I have often thought that, of all the previous Companions I’d like to see guest on the current incarnation of the show, it’s Sophie Aldred as Ace.
I’m here! As of right now, I’m in my motel room, but later on, I might walk back over to the Mariott to catch the kareoke party.
Yesterday was extremely busy with the visit to Ignition Creative, the first day of the convention, my daughter bugging/begging me to swim, opening ceremonies, etc.
Haven’t done a tally, but Amy Pond is easily the most cosplayed of the companions, and Tom Baker is vying with Matt Smith as the most popular Doctor. We’ve already scored autographs of Sylvester McCoy and most of the big names (Freema’s plane was landing during the opening ceremonies, so she wasn’t on the stage during the opening ceremonies.)
The visit to Ignition Creative was awesome – they spent almost 2 hours with us and took us throughout their entire complex. A 10yo company, IC has grown so big that they’re moving in the next year so that all 200+ of their employees can be within the same building. The entire visit was filmed and was capped off by a long meeting with Eric Archer, who was the project manager/main editor of the “Jack the Giant Killer” trailer. Sophia asked a LOT of questions about the editing process and impressed Eric and our guide (Felicia Ostermann) with them – they were more of the “how do you do X, ‘cause I’m having trouble doing X” and not “Can I see the Hobbit trailer?” type questions. In the middle of Mr. Archer’s presentation, the two principal owners of Ignition Creative came by to talk to us and see “this 11yo trailer maker that has so intrigued us.” To me, that was the best part of the visit as I was able to ask business-oriented questions about how they get paid, what projects were the worst to deal with (apparently Cowboys vs. Aliens is legendary w/in the company for being a particularly difficult campaign), and why it is that some trailers seem to have very little to do with the movie (like Flight*.)
We met a British couple who are in the dealers room selling hand-made DW-based nesting dolls. They were stunned at the turnout and said to my wife and I: “In Britain, Fridays are usually dead while Saturdays are the big day, but today (Friday) has been busier than any Saturday that I’ve been through!” They came to the convention hoping to break even, now they are worried that they don’t have enough stock to last through the next two days. And, to be honest, given the numbers of items they have left, they might not have enough stock to make it through today.
During the Opening Ceremonies many of the guests who have done Gallifrey conventions before were openly stunned at the turnout with a number of them mentioning “we’ve never had people standing in the back before.”
Today is going to be a madhouse. Laura and Sophia can’t wait.
*Want to know why some trailers are nothing like the movie? Because they are made that way! We discussed Flight and one of the principals said (IC didn’t work on that one) that had the trailer been cut to accurately reflect the movie (about the lead character’s alcohol and drug problems) nobody would have gone to see the film as it would have been too depressing. So the decision was consciously made to focus on the crash and the investigation so that people (like me) would get the idea that it was a film about a plane crash and how the pilot was being railroaded to take the blame for the crash during the investigation because he might have had a drink a day or two before the flight. (In fact, Denzel Washington was blitzed during the flight and was drinking while piloting the plane, which was something the trailer completely glossed over.)
My buddy just had Inspector Spacetime call me. That was pretty cool.
Yesterday was a ton of fun! My nephew and I got Freema Agyeman’s and Sylvester McCoy’s autograph, we bought a tribble, Mark Strickson told me a bit about rhinos and poachers (and signed my poster), and a man at an art booth and I discussed the merits of Colin Baker’s doctor. Then in the evening, we caught McCoy’s Q&A, the masquerade, and a little of the karaoke show. I also got the cutest little buttons with all 11 Doctors on them at the art show.
Once again, I find myself in LA and not sight seeing. I might try to get a bit in before we fly out this afternoon, but I’m actually not really that interested. Much more fun to just stay at the con.
Oh, so wish I could have been there this year!!!
I hope y’all had tons of fun. Next year, the smaje family will definitely be attending (with a new baby smaje in tow – she’ll be about 8 months, and just the perfect size for a maggot costume from “The Green Death”).
Was it insanely crowded? What was the most fun part? Best panel? Best guest?
JohnT - I’m so pleased that your daughter had such a great time at the trailer production company. How wonderful that they went out of their way to be so welcoming. Did your daughter show them any of her trailers?
StG
We gave them our YouTube link, but she only has two of her earliest efforts put up there.
It was pretty crowded - the organizer called it the most attended G1 conference ever.
Most popular guest was Sylvester McCoy - he was pretty witty and “on” at all times. Freema was also very popular.
I only attended three panels, so I can’t give much info there. I honestly think that for next year I will go but not buy a pass - I’m not a big DW fan and my presence just means that somebody who is a much bigger fan is missing out. I would say that I spent, probably, 6 hours (out of 3+ days) at the con in total.
Just FYI, registration for 2014 starts today - less than 1/2 hour ago, in fact. We’ve just registered, so we’ll see y’all there!
My wife informs me that she got an email today that there are only 600 spaces left. It’s going to sell out well before October this year.
Only 145 slots left for 2014…
And … it’s sold out!