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Also, all cons need more hot chicks dressed as Wonder Woman.
Dude. Not Wondercon's fault. That blame lays squarely on the studio's shoulders. Don't even get me STARTED on Fox.
Say what you will about the lack of hot women at this year's con...there were A LOT of good looking men. San Francisco is apparently a haven for hot hipster geeks. Don't know what that was about.
Totally agree about McG. His shtick was charming the 1st 80 times I heard it...now? It's a little old.
And my only problem with the Watchmen stuff was a. Why have a screening at midnight? WHY? So they could advertise it as starting at 11:55 when it started 15 minutes late anyway? No go, Warners. And also, why bring the entire cast if you are only gonna allow 10 minutes of Q&A?
Dissing Eddie Ibrahim? Really? The guy is a sweetheart and works his ass off, come on, there's no reason for insulting him for doing his job. That speech has existed as long as people filming exclusive footage and putting it on the internet has existed. It's necessary.
And why should a pay stub be a requirement for someone to be considered worthy of an interview? A pay stub means you are getting paid to be there. Not having one means you are heading somewhere on your own dime to write something up and work really hard for nothing in return. Just because you love this stuff and you want to provide a unique perspective if possible. What's with the entitlement issues? Especially in a fan world that is now run by bloggers/fansites/the internet?
It was just extremely odd to see this update as I thought it was a great Wondercon. It wasn't draining or overly crowded like NYCC or Comic Con. Great dealer's room, great talent, great footage, great crowd response.
What's all this REALLY about? Didn't get tickets to something or get an interview with someone? Cause I'm not buying it.
1) I realize the film selection is due mostly to the studios decisions, and I think I acknowledged that by saying they're sending the same movies to every convention. 2) Again, as I said above, I agree with the content of Ibrahim's speech. It's his ridiculous catering towards and apparent concern only for the big studios that I find annoying. 3) The pay stub idea was just that, an idea. But do you really think anyone with an url and a business card should get the label of "press?" Anyone can go home and write up their thoughts on a blog... not everyone should do so under the blanket label of "journalist." I'm not being elitist here, as I said above any new rules could possibly prevent me from gaining press credentials. The point is there should be some line of demarcation, because otherwise what's the point?
And that's what this is REALLY about. For the record, I enjoyed last year's WonderCon and the exclusives they had to offer including the first con appearance of Duchovny and Anderson (X-Files) so I'm not simply hating on conventions. I just think they should either cut back on the number of cons, or the studios should plan better and provide more movies and panels.
Thanks for reading!
But Wondercon DID have things NYCC didn't have - 9, Star Trek, Pandorum, more panelists for Alien Trespass & Terminator, etc.
As a HUGE Ben Foster fan, I LOVED that he was there for Pandorum and I trust that he only picks great material, so his presence plus the cool footage got me really excited. I don't understand why that isn't being covered more. Like, I've read about Terminator how many times, but nothing on the cool smaller movie? And so far I've only seen one write up on the Chuck panel, one of the best of the convention? If supposedly the place was filled with random bloggers...where's the coverage on the things that WEREN'T Trek, Terminator & Watchmen?
For the record, I think Fox blew a HUGE opportunity here. It was their last chance to have a substantial panel before the movie opens. Why didn't they have the new mutants on a panel? That would have been AMAZING.
But for what the studios decided to offer, I thought Wondercon was great and isn't quite deserving of so much hate. Did you get to do the floor? Because that was the best dealer's room experience I've had since Comic Con in the mid to late 90s. You could actually MOVE!!!! And I walked away with some really amazing & well priced stuff. The convention is about a lot more than "Hollywood" and my problem with the...hollywoodization of conventions in general is that everything else seems to be forgotten. I mean, Michael Chabon and Matt Fraction were on a panel together! For some odd reason, the cosplay at Wondercon was FAR superior to cosplay I've seen at most of the other conventions!
Anyway, I'll shut up now. These conventions are close to my heart, what can I say.
You don't have to shut up now, you actually make some great points. I do have a piece coming up later this week on Pandorum and Alien Trespass... I'm waiting for the Pandorum trailer due in the next couple of days. I love Foster and the trailer looked interesting, but I didn't love it (or hate it) like everything else in the post above so it was cut.
Like I said, I've really enjoyed conventions in the past and I plan to again in the future. This one just didn't do it for me. Thanks for being reasonable and intelligent with your criticism.
3) You are right, anyone can go home and write a blog and get press credentials. But who are you to say they are not press. At one time this website wouldn’t be considered press, and to be honest your post sounds like a blogger wrote it not a journalist. If you paid the 30 bucks like I did for my pass, maybe I would feel for you. But why should press be treated any different then me (someone who paid). I'm the person that reads your website and in a way pays your bills (if you are getting paid)
I have personally helped to run several conventions and been on the planning staff of others and let me say that regardless of how good or bad the Con was depended on the staff and how well they did or did not do their jobs. When we did a good job we were congratulated but when it went bad we heard about it and rightly so. How else do you get better without knowing what to fix?
That being said, it's really frustrating to go to an event where "press" badges are handed out to anyone who asks for one. Comic-Con comes to mind. There's a difference between fans and press despite some want to be a blurring line. "Press passes" at these events mean nothing.
I also don't think Watchmen took space away from any other movie. I think there was plenty of room for other movies -- had those movies wanted to be included, but I don't think they did. It's like the way Star Trek has purposely not done any Cons until this one (not sure why they picked this one though). I thought there wasn't much to cover at WonderCon, but even though I already say the Watchmen panel at NYCC, I still enjoyed the WC panel and seeing the first 20 minutes of the film again. I think Warner Bros in part still trying to show people why they should give Watchmen a chance; on for those of us who already are on board, it's a big draw -- people WANT to see Watchmen footage and get a chance to ask the cast questions.
I think you're approaching the Con from your movie reporter viewpoint and regardless of how many livejournal bloggers had press badges, the majority of attendees are NOT going there to provide "coverage" like we are and have not already seen these panels at other Cons. Many years ago before I started doing my site, when I went to Cons, I never thought of what was "missing" but was just happy to soak in what was offered up. There was no "searching" for a story in an otherwise non-news panel and a lot more time was spent just having a good time on the Con floor. How many attendees were there thinking "Hey, where's the Sherlock Holmes" panel? I doubt the average attendee really even has most of the movies you mentioned on their radar (at least not at the forefront of their mind).