Mikaela’s Journey to SDCC 2019: Part V
Saturday actually had a pretty chill start to the day, I don’t think any of these crazy early risers that I was sharing a room with were really crackin’ until almost 7am. What a treat! It also started with groggily acknowledging the new additions to our Geekscape SDCC 2019 team: Steven and Kate. What a weird situation to stumble over people in the middle of the night and then meet them for the first time by waking up practically right next to them first thing in the morning.
My first scheduled appointment was a round table interview at 11am, so I had a slow easy start, waiting for everyone else to do their bathroom things and head out for the day. I headed out to my interview around 10:30, and realized as I was walking over that I was not nearly as nervous as I thought I would be, and I felt like I had totally no idea what to expect or if I was prepared. So I secretly stopped just around the corner from my destination to do some rapid Googling in hopes of feeling a little more confident!
Continuing my journey, I was working under the impression it would be myself and approximately 5 other press people along with 3 creators having either a discussion or taking turns asking questions. In one way I was happy to be with other people as they may have more insightful questions than I have, but more nervous cause now there are even more people paying attention when I talk.
When I arrived I asked the first person waiting in line if they were there for the round table, and he responded that he was, and pointed me toward the 2 PR people to check in. Everyone was super friendly and the 4 of us stood around chatting for a few minutes. I immediately discovered that this gentleman and I were going to be the only interviewers at the table, which left me feeling extra nervous! It quickly came out that this was my first round table (because I have no poker face), and I was asked if I was nervous, to which I replied yes very! Honestly though I’m glad I was straight up about it, all 3 of them were very reassuring and the gent who was heading in with me was all about that team work and offered to share his audio with me if mine crapped out. (Which ironically was the exact scenario of my first ever recorded interview about a year ago!)
Walking into the space we were introduced to co-writer Kat Rosenfield, and co-creators Luke Lieberman and Ryan Silbert. They were very friendly and obviously very passionate about this project. It was interesting to hear their thoughts on how this came about. We talked a lot about how audio is the most immersive way to experience a story, which is so true, and was totally enhanced during this activation by the various lighting spectacles within the space. I won’t go too in depth here,but will be posting the whole interview in the days to come!
After the nerves of interviewing had been released I realized I was staaarving, and I need to catch up on some writing! So I head back to the hotel and and did just that while I waited for Derek to be available for lunch. It was nice to catch a quiet moment in air conditioning, with good wifi, away from all the chaos.
For lunch we decided to head to the BBQ place right across the street from our hotel: Kansas City Barbeque, which seems to be just on the periphery of the con craziness. It also happens to be well known as the iconic ‘sleazy bar’ scene from Top Gun. Now I have never actually seen Top Gun (shhhh don’t tell anyone) but I can usually tell when it’s being referenced, and I understand people are huge fans! So it was pretty neat to see all the paraphernalia and people so excited about this place. It was pretty entertaining too, it had that local pub vibe, the bar crowded with people drinking jugs of beer and telling jokes and singing songs, while a fan stacked with tons of bras whirled over their heads. And to top off the already great experience the food was super delish too!
Our next stop was the Borderlands Museum of Mayhem, presented by Nerdist. I always forget what Borderlands is, and once reminded I realize I actually quite like the game. I especially appreciate the art style and the way in which it lends itself to wicked awesome cosplay! I’ve only played it a couple times, but each time it’s been really fun with our good friends Mike and Laura, who live far away from us and it gets to feel like we are just hanging out in the same room. Video games are kinda neat how they can connect people from so far away and give you a space and activity to share experiences together. Technology is insane.
The line up for the Borderlands Museum wasn’t too bad, they were handing out really neat prints and fun masks while you waited. And we stumbled across OG Geekscape writer Joshua Jackson and his wife Megan, so it was nice to get to meet them in real life! The outside was decorated really cool with big Borderlands style painting in the windows, and a big statue of the robot assistant guy from the game. But as soon as you got inside it was even more amazing!
Where the Picard museum was very precise, proper, subdued, and felt like a real museum, this felt more like a super neat art show. There were huge statues of characters, and different Borderlands art pieces in so many different mediums, from a huge wall tapestry, to 3D paintings, and regular paintings, and pieces hanging from the ceiling. They also had 2 barber stations where people could get the Borderlands logo shaved into their fade. There was a bar, and a face painting station, as well as a green screen with props where you could create your own Borderlands GIF. It was actually super freaking neat and I’m really glad we made it happen.
When we were through with Borderlands we headed out to find food for Matt. Matt had been manning the booth all week, and was getting sick of eating from the same food places for days on end, so I had promised him we would bring him a meal from somewhere off site! We found the place called Berkeley Pizza, and I wished I didn’t have so much delish BBQ in my belly cause this deep dish looked soooo good. We grabbed a couple pieces for our boi and headed toward the convention centre. Only getting distracted one time by a quick piece of Panda Express chicken (where we also snagged Matt a pair of Panda ears!) before making it into the con with the rest of the convention crush!
After chillin at the booth for a few minutes I decided it was time to do the job I thought I had actually come here to do, and headed out to take some cosplay photos! It’s been interesting finding my role here with Geekscape. I do some writing, I do some podcasting, and I do a lot of social media. Usually social media looks like posting cosplay photos to Instagram, which I thought would be my main focus once landing at SDCC, however that hasn’t seemed to be the case. I’ve had interviews, taken part in experiences, and have been posting a lot of other stuff on our social media. Turns out when you are here participating in the experience (remember it’s my first time at SDCC) it’s a lot easier to stay on top of posting what is happening in the moment, instead of trying to post things randomly sent to you by the rest of the team while simultaneously cramming food in your face on your lunch break at work!
I had heard many things about the cosplay at SDCC and it is actually quite amazing! I think I’ve been spoiled because the cosplay at ECCC is also very high caliber, but I’m at least equally impressed by what I’ve seen here! I also haven’t spent that much time at the convention centre this week (how in the eff did that happen!?) so I think I haven’t seen as much of it as I thought I would! I did see a guy dressed as a giant transformer, and a stranger dressed as Wonder Woman give him a water bottle cause he was having a struggle, so my heart was pretty full from that!
Once I realized my battery was almost dead and the convention would be closing for the day, I headed back to the floor to wander for a few minutes. I found some books to bring home to my nieces, and marvelled over beautiful art. I even stumbled across Daniel Danger’s booth! Daniel Danger (check him out here) is an artist that I absolutely love. We have several of his prints hung up at home, all of which we got our hands on through hard earned waits at the Mondo booth (hard earned by Derek over the last few years). I didn’t realize he would have his own booth here, and that it could possibly be so danged accessible! I literally just walked right up to the empty booth and started talking with the guys there. The artist himself had just left to wander the floor a bit, but the fella I was talking to had lots of info and actually had time to talk to me about the process and what not. It was really neat, and I’m a little concerned I will end up there again Sunday to buy more things!
When the convention closed some of the Geekscape posse went to horror panels, some went to the Old Spaghetti Factory, and Derek and I headed over to the Carnival Row Premiere.
Unlike The Boys premiere, we had press passes to this one, so we didn’t have to wait in line for hours. I had also learned my lesson about the sun going down and getting cold so I had brought a sweater.
As soon as we got in we snagged some great seats right in the centre of the second row, scored ourselves a graciously provided blanket, and grabbed some food and drink. There was once again an awesome DJ, Daisy O’Dell, and neat characters running around and/or dancing. I was particularly excited for this premiere as Orlando Bloom stars in this show, and 13 year old Mikaela was super jazzed on the possibility of being in the same space as him!
As the time was coming for the showing to start, four mascot characters showed up in the audience, surrounded by all of the official media crew. Needless to say we were pretty certain Orlando and the rest of the main cast were right there in those suits. They danced in the aisles and walked right past us to the front of the stage. Derek was pushing me to try to get a selfie with the purple hippo who I had decided was definitely Orlando, but I just couldn’t do it.
Fan girling is just too danged awkward and the whole situation did not feel conducive to it! I was still pretty thrilled to be there doing what we were doing. Even more so, when the mascots lined up less than ten feet in front of us and revealed themselves to be the stars of the show!
Once the show started, after Orlando and friends had taken their seats 20 feet to the right of us, I was mesmerized. The show is set in a society wrought with racism between humans and fairies and other creatures, and feels super relevant in today’s political climate (well, actually in every climate, cause history shows that humans have a real struggle with ever accepting other humans that are different than them). The characters are fierce and relatable, and you just wanna learn more about them. Amazon Prime seems to be hitting it out of the park, both with their SDCC presence, and their actual shows. I was immediately swept up in this show, and can’t wait to see the rest of the season, which begins to air August 30th!
This time when we got back to the hotel everyone was still awake, so they got to hear my excitement about Orlando, and the guys were none too impressed. Kate however was there to share in my excitement thank goodness (as was my BFF Nicole who I had texted immediately!) I crashed pretty hard and am looking forward to whatever the final day, Sunday, throws my way!
I can not believe we are going into the final day. I feel like there is so much happening. So much I haven’t done and seen, and no way to experience all the things. It’s amazing how ever single person here is having such a hugely different experience, but all sharing in the same geeky fandom! What a time!
