to the one film considered the best film in the festival.

I attended a portion of the festival in support of my friend Chris Lilly’s online series “Just Us Guys” that was selected to be part of the top 50 films selected from among the 300 plus films that were submitted for the festival. That is quite a feat, in and of itself,

After the initial screening of “Just Us Guys” during the festival, Chris took to the stage along with his film editor Clinton Steeds (That’s So Raven and Cory in the House) and writing consultant Mark Litton (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) to participate in a moderator Q&A.

Just Us Guys panelists at San Diego Comic-Con – photo by Marcilene St. John

Chris was first asked what the genesis of “Just Us Guys” was with his reveal being that he wrote a horror script similar to that of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer back in 2009; and then he ended up writing a pilot that was Gilmore Girls but with guys inspired, which is what eventually became “Just Us Guys”.

When talking about what viewers of the online series can expect next, Chris shared that he is working on how to tell the full 13 ten-minute episodes for season two of “Just Us Guys” that will be more comedic and more father-son-based. And, he also shared that Elsie (played by Phylicia Goings) – who is the dynamic new comic book store employee – is actually being prepped as a spin-off series.

Mark and Chris then shared how they came to know each other, and it was through the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, which was the show that changed Chris’s life, making him want to work in the industry. In fact, Chris named his production company – 82893 Productions – after the date that changed his life.

When the awards ceremony was presented on the last day of the convention, “Just Us Guys” was – unfortunately – not among the winners of the categories listed above, but when asked how he felt about the results, Chris was positive, sharing that he was already a winner by having his online series selected as part of the festival, getting great exposure and having the opportunity to network with everyone who participated in the Independent Film Festival.

To learn more about 82893 Productions as well as “Just Us Guys”, make sure to visit their official website here, check them out on Facebook here, follow them at Twitter @justusguystv and @82893Prods and check them out on You Tube here.

ADDED: You can also follow Elsie The Series on Twitter @ElsieTV and on Facebook here.

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Comic-Con 2013: Geeks Get Published – and Paid

Posted in Books, Comic Con, Convention/Event, Writers on July 28, 2013| 1 Comment »

On the first day of Comic-Con 2013, one of the cool smaller panels that was held at the San Diego Convention Center was entitled “Geeks Get Published – and Paid”, featuring the following authors as panelists:

S. G. Browne – The author of dark comedy and social satire whose first book was a “rom-zom-com”, a romantic-zombie-comedy told from the point of view of a zombie. That was followed up by a black comedy about fate and destiny and his latest book about a man with the ability to steal other people’s luck with a simply handshake.

Bonnie Burton – The author of six books, primarily centered on Star Wars. She also writes comics and is a columnist for SFX, a British magazine that covers science fiction and fantasy.

Katrina Hill (aka Action Flick Chick) – The film critic, book author, reporter and web-comic star who loves action flicks and horror movies. She also writes for Crave Magazine and was rated by Twitter as one of the “ten most influential women” online.

Alex Langley – The author of “The Geek Handbook”, he also writes news, interviews and comics for the website Rocketllama.com.

Alan Kistler – The geek historian and consultant, who has three published books, is a frequent contributor to Comic Book Resources and a columnist for Agent of S.T.Y.L.E., which he created. He’s written several unofficial challenge books and is the author of Doctor Who: A History.

Dr. Travis Langley – The psychology professor at Henderson State University, makes regular presentations on the psychology of superheroes at conventions like Comic Con and his research includes studies of aggressive behavior and mass media, particularly the psychology of media fans.

With moderator Jenna Busch from Fanhattan at the helm, the authors first talked about how they got started with Bonnie sharing that she wrote anthologies about blogs before anyone took blogs seriously; S.G. got started in 2003 on his first book, but didn’t get published until 2006 with all three of his books actually starting out as short stories first; Katrina shared that she got started with her blog first and then a publisher came to her to write a book about her love of action flicks; Alex was approached to write the Geek Handbook and Alan was also offered to write a cookbook for Game of Thrones and Travis shared that his credentials helped him get into writing.

Each author then talked about whether they had an agent or not with the split being even between all of the panelists, each sharing their opinion on whether it was a help or a hindrance in having an agent. But one of the main pieces of advice that several of the authors agreed on was if you decide to get an agent, check out agentquery.com as they are the “internet’s most trusted database of literary agents:.

They then shared their tips on writing as follows:

• Bonnie simply saying “write, write, write” and “never turn down a writing job”;

• S.G. sharing that it’s best to “read like a writer…the broader (your) scope you have will enrich your life”;

• Katrina shared that its best to “write about what you love then it doesn’t feel like a job”;

• Alex shared that you should “read constantly, expose yourself to “stuff” that is really bad (so you won’t) be afraid to improve and acknowledge your weak points”;

• Alan shared to “make it personal, do what it is that you’ve got to do, but if you’re phoning it in, (anyone) can tell; and

• Travis shared its best “to listen to advice, get feedback and loving what you’re doing is important”.

Each author has also had different experiences with publishing – some going the self-publishing or e-book route while others have been published through the help of their agents, getting them publishing deals.

Needless to say, it was an interesting panel with authors who obviously love what they are doing and fellow geeks/nerds/pop culture enthusiasts who can dispense good advice to those of us who wish to follow in their footsteps.

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Comic Con 2013: Pilot Screenings

Posted in Comic Con, Convention/Event, New Shows, Television on July 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

One of my favorite parts of every Comic Con are the screenings of pilot episodes presented by the networks. Each year since my very first Comic Con attendance back in 2001, I have had the opportunity to see a lot of pilots.

This year’s event was no different. But while I didn’t get to see all of the pilot episodes screened at Comic Con 2013, I certainly did get to see a handful of the pilots for which I was hoping to see.

Among those pilot episodes were the following new shows (featured in alphabetical order):

Intelligence (CBS) – The series follows Gabriel Black (Josh Holloway of Lost fame), a high-tech intelligence operative who is the first of his kind to have a microchip implanted in his brain. Endowed with this technology and ability, he is able to access and detect anything and anyone, but at the expense of taking risks or breaking protocol in order to protect national security, prompting his superior, Lilian Strand (Marg Helgenberger from CSI) to assign him a Secret Service agent, Riley Neal (Meghan Ory from Once Upon a Time) to make sure he doesn’t get out of line, or, for that matter, into enemy hands. The cast also includes Michael Rady (Emily Owens, M.D.) as Chris Jameson.

My Thoughts on Intelligence: The show is a combination of the Six Million Dollar Man, Jake 2.0 and Mission Impossible with Josh Holloway playing a great leading man in a procedural show that will fit perfectly into the world of CBS. It was also great to see Meghan Ory in such a different role from that of Ruby/Red Riding Hood on Once Upon a Time. There is plenty of action and intrigue with a dash of sci-fi tech and a good twist ending that should easily pull viewers into that world.

Intelligence will actually debut on CBS in February 2014.

Once Upon a Time In Wonderland (ABC) – This new drama is a spin-off to Once Upon a Time, focusing on young and beautiful Alice (newcomer Sophie Lowe), who tells a tale of a strange new land that exists on the other side of a rabbit hole, landing her in a mental institution. Through an elaborate and colorful look at Wonderland thanks to flashbacks during Alice’s “interview” with her doctors, her travels through Wonderland with a handsome and mysterious genie named Cyrus (newcomer Peter Gadiot) and their encounter with the Red Queen (Emma Rigby from Australia’s Hollyoaks) are revealed. In the end, Alice and the Knave of Hearts (Michael Socha from the UK’s Being Human) travel back to Wonderland attempting to discover what really happened to Cyrus. The cast will include Naveen Andrews from Lost fame as Jafar, John Lithgow as the voice of The White Rabbit and Jonny Coyne (Alcatraz) as Alice’s doctor.

My Thoughts on Once Upon a Time in Wonderland: Much like its predecessor, the world of Wonderland is gloriously colorful, the romance is heartfelt and the portrayal of Alice by Lowe is believable. And, Gadiot and Socha will be two of the hot new faces that will attract viewers in droves to the series. And, one of the best things about the show is that Alice isn’t a frightened young girl, but a tough, kick-ass kind of girl.

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland will air its season premiere on ABC on October 10.

Sleepy Hollow (FOX) – This new series will be a modern-day retelling of the Washington Irving 1820 short story that focuses on Ichabod Crane (Brit actor Tom Mison), who is fatally injured during the American Revolution only to wake up in modern-day Sleepy Hollow. He quickly learns that the headless horseman, a soldier he beheaded on the day of his death, is also –somehow – back from the dead, wreaking havoc on the small town. Crane also learns a hidden secret about his long-dead wife that holds the key to why he and the headless horseman are back in Sleepy Hollow. The cast includes Nicole Beharie (the box office film 42) as police officer Abbie Mills, Orlando Jones (Mad TV) as Captain Frank Irving and Katia Winter (Dexter) as Ichabod’s wife Katrina.

My Thoughts on Sleepy Hollow: This was my favorite pilot of those I saw at Comic Con this year because it blended just the right amounts of thrills, humor and history all into one great show. FOX doesn’t necessarily have the greatest track record when it comes to show with a sci-fi element, but it is my hope they will embrace this show the same way they did The X-Files. It’s one of my top picks for the fall.

Sleepy Hollow will debut on FOX on September 16.

Star-Crossed (The CW) – The series follows a romance between Emery (Aimee Teegarden of Friday Night Lights fame), a human girl and Roman (Matt Lanter from 90210 fame), an alien boy when he and eight others of his kind are integrated into a suburban high school. The cast will include Malese Jow (The Vampire Diaries) as Emery’s best friend Julia, Grey Damon (The Nine Lives of Chloe King and Twisted) as Grayson, Emery’s new friend from high school, Natalie Hall (Pretty Little Liars) as popular, mean girl Taylor and Greg Finley (The Secret Life of the American Teenager) as Drake, one of the other eight aliens integrated into Emery’s high school.

My Thoughts on Star-Crossed: This show is reminiscent of the standard Romeo and Juliet love-story combined with elements of the WB/UPN series Roswell. It will fit in with the other shows on The CW, but is a bit predictable and trite. But if the story develops more around the abilities of the aliens as revealed in the final scene of the pilot and the city where the aliens have been confined and less around the angst of the teenagers, the show just might break the mold.

Star-Crossed has not been given an official airdate yet, but it will show up on the mid-season schedule of The CW, which means it will air sometime between January and March of 2014.

The 100 (The CW) – This series is based on the book by Kass Morgan that focuses on a post-apocalyptic world where the surviving members of the human race live on a spaceship just beyond an Earth that has been contaminated by radiation for decades. But, a group of 100 teenagers are sent back down nearly100 years ahead of schedule to determine if the Earth is habitable. Among the teenagers sent down to Earth are Clarke Walters (Eliza Taylor of Australia’s Neighbours), Finn Collins (Thomas McDonnell from Prom) and Octavia Blake (Marie Avgeropoulos from Cult) as well as the adults on the spaceship, including Clarke’s mother Dr. Abigail Walter (Paige Turco from Person of Interest), Chancellor Jaha (Isaiah Washington from Grey’s Anatomy), Councilman Kane (Henry Ian Cusick from Lost) and Callie “Cece” Cartwig (Kelly Hu from Arrow and Warehouse 13).

My Thoughts on The 100: Despite some questionable storylines that are obviously copied from not only the box office film Avatar and the classic story Lord of the Flies but also the acclaimed remake of Battlestar Galactica, this futuristic series has an interesting take on what the world just might look like and how

The CW has not yet given The 100 a debut date, as yet, but it is expected to air during mid-season of 2014.

The Blacklist (NBC) – This NBC action-drama will center on Raymond “Red” Reddington (James Spader from Boston Legal), one of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives, surrenders in person at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. He claims that he and the FBI have the same interests: bringing down dangerous criminals and terrorists. Reddington will cooperate, but insists that he will speak only to Elizabeth Keen (newcomer Megan Boone), a rookie FBI profiler. Keen questions Reddington’s sudden interest in her, though he claims that Keen is very special. After the FBI brings down a terrorist he provided information on, Reddington reveals that the terrorist is only just the first of many. In the last two decades, he made a list of criminals and terrorists, which called “The Blacklist” that he believes the FBI cannot find because they did not know they exist and that they matter the most. The cast includes Harry Lennix (Dollhouse) as FBI Assistant Director Harold Cooper, Diego Klattnehoff (Homeland) as FBI agent Donald Ressler, Parminder Nagra (ER and Alcatraz) as FBI agent Margot Malik and Ryan Eggold (90210) as Tom Keen, Elizabeth’s husband.

My Thoughts on The Blacklist: Next to Sleepy Hollow, this was my favorite pilot coming out of Comic Con; namely, because of the charismatic performance by Spader in the lead role and the great twist revealed about Elizabeth’s husband, which I will not spoil, because it’s just too good to spoil. There is plenty of action and a thrilling cat-and-mouse race between Red and Elizabeth; and the series will surely interject a much needed boast to the one network that really needs it most.

The Blacklist will debut on NBC on September 23.

As usual, there will be plenty of new dramas set to debut this fall and during mid-season on all of the major networks.

Here is a simple run-down on all of them:

SUNDAY:

Betrayal on ABC (September 29)
Believe and Crisis on NBC (Mid-Season)

MONDAY:

Almost Human on FOX (November 4)
Hostages on CBS (September 23)
Intelligence on CBS (February 2014)
The Blacklist on NBC (September 23)

TUESDAY:

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC (September 24)
The Originals on The CW (October 15)
Lucky 7 on ABC (September 24)

WEDNESDAY:

The Tomorrow People on The CW (October 9)
Ironside on NBC (October 2)

THURSDAY:

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland on ABC (October 10)
Reign on The CW (October 10)
Rake on FOX (Mid-Season)

FRIDAY:

Dracula on NBC (October 25)
Crossbones on NBC (Mid-Season)

MID-SEASON (airdate yet to be determined):

Star-Crossed on The CW
The 100 on The CW
Reckless on CBS
Killer Women on ABC
Mind Games on ABC
Resurrection on ABC
The Night Shift on NBC
Chicago PD on NBC

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Comic Con 2013: Pictures from Sunday

Posted in Comic Con, Convention/Event, Pictures on July 26, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Here are the pictures from Sunday during my excursions in and around the San Diego Convention Center for Comic Con 2013. This is the final batch of pictures, by the way.

Enjoy!

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Comic Con 2013: More Trailers and Reels

Posted in Comic Con, Convention/Event, Movies, Television, Video on July 25, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Here are a whole slew more trailers from Comic Con 2013 for all of you to enjoy:

Comic-Con 2013 Video – Believe

Defiance – Comic-Con Reel

Haven – Comic-Con Reel

Supernatural : Comic-Con Reel

Nikita : Comic-Con Reel

Helix – Complete Comic-Con Reel

Warehouse 13 – Comic-Con Reel

The Originals : Comic-Con Preview

Revolution Season 2 Official Trailer Comic Con Sizzle Reel

Once Upon a Time Season 3 Comic-Con Trailer

The Last Ship (TNT) Comic-Con Trailer

Comic-Con 2013 Video – Person Of Interest

Once Upon a Time Season 3 “The Little Mermaid” Comic-Con Trailer

Ender’s Game Comic-Con Trailer

Robocop Comic Con 2013 Footage Review

Hope you enjoyed all of those!

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Comic Con 2013: Pictures from Saturday

Posted in Comic Con, Convention/Event, Pictures on July 25, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Here are the pictures from the Saturday panels for which I attended at Comic Con 2013:

The first panel was for the new ABC spin-off drama Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, featuring new faces Sophie Lowe and Peter Gadiot and Brit actor Michael Socha:

That panel was followed up by Once Upon a Time including cast members Robert Carlyle, Lana Parrilla, Emilie de Ravin, Colin O’Donoghue, Michael James Raymond, Josh Dallas, Ginnifer Goodwin and Jennifer Morrison:

And, lastly, there was the farewell appearance by Warehouse 13, including cast members Aaron Ashmore, Allison Scagliotti, Saul Rubinek, Joanne Kelly and Eddie McClintock:

One last set of pictures from Comic Con 2013 yet to come…

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Comic Con 2013: Pictures from Friday

Posted in Comic Con, Convention/Event, Pictures on July 24, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Here are the pictures from the Friday panels for which I attended at Comic Con 2013:

First, there were these from Defiance, featuring cast members Grant Bowler, Julie Benz, Stephanie Leonidas, Tony Curran, Jaime Murray and Jesse Rath:

Then there was the farewell panel for Nikita with cast members Maggie Q, Shane West, Lyndsy Fonseca, Aaron Stanford, Melinda Clarke and Noah Bean:

Next there was the new CW series The 100, featuring cast members Eliza Taylor, Thomas McDonnell, Marie Avgeropoulos, Isaiah Washington and Henry Ian Cusick:

This was followed by Falling Skies with cast members Noah Wylie, Moon Bloodgood, Will Patton, Connor Jessup, Drew Roy, Sarah Carter, Colin Cunningham and Doug Jones:

And, lastly, there was the BBC America hit series Orphan Black with Tatiana Maslany, Jordan Gavaris and Dylan Bruce:

More Comic Con 2013 pictures coming soon…

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Comic Con 2013: Pictures from Thursday

Posted in Comic Con, Convention/Event, Pictures on July 22, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Here are the pictures that I was able to take for the panels I attended at Comic Con 2013 on Thursday, July 17.

First, here are the pictures from the new CBS show Intelligence that stars Josh Holloway (Lost), Marg Helgenberger (CSI) and Meghan Ory (Once Upon a Time):

Next, there are the pictures from the new CW series Star-Crossed, starring Grey Damon (Twisted and The Nine Lives of Chloe King), Matt Latner (90210) and Aimee Teegarden (Friday Night Lights):

The next panel was for The CW series Beauty And the Beast, starring Jay Ryan and Kristin Kreuk:

Then there was the panel for Psych, returning for their fifth appearance at the con, including cast members Corbin Bernsen, Kirsten Nelson, Tim Omundson, Maggie Lawson, James Roday and Dule Hill:

Lastly, there were these pictures from the panel for the new NBC drama The Blacklist that will star James Spader (Boston Legal), Diego Klattenhoff (Homeland) and Megan Boone (Law & Order: LA):