Category: conventions and events

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Course of the Force kicks off in the Bay Area

Course of the Force, the lightsaber relay from San Francisco to San Diego raising funds for Make-A-Wish, kicked off on Tuesday with a special celebrity run at Skywalker Ranch, then proceeded on Wednesday around San Francisco, ending with a concert and conival. Ashley Eckstein, one of the co-hosts of Course of the Force, was at Skywalker Ranch to help start the relay and covered it for the Official Star Wars Blog.

COTF-2013-AlexisDenisof-SkywalkerRanchOne of the celebrity runners at Skywalker Ranch was Alexis Denisof (Angel, Much Ado About Nothing), who blogged about his experience running in a spandex Threepio suit, while being cheered by his wife Alyson Hannigan and kids. Other VIP runners included Kyle Newman, Chris Colfer, Todd Roy & Adrienne Curry, and Jared Eng. Check out the official Course of the Force Day 1 Recap by Nerdist’s Dan Casey, as well as a plethora of photos of celebrities and members of the 501st Legion and Rebel Legion up at the Ranch.

Day 2 started off in San Francisco’s South Beach neighborhood, and the relay continued along the bayfront, ending with a crossing of the Golden Gate Bridge, with 38 relay participants scheduled for the morning race. The Conival at San Francisco’s Justin Herman Plaza featured a concert by Journey Unauthorized, and had booths ranging from Otter Pops to Qualcomm and State Farm. Chris Hardwick joined co-hosts Carrie Keagan and Ashley Eckstein for the end of day dueling. My favorite costumes: a family dressed as the Avengers!

Today, the Course of the Force takes a little breather as the lightsaber flies to Los Angeles before picking up for the Southern California segments of the relay from Friday to Tuesday as it travels from LA to San Diego and Comic-Con. Check out the daily schedule of relay segments and conivals. And if you’re on the lookout for Team Hondo, you’ll find the three members of Team Hondo in motion on Monday, July 15 in the morning in the Oceanside and Carlsbad segments – I’ll give out exact details on twitter at @jamesjawa. (And there’s still time if you still want to donate to Team Hondo’s fundraising efforts for Make-A-Wish Foundation chapters in California! I’m currently aiming for $1,250 and I am closing in on it.)

And to put you into an even weirder Course of the Force mood, join Billy Dee Williams, Patton Oswalt and Chris Hardwick for some Star Wars Cantina Karaoke:

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Stand down: No Episode VII at San Diego Comic-Con

Dark Horse booth at SDCC 2012There will be plenty of Star Wars at SDCC with Course of the Force, a huge floor presence and licensee panels, but there will be “no Episode VII content,” StarWars.com said last night. Cross your fingers for Celebration Europe and the D23 Expo.

Del Rey, Dark Horse and Hasbro will be holding Star Wars panels at SDCC on Friday, while Her Universe has one on Saturday. Del Rey released their signing schedule today while Dark Horse Comics posted their signing schedule yesterday.

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Disney taking Star Wars to D23

d23-vaderStar Wars will make its debut at Disney’s own D23 Expo in Anaheim this August 9-11. Lucasfilm will be presenting ‘The Evolution of a Villain,’ an exhibit on the Darth Vader and Pablo Hidalgo will give fans a ‘Crash Course in the Force: Star Wars Saga 101.’

If we don’t get any announcements regarding rumored expansions in Disney parks at Celebration Europe, we may see them here… But, as usual, don’t hold your breath.

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Her Universe highlighted Saturday at SDCC

sdcc-logoWhile the bulk of San Diego’s Star Wars panels seem to happen on Friday, there are a few happening on Saturday and Sunday, including the Her Universe panel. Here are my picks:

Her Universe: Geek Girl Fashion: A Dialogue Between Fashion Professionals and Fans
Actress and entrepreneur Ashley Eckstein, voice of Ahsoka Tano from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and founder of Her Universe, the leading merchandise company for female sci-fi fans, is bringing together the decision makers in the genre fashion industry and the fans for an open discussion. This conversation is meant to be educational and informative, putting the executives and buyers in direct communication with the fans. Ashley will give fans a glimpse of how the retailers stay in tune with their customers and how they develop compelling designs. Audience members will be able to give their comments and recommendations.
Saturday July 20, 2013 6:30pm – 7:30pm. Room 24ABC

More below the cut.

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Star Wars book and comic panels at SDCC

sdcc-logoThe Thursday and Friday schedules for San Diego Comic Con are out, and given that we’re not expecting any really big Star Wars news (ahem, sequel stuff) to come out until the following week at Celebration Europe, it’s mostly up to domestic licensees to carry the torch. (Though there will, apparently, be one hell of a booth, with some fresh trappings.)

Dark Horse may have something:

Star Wars Comics: Here and Now
What is the current state of Star Wars comics? Join Dark Horse editor Randy Stradley and Star Wars creators Carlos D’Anda, Corinna Bechko, Gabriel Hardman, Doug Wheatley, Gabe Eltaeb, Tom Taylor, Zack Giallongo, and others for the lowdown on what’s up, what’s coming up, and why you should be reading!
Friday July 19, 2013 10:00am – 11:00am. Room 7AB

Del Rey I’m not so sure about:

Writer’s Studio: Behind the Scenes with Star Wars Authors
Hear a variety of authors talk about the rewards and challenges of writing Star Wars, whether it’s through novels, making-of nonfiction, or cartoons. New York Times bestselling authors Jeffrey Brown, Troy Denning, John Jackson Miller, and J. W. Rinzler, as well as editors Frank Parisi of Random House and Jennifer Heddle of Lucasfilm, will participate in a roundtable discussion on writing in the Galaxy Far, Far Away. Emceed by Lucasfilm Holocron keeper Leland Chee.
Friday July 19, 2013 12:00pm – 1:00pm. Room 7AB.

I can guess at a few things that may come up in the Q&A portion. But this doesn’t look like a ‘YES, WE HAVE NEWS’ panel, though certainly there will be talk on The Making of Return of the Jedi, Crucible and Kenobi. Maybe something from Empire and Rebellion, even if none of the authors are present?

Del Rey doesn’t publish Star Wars overseas – even in the U.K., another publisher handles the reprints – so they have no reason to hold back anything for CE.

Head below the cut for a few more panels of interest.

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Today’s must-read: Reporting harassment at a convention

With summer con season now formally ramping up, it’s as good a time as any to remind folks that harassment is not okay – and what to do about it.

Over at Scalzi’s Whatever today, writer Elise Matthesen shares how she reported her sexual harasser at recent convention. It’s a fantastic post with great advice about making sure things are formally on the record – the perpetrator in her case is not a first-time offender.

Inspired by Matthesen, Maria Dahvana Headley shares some of her own tales of being harassed at genre conventions. A former pirate negotiator, she has this chilling statement: “The pirates in the maritime industry were generally a great deal more polite than the creeps in the SFF world. They stuck to terms.”

It’s been a while since we’ve addressed this topic, and sorry to be a downer as we approach the weekend, but this is important stuff for everyone to know.

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Harrison Ford returning to SDCC… For Ender’s Game

Ender's Game

Harrison Ford infamously made his San Diego Comic Con debut for Cowboys and Aliens back in 2010… And he’ll be returning this year to promote Ender’s Game.

I wouldn’t necessarily count on any Episode VII announcements regarding Ford and the other all-but-confirmed returning actors, as they may still be negotiating and we’ve heard nothing about any Star Wars panels yet… Plus Celebration Europe is the very next week, so Lucasfilm may chose to take advantage of the post-SDCC lull and reveal any big news in Germany instead.

Lucasfilm doesn’t show up in the SDCC exhibitor list, but the so-called Del Rey/Lucasbooks booth (#2913) looks a little too big to be just a single licensee on the map… Where it shows a giant Lucasfilm logo. Data entry mixup? In any case, hopefully they leave the snakes at home this year.

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Celebration Europe to screen director’s cut of The Clone Wars S5’s Darth Maul arc

Fans at Celebration Europe will have the chance to see a special directors cut of the Darth Maul arc from season five of The Clone Wars, Reed annouced today. There’ll be Friday and Saturday screenings of the recut arc, which features the episodes “Revival,” “Eminence,” “Shades of Reason,” and “The Lawless.”

There will also be a ‘Secrets of Star Wars: The Clone Wars‘ panel with Dave Filoni held Friday on Pablo Hidalgo’s Behind-The-Scenes Stage.