Tag: mary franklin

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SDCC is nearly here: Are you ready?

SDCC kicks off tonight with Preview Night, while those of us at home hang on Twitter and our RSS feeds for tidbits from the floor (and brace for the floods that’ll be unleashed tomorrow.) Until then, here’s what Star Wars fans need to know. (Besides the panel schedule!)

Home base. On the Star Wars Blog, Mary Franklin made her debut and then dropped some hints about what we can expect to see from Lucasfilm at the con. Here’s a hint: Snakes. Here’s a closer look.

UPDATE: Mary has also made her debut on Twitter as, fittingly, @MaryLFL! To find other Star Wars luminaries, check out our Twitter guide.

Pregaming. Course of the Force coverage marches on from San Diego – and we had a few of our own on the course yesterday.

Expanded Universe. We’ve already got the basics on Dark Horse’s Star Wars, so we’re on the edge of our seats for Del Rey’s contribution at the The Future of Star Wars Publishing panel on Friday. In the meantime, check out the Del Rey booth, with a Scoundrels photo opportunity. (That’ll also be at CVI!)

Merchandise. Here’s a handy list of all the Star Wars exclusives and debuts at the con. I hope that Chewy Messenger Bag makes it to CVI! Apparently Kotobukiya’s Jaina Solo statue will be there?

On that note, Bleeding Cool’s Kate Kotler talked to Ashley Eckstein about what we’ll be seeing from Her Universe this week, and details on the new Doctor Who and Star Trek lines. Plus a look at their new Artoo charm!

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A word from Mary Franklin on Red Tails

We got a note from our pal and Lucasfilm’s Event guru this afternoon, encouraging folks to go see Red Tails, which opens tomorrow. Give it a read, and be sure to spread the word – or at least go see it yourself this weekend!

Good afternoon!
You often hear from me when we plan Star Wars events together, or when I ask you for information for Bantha Tracks, or we make plans for Star Wars Celebrations.

These past months, however, I’ve been working on something different: Red Tails. Most of you probably know that it’s Lucasfilm’s new movie about the Tuskegee Airmen of WWII, a story that has been a passion project for George Lucas for years. The Airmen were African-American fighter pilots, who not only broke down barriers in the military, but helped break down racial barriers here in the States. They were exceptional pilots and support crew, with heroic records of service.

I’ve traveled to a number of different places, working on events to promote the movie, as different as Memphis and Eugene and New York City. I just returned from working at a three-day festival celebrating the movie release, and the Airmen, at Tuskegee University in Alabama, the place where the Airmen were first trained. Each time I watch the movie I am impressed with what it means to the audience, and I’m inspired by the story. The determination and talent of the Airmen can encourage us all.

This is an important movie based on real heroes and true events. And… bonus… the ILM-driven dogfights totally kick butt. I like the characters and story, I’m excited about the release, and proud to be involved in the events that have helped support it.

I very much hope you can see Red Tails this weekend, and bring your friends. The story of the Tuskegee Airmen is important, and many of us were not aware of it before this movie. Hopefully this weekend many thousands more will learn their story, appreciate it, and want to share.

It’s important, but it’s also a lot of fun at the same time!

After you see it, drop me a line and let me know what you think.
Feel free to post this on blogs or message boards as well. Thank you so much!

Mary

In other Red Tails news, Bonnie Burton has a write-up of the film’s New York premiere.

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Familiar faces at SDCC’s Her Universe panel

Ashley Eckstein will be joined by our Star Wars peeps Mary Franklin and Bonnie Burton, artists Cat Staggs and Katie Cook, writer/producer Jane Espenson (Battlestar Galactica, Buffy The Vampire Slayer,) author Melinda Snodgrass and the Syfy Channel’s Director of Development, Erika Kennair. The panel, ‘Her Universe: Shining the Spotlight on Female Fans – the Past, Present and Future of Science Fiction Through Female Eyes’ will take place Saturday evening.

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EUbits: Webcomics leap to print, Generation Star Wars on hold, August comics

From web to print. The Clone Wars webcomics from Pablo Hidalgo and a revolving crew of artists (Jeff Carlisle, Katie Cook, Grant Gould and Tom Hodges) will be available in a trade paperback collection in time for August’s Celebration V. StarWars.com has a first look at the book, which also contains concept art, development sketches and a forward by Dave Filoni.

Nonfiction: Sue Rostoni says that Generation Star Wars, the fandom-centric book by Bonnie Burton, Mary Franklin, and Pete Vilmur has been put on hold “to develop the concept and content.”

Comics. The cupboard is bare for Dark Horse’s August 2010 comic solicitations. (Any chance they’ll launch something I’d actually want to read in the next year?) More hopeful, at least theoretically, are the previews for Invasion: Rescues #1 and Legacy #48.

Finish him. The last of StarWars.com’s Head to Head previews is up… And the book should be out.

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The fandom minute is working for the weekend

This is Relevant to Our Interests: Allison Bamford's 'Ewok Sundae'Art strikes back. Boston fans can head to Art Asylum Boston for an exhibit of Star Wars art. The rest of us will just have to settle for checking out the blog. I’m rather fond of Allison Bamford’s ‘Ewok Sundae’ (right,) ‘Robotsicle’ and ‘Death Star-e-o.’ (via)

Spotlight on the fans. StarWars.com has our first look at Generation Star Wars, the book by LFL’s Bonnie Burton, Mary Franklin and Pete Vilmur that shines the spotlight on the fandom. On that note, Bonnie talks Rebel Legion with Indiana’s Matthew Hofmann.

Crossover fail. There was an awful lot of Wars/Trek confusion in the popular blogosphere this week: Both Cake Wrecks and Failblog discovered some.

The more you know. Thanks to an auto-friending of @clubjade on Twitter, I discovered that LFL can mean Lingerie Football League as well as Lucasfilm. This is a good example of why auto-friending people based on search terms is a bad idea.

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Bonnie Burton, Mary Franklin and Peter Vilmur teaming up for an upcoming book on Star Wars fandom

NJOE’s Max Jaybo (who, for the record, has been pretty reliable with this sort of thing) has found a listing for a new nonfiction Star Wars book:

Star Wars Generations
A Celebration of Fandom

Written by Bonnie Burton, Mary Franklin and Peter Vilmur

Category: Performing Arts – Film; Fiction – Science Fiction
Format: Trade Paperback, 256 pages
Publisher: LucasBooks
On Sale: April 2010
Price: $18.00
ISBN: 978-0-345-51162-1 (0-345-51162-X)

And Bonnie confirmed it on Twitter this evening:

@clubjade: I have 3 books coming out and that’s one of them. We haven’t done an official story yet though since we’re still writing it. ;-)

It’s clearly too soon for details or much speculation (not that that ever stopped anyone) but could the trade paperback status imply pictures? Or just something in the vein of Harry: A History? Either way, I’ll tune in.

(And of course it doesn’t hurt that the great Mary Franklin is involved! As long as cake stays out of it, anyway.)

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SDCC Roundup: Comic-Con starts Thursday!

Sideshow's Grand Admiral Thrawn

Look who’s debuting. Among the new items Sideshow is bringing to Con? A 12″ figure of an old pal of ours, Grand Admiral Thrawn! And some other guys.

From the floor. Mary Franklin and her minions are hard at work already, setting up the Lucasfilm Pavilion! There’s a peek at a few more of The Clone Wars bounty hunters as well, including two brand-new characters.